Destination: Paris 11/23 - 11/29

Photo sources here and here
I'm off to Paris tomorrow, and will return on Tuesday, November 29th! There are lots of museums and macarons planned in my trip, and I will finally be able to answer the very important question of... Who has better macarons? Pierre Hermé or Ladurée :) I will have limited internet access during my trip, and will return all inquiries and emails on November 29th.

~Emilie

Off for a weekend in San Francisco!

After an incredible wedding season, my first mini-vacation this month starts tomorrow morning by flying to San Francisco! I'm looking forward to visiting friends, eating lots of great food, and possibly doing some oyster shucking over the weekend. I will respond to any inquiries or emails by Monday, November 14th!

~Emilie

Dylan's Hello Kitty Birthday Invitations

This past August, I got an email from my cousin, Melissa, to see if I could design birthday invitations for her daughter's Hello Kitty themed 1st birthday. I was really excited to start the design and had the following requests from Melissa: square invitation, big Hello Kitty face, simple but pretty, pinks & purples, and some glitter additions. I played around with drawing Hello Kitty and thought that the best way to display any text would be to have Hello Kitty holding a purple ribbon banner with pink glittered hearts!

The invitation was digitally printed, with hand-glittered pink hearts and bow, mounted onto lavender metallic cardstock, and paired with square pink envelopes.

It's a simple invitation, but I think they turned out to be very cute!!

~Emilie

Michael & Tricia Films: Kim and Adam's Wedding Highlights Video!

An example of when a wedding highlights video trumps an on-time dinner departure: A couple of nights ago, I told my husband to hurry and get dressed so we could meet his family for dinner. I was already set to go, so while I was waiting, I checked some new posts in my Google Reader and saw that Michael and Tricia Films posted a new film on their vimeo page... it was Kim & Adam's wedding highlights video!!

There was really no choice but to watch it right then and there, so I made my husband wait for me for 4 minutes, and the video was AMAZING. Kim and Adam were married at Spring Valley Country Club in August, and this video really shows how beautiful and fun their wedding was.


Kim + Adam's Wedding Trailer from Michael and Tricia Films on Vimeo.

I loved coordinating this wedding and could not have asked for a nicer couple, family, or group of vendors to work with. Michael and Tricia, you two do incredible work, and I am so excited for our weddings together next year!

~Emilie

Leslie and Matt's Oceanside Ipswich Wedding

On Saturday, September 10th, I was the coordinator for Leslie and Matt's oceanside wedding on Ipswich's Little Neck. They both live in San Francisco and were long-distance planning for well over a year. The wedding was held in the backyard of three neighboring houses, and the water views were truly spectacular.

The bride had her hair and makeup done on-site and got ready with her seven bridesmaids. For the ceremony, there were 130 guests in attendance, with wild flowers in mason jars hung on shepherd hooks placed along the aisle. Following the ceremony, guests made their way to the cocktail hour area where they enjoyed fruit & cheese, vegetables & dip, mini bruschetta, mini crab cakes, and fried clams.

The reception tent had lights strung throughout the space, and the tables were topped with wild flowers in galvanized containers and L&M letters. All of the flowers for the wedding including bouquets were created by A Whole Bunch. Dinner started with a plated cranberry apple salad with walnuts and gorgonzola cheese, and a choice of New England clam chowder or vegetarian soup. Then, guests went through a buffet of cucumber salad, lobster rolls, grilled steak tips, scallops, marinated vegetables, and red bliss potatoes. It was quite a feast, with catering provided by Ipswich Clambake, and bartending by Premier Bartending. For dessert, La Cascia’s Bakery made a three tiered wedding cake along with 200 pastries such as mini fruit tarts and éclairs for guests to enjoy.

After dinner, everyone danced to music from The Po Boyz band until the early hours of the morning. This was actually the first wedding that I've ever coordinated where I really had no idea when it was going to end. I left around 1AM because the bride and groom said that the party might go until 4AM and they were all set to go =) The bride and groom flew out Sheila Garvey Photography from California to capture their wedding, but for now, here are some photos that I took!

Leslie and Matt, it was a pleasure working with you both on your wedding, and I hope you enjoyed your honeymoon to New Zealand and Tahiti!!

~Emilie

Maressa and Ben's Goethe-Institut Boston Wedding

On Saturday, August 27th, I was the coordinator for Maressa and Ben's cocktail style wedding at the Goethe-Institut Boston. The bride got her hair styled at the Will Charles Salon on Newbury Street, and carried a simple bouquet of yellow calla lilies. This August weekend was the weekend of Hurricane Irene, and even though the ceremony and reception were both held indoors, the weather impacted travel plans to the Boston area, and unfortunately a few people out of an intimate 75 person guest count could not make it. But, after hearing about other weddings that had to be completely cancelled due to power outages or mandatory evacuations, I think we were pretty lucky!

As guests walked in for the ceremony, they were greeted with Prosecco and sparking water. The bride and groom really wanted people to feel like they were part of a cocktail party even before the ceremony started! The groom's sister officiated the ceremony, and it was short and sweet. A pianist and bassist filled the room with jazz music as hors d'oeuvres were passed and the bar opened with beer, wine, and two signature drinks: the Old Fashioned & the Gimlet. There was also a delicious raw bar for guests that included a selection of New England Oysters and shrimp.

For dinner, the cocktail style reception continued with small plates that were served on side tables: sake poached salmon, wild mushroom and fontina arancini, summer salad, and cormal crusted snapper on a spicy corn and pineapple salsa. All of the food was catered by MAX Ultimate Food, including the wedding cake, which was a yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting, served with fresh berries.

Not having a sit-down dinner with seating for everyone really make it great for guests to be able to mingle with each other, and work their way around the room. There were lots of high and low cocktail tables in the room covered with grey dupioni and pearl grey bengaline linens. Each table was topped with candles and yellow floral centerpieces that were created by the bride's mother.

Toasts were announced by just a simple clinking of a glass, and instead of a DJ or band for dancing in the evening, the bride & groom pre-selected songs on an ipod to play. It was officially my first ipod wedding, and it worked out great! Jen Ing of Jen Ing photography was their wedding photographer, and here are some photos that I took of the night.

Maressa and Ben, it was so nice to get to know you both through the planning process, and I hope you had an amazing honeymoon in Italy!!

~Emilie

Kelli and Nick's Engagement Photos by Armor & Martel

I can't think of a better way to end a fantastic wedding season than with Kelli and Nick's wedding. They are an incredibly gorgeous and sweet couple, who have really been a dream to work with. Kelli and Nick are getting married at the State Room tomorrow and will celebrate with a reception for over 230 of their friends & family! I thought that it would be great to share some photos from their engagement session with Chris Martel of Armor & Martel to give you a little preview of the couple.

Photos by Armor & Martel
Thanks so much, Chris, for sharing these lovely photos!

~Emilie