New Season ... New Bridal Trend!

This year Autumn is coming with a new bridal trend!  Designers are onto something this season with the knee-length wedding dresses becoming a standard in bridal fashion.  

Knee-length wedding dresses were all over the runway at this year's New York International Bridal Fashion Week.  Since then, many designers have joined the movement to add knee-length dresses to their collections.  

Celebrities such as Keira Knightly and Nancy Shevell have even joined the movement the past couple of months: 

LEON NEAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

LEON NEAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

And you really can see the trend catching on with some of the top women's designers adding short gowns to their collections.  Just check out some the incredible gowns that have been hitting the runway.

Oscar De La Renta

Watters

Marchesa

Jenny Packham

I would love to hear what you think about the trend toward short gowns.  Is it a hit or a miss?  I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Until next time....

Cheers!

Bastille Day

The 4th of July celebrations have come and gone, but who says we need to end the party there?!  July 14th is Bastille Day, why not help the French celebrate this weekend!  There are so many fun ways to celebrate this weekend whether you are in your own backyard or heading to the concrete jungle for a wonderfully French fair.  

You probably still have some red, white, and blue decorations from last weekend so start decorating with those, its simple and you now have a little bit extra to splurge on that French wine you've always wanted to try!  Add a few French flags around the yard and your decor is set.  As for food, put out a platter of cheese, crackers, grapes, and a bottle of French wine.  To round out the evening, make some white chocolate covered strawberries dipped in blue sprinkles.  These few items will make it seem like you're sailing the South of France or strolling through Paris in no time.  

If you're looking for a fun fair to go to, head to NYC July 13th from 12-5pm.  Bastille Day on 60th (between Lexington & 5th) is an annual street fair put on by the French Institute Alliance Française.  There are crepes, eclairs, fromage (French for cheese!), wine, beer, and of course live music.  There are booths for gifts, prizes to win, and face painting for the kids.  

Keep you're party spirit going and join the French this weekend!

Vive La France!

Cheers!

Summer Activities: Kid Edition

Looking for fun activities to keep the kids busy this summer?  Look no further!  Take a look at these awesome creative crafts and games to play this summer that you and your kids will enjoy.

Sponge-balls

A wonderful alternative to the classic water balloon fight.  Sponge-balls are simple, mess free, and reusable all summer long!

Check it out: Sponge Ball Instructions

Balloon Badminton

The indoor activity can easily be done with two paper plates, two popsicle sticks, and one balloon for endless fun on a rainy day! 

Rock Your Words!

This is an easy activity to help keep up on spelling skills.  It requires is some river rocks and scrapbook letters, both can be purchased at the local craft store.  All you have to do is put the letters on the rocks and let the kids spell out words.  Rock Your Words is a fun and educational activity for the summer and it can be done indoors or outdoors!

Rabi-DO: Add some numbers on some of the rocks and help the kids keep up on their math skills as well as the spelling.

Salt Art

Gather up some construction paper, glue, and salt and get to work! Separate the salt into three or four ziploc bags and kneed some food coloring (pick your favorite colors) into each bag.  Once the salt is fully colored, drizzle glue over the construction paper and pour the salt over the glue (treat it as glitter), and in 30 seconds you have an original work of art to hang up on the fridge! 

Rabi-DO: Do this project over a cookie sheet this way it is an easy to shift around the salts and you have a place to shake off the excess salt!

Enjoy and...

Cheers!

Back in the Finger Lakes

I just realized it has been over a month since my last post.  With wedding season in full swing I guess time just got away from me!

Right now I am kind of in a Finger Lakes frame of mind as I recently designed and produced a winery inspired wedding at Zugibe Vineyards with stunning views of Seneca Lake that was followed by a Tuscan themed wedding at the Lorien Inn and Spa in charming Alexandria, Virginia.  It has been a busy June!

With the Finger Lakes in mind I want to share images of a stunning wedding I produced last year at Bristol Harbour Resort on Canandaigua Lake.  I love the setting at Bristol Harbour and working with Sara is such a delight that I always look forward to planning weddings here.  So, when a long term client called me to plan his daughter's wedding in the Finger Lakes area, I immediately thought of Bristol Harbour as the perfect setting.  The Bride and Groom agreed and I moved forward planning their environmentally friendly wedding.

The natural beauty of the outdoor ceremony area was the perfect setting for this couple who wanted their wedding to be environmentally friendly.

The ceremony area was kept very simple and, to accent the aisle I used ball jars that were wrapped in twine and filled with gypsophila.  It was the perfect accent for this setting.

To enhance the ceremony we hired the wonderful Angelicus String Quartet to play through the ceremony and cocktail hour.

For all of the floral the Bride wanted a very natural look.  Her bouquet was done in an open, garden style with roses, veronica, scabiosa and lisianthus.  For the Groom's boutonniere I simply used veronica with twine wrapped around the base instead of ribbon.

As I mentioned, the Bride and Groom really wanted the wedding to be environmentally friendly. Therefore, instead of cut flowers I created the escort card centerpiece using a variety of potted herbs.  The only cut flower was gypsophila which can easily be dried and saved.  I then accented each of the escort cards with a sprig of rosemary.

For the dinner tables I carried on the same look as the escort table with the gypsophila and potted herbs.  At the end of the evening guests were welcome to take home the herbs as their 

Favor.

Even the cake carried through the elegant simplicity of this wedding.  Designed by Sweets by Marie, the tiered carrot cake was the perfect finish for a great meal.  I have to give special credit here to Bristol Harbour, and especially Sara, for going above and beyond in creating an exceptional vegetarian menu that left all of the guests raving.  

In addition to the great vendors I have already mentioned I would like to thank Sean at Redstone Studios for the photography featured here along with Ellco Entertainment and the band Up2Somethin for keeping guests on the dance floor throughout the evening.   In all this was another wonderful wedding in the Finger Lakes.  It is always such a pleasure to plan weddings in this area.  I look forward to sharing many more with you.

Until next time...

Cheers