We have another wedding to show you that was published in the latest issue of Brides Magazine  - Philadelphia.   

Small wonder Brides Magazine grabbed up this wedding almost as soon as we got the photos back from Marie Labbancz, the amazing photographer who captured this wonderful wedding PERFECTLY!   

The Team we put together to execute this wedding was incredible –  Beautiful Blooms, Two Paper Dolls, Max Hansen Catering, Marie Labbanz Photography, the Sultans of Swing and VU-Events!

Feel free to check out the amazing story behind Mindy & Ben’s super-fun wedding (complete with 1,200 handmade oragami cranes hung from the ceiling at the Crane Arts Center) in the two-part installment (Part 1 and Part 2) we posted a while back.

Be sure to get a copy of the latest issue of Brides-Philadelphia — it’s loaded with gorgeous photos and great ideas! ooooo

Succulents are a very interesting way to bring something unexpected and beautiful to your celebration

Here’s a little background on succulents for all of those who are not versed in these lovely plants.  Succulents (or “succose”, which is Latin for juice or sap) are water-storing plants that give a thickened or fleshy look to their leaves, stems and roots. These plants come from dry areas of the tropics and subtropic regions of the world.   They are a durable, low-maintenance and eco-friendly alternative to flower arrangements that you can beautifully and easily incorporate into your own wedding day or any other party you’re hosting!

Here’s the part you all really love — the pictures!

Photo by http://www.erinheartscourt.com/, (Succulentlove designs): http://succulentlovedesigns.com/

From Utterly Engaged

Photos by http://www.erinheartscourt.com/

Succy Stuff’s Etsy Store

Horticopia’s Etsy Store

Thanks to Beautiful Blooms!

How cute is this?!?!?!  From Style Me Pretty

From Utterly Engaged

Thanks to Beautiful Blooms!

Photo by: http://sukrachand.com/wedding/

I love it when two (or more) things we really really love find each other.    It’s old news, I know, but I wanted to make sure I get my chance to say how happy I am that Loella Press has gone Etsy.    How cool is this?

In the heat of summer, we discovered a beautiful and peaceful retreat in the shade nestled in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania where we could drink cold lemonade and sweet iced tea and sit outside with great friends to celebrate one of life’s most important and beautiful rituals.

Reminiscent of the way things are done in the south, we brought in the illusion of cool temperatures with a blend of blues, silver and white to cool things down just a teeny bit.

Our wonderful team came together to create an absolutely beautiful, tasteful and classic celebration at the enchanting Elkins Estate which sits on 42 acres of graceful rolling hills among beautiful ponds and a tranquil retreat center.  

Photo from Elkins Estate Website

Photo from Elkins Estate website

Once again, our praise and thanks go out to Marie Labbancz, our wonderful friend and photographer who photographed this color story with her usual love and incredible gift of capturing exactly what makes each celebration unique and beautiful!

The story begins with the classic and tiny details reminiscent of the great parties hosted by gracious hosts back when Elkins Estate was built in the 1890s.   An acute attention (and love of ) the “little things” takes this celebration to a whole new level.

We LOVED this beautiful table and benches, place settings and linen provided by Party Rentals, Ltd.   These were the foundation of an incredible summer table! 

Rian, the go-to lighting guy from Eventions caught our vision perfectly when he hung these great rustic tin stars from the wooden trellis above our dinner table.

The table was very tastefully decorated with centerpieces artfully created by the incredibly talented team at Beautiful Blooms.  The large, hand-wrapped moss balls you see here placed on top of tall cut crystal vases were wrapped in silver bullion wire.   Miniature white cymbidium orchids and cobalt blue delphinium florets were also attached to the silver bullion wire and strung from the large moss balls.  Also adorning the table were floret-size moss balls with crystal accents and gorgeous candleholders embedded with crystals provided by Beautiful Blooms.

We incorporated  the truly gracious details of times gone by (that we’d LOVE to see returned on the hospitable tables of hosts everywhere!)  These knife rests and salt cellars are classic and beautiful – guests are truly captivated by elements they may never have seen before.  But then, the blue and white chopsticks tucked into the napkins require no explanation.   All of these little elements are available at the Eclatante Boutique.

We also added a lovely vintage pewter two-tiered tray so that guests would have sweets at their fingertips all evening long.  And favors are presented to guests in very interesting and beautiful oragami paper boxes.   (The tray and the favor boxes are also available at the Eclatante Boutique.)

Now, take a look at Paula who was beautifully styled by Claudia Seyler (of Claudia Seyler Beauty).    Claudia chose the perfect gown (by Manuel Moto of the Pronovias Collection) from Jennifer’s Bridal in Hockessin, Delaware, then created a look with her dress, hair and makeup that was not only stunning, but perfectly suited for the occasion!   Finally, Beautiful Blooms created a lovely floral head-ring from moss, clear crystals and blue delphinium blooms.

Our beautiful bride carried a truly unique hand-wired bouquet of white mini-cymbidium orchids, blue delphinium orchids intertwined with moss loops, silver wire and clear crystals. 

Stay tuned!  Our August color story is coming soon and it’s gorgeous!

Okay, I don’t really mean that.   Especially since we’re lucky enough to be a block away from Brown Betty — creators of the the best cupcakes in the entire world!   One could never burn out on their cupcakes!

BUT, if you want to see what alternatives there are to cupcakes — take a look at these amazing dessert delights (churros, croissants (chocolate and otherwise), brioche and eclairs) – if this doesn’t inspire you to think outside the cake pan, nothing will!

These stunning eclairs are from Fauchon - a chic French Patisserie from where you can order these gorgeous morsels.

If you’re having an event with a Latin flair – look at the amazing delights — they’re dessert churros from Xooro (pronounced Sure-oh) — so yum!

Then again, there’s Patisserie Claude in the West Village in New York (187 W. 4th St., near Barrow St.).  The desserts there are so good it’s hard to believe it’s really possible!  Croissants,  brioche – simple things done extraordinarily well.   It would be well worth a trip to NYC to grab enough for the most amazing brunch or rehearsal dinner, dinner parties  or any other smaller gathering.   Your guests will never forget you!

We’re all very excited (but not at all surprised) that Marisa & Chris’s wedding was picked up so quickly by one of the region’s most well-read and respected wedding magazines!   

I know that the couple and their amazing families are just thrilled, as they should be. This wedding was a total blast  – from beginning to end!

Inquiring minds at Philly Mag want to know

Rachel began dreaming of her bat mitzvah the day after her sister Sarah’s bat mitzvah a couple of years ago.   She wanted the celebration of her achievement to be the party of a lifetime, and, as you can see — it really was! We took the honor of creating exactly what Rachel and her mom, Karel, wanted very seriously over our year and some months of planning together. Every detail was attended to at the end of it all, the guests were completely delighted at every turn as their tour of the world’s most glamorous cities was revealed a little at a time. Knowing that this party was going to have a lot of moving parts that needed only the best on board to make it happen, we brought in Beautiful Blooms to create the amazing florals and asked Marie Labbancz to photograph this incredible event so that the family would always vividly remember each and every detail.    

The beginning of the planning process began with a search for the perfect venue. Finally, the family  settled on the Independence Seaport Museum. Once that decision was made, our designing and planning went into high-gear.  So much went in to this very important day in Rachel’s young life. None the least of which was the three years of studying and sacrifice on Rachel’s part!  She did an amazing job and her parents, friends and family were so proud of her!

The Independence Seaport Museum was the perfect location for our ’round-the-world tour. While the guests were treated to this amazing port-view all night long, they were impeccably served delicious food from around the globe by Frog Commissary.

The guests were greeted by fun and interesting street performers — from sidewalk artists to juggling unicyclists (all provided by the geniuses at the Creative Juice Group).

The country-by-country tour began in the cocktail hour (take note of the amazing boarding passes created by Creative Montage) and continued into the reception through the entire evening. Each and every table was designed individually according to the specific country it represented. The Beautiful Blooms design team did an absolutely incredible job of creating some of the most innovative centerpieces we have ever seen. Just take a look at these amazing photos!

The guys from Vu-Events did a super job creating just the right lighting atmosphere!

So, after the guests were totally wowed by the street performers and the decor, the party continued into the night!

Party enhancements like this great Time Magazine cover photo were provided by Craig Neier Associates.

At the end of the evening, the guests were treated to a yummy candy bar (again, created by Beautiful Blooms) and the kids were handed extremely cool customized hooded sweatshirts.

Good night Rachel!   This was your night to shine and man — you really did!

At some point in the planning process, our clients will start asking us about rehearsal dinners and/or welcome parties, which typically occur the night before the wedding after their guests begin arriving into town.   This weekend, our clients wanted their guests to spend an entire weekend celebrating with them in Philadelphia, starting with last night – the welcome party!

Neither family is Italian, but they wanted to honor Philadelphia’s strong Italian tradition by hosting their first celebration at Davio’s on 17th Street and creating an intimate European restaurant feel in Davio’s event space upstairs.   Thanks to Beautiful Blooms’ perfect decor, and Davio’s amazing service, the clients were thrilled and the guests were enthralled by the host’s very warm and welcoming first party of the weekend.

Please forgive the photos — I took them with my iPhone and I will never claim to be a photographer!  :)

Of course, before the rehearsal, we had to have our obligatory late July/early August monsoon, to get it out of the way for the weekend!

But then the skies cleared and everyone had a truly wonderful evening!

Off to get ready for the wedding!