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

Boston Wedding Films at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York

Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to work with Jason and his fabulous team at Boston Wedding Films at Mark & Rhonda's wedding. Ever since, we were hooked on their creativity and cinematic style, and were really excited when our friends, Angela and Jeff, decided to book them for their wedding at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City.

Angela and Jeff saw this movie trailer on the Pink Orchid Weddings blog a few months ago in May and knew that they wanted Boston Wedding Films for their own wedding. Here is the highlight video from their wedding on August 22, 2010.

Angela + Jeff: - A Boston Wedding Films Highlight from Boston Wedding Films on Vimeo.

Love it!!! Did you notice the huge ceremony floral arrangements? Fiona attended this wedding as a guest and told me that they were the biggest arrangements she has ever seen!

We are so happy that we'll be working with Boston Wedding Films again for Stephanie and Andy's wedding at the Seaport Hotel next weekend, so more amazing videos will definitely be posted later on!

~Emilie

Erin and Dan's Harvard Memorial Hall Wedding!

On Saturday, August 14th, I was the coordinator for Erin and Dan's wedding. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, which started out at the Charles Hotel, where the bridal party got ready with hair and makeup. The bridemaids wore Calvin Klein dresses, and the bride's gown was by Paloma Blanca. Not only was Erin's dress stunning, but her cathedral length veil with lace trim from Etsy really completed the look. Nellie's Wildflowers provided all of the bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, and nosegays for the wedding. The bride and groom are both Harvard alums, and decided to do a first look before their ceremony so they would have plenty of time to go to some of their favorite photo locations, like Harvard Stadium.

The ceremony for 250 guests was held at St. Catherine of Genoa Church in Somerville, then everyone traveled a short distance to Harvard's Memorial Hall for the cocktail hour and reception. The cocktail hour was held in the Transept, which is a long corridor with large stained glass windows on both ends and incredibly high ceilings. Guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, and had a lot of fun with Erin and Dan's unique guestbook. The guestbook was a thumbprint tree, where guests picked their favorite shade of green stamp, and used their thumb to add leaves to a large tree. Then, they would clean off their thumb with provided wipes, and then sign their name underneath their thumbprint.

After cocktail hour, doors opened to Annenberg Hall for the reception. This room is spectacular, and reminds me of the Hogwartz dining hall from Harry Potter. Erin and Dan had a lot of fond memories here because it's Harvard's freshman dining hall, and they chose their wedding date in August because it is the one of, if not the only weekend of the year when there are no students on campus. The bride herself created all of the centerpieces for the guest tables. The low centerpieces were made of ivy leaves and roses. The tall centerpieces were a mix of branches with tied roses and hanging votives. Tons of votives candles were scattered on each table, and along the sides of the room. After a first course of salad, Crimson Catering served filet mignon with shrimp scampi as the main entrée.

The wedding cake from Lyndell's Bakery was decorated with ivy, and two little lovebirds on the top. However, the best part of the cake was the cake cutter: the groom's sword from the Marines. I had never held a sword before in my life, and so it was quite fun even just putting it on the cake table. Erin and Dan cut the cake with the sword, with the Marines' Hymm, "The Halls of Montezuma" playing in the background. Afterwards, I took the icing covered sword into the kitchen, and got a lot of "woah!!"s from the staff who didn't know about sword until then. My awesome assistant, Rachel, ended up washing the sword in the kitchen sink and told me later on that it was definitely a unique wedding experience!

Flip flop baskets were made available to guests as dancing got underway, and soon afterwards, Rachel and I went to go pick up around 16 pizza pies from Pinocchio's Pizza to prepare for the late night snack buffet, which also included Blue Bell Ice Cream. The pizza was for all of the Harvard alums, who survived on Pinocchio's during school. The ice cream was a tribute to Texas, where the groom is from and a lot of guests were from as well. Blue Bell Ice Cream was scooped into cones, and also was part of a sundae bar, complete with servers wearing Blue Bell hats! The professional photos from Eric Laurits will be coming later on, but for now, here are some photos that I took of the night!

Erin and Dan, you both were so fun to work with, and I hope you had an amazing honeymoon in Italy. I wish you nothing but the best in your marriage together, and thank you for allowing me to be part of your wedding day!

~Emilie