Exciting news!

Shawn Rabideau Events & Design is expanding our services and offices from New York City to Charleston, SC and the Finger Lakes region of New York.  With New York City as our headquarters we now have the unique ability to plan your destination wedding in New York, Charleston, the Finger Lakes, nationally and even worldwide.

Hibernian Hall - Charleston, SC

By opening offices is these key new markets, we can easily assist brides getting married along the east coast plan their weddings in a more effective and productive manner.  And, by offering a variety of planning levels, Shawn and hit team can customize the services they offer to work for your wedding or event in New York, Charleston or the Finger Lakes. Whether it be full planning, month of planning or ala carte wedding and event consulting, Shawn and his team can customize a package that works for you.

Bristol Harbour, Canandaigua, NY

So if you are in need of planning services in these locations, nationally or even worldwide, we are here to meet your needs.  And, for more information you can always visit us at www.ShawnRabideau.com. 

Happy planning and ...

Cheers!

Wedding of Meredith & Jason

I have another beautiful wedding to share with you today! This is the wedding of an incredible couple, Meredith & Jason, who got married at The W Union Square, one of my favorite venues! Meredith & Jason are such a sweet couple and I am so happy that I was able to design their decor for their special day.

The bride carried a stunning bouquet that was designed with all white anemones, roses, calla lilies, and orchids.

The couple was married underneath a sleek chuppa that was designed to have a strong presence, yet with a romantic feel. Accenting the chuppa was a beautiful layer of flowers that consisted of roses, white and ivory stock, and hydrangea. Robert Stark Lighting did a fabulous job highlighting the entire chuppa to make it appear as if it were glowing.

For the table arrangements, half were high and half were low, but designed in the same manner. The tall arrangements were designed in a large glass cylinder with white hydrangea, roses, white and ivory stock, as well as curly willow bursting from the top.

Ron Ben Israel created this stunning cake that mimicked the lace on the brides dress.

Big thanks to Cody Raisig Photography who did a wonderful job on the photography for Meredith & Jason's wedding. For more amazing photos of this wedding, be sure to check out his website here! We look forward to working with him again in September!

Cheers!

Shawn 

The Wedding Salon!

Calling all NYC and Tri-State area brides! Come join me this Wednesday, April 27th at the Manhattan Center Studios for The Wedding Salon Luxury Bridal Showcase from 4:00pm - 9:00pm! For more information and a complete list of the other participants, take a look at The Wedding Salon's website here! Make sure to buy your tickets in advance! You definitely don't want to miss out!

www.weddingsalon.com

I look forward to seeing you!

Cheers!
Shawn

Next Magazine's Gay Wedding Guide

I am thrilled to share with you Next Magazine's "New York Gay Wedding Guide!" I am featured in the Experts section where I share my thoughts on gay weddings as well as tell you about some of my current favorites in the wedding industry.

www.nextmagazine.com

Take a look at the article here!

Cheers!

Shawn

Bridal Emergency Kit

A few days ago I tweeted photos of the "Shawn Rabideau Events & Design" bridal emergency kit and you all wanted to know what I have in there and why.  I can tell you this after 11 years in the wedding business (and being a former Boy Scout) I've learned to be prepared because even the craziest situations can pop up.

I purchased a collapsible make-up kit from Sephora because I wanted it have a clean and professional look; however, a tool box would work just as nice.  I started with the basics and then did my "what if" for almost everything under the sun.  Below is a list of what I've found useful during wedding emergencies.

Until next time - Cheers!

Shawn

Q-Tips

Lotion

Sewing Kit

Tampons

Pads

Hair Mousse

Hair spray

Brush

Comb

Nail File

Clear Nail Polish

Nail Enamel Dryer

Advil

Tylenol

Aspirin

Benadryl

Latex Gloves

Alcohol Wipes

Band Aid

Two Sizes of Safety Pins

Bobby Pins

Colgate Wisp

Mini Mouth Wash

Dental Flossers

Gel Heal protectors

Small fabric scissors

Pen / Black Magic Marker

Straws

Kleenex

Purell Hand Sanitizer

Febreze To Go

Static Guard

Tums

Mini Lint Roller

Men and Woman's Disposable Razors

Emergen-C

Mini Deodorant

Madame Paulette's Professional Stain Remover Kit

Tide Stain Stick

Duct Tape (we keep that in our other tool kit)

Crate & Barrel - The Wedding Parties Event

I am so excited to be part of Crate & Barrel's "The Wedding Parties" Event tonight at the Soho location! If you are newly engaged and in the NYC area, stop by and see us between 6:00pm-8:00pm!

www.crateandbarrel.com

Cheers!

Shawn


P.S. If you can't make it tonight, be sure to stop by this Sunday, February27th from 9:00am-11:00am. Hope to see you then!

Wedding of Camille & James

I have another fabulous wedding to share with you today! This is the wedding of Camille and James, such a fun and loving couple! They were married at a fabulous location here in NYC, Bridgewaters near South Street Seaport! Check out the amazing photos below courtesy of The Wiebners!

I love Camille's green shoes and all of the touches of green that we used throughout the entire wedding!

The bride's stunning bouquet was designed with primarily white flowers with green accents. The flowers that were used included white roses, white and green cymbidium orchids, white and green dendrobium orchids and touches of white stephanotis. The bouquet was designed in such a way that there was texture and movement to it without it being too tight. The handle of the bouquet was then finished off with a handkerchief provided by the brides mother.

The bride and her father walked down a custom made aisle runner created by The Original Runner Co that was lined with glass cylinders that were filled with white pillar candles and green dendrobium orchids.

For the escort cards, Camille's mother had green notebooks made with the guests names on the spine, which we then arranged on an antique desk brought in by the brides mother and father! We then used arrangements of green cymbidium orchids as book ends! Guests were able to bring their notebooks home as a little favor!

I cannot get enough of these unique table numbers! For the bride and groom, they were seated at table "love."

We also designed an "&" symbol made from green dendrobium orchids, which tied the bride "&" groom's chairs together at their sweetheart table. 

Placed in the center of each of the tables were modern, yet full centerpieces designed with white and green roses, white and green cmybidium orchids, white and green dendrobium orhcids, and variegated lily grass. In addition to the arrangements, we also used alternating heights of floating candle holders that not only received floating candles, but orchids and variegated lily grass beneath the candle. Also, other satellite arrangements and green apples were added to create depth, texture, and fullness to the overall design.

I absolutely love this cupcake stand and cupcakes from Sweet Sisters Cakes! They did a fabulous job! And look at the lights from The Brooklyn Bridge in the background! What a stunning view from Bridgewaters!

I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I loved working with this incredible couple! I wish them all the happiness and success in the world!

Cheers!

Shawn

Wedding of Joey & Joe

On this rainy, slushy Tuesday I thought it would be nice to share with you a wedding we did in November with an absolutely fabulous couple.  Joey and Joe (I know how cute is that?) came to me back in December 2009.  Joey is always the bubbly bride and Joe is always the smiling groom. What I loved about them is that they trusted me in that they allowed me to take their hand and guide them through what I thought would work best with their vision and personality.  And what we created for them was absolutely fantastic!

First, Joey and Joe saw each other for the first time at the W New York, and from there they made their way to the famous High Line and New York's Meat Packing District where some fabulous shots were captured by Craig Paulson Photography. Take a look for yourself! The shots are absolutely stunning! Especially with the sunset over the Hudson River!

 The bride wore a gorgeous gown from the Wedding Atelier - funny enough it was the last dress she tried on.  I saw it on a mannequin and she said she didn't think it would look good on her.  I told her to give it a try, you never know…So, she put it on and everyone's eyes lit up! It was the perfect dress; unique and stunningly perfect for her personality.   

 So naturally when designing her bouquet I had to come up with something that was equally as unique. So I designed this double pomander "bouquet" of all white flowers that included, mums, spray roses and orchids, and to this day it still takes my breath away! 

 For the maid of honor we pulled colors from the wedding along with seasonal elements such as purple artichokes and purple calla lilies (my favorite!) to create something that was not only seasonal but fresh.

The couple's wedding took place at the famed New York City landmark The Puck Building's Skylight Room.  Joey and Joe wanted the ceremony simple, clean and elegant which is exactly what we created for them.  

 Being that their initials were "J" and "J" I just had to create something that would be their calling card.  Taking a cue from their invitation that was designed by Alpine Creative Group, we had The Original Runner Company make their unique aisle runner with their initials in the colors of their wedding.  After the ceremony we cut the logo in the runner out and guests were able to sign it which will eventually hang in the couple's home. What a fun twist on a guest book!

If you know me you know that I LOVE cocktail hour; so I thought it would be fun to create cocktail arrangements in martini glasses…if you ask me it gives a whole new meaning to cheers!

Once the room was turned over from the ceremony to dinner and dancing, we revealed it to the bride and groom, and are happy to report that they were beyond thrilled!  Using aubergine linens, gold accents, and flowers in the colors of green and purple, we created one of a kind centerpieces that reportedly guests are still talking about!

Guests dined on absolutely delicious food including Vegetable Croustade, Porcini & Peppercorn Crusted Filet of Beef and Herb Crusted Seas Bass provided by Thomas Preti Catering.

I love how Ana Dolan created unique square escort cards and rectangular menus all of which coordinate with the overall color scheme of the wedding.

Elizabeth Hodes took a cue from the overall look and feel of the wedding and created a square three tiered cake with coordinating flowers that cascaded down the cake onto the table, simply stunning!

And special thanks to On the Move Events who kept guests partying into the wee hours of the night!

All in all l it was magical and fabulous evening and I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed Joey and Joe's wedding!

Cheers!

Shawn

The Wedding of Katerina & William

I am so excited to share with you the wedding of Katerina and William! In November 2009, Katerina contacted me to plan and design her wedding, but there was a catch...she was living in Singapore! So, we conducted an interview via Skype and quickly got the ball rolling to plan her September 2010 wedding. She was going to be in New York City for 5 days over the Thanksgiving holiday, so we had lots we had to do in such a short amount of time! Whoever said planning Bethenny's wedding in 4 weeks was tough? Try pulling everything together for Katerina in only 5 days! On her quick trip to NYC we saw venues, met with bands and DJ's, created her save the date, interviewed photographers, met caterers, tried on dresses (well I didn't, she did!) and then she left the rest up to me! From there on out we had meetings via Skype, emailed back and forth, and then I didn't see her again until two weeks before the wedding! She trusted me and my team to pull together the wedding of her dreams. As a result, we planned and designed a fabulous wedding at The Glass Houses in the Chelsea Arts Tower for an intimate group of 75 of her closest family members and friends, some even flew in from Russia!

Katerina wore this gorgeous dress from Bridal Reflections, which happened to be the first dress I found while we were out shopping and the first dress she tried on!

The fabulous team from Gloss and Glam did a beautiful job on the brides hair and makeup. Her stunning bouquet was designed with all white flowers including calla lilies, roses, and of course phalaenopsis orchids, the brides favorite! On the handle of the bouquet I placed three bands of crystals to coordinate with the beaded belt she wore with her dress.

For the groom, we kept the boutonniere simple, sophisticated, and classic with two miniature white calla lilies and one stephanotis with a crystal center.

The ceremony, which took place right at sunset overlooking the Hudson River on the 14th floor of the Chelsea Arts Tower at The Glass Houses, was a stunning display of all white flowers, which lined the aisle and surrounded the chuppa.

 

 

After the ceremony, guests made their way to the 21st floor for cocktail hour. When stepping off the elevator, guests immediately were greeted with this escort card table and stunning arrangement. Ana Dolan, from Invitations by Ana, created the criss cross pocket escort cards, which we also used on her save the dates and the invitation! I absolutely love Ana's creativity and designs! She even created Katerina and William's logo, which we also used throughout the entire evening. 

   

Here is the KW logo that Ana Dolan created. We had Paratore Audio-Visual make a gobo so we could project the logo onto the wall in both the cocktail  hour and the reception space. I love the way this turned out! These extra little touches of detail really made the evening special!

After cocktail hour, guests made their way back down to the 14th floor which was now transformed into dinner and dancing! We even kept the chuppa and placed DJ Shiran from Total Entertainment underneath!

At each place setting, guests could find their seats by locating their name on the criss pocket of the menu, created by Ana Dolan.

Guests enjoyed a fabulous meal prepared by Creative Edge Parties. As a hobby, the groom William is a chef, so food and beverage was a very important aspect of the wedding. Both Katerina and William fell in love with Creative Edge at the very first meeting and I have to say I knew they would not be disappointed! As I mentioned before, some of the brides friends and family flew in from Russia, so as a tribute to her home country I collaborated with Creative Edge to do a chive crepe with caviar and a shot of vodka for the amuse bouche! Delish!

Guests also enjoyed this fun hors d'oeuvres of a shot of tomato soup with a miniature grilled cheese sandwich! Look closely, we even branded the grilled cheese with the KW logo!

For the cake, Jill from The Cake Studio created this fantastic three tiered cake with phalaenopsis orchids made from sugar cascading down. Not only is it beautiful but was so yummy!

Gotta have some champagne with the cake!

And lastly, as guests departed they each received KW lollipop cookies, also created by Jill from The Cake Studio. 

And here I am with my Event Coordinator Meagan! We hope you enjoyed looking at the photos of this great wedding! A special thanks to 4eyes Photography for capturing all of these moments!

Until next time, Cheers!

Shawn