Real Wedding: Keren & Asaf

I first saw some snippets of this wedding over at The Wedding Library's blog, and just had to know more! There are so many lovely elements in this wedding, shot by the very talented Karen Hill, that I think I'll skip the introduction and just get to the photos...


Mr. Boddington's Studio designed all of the stationery, including these invitations that were perforated to resemble a ticket. Claudia Hanlin at The Wedding Library helped to coordinate the day and made sure that everything went smoothly.


Keren's bouquet was tied with beautiful French, Italian and Swiss ribbons.










Originally, the couple wanted to get married in the bride's parents' back yard. When that didn't work out, they didn't want to sacrifice the low-key elegance of a garden setting, and opted to hold the wedding at the beautiful Brooklyn Botanic Garden.


The bride wore a gorgeous dress by Lanvin that she purchased off the rack at Bergdorf Goodman, and then changed into a short Marc Jacobs dress for the rest of the reception. She wore shoes by Lanvin, and borrowed jewelry from her mother and best friend.






All of the gorgeous flowers were designed and created by Matthew Robbins at Artfool. Keren says, I loved that he used vintage mirrored platters and had small vases with little variety of flowers so guests could each take something home as opposed to a huge centerpiece at each table. I love aromatherapy, so Matthew did an incredible job incorporating fresh herbs at the ceremony and reception.






Ron Ben-Israel designed the simple cake using the stationery as inspiration.


A jazz trio played during the cocktail hour, and Golem, a punk klezmer band, played for the reception. Afterward, a DJ kept everyone dancing into the night.





Congratulations Keren and Asaf! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful day with us. And thank you to Karen Hill for sharing all of these stunning photos, and to Claudia Hanlin for letting me know about this beautiful wedding. I thought I'd leave you with some wise words from the bride: I went into the weekend telling myself that something will go wrong because that's life but not to worry - all those little things will give our wedding charm and make it memorable. With that thought in mind, really nothing went wrong. It was perfect. And it doesn't even matter as long as you enjoy the moment and get back to what it's really about: you and your new partner, your family and friends! Without those things, it just wouldn't matter. So that would be my advice to someone else... plan and prepare as best you can and then let go of control for the big day. If you have fun so will everyone else!

Real Wedding: Carissa & Dwight

Kelly Oshiro was kind enough to share this wedding that she worked on with me, and now I get to share it with you! Carissa and Dwight were married in May at the bride's parents' home in Ojai, California. The bride's favorite colors - orange, purple and green - and the venue served as the main inspiration for the wedding.


Conrad Dornan, a stylist in New York and Carissa's godbrother, did her hair (and most of the bridesmaids as well!), and one of the bridesmaids did her make-up.




Carissa wore a Carolina Herrera dress and veil, and had her shoes custom made by LaDuca Shoes, a dancing shoe company in New York that has just started a couture line, and which makes all of their shoes with padding like dance shoes - Carissa was able to wear her heels the whole night without getting sore feet! Her earrings were borrowed from a bridesmaid at the last minute.


Jodi Brandt at Curly Willow made the bouquets, boutonnieres, and a few key centerpieces. Carissa's bouquet included parrot tulips, maidenhair fern and bupleurum. The bridesmaids carried orange calla lilies and wore green dresses from J.Crew.


The bridal party consisted of twelve bridesmaids and twelve groomsmen! Each of the groomsmen wore a black suit that they already owned.




The couple's dog delivered the rings during the ceremony, when the maid of honor whistled for her.




Carissa and Dwight spent hours choosing readings and writing vows. The bride's godparents officiated the ceremony together.




Carissa shares one of her favorite moments from the day, and explains this photo... At one point during cocktail hour I was in the middle of a converstation and I looked back and four of my bridesmaids were sitting in the grass doing something to my dress. I guess someone had spilled red wine on me and they were all trying to get it out before I noticed, which was hilarious and endearing and made for some fantastic photos!




Carissa tells us about some of the DIY projects that went into the wedding: Kelly Oshiro and I picked out and bought all the flower containers wholesale. I "aged" the galvinized aluminum ones by throwing them into the bushes and leaving them there for a month and the terra cotta pots I painted with yogurt and left them outside. Kelly picked up the flowers wholesale and my aunts did a lot of the on-table arrangements. We bought natural muslin in bulk and some friends sewed it together for the tablecloths, which was cheaper and prettier than renting ugly white tablecloths. We bought raw silk in downtown LA and used it for the runners. We bought succulents wholesale and repotted them in the terra cotta pots for the favors. My friend and I designed the lighting and she set it up - we are both cinematographers, so this was one of the most fun parts of wedding planning for me.









Congratulations Carissa and Dwight! Thank you so much for sharing your day with us - it looks like such a fun time! And thank you to Kelly Oshiro for sending this over, and to Harper Smith Photography for sharing these lovely photos with us.

You can see lots more about all of the projects and wedding set-up over at Kelly's blog:
Chalkboard seating chart
Succulent placecard favors
Seating tags
Candles
Pool cover

Sunday Edition #40

by Dana & Jeremy

Real Wedding Saturday: Nili & Anthony

Though we're well into summer, this winter wedding shot by Leigh Miller was too beautiful not to share. Vermont in the winter seemed like the perfect choice for Nili and Anthony's wedding - the couple fell in love there in that season, Nili loves all things wintry and cold, and it was a good meeting place for their families from New York and Montreal (not to mention, logistically it was near enough to the couple's home in New York to explore venues and meet with vendors!). I think these photos beautifully capture the rustic elegance that the couple was aiming for...






Nili tells us about the stationery: We used trees as a reoccurring theme throughout the wedding. We felt they represented life and growth and embodied what starting a new chapter together represents. A fir tree with our name was in our wedding logo that we used pretty much on everything we could (the cake, coasters, stir sticks, tote bags, wedding CDs given out as favors, invites, programs, menu cards, etc.) which gave things a more dressy, elegant feel. We printed most of our paper products on sheets of actual walnut wood (love, love walnut and have it everywhere through our house) which gave it the rustic textured look. Cards of Wood and Betsywhite helped us design our custom invites, menu cards, programs, RSVP postcards and Thank You cards to keep everything within the theme.




Nili's green shoes by Christian Louboutin fit in perfectly with the color scheme: chartreuse, moss green, and chocolate brown.


Nili wore a dress by Amsale. Anthony wore a tuxedo and tie by Hugo Boss and shoes by Kenneth Cole.




The quaint village of Woodstock, complete with a covered bridge, was the perfect setting for this winter wedding.


All of the flowers were created by Tara Pollio Floral Event Design.


The ceremony took place at the Murphy Farm in nearby Quechee, Vermont.


Nili purchased her birdcage veil from an Etsy vendor. After the ceremony, but before heading to the reception site, everyone joined in a toast using Prosecco instead of Champagne as a nod to Anthony's Italian heritage. Before joining their guests, Anthony and Nili took a horse and carriage ride around the town, one of their favorite parts of the day.


For the ceremony, the 80 guests moved on to the Woodstock Inn, which was decorated with tree branches, logs, moss and candles.


Coasters and stir sticks with the couple's motif were provided by For Your Party. The custom menu tried to use as many Vermont ingredients as possible, including local cheeses and organic produce. Each place setting included a menu printed on walnut wood, as well as a tree sapling favor wrapped in burlap.


Guests were invited to help themselves to a chocolate and green candy buffet.


Each table was named after a different tree, and wrapped centerpieces with birch bark. Nili and Anthony Goccoed the table numbers themselves, along with several other items, including a tote bag for guests. The week before the wedding, Anthony and his best man drove to New Hampshire and chopped off part of an already fallen tree, and used the stump as their cake stand. The cake was carrot cake, with Vermont maple syrup filling and buttercream frosting.


After dinner, the couple enjoyed dancing the night away with all of their guests. But I just had to end with this beautifully sweet photo... Congratulations Nili and Anthony - best wishes to you both! And a big thank you to Leigh Miller for sending over these photos and sharing this wedding with us!