It's been a busy Summer season

It has really been a busy Summer as I have been planning and designing some wonderful weddings up and down the East coast.  I am looking forward to sharing all of these great events with you and have been anxiously awaiting the finished photos.

To start, I did recently receive some wonderful photos of a wedding I produced at Zugibe Vineyards located on Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes.

We had a beautiful June day for Kelley and Jason's outdoor wedding in the middle of a lush vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake.  The setting could not have been more perfect!  

To create the perfect decor I kept the feel very simple and natural with white and cream roses accented with pink and fuchsia peonies to give a pop of color.  For the Bride's bouquet I added natural elements like Queen Anne's Lace, dusty miller and even geranium leaves giving the bouquet the garden feel that the Bride loved.

We utilized the outdoor pavilion at Zugibe Vineyard for the ceremony and later converted it to the dance floor.  With the vineyard in the background it really did create a wonderful setting for both the ceremony and the reception.

Zugibe is great for weddings due to having the option of either using the indoor tasting room or their large deck that overlooks the lake.  Given the wonderful weather, we chose to hold dinner on the deck so guests could take advantage of the view.  I brought in farm tables to use for the dinner.  The tables were then accented with a simple white fabric runner to which I added a combination of crystal cut glasses and silver julep cups filled with roses, peonies and other seasonal blooms.  The result was a simple yet stunning look that was a big hit.

There were a number of personal touches that were added to really personalize the wedding.  I always think it is this detail that really makes a wedding memorable and it was certainly the case here.

In the end it was a great celebration for the couple and their guests.  For me it was another special day in the Finger Lakes with a wonderful couple.  I love to see a happy bride and groom!

I would like to give a special shout out to Julia at Zugibe Vineyards who was such a pleasure to work with, Lisa at Showcase Sound who did an amazing job with the lighting and entertainment, McCarthy Tent who supplied all of the rentals and Gary at Michael Dade Photography who captured all of the images you see here.  I cannot wait to work with these wonderful vendors on my next event in the Finger Lakes.

Until next time...

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

Wedding of Leah & Thomas

Spring is finally here! Well....almost if you are in NYC! In honor of Spring, I wanted to share with you this beautiful wedding I planned and designed in my hometown of Rochester, NY! Leah and Thomas are such a lovely couple and I had such an amazing time working on this wedding for them!

  The ceremony took place in downtown Rochester at Chapel Hill, an old Catholic school that was recently converted into apartments and a spectacular wedding venue space. Read all about Chapel Hill's history here.

Inside the chapel, we adorned the pews with clean and classic hanging bouquets of floral that included white birch branches, evergreens, acorns, moss, and accents of green, purple, yellow, and terra cotta flowers. The aisle runner coordinated with the overall look and feel of the wedding, designed beautifully and hand painted with the bride and groom's logo by The Original Runner Company. After the wedding, the bride and groom planned to transform the runner into a Christmas Tree Skirt, a pillow, or another heirloom that could be used throughout the years.

The bride Leah owns her own photography company called Red Stone Studios up in Rochester. They did an absolutely amazing job shooting this wedding! How could they not?! A special thanks for these fabulous photos!

To this day, this is one of my favorite photos of a bridal party! They were such a fun group I just could not get enough! I love how beautifully their bouquets photographed, which were designed with green, eggplant, yellow, orange and terra cotta flowers and then tied with a green ribbon. Those flowers included roses, calla lilies, orchids, dahlias, and sunflowers, with accents of scabiosa pods, berries, acorns and fern. The groomsmen received boutonnieres of a single mini purple calla lily, green Kermit mums, and yellow spray roses.

The bride carried an all whtis, roses, calla lilies, and orchids. ite round European style bouquet of stephanoEach stephanotis flower was accented with real crystals that coordinated with the brides dress, and further accents of ferns were added. The handle was then tied with an all white satin ribbon and accented with birch bark that received a crystal broach that matched the brides dress. This bouquet was simple, clean, and a perfect accent to the beautiful bride and her stunning dress.

The reception took place at Bristol Harbour on Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes Region. 

 I hope you enjoy these photos! Thanks so much for reading!

Cheers!

Shawn