Stephanie & Andy's Seaport Hotel Wedding!

On Sunday, October 10th, Fiona and I were the coordinators for Stephanie and Andy's wedding at the Seaport Hotel. The day started out with hair and makeup for the entire bridal party by Lypor Leong, and all of the girls looked gorgeous in their tea length crimson red bridesmaid dresses. The bride wore a beautiful gown by Alfred Angelo, and carried a bouquet of red orchids.

The ceremony for 150 guests was held across the street from the Seaport Hotel in the Wintergarden Room at the World Trade Center. Mimosa Fresh Flower Design transformed the ceremony space with arrangements of red orchids along the aisle and flowering manzanita branches at the front. The Boston String Quartet played all of the proessional music, which included songs by Aerosmith and Edwin McCain.

After the ceremony, guests went to cocktail hour in Lighthouse II in the Seaport Hotel and enjoyed a full open bar and appetizers. Engagement photos and collages of friends and family adorned the room, along with a wishing tree, where guests could hang their wishes for the newlyweds on the branches.

The reception space was in Lighthouse I, which featured views of the Boston skyline and harbor. The LED lighting was set to red to match the bride and groom's color scheme, and was complemented with pearl Chiavari chairs, champagne iridescent crush linens, and lots of candles. Mimosa Fresh Flower Design put together all of the centerpieces for the room, as well all of the personal flowers for the wedding day. The four-tier cake from Konditor Meister was on display in the center of the room at the beginning of the reception, and was decorated with orchids, and double happiness characters. Each table number was written as the Chinese character, and at each place setting, guests were treated with a little box of personalized Red Sox and Yankees M&Ms, and a brown petal envelope with a scratch ticket inside.

Guests enjoyed a four-course dinner, followed by a night full of dancing with music provided by Anthony and Edwin of Jetset Sounds. These two DJs are known as club DJs around the Boston area and have recently started to do weddings! Their website is due to launch in another week or two, and I'm excited to work with them again for future weddings. In the corner of the reception room, guests also took full advantage of a fun photo booth from Party Booths with lots of props provided by the bride and groom. Later on in the night, a snack of sliders and fries was a welcomed surprise for all of the guests.

Jim from Boston Wedding Films was their cinematographer, and Jen Ing of Jen Ing Photography was the professional photographer for the day. I'm such a huge fan of both of them, so I can't wait to see their finished products! For now, here are some photos that I took.

Stephanie and Andy, it was so much fun to work with both of you, and I hope you had an amazing honeymoon in Hawaii!!

~Emilie

Rachel and Dan's Wedding at Moraine Farm

On Saturday, October 9th, I was the coordinator for Rachel and Dan's wedding at Moraine Farm in Beverly, MA. It was a crisp, cool day, the sun was shining, and the whole wedding area at Moraine Farm was just beautiful. The reception tent from The Event Co. had been set up the previous day, and caterers had started to set up chairs for the ceremony next to an adorable tea house at the end of the lawn, and the tables for the reception under the tent in the middle of the lawn.

After getting hair styled at Aveda Radiance Salon, and makeup at Rouge Cosmetics, the bridal party got dressed at Moraine Farm. The bridesmaids wore a variety of short and long J. Crew slate grey chiffon dresses and carried simple bouquets of baby's breath wrapped in black satin ribbon. The bride wore shoes by J. Crew, and a gorgeous strapless Christos dress with intricate beading at the top and an incredible skirt that looked like the dress was floating on air.

Rachel and Dan flew in their photographer, Heather España of España Photography, all the way from Oregon just for the wedding day and decided to do a "first look" and portraits before the ceremony in order to spend as much time as possible with their guests later on. Moraine Farm is surrounded by woods, so Heather hid Dan next to a specific tree in the woods and then brought Rachel over to Dan and captured their first moment together. Heather posted one photo teaser so far from the wedding day and it is one of their portraits in the woods. To me, it's pure perfection...

Photo by España Photography
After portraits with the entire bridal party, the family gathered for a Ketubah signing, and then guests started to arrive for the wedding ceremony. They helped themselves to apple cider while mingling with other guests. White garden chairs were set outside, with large white pumpkins along the aisle. A wreath of baby's breath hung on the tea house window and was the backdrop for the outdoor ceremony. There were different versions of programs, with quotes on the back like mazel tov, yay!, and d+r. A friend played acoustic guitar for the processional, and in addition to the bridesmaids and a flower girl, a cousin walked the ringbearer down the aisle: the bride and groom's dog, Beacon!

Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktail hour on the terrace of the main house, which was set right along the water. Family photos and candles surrounded their unique guestbook which was an electric guitar that guests signed with silver pens. After the cocktail hour, guests looked up their names on an escort chart chalkboard, and were invited into the main reception tent where they were greeted with beautifully decorated long guest tables.

There were different sized white pumpkins on the tables, along with some mini silver pumpkins, candles in mercury votive holders, and arrangements of baby's breath. Atmosphere & Floral Design provided all of the florals for the day, including bouquets and boutonnieres. The table numbers were created out of sheet music, and place cards doubled as favors at each place setting. The favors were a variety of jars like blackberry jam, strawberry jam, and even apple butter. Mr. and Mrs. signs were strung between the bride and groom's chairs, and there were lace linen overlays for all of the guest tables. In addition to all of these pieces for the tables, the bride had spent the last year or so collecting over 200 pieces of vintage china for the dinner plates and bread plates for over 100 guests. The variations of color and style for each plate really added to the charm of the tablescape.

The tent was decorated with white lanterns, and was also heated so it was very cozy inside the tent and comfortable for guests, despite the 50 degree weather outside! After a plated salad, guests enjoyed a buffet dinner featuring bbq style food catered by Timothy Hopkins Catering, and then filled the dance floor with music by Felix Brown.

Later on, there was a fantastic dessert buffet which included French macarons from L.A. Burdick, cupcakes from Lyndell's Bakery, cookies and a vanilla wedding cake from Ula Cafe, and a variety of goodies homemade by the bride's family like rice krispy treats, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. I can't wait to see more photos later on from Heather España, but for now, here are some photos that I took on the wedding day.

It was a day full of love and joy, and a special thanks to my assistant, Celia, for helping me until the very end. Rachel and Dan, thanks so much for allowing me to be part of your special day, and I wish you both all the happiness in the world.

~Emilie

A romantic wedding in California wine country

On the first weekend of October, I flew out to San Diego, California to attend the wedding of my friends, Jason & Lindsay. Back when they both lived in Boston, I brought Jason with me to a group lunch, where we both met Lindsay for the first time. After their engagement, they both moved to San Diego and decided to get married in California wine country, so it was a destination wedding for all of their guests.

I had the honor of creating their wedding invitations, which included a grape leaf design, and accent colors of crimson red and gold. The custom map, rsvp card, and gold rsvp envelope were all set in a crimson red pocketfold, with the invitation mounted in the middle. Wrap around address labels were used on both the rsvp envelope and the main envelope.

The ceremony was held in the beautiful All Hallows Catholic Church in La Jolla, and then the reception was at Gershon Bachus Vinters in Temecula. The cocktail hour was held outside right as the sun was starting to set, and then the dinner inside the house was amazing because two sides of the house opened up to the outside so you had the vineyard setting all around you. Here are a couple of photos from the wedding!

Jason and Lindsay, it was so nice to see you both, and congratulations again!!!

~Emilie

Martha and Marc's Elegant State Room Wedding

On Friday, September 24th, I was the coordinator for Martha and Marc's wedding. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and the entire bridal party got ready in a suite at the Millennium Bostonian Hotel in Faneuil Hall. One of the bride's family friends, Ronnie, flew in from the Philippines to do hair and makeup for the bride and a few family members. The bridesmaids got their makeup done by the fabulous Caitlin Murphy, who I always love working with.

Seven bridesmaids wore chocolate brown Jim Hjelm chiffon dresses in three different necklines, and each held a small bouquet of varying white flowers. The bride wore a stunning Priscilla of Boston gown with a sweetheart neckline, blue satin Badgley Mischka shoes with "I" and "DO" in blue rhinestones on the bottom, and carried a beautiful bouquet of white phalaenopsis orchids, white calla lilies, and crystals.

Before getting to more fun details, I wanted to mention that with coordination clients, the number of times I usually see a bride and groom before the wedding day is about three times. For Martha and Marc, in addition to coordination, I created their wedding invitations, table numbers, menu cards, candy buffet box tags and signage, hotel welcome notes, escort cards, flip flop basket signs, and ceremony programs. All of the design ideas and edits back and forth and extra meetings definitely gave me the chance to know them pretty well before the big day, and made the wedding day even more special for me to be a part of. I'll be going through stationery details in a later post, but here is a preview of just some of the things I created for them!

Ok, back to the wedding day: The ceremony for 140 guests was held at Gate of Heaven Parish and Marc saw his bride for the very first time on her walk down the aisle with her parents. After the ceremony, the bridal party went to the Boston Public Gardens for photos by trolley, and guests had a little bit of down time back at the Millennium Bostonian Hotel, which was within walking distance to the reception venue.

The State Room reception was held in the Great Room, which is always breathtaking with amazing views of the Boston skyline. Guests enjoyed cocktail hour on the upper level, and picked up their escort cards which had personalized moo card photos for each guest mounted onto the back: Martha and her friends at a Halloween party, Marc and his dad when he was a little kid... it was definitely a nice touch and a surprise to everyone!

Chocolate pin-tuck linens covered the guest tables, and ivory satin napkins held the menu cards. The low centerpieces were made of white roses and hydrangeas, and the high centerpieces were made of branches, white orchids, and hanging candles. All florals were created by William Mizuta, including all of the personal flowers and bouquets. Frosted candy buffet boxes personalized with tags and blue satin ribbon were set around each centerpiece, and the pin spotting and uplighting in the room really made everything pop.

Two photographers and one videographer from Cly Creation (based out of NYC) documented the entire day. Professional photos will be coming later, but for now, here is a little peek!

Martha and Marc, it was so much fun getting to know you over the last several months, and it was such an honor to be part of your wedding. I hope you had a fantastic honeymoon in Bora Bora!

~Emilie

A 30th Anniversary Celebration at Brasserie JO

Sometimes you hear of huge 50th birthday celebrations, and many times it's the spouse that ends up planning a lavish event for family and friends. But, when is the last time you heard of a couple's children throwing them an anniversary party? Pretty rare, right? When Fiona (yes, Pink Orchid's very own wedding coordinator!) told me that she and her sister wanted to throw their parents a 30th Anniversary Party, I thought it was the sweetest thing, and wanted to help in any way possible. After visiting a lot of venues and perusing through dozens of menus, Fiona decided that Brasserie JO would be the perfect spot for a dinner celebration with her parents' closest friends.

Guests were able to choose from a delicious menu of three appetizers, two salads, four entrées, and three desserts. I created invitations, menu cards, and place cards for the event, and there were welcome toasts, and lots of memories shared about Johnny and Carol throughout the night. Each guest also received a favor of two kinds of Tea Forté packaged in a little clear box, tied with a silver satin ribbon bow.

Everyone had a wonderful time, and it was so nice to be able to participate in such a great event!

~Emilie