A Sneak Peak...

Hello Everyone!


Here's a sneak peak of Biana and I on set at Good Morning America! Stayed tuned for details on when exactly my segment will air this weekend!

Cheers!
Shawn

Budget Friendly Floral Decor

Hi Everyone!


Looking for tips on budget friendly floral decor for your wedding or event? Check out my tips on Smart Bride Boutique by clicking this link here!


Cheers!
Shawn

Daily Candy - "Get Hitched Without a Hitch"

Check out Daily Candy Weddings for my top ten tips on how to avoid wedding stress. What are your top tips? I'd love to hear!

Oh! and Happy Friday the 13th!

Cheers!

Shawn

Smart Bride Boutique!

Want to hear my advice on budget friendly wedding cake and dessert options? Or perhaps find out my take on how to plan a budget friendly rehearsal dinner? Check them out by clicking on the corresponding links above and make sure to explore smartbrideboutique.com while you are at it!

Cheers!

Shawn

The Wedding of Michelle and Michael

This week, I am so happy to share with you a wedding I designed and planned for one of my favorite couples, Michelle and Michael, which took place at the fabulous W Hotel in Hoboken, New Jersey for around 175 guests! For all of you New Yorkers who haven’t ventured across the river, I highly suggest you do, if not just to visit this fun hotel! Just fifteen minutes by PATH train or water taxi, you can visit this jewel of a town that has stunning views of our beloved Manhattan Island. 

Any who, back to the wedding. The wedding was designed with many different elements and no detail was left untouched! Starting with the ceremony, which took place at Saint Peter and Paul Church in Hoboken. There wasn’t much that needed to be done in this beautiful church, so I designed beautiful sprays that adorned the alternating pews to add a personal touch to the ceremony. These sprays were designed with greenery and pink ribbon to coordinate with the décor for the rest of the evening. At the end of the aisle, the bride and groom were framed by two large arrangements to add height and drama. Designed with green and pink flowers, including hydrangea, bells of Ireland, tulips, roses and wax flower, these arrangements were the finishing touches to the already beautiful church ceremony.

For the wonderful bride Melissa, she received a stunning bouquet designed with crème de le crème white roses, fuchsia roses, tulips, green cymbidium orchids, and touches of Queen Anne’s Lace. These elements created a soft, yet beautiful bouquet, which accented the bride and her dress, which was purchased from Priscilla of Boston, one of my favorite bridal gown stores in the city! To finish bouquet, I tied it with some fabric from her dress. Funny story, at one of her dress fittings, we were deciding whether or not to keep a satin sash that tied around her waist, and all of a sudden the seamstress cut it off! Right then and there in front of our very eyes! At the time we were stunned, but it ended up being the right decision and I was able to use it to wrap her bouquet with. I always love adding personal touches to the bouquets to make them that much more special.

The groom received a hand tied boutonniere that was designed with white and fuchsia spray roses and accented with touches of looped bear grass. The best man and five groomsmen received coordinating boutonnières designed with Kermit mums, wax flower, and dendrobium orchids, all wrapped with a fuchsia ribbon to coordinate with the bridesmaids bouquets.

As for the bridal party, which consisted of one maid of honor, one matron of honor, and four bridesmaids, they all received coordinating bouquets designed with fuchsia and soft green flowers. Flowers such as Kermit mums, roses, wax flower, and dendrobium orchids were used to create these stunning bouquets. The handles were then tied with a ribbon which coordinated with the overall look of the bouquet.

            From the ceremony site, guests were then shuttled over to the W Hotel by trolley which not only did helped the guests easily get to the reception location without having to walk in the sweltering heat, but also provided a great photo opportunity for the bride and groom!

            As guests entered the reception at the W Hotel, they were in awe over the stunning tables arrangements that varied in height and were pin-spotted by Robert Stark Lighting. Half of the tables were created with high arrangements, while the others were created with low arrangements. For the high arrangements, I designed them with two vases of varying heights. The tall vase was designed with all white calla lilies bursting from the top and accented with white hydrangea and cymbidium orchids. The shorter vase was also filled with bursts of long all white dendrobium orchids, and then accented with larger white cymbidium orchids to balance out the overall look of the two vases. These arrangements were the surrounded by alternating heights of floating candles, to provide a romantic glow to the entire table top.

The low arrangements were created by using large bubble bowls, filling them with water, and spiraling white calla lilies, white cymbidium orchids, white dendrobium orchids, and accents of lily grass. An arrangement like this truly made a statement and allowed for guests to see across the table. Within the arrangement I placed floating candles and an orchid head to complete the overall look.

The night went absolutely beautifully and I want to give a special shout out to Hank Lane Music and Productions for keeping the guests dancing all night long! Towards the end of the evening guests were given a slice of Michelle and Michael’s beautiful cake made by the Cake Boss himself, Buddy Valastro, from Carlos Bakery in Hoboken.  The night even continued into an after party where late night foods were served such as trays of chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, French fries, pigs in a blanket, and more! YUM!

Because many guests were from outside of New York City, we helped Michelle and Michael design an “Out of Town” program for her guests that included everything from New York attractions, transportation, restaurants, salons, necessities such as banks, atm’s, hospitals, drugstores and other accommodations! Also within the program was a brief history of Hoboken with fun facts and notable Hoboken residents! This program also gave Michelle and Michael the opportunity to write a personal note to thank all of the out of towners for making the trip to New York City for their special day! Love special details like this!

Until next time….Cheers!

Shawn

All photos courtesy of Maring Visuals

Top 5 Reasons to Hire a Wedding Planner

I often get asked, "why hire a wedding planner?" Well, there are endless reasons as to why you should hire a wedding planner to help you with all of  your wedding needs, but I have put together a list of my top 5 for you to see.

1. Eliminates Stress - planners can do all of the leg work for you! Planning your wedding is a time that you should enjoy, and shouldn't be remembered as a stressful time. Don't put all of the pressure on yourself, utilize thy planner!

2. Planners have all the right relationships - which will save you a lot of time! Planners already have established relationships with vendors, whether it is photographers, makeup artists, venues, caterers, and more! This way, you don't have to do all of the research and your planner can give you lots of options with just a snap of a finger! And, your planner will have most likely worked with that vendor before, therefore knowing whether they are reliable or not. 

3. Planners are trouble shooters - keep you on track and don't let anything slip by unnoticed. In order to keep everything in order, planners help you with a budget checklist, timelines, and schedules. There are so many things that go on before and during the wedding day, that it would be impossible to keep track all on your own! And when things might go wrong, planners have all the answers. No bride or groom ever want to deal with those unforeseen circumstances. 

4. Planners also act as therapists - Even though they may not be licensed as a therapist, wedding planners have seen and hear it all! Unfortunately, not everyone always agree on the details of a wedding, because the mother of the groom may want this and the mother of the bride may want that; so avoiding arguments between family members and couples is something that a planner can help you with. How do planners do this? Well, since they are experts planners often act as a "buffer" and can usually come up with a compromise that everyone is happy with. 

5. Details, Details, Details - wedding planners are very creative! They have heard of it all, seen it all, and done it all! They will take your dream and make it a reality! Also, there are many details you may not  think of that have to be taken care of after your big day is over, and your wedding planner is there to keep track of all of those details so you don't have to!

Cheers!

Shawn