Grace and Adam planned a barn fete June 26th with a touch of Irish whimsy to wink at the bride’s heritage, elegant tablescapes, and personal flourishes… in a gorgeous century old barn on the Armstrong Farm homestead.
There’s nothing that says summer more than a chilled slice of watermelon on a hot summer day…but did you know that watermelon is making it’s way into many elegant wedding menus this year in a variety of savory and sweet presentations? From specialty cocktails, to appetizers and greek salads, even some amazing chilled soups, this season’s watermelon is so much more than a slice on a fruit display!
Shooters or Soup Course
In the realm of shooters, many cold soups abound with watermelon infusion to entertain your pallate. Zambistro Catering of New York offers a refreshing lemongrass watermelon shooter on their cold appetizer list, and Good Food Catering Company out of Tampa recently served Watermelon Gazpacho shooters at a summer wedding. For the recipe visit their blog here.
Having recently undergone an incredible renovation, The Empire Club has emerged as one of Jersey’s premier wedding reception locations, offering the perfect setting for an outdoor or indoor ceremony and reception.
Whether you stand at the check-out counter at Balducci’s, Safeway and Rice Epicurean grocery stores, the familiar faces of your favorite movie stars, rock musicians, and sports legends parade before you on the covers of magazines and newspapers reflecting the euphoria, or angst of the moment. They are either in, or out of love; sublimely married, or en route back from the lawyers.
Invite By Ink Fancy Letterpress
Most everyone sets out with the best and highest intentions, which can be summed up in one word: Matrimony. Their wedding preparations are guided by: love, commitment, and respect for all. However, acrimony can set in. It is brought on by subtle divisiveness, a knee-jerk decision, and “It’s gotta be me,”attitude. Let’s face it, life, and the road that leads to marriage, and beyond is all about love. How we love, who we love, and, possibly, who we love the least.
What separates matrimony from acrimony is the lack of love.
What did you want to be when you were little? At some point, most girls wanted to be a princess – or at least be treated like one. Even if you’ve never harbored a secret wish to be royalty, then you’ve surely wanted to be waited on, hand and foot, by your own personal staff to attend to your every wish.
We all should be treated like royalty now and then – so we thought it would be interesting to explore some options in the way of “the royal treatment.”
There is still something about mini cakes that make me excited. I love to see them at each place setting waiting for your guests to arrive. Another great to showcase these lovelies is by putting them in little clear boxes and adorn the dessert or favor table. It is great way to incorporate your colors or themes (as if you were doing polka dots, incorporating them as seen below).
Does this picture make you think about eco-friendly weddings? Probably not! You have probably seen a few photos from backyard weddings with vegan buffets and told that that only way to go green for your wedding day is to make as many sacrifices as possible. Fear not – such is not the case!
The above photo was taken from an incredible wedding that was full of interesting and eco-friendly details (including a fantastic propane-run trolley that took the guests throughout the city on a tour).
Upcoming nuptials bring about more reasons to celebrate than any other event in life…and one of my favorite fetes surrounding a wedding is the engagement party! Here we can celebrate the newness, the promise, the future…try out some ideas floating for the wedding reception, and still have a more relaxed take on the event. Bride and Groom can revel in the attention, and interface with a more intimate number of close family and friends. It gets the party started so to speak.
Your wedding invitation is a mirror of your wedding ceremony and reception.
An amazing invitation will bespeak your message, theme and entice your guests to the magic of your wedding. Frankly, ordering the invitation should be one of the first items on your agenda, after your set the date, church, venue and organized the guest list.
The process of selecting your invitation establishes your the tone and theme of the wedding; it sets the foundation for the myriad of choices you will be making throughout the process. Remember, my famous matrimony query: What is your Bridal Signature? Are your traditional, urban contemporary, or a blend of both? Understand who you are, establish your style! Carry it out with confidence and grace.
Need a little professional advice, an insider’s knowledge of what wedding invitation albums you should peruse? Which ones make the best sense in this challenging economic climate? My book, The Write Stuff, gives you a handbook on how to choose as well as provides the latest information. Need a question answered quickly, pose your question, or comment on this blog.
With Manhattan and Philadelphia providing wedding couples with dramatic décor, beautiful landscapes, and incredible backdrops, New Jersey’s Nanina’s In the Park, sets a standard that rivals any bordering state.
We like to create lounge areas where guests can kick back, relax and socialize. The lounge continues to become more popular for weddings; it’s another aspect of the reception that adds excitement while giving that chill vibe to a room. Lounges can be added right around your dance floor for people to enjoy the entertainment; or they can be included in quieter surroundings where quests can have easy conversation.
Some designs can be very elaborate and some quite simple it all depends on the room you are working in, your design aesthetic and you vision of how your guests will enjoy their evening. In designing a lounge keep in perspective the room is for relaxing and socializing. In this environment a lounge can be as simple as one sofa, and focal point of a refreshment bar or flowers. The design should encompass some, if not all, of the five senses including sight, touch, smell, hearing and taste.
