Fast forward to March 2008 to Amy & Dustin’s very happy ending at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and The F.U.E.L. House. Amy is a former equestrian from St. Davids (who speaks Spanish like a native!) turned law student in Washington DC. Dustin is is a former Top Gun pilot with the U.S. Air Force who is now a consultant at a firm in Northern Virginia.

Aside from occurring in one of my favorite Philadelphia venues, the wedding’s color combination was stunning  copper, super green, blush pink and ivory. We placed deep copper linens on the tables with handmade green dupioni silk runners. It just looked amazing. The flowers were gorgeous bouquets and arrangements of perfectly blended tulips, peonies, tulips and sweet peas — and, of course, cherry blossoms! The invitations, seating cards and table numbers were perfectly coordinated with green bands and copper ribbon. And, thanks to Lotus Cake Studio, the cake was a beautiful and delicious representation of the great invitations — proof positive that you don’t have to sacrifice a delicious cake to have a beautiful cake. (Read: you can look at your cake and eat it, too!)

The bride and groom are also big movie buffs so they had a great time coming up with movie titles for table names while Amy’s mom went searching for the perfect movie posters to hang in the great upstairs bathroom. Finally, the groom and the bride’s father shared a love of bourbon, so Feastivites Catering expertly created an authentic and irresistible bourbon bar with nothing but the best bourbons one can buy straight from Kentucky. And the favors were fun Knob’s Creek bourbon mini bottles–the guests were absolutely thrilled.

And – Oh!My!God! The band was AMAZING! I can honestly say that this was one party I truly wish I was invited to!

Here is Amy & Dustin’s Great Wedding A-TEAM:

Venue: The F.U.E.L. House, Philadelphia

Photography: Michael Branscom

Catering: Feastivities

Stationery: The Papery of Philadelphia

Florals: Beautiful Blooms

Cake: Lotus Cake Studio

Reception Band: The Zone

My good friend Janie from “The Bride’s Cafe” — one of the very best wedding blogs around (as proclaimed by InStyle Magazine!) — asked us to come up with ideas for Green Weddings for Real People. It was great fun to work with Janie again – always an honor and a pleasure!

Log onto The Bride’s Cafe — not just to read Eclatante’s tips for Lite Green Weddings, but to get a gander at some amazing eye candy and to gather some excellent information about what is going on in the world of great weddings.

Let me tell you about this wedding. Elisa and Jesse are an amazing couple — which comes as no surprise because they are each the offspring of wonderful people. We loved loved loved working with this family and were so sad when the wedding was over.

But — as luck would have it, we got to celebrate it all over again! The Bride and Bloom Magazine saw in that wedding what we saw, so here is Elisa & Jesse’s wedding featured in between the covers of one of the best national bridl magazines.

Congratulations, Elisa & Jesse — it couldn’t have happened to nicer people!

Photography by Michael Branscom (Man, he’s good! Isn’t he?)

This wedding was a beautiful reflection of all that is special about Elisa & Jesse. First, it was held at The Grounds for Sculpture — an extraordinary backdrop that inspired each of us to come up with with our most creative ideas. Plus, as a food editor, Elisa was all about serving her guests exceptional food. Peachtree and Ward did NOT disappoint — it was a wonderful feast. Jesse is in the technical side of the entertainment industry, so he insisted that we depart from the typical wedding band and bring in Slavic Soul Party – a great Klezmer band from New York City. They were amazing and the guests had a blast! And, of course, the flowers were beautiful –Beautiful Blooms provided arrangements suited perfectly for Elisa & Jesse.

Bride and Bloom is best seen in person. You should go get a copy and see for yourself how special this wedding was.

We wanted to share a couple photos from the Abington Arts Center “Inspired Flora” event this weekend. It was such an honor to be asked to participate. Here’s a little explanation: We were asked to choose a painting from the Abington Art Center’s exhibit entitled “Metamorphosis” that would serve as the inspiration for a floral piece designed and created for this weekend’s event (hence, the event name, “Inspired Flora.”). The painting we chose was “Vernal Pools.” It looked to us to be a stunning representation of half of a butterfly:

So, we thought the idea of creating the other half of the butterfly in flowers would generate a very interesting image of a full butterfly. Because the image we had created was actually the reverse of the painting that was the source of our inspiration, we entitled our creation, “Flutterby.” What do you think?

We want to thank Bill, Maya, Eileen and Donna of Beautiful Blooms for all their work in implementing this design. And thank you’s go to Chris and Vanessa at Two Paper Dolls for coming up with the paper blueprint from nothing but a bunch of crazy thoughts coming out of my head. As always, all of you read my mind, came through for me and did a fantastic job!

April 11-13 — INSPIRED FLORA

Eclatante (along with nineteen other of region’s top designers) is exhibiting a design inspired by one of the many extraordinary paintings that are all part of Abington Art Center’s exhibition: “Metamorphosis.”

This first Annual Inspired Flora will feature floral arrangements by prominent designers, to interpret and complement the museum’s Spring exhibition of moth and butterfly imagery – fleeting, beautiful, transforming, cyclical, captivating.

Behind-the-Scenes Preview Morning
 April 11 • 10am-12pm • $25/$20 for AAC members
It’s your opportunity to meet the designers and chat with them as they install their floral designs. Includes continental breakfast. Limited Tickets. Reservations Required – call 215-887-4882 NOW there are only a few tickets left.

Gala Event
 April 11 • 7-11pm • $250 per couple; $150 per peron; $125 for AAC members
Join us for a fun evening of artistic floral designs, mouth-watering dishes from Jeffrey Miller Catering, music with Denise King Jazz and dancing. Black Tie optional. Advanced reservations only.

Inspired Flora Weekend
 April 12 • 10am-5pm admission $10 public, $7.50 AAC members & $5 children
• April 13 • 10am-3pm admission $10 public, $7.50 AAC members & $5 children. 
Attend this Event. Buy Your Tickets Online.

EUREKA! Family Workshops April 12 • anytime between 11am & 3pm • FREE with admission to Inspired Flora
Each month Abington Art Center presents fun workshops for families of any size, shape and artistic ability. This month is no exception. We’ll make twisted wire sculptures with flower embellishments and natural mrials.

Afternoon Tea
 April 13 • 3-5pm • $40 per person; $35 AAC members; Champagne $5
Sunday afternoon it’s tea time. Luxuriate in aromatic teas and classic cream tea favorites while enjoying music by Ken Ulansey. Advanced reservations only.

We are honored to have been asked by the Abington Arts Center to design and create an exhibit. AAC is truly a beautiful cultural and arts education center that benefits everyone and is dependent solely on contributions for support.

Please come see us and feast your eyes on some of the most innovative and creative work that can be found in the Philadelphia area.

Now, I know this may not be the first time you’ve heard that “Yellow is the New Pink” but I really did write that down in the notebook I keep beside my bed long before I found out that it’s been said before. I guess I heard it subliminally somewhere or maybe it just came from nature or in the great patterns I’ve been looking at lately. Take a look and see if you’re inspired to step away from pink and see what the color of sunshine can do.

YELLOW BLACK AND WHITE

BRIGHT BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL!!

1st Row: Brides.com 50 Best Cakes, Nicole Miller, Wildflower Linens, photo on File
2nd Row: Pattern by Two Paper Dolls, Anthropologie Homepage (center), photo on file
3rd Row: Bev Hisey rug, Ink + Wit artwork
4th Row: Anthropologie Rug, Kelly Wearstler Interior Design (3 remaining photos)

YELLOW AND GRAY

The colors of chic in 2008

1st Row: Anthropologie, The Paperie (wrapping paper),
2nd Row: Print and Pattern (both)
3rd Row: Anthropologie Bowl, Peter Som 2008 Collection

YELLOW AND PURPLE

There’s a reason why

they’re a butterfly’s favorite color

1st Row: Lotus Cake Studio, Botanical Garden
2nd Row: Michael Kors, J. Caroline Creative
3rd Row: J. Caroline Creative, Michael Kors

So, Donna O’Brien (from Beautiful Blooms) and I teamed up to create some great table and event shots based on the color yellow for a photo shoot at Turbine Hall

How gorgeous are these?!? I can’t wait until a bride takes the bait and says, “Kendall! I want a yellow and purple wedding!”
By the way, the photography for the shoot was expertly accomplished by none other than our great friend, Marie Labbancz. As usual, Marie, your work is just unbelievable! We are so lucky to have you in our corner!
And those amazing place cards, menu cards and table numbers? You know who that was – Two Paper Dolls of course!

Stay tuned for information on the publication of the photos.

Oh My!!! Eclatante has been voted by Philadelphia brides to be among the best wedding planners in the Mid-Atlantic region as part of the 2008 Best of Knot Weddings.

The Knot conducted an annual survey of over 20,000 recent brides about the professionals the brides hired to help them create their weddings. The newlyweds were asked to rate their vendors on multiple criteria — from creativity to professionalism — and to comment on their experiences. The result was a list in each region of the country of the brides’ favorite vendors.

And what a list! It is an honor to be in the same company with some of our favorite wedding professionals in Philadelphia.

For those of you who provided feedback to the Knot about your experience with Eclatante — THANK YOU!! We love you, too!

I am Kendall Brown, the owner of Eclatante Event Design. Thank you so much for stopping by.

I have a great job – a big part of what I do is to keep up with all that is happening in the various industries that affect the design and creation of extraordinary events. To do that, I go to cutting edge restaurants, talk to great interior decorators, fashion designers, musicians and chefs and study travel magazines and those gorgeous books you find in upscale New York hotel rooms. You never know where the next amazing idea will come from – I pick up some of the best ideas just by listening to people like you.

Our clients are looking to host celebrations that are distinctive, sophisticated and honor the traditions of their families. They ask about the latest trends – what they are, whether they’ll work in reality and how to incorporate those trends into a classically beautiful event. These questions and the encouragement I’ve received from my clients, friends and others in the industry are the inspiration behind this blog.

And it’s a great way to find out from others what they see happening out there. Plus, my wonderful job gives me a front row seat to the most beautiful moments in peoples’ lives. It’s exciting to now have the forum to share some of the great stories we come across as we create and plan these events as well as reflect on the new trends in the industry. We would love to hear about your ideas and inspirations and welcome your suggestions on what you’d like to see on Eclatante’s blog. We’ll do our best to keep up!