Emily and Carson's Gore Place Wedding Photos by Simply Bloom Photography

This is a long overdue post of one of the most gorgeous and DIY-filled weddings that I have ever coordinated. I had the honor of being the coordinator for Emily and Carson's "Up" themed wedding at Gore Place in Waltham, and their reception at China Pearl in downtown Boston.  The bridal party got ready with hair and makeup at the Courtyard Marriott in Brookline, and the entire wedding party participated in the traditional door games where the groom and groomsmen have to complete a series of tasks in order to see the bride.

After the door games, a tea ceremony was performed for the groom's family, and then everyone made their way over to Gore Place for the wedding ceremony.  The heartfelt ceremony took place in the hedge gardens at Gore Place, and this is such a unique space for a ceremony because everyone was completely surrounded by beautiful hedges, with access only through three narrow openings.  The bride and groom were married under a gorgeous floral arch created by Petalena, and placed "love notes" to each other in a box that they locked and will read to each other on their one year anniversary.  Flowers in tones of peach, green, and pink lined the aisle on shepherd hooks.

Following the ceremony, a cocktail hour was held outside on the lawn, with tables topped with lemon and gray linens, and small delicate floral arrangements from Petalena on little wooden slices, marked with Emily & Carson's initials.  The guestbook was placed on a table next to a large dollhouse (built by the groom!), topped with a large collection of colorful balloons.  Going along with the "Up" movie theme, there was a Paradise Falls jar filled with some change next to the dollhouse.  Guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres from Currier & Chives like mini beef wellington and scallops wrapped in bacon, and there was also a large collection of colorful Izze sodas that was a huge hit with guests.  Lawn games such as croquet, bean bag toss, and bongo ball were setup near the cocktail hour area, and made for a very fun afternoon prior to the evening reception.

The traditional Chinese banquet reception was held at China Pearl in downtown Boston.  The room was decorated with dozens of hanging paper poms, as well as gold bengaline floor length linens.  The banquet consisted of 12 courses and was an absolute feast! DJ Profenna kept the night filled with music, and there was a Smilebooth setup in the room that was a really big hit. There were so many fun props and a sparkly silver background, and guests were able to take photo strips of their poses home with them.  The wedding cake was created by Jacques Pastries, and was decorated with mini penant flags.

Vania from Simply Bloom Photography, flew out to Boston from Alabama to document the big day.  Her photos are simply stunning!

Photos by Simply Bloom Photography

Emily and Carson, it was so nice getting to know you both, and I hope you are enjoying married life!!

~Emilie

Baby Shower Cake Design Process - Adobe Illustrator to Reality

Although the majority of my business is in weddings, every once in a while I take on non-wedding events.  When my former bride, Arti, asked that I plan her baby shower at the Hyatt Boston Harbor, I knew that it was going to have to be the prettiest shower that I could possibly design!  Her wedding last year was a stunner (here & here).  This momma-to-be really knows what she likes, and amazingly, she gave me free rein in almost everything design and decor related.

Since the baby's gender is a surprise, she wanted to go with pink and blues.  I customized some ideas that she had for an invitation, and created the following out of two layers of luxe cotton cardstock and light blue tulle.

Having this as my guide for the rest of the event, I needed to come up with some cute ideas for all of the other little elements of the shower, including designing the baby shower cake! Being able to design the cake is not something that I typically am able to do with weddings. My clients always have their own ideas in mind, and never say, "Emilie, surprise me!" - so when I heard that this time around, I really wanted to make this a true surprise and just went with what I thought looked good.

It started with my beloved Adobe Illustrator. I began with the pink and blue colors, with a four tiered cake, a little hand-drawn bird, a possible banner, simplifying the design down to two tiers, adding ribbon, adding a little pearl border, and trying out different color combinations to see what would actually look good vs. what I think would look good in my head.

In the end, I wanted to have a cake closest to the second design page, bottom left cake.  I wasn't sure if the bird would be made out of fondant or possibly chocolate, or if I would have to make it out of paper, or if I would just print it as part of the banner that I wanted to make. I made an appointment with Konditor Meister for the cake design, specifically because they had a lot of the mini pastries that I also wanted to order for the event, and here is proof of my visit...

Just me and 10 pieces of CAKE! It's not all about the design, but I had to pick out flavors too! Yummm...  I had a great appointment with Deanna there, going over lots of specifics on what they were able to create and what was not as feasible.  They were not able to create the three dimensional bird easily and could only really pipe on a two dimensional bird, so I decided to print it on the banner instead, which I then cut out and tied with fuchsia string on to two pink striped straws. I used a needle to thread the string through the cardstock. The top layer (carrot cake) had rounded edges and was covered in a light blue rolled chocolate, and accented with a rolled chocolate white gardenia. There was also a small eyelet pink ribbon around the middle of the tier and pearls made of buttercream connecting tiers. The bottom tier (oreo cake) was covered in ombre style pink ruffle petals that cascaded down in layers. There was also a side sheet cake (needed for their 128 guests!) that was white cake with lemon and raspberry filling.

The cake turned out almost exactly as I had hoped it would. In my head, the petals were supposed to be a bit smaller so there would be more of them overall, but I was still very happy with the end result.  If I were to do it again, I should have specified exactly how wide and tall in inches I would have liked those petals to be instead of just saying that I wanted the petals to be "small" and having them just go off of my drawing.  Here is a quick photo from the baby shower that shows the details of the cake, which is in the middle of a large dessert bar.

I was going for a really "cute" cake and I think I was able to achieve it.  Most importantly, Arti loved it!  I really think that for me, going through the brainstorming process on paper or in Illustrator helped make for a better end product.  More to come later once the professional photos are in from Shannon Grant Photography!

~Emilie

Wendy and Matt's Engagement Photos by Briana Moore Photography

It has been a crazy summer, and I'm definitely behind on blogging some amazing weddings.  They'll be coming soon!  For now, I have to share a little preview of Wendy and Matt who are getting married this upcoming weekend at The Stevens Estate!  These gorgeous engagement photos were taken by Briana Moore of Briana Moore Photography.  I'm so excited to be working with her on the wedding day, along with vendors like Lotus Floral Events, and A Day to Remember.

Photos by Briana Moore Photography

Thanks, Briana, for sharing these photos with me!

~Emilie

Frank and Hanh's Engagement Photos by Joyelle West Photography

In a little over a week, Frank and Hanh will be having their wedding at one of my favorite venues in the city, The State Room.  They have so many fun little details planned for their big day, and are working with some amazing vendors like The Tangled Web for flowers, and Boston Common Band.  For now, I wanted to share some photos from their engagement session with Joyelle West of Joyelle West Photography.  To see more from their engagement session, check out Joyelle's blog here.

Photos by Joyelle West Photography

Thanks, Joyelle, for sharing these photos with me - I can't wait to work with you again!
~Emilie

Long Haul Films: Jessica and William's Harvard Faculty Club Wedding Trailer

In early June, Jessica and William were married at Harvard Memorial Church and the Harvard Faculty Club. The bride and groom recently emailed me a link to their wedding trailer created by their cinematographer, Long Haul Films, and I was floored by how beautifully they documented the day, and their ability to tell a story.

Tom and Melissa from Long Haul Films are incredibly talented, and I would highly recommend them if you're looking for someone to capture your wedding day on film. If you watch Jess and William's trailer below, you'll see that their work is truly priceless.

William & Jessica | A Harvard wedding film by Long Haul Films from Long Haul Films on Vimeo.

{the vendor team}

• Cinematography:  Long Haul Films
• Wedding Coordination:  Pink Orchid Weddings
• Ceremony Venue:  Harvard Memorial Church
• Reception Venue:  Harvard Faculty Club
• Florals:  The Tangled Web
• Photography:  Kelly Dillon Photography
• Wedding Cake:  Cakes to Remember
• Hair & Makeup:  Special Day by Carolina
• DJ:  C-Zone Entertainment
• Photo booth:  Red Eye Photo Booths
• Favors:  L.A. Burdick

~Emilie

Paula and Matt's Engagement Photos by Kate McElwee Photography

It's a gorgeous morning, and today is Paula and Matt's wedding day!!  They are getting married at St. Cecilia Parish and having their reception at the Hilton Back Bay Hotel.  Hair and makeup is already underway at the hotel, and I thought that I would take a moment to share some photos from their stunning engagement session with Kate McElwee Photography.  For more from their session, check out Kate's blog here.

Photos by Kate McElwee Photography

Thanks, Kate, for sharing these photos with me!
~Emilie

Boston Wedding Coordination: Jessica and William's Harvard Faculty Club Wedding

On Saturday, June 1st, I coordinated Jessica and William's wedding day at the Harvard Memorial Church and the Harvard Faculty Club.  They both are Harvard alums and it was so special having their wedding on campus.  The bride and bridesmaids had their hair and makeup done by Special Day by Carolina, and they all got ready at the Harvard Faculty Club.  The bridesmaids all wore short purple dresses, and the bride wore a stunning Vera Wang gown with a delicate skirt covered in petals.

The bride and groom opted to do a first look in the afternoon, and they were able to do a lot of their portraits together and with their immediate families prior to the ceremony at Harvard Memorial Church. Their ceremony was short and sweet, and included floral arrangements from The Tangled Web.

Cocktail hour was held on the patio and in the lobby of the Harvard Faculty Club, and guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres such as lobster arancini, crab cakes, roasted spring lamb, and fresh apple & gorgonzola tarts.  There was a guestbook tree where guests signed their names on leaves, and there was also a mailbox where notes could be written on post cards.

The dining room tables were topped with gorgeous florals from The Tangled Web, along with chocolate favors from L.A. Burdick.  The evening included many toasts, and even some songs, one of which was a surprise re-make of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" that was completely personalized with lyrics related to the bride and groom.  It was so sweet and thoughtful!  Guests enjoyed a dinner of a baby mixed greens salad, and a choice of grilled filet mignon, wild sea bass, or strata.  For dessert, there was a beautiful strawberry chiffon wedding cake from Cakes to Remember, as well as petit fours.

A photobooth from Red Eye Photo Booths got everyone to pose with fun props, and DJ Mike Paganelli from C-Zone Entertainment provided music for the evening.  The photography and cinematography were a dream team of Kelly Dillon Photography and Long Haul Films.  Their work will be coming later, but for now, here are a few photos that I took of some of their details.

Jess and William, thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your incredible day.   I hope you had an amazing honeymoon in Greece!!

~Emilie