Manivone and John's Wedding at China Pearl

On Saturday, August 7th, I was the day-of coordinator for Manivone and John's wedding. Their ceremony was held at Babson College, and immediately afterwards, guests traveled into the city for a banquet reception at China Pearl.

I assembled the favors a couple of days before the wedding, which included chocolate drizzled fortune cookies in a white box, personalized with double happiness tags and tied together with double-faced green and fuchsia satin ribbon, which alternated on each place setting.

Crate & Barrel memo clips held the table numbers for each guest table, little pink and green flower pomanders were hung on the railings, and a table for a traditional Laotian ceremony was set up near the dance floor. The wedding cake was made by Eldo Cake House, and I decorated the cake layers with a mix of light and dark pink flowers. The custom cake toppers were two of the cutest birds I've ever seen, created and hand-painted by Red Light Studio to match the bride and groom's color scheme. Other items in the set up included the card box, guestbook, menu cards, and escort cards.

For this particular wedding, I was the day-of coordinator (DOC) for only part of the day. Instead of the usual blush package, I created a custom package for Manivone and John because they only needed assistance with the setup of decor at China Pearl, vendor coordination at the reception, and the first hour of programming (introductions, toasts, etc). It's definitely a change for me to only be involved for a few hours on the wedding day instead of the typical 12-18 hours, but it's great to be able to help out even just for a little bit!

Manivone and John, you were such a nice couple to work with, and your maid of honor, Jay Jay, was the sweetest! I wish you two the very best in your marriage together!

~Emilie

Rachel and Steve's Commandant's House Wedding!

On Saturday, July 31st, I was the coordinator for Rachel and Steve's wedding at the Commandant's House in Charlestown. This historic home has been host to presidents and royalty, and sits on top of a hill overlooking the Boston harbor and the USS Constitution. It was an absolutely perfect day - sunny and cool, which was great because the ceremony and reception were both held outside on the front lawns of the house.

The bridal party had their hair styled at Salon Acote, and then finished getting ready in the upstairs rooms of the Commandant's House, with makeup by Chris Lewis. The outdoor ceremony had white garden chairs in curved rows facing a beautiful chuppah with white hydrangea and white draping, created by Michelle Rose of Blooms Flower Shoppe. Michelle and her assistant, Jasmine, really went above and beyond on the day of the wedding. Not only did they provide gorgeous bouquets, ceremony decor, and reception decor, but they even pruned the flowers that were growing in front of the Commandant's House! Some of the hydrangea bushes had a few wilting flowers, so they cut those out so everything looked fresh. There were also some planter boxes of white, blue, purple, and red geraniums, but they knew that red was nowhere in the color scheme of the wedding, so they cut all of the red geraniums (about 4 or 5) knowing that they would quickly grow back.

Steve saw Rachel for the first time that day as she walked down the aisle, and after a beautiful interfaith ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktail hour inside the Commandant's House. The reception tent was on larger of the two front lawns, and was decorated with white paper lanterns in a variety of sizes along the perimeter. The low centerpieces were a compact grouping of white gerbera daisies inside a galvanized container of wheat grass. The tall centerpieces were also filled with wheat grass, but included purple larkspur in the center.

All of the tables were named after historic Boston landmarks or areas like Old North Church, Freedom Trail, and Old Ironsides. A unique touch to the bar inside the tent was the addition of a row boat full of ice and beer. There were two pails added on both ends with bottle openers attached where guests placed all of their bottle caps for the night.

Guests enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner of steak tips and grilled salmon by Caper's Catering, and cupcakes from Lyndell's Bakery for dessert. The frosting for each cupcake looked like lavender and dark purple hydrangea flowers! DJ Lee Wilson from C-Zone Entertainment kept everyone dancing until the very end of the night, and California-based, Jodye Alcon, was their wedding photographer. Professional photos will be coming later, but for now, here are some that I took on the day of!

The day went really smoothly, and it is always so nice to be able to interact with families and a great team of vendors. A special thanks to Lucy at the Commandant's House for being so accommodating! Rachel and Steve, it was such a joy working with both of you, and I hope you had a wonderful time on your honeymoon in Italy!

~Emilie

Ally and Randall's Larz Anderson Auto Museum Wedding and Hei La Moon Banquet!

On Saturday, June 26, 2010, I was the coordinator for Ally and Randall's wedding. The day started out with hair and makeup for the bridal party at Salon Capri in Newton, then everyone traveled over to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum to get dressed. This gorgeous auto museum holds the most amazing vintage cars I have ever seen. I think there's even one car in the lower level that is one of the oldest cars in the United States.

The bride wore a stunning beaded Henry Roth gown and held a bouquet of lush pink peonies. The bridesmaids wore silk chiffon J.Crew dresses and carried bouquets of pink hydrangea. All of the ceremony and personal flowers were designed by Nicole Pirani of Blooms of Hope.

The ceremony for over 300 guests was held on the lawn of the Larz Anderson Auto Museum, with a chuppah handmade by the bride's family. Even the tree on the top of the chuppah was painted by the bride's grandmother. After the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails and appetizers at the museum, while exploring all of the different car displays, and posing with props for the photo guestbook.

Afterwards, everyone headed into the city to Hei La Moon, for a traditional Chinese banquet dinner. The tables were dressed in chocolate linens and silk turquoise runners, fluffy tissue pomanders adorned the walls, little monkey bags filled with goodies were lined up for the kids, and in the middle of the room was the CAKE. Ohhh, the cake!! All of the guests loved reading all of the messages on the five tier tiffany blue wedding cake from Montilio's, complete with a basketball shoe and high heel on the top.

The escort cards were placed in wine corks, which matched the wine bottle table numbers, and guests enjoyed more cocktails along with a "perfect pear martini" signature drink. After introductions and an adorable first dance (with a top hat & boa!), there was a special lion dance performance, and then a 10 course banquet dinner was served. At the end of the night, a brighly colored candy buffet was brought out with sweets like candy necklaces, ring pops, twizzlers, gummy bears, and swedish fish.

Erica from Erica Ferrone Photography captured the entire day beautifully, and I'm so happy to be able to share some of her photos! Also, a special thank you to my assistant, Rachel, for helping me with all of the setup!

Photos by Erica Ferrone Photography

Ally and Randall, I wish you both the best in your marriage together, and it was so much fun working with you!!

~Emilie

A Colorful Sweets Buffet at Finale

In July, Fiona and I were asked to help put together a sweets buffet for a reception held at Finale Desserterie & Bakery in Boston. A sweets buffet, also known as a dessert buffet, is very similar to a candy buffet, except it usually includes extra non-candy items like cookies, brownies, or cupcakes. The reception was for a baptism, and in addition to the sweets buffet, guests enjoyed a variety of sandwiches and desserts from Finale.

For favor boxes, I personalized 4" x 4" clear tuck top boxes with brown double faced satin ribbon, and a sticker label on the front. I designed little butterflies and a cross around the words "Jayden's Baptism", the date of the event, and "Thank you for coming!". For the jar labels, I created hanging tags using pearlescent white cardstock, a brown metallic cardstock backing, and brown double faced satin ribbon. I also created a sign for the front of the buffet that matched the jar labels, with the phrase "help yourselves to something sweet" under Jayden's Sweets Buffet.

On the morning of the event, I went over to Finale to setup the buffet, and I loved how colorful everything was! Cecilia, Jayden's mom, picked the following goodies: chocolate covered almonds, gummy bears, skittles, milk chocolate M&Ms, sour apple ring candy, jelly beans, chocolate chip cookies, butter shortbread cookies, vanilla & raspberry jam cookies, and oreos. It is always fun setting up dessert buffets because I get to open up bags and bags of candy! Here are some photos of the design elements and the event.

event photos by Andrew Chu and Ramson Gutierrez

Mmm... this display makes me really want some candy, especially more of those Starburst flavored jelly beans!! If you're interested in a candy or sweets buffet for your upcoming event, contact us at info@pinkorchidweddings.com.

~Emilie

Featured on Style Me Pretty!

I am so excited to share that one of my FAVORITE wedding blogs ever, Style Me Pretty, just featured a gorgeous wedding that Fiona and I coordinated back at the end of June! I blogged about the amazing details here, but this is your first look at the stunning photos by Lexi Photography.

Photos by Lexi Photography

This is only a little peek into the SMP feature, so definitely check out the full article here!

~Emilie

Meghan & Matt's Omni Parker House Wedding!

On Saturday, July 10th, Fiona and I were the coordinators for Meghan and Matt's wedding. This was actually the Saturday where there was a crazy downpour in the afternoon, and flash flooding all over Massachusetts. Thankfully, everything was indoor for this wedding, and the only thing the rain affected were the outdoor portraits of the wedding party and family. Those were moved indoors to the Omni Parker House and to the Boston Public Library.

The day started out in a suite at the Omni Parker House, where the bridal party had their hair styled by Erik from the Will Charles Salon, and makeup by Krystal Treanor of I Do Faces. The bridesmaids wore coral colored dresses from Bari Jay, and the bride wore a gorgeous Paloma Blanca gown.

The wedding ceremony was held at the historic King's Chapel, and immediately after, guests walked next door to the Omni Parker House for a cocktail hour and dinner reception. The flowers for the centerpieces, along with the church gates and bouquets were all done by Orchids & Blooms. The low and tall centerpieces for the ballroom were a beautiful mix of bright flowers and curly willow branches.

One thing pretty unique about this wedding was the Red Sox and Yankees theme! The bride and her family are Yankees fans, and the groom and his family are Red Sox fans, so they thought that it would be a fun idea to incorporate that into wedding. Guests picked up escort card "tickets", complete with a photo of the bride and groom, a bar code, and the section where they would be sitting. The "sections" were silver framed photos of Red Sox and Yankees players, with a small autograph of each player. Some guests definitely had a lot of fun walking around to each table trying to spot players like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. As favors, the most adorable Red Sox and Yankees jersey cookies from A Dozen Eggs Bake Shoppe were at each guest's place setting.

Guests enjoyed an incredible five course dinner: lobster martini appetizer, salad, raspberry sorbet intermezzo, entree of filet mignon or sea bass, and wedding cake with a chocolate covered strawberry for dessert. The four tiered wedding cake from Montilios was decorated with a gorgeous lace design, but the most special detail of the cake was definitely the cake topper. It had been used in four generations of weddings in the bride's family, starting with her great grandmother's wedding.

DJ Aaron Topfer kept guests on the dance floor all night, and also played the piano during cocktail hour earlier in the evening. Ben McElroy of McElroy Weddings was the wedding videographer, and Caty Morris of Catharine Morris Photography was the photographer for the day. Professional photos from Caty will be coming later, but for now, here are some of the details!

Meghan and Matt, I hope you enjoyed your honeymoon in Hawaii, and it was such a pleasure working with you both!!

~Emilie