Our warm and luxurious August Color Story embodies the end of summer and transitions beautifully into the feeling of autumn with its warm, inviting colors created out of hues of orange, red and yellow.  You can just the feel the magic in the air with this fantasy celebration! 

The venue for this month’s fantasy party was the elegant Elkins Estate, an amazing grand mansion just a few minutes outside of Philadelphia sitting on 42 acres of graceful rolling hills among beautiful ponds and a tranquil retreat center.  Our friend and photographer Marie Labbancz worked her magic once again behind the camera to bring you these amazing and stunning shots!

One of the most unusual things about Elkins is the fact that you can actually host hundreds of people for a sit-down dinner within the estate itself – a true rarity among the stunning Pennsylvania estates that serve as venues for the areas most beautiful celebrations!

The foundation for this elaborate table design is a wrought iron structure with soft colorful fabric creating soft puddling and hanging birdcages. We’ve been thinking lately that creating a smaller romantic setting for two within the wedding reception would be perfect for a couple’s first dinner together on the evening of their wedding.  And the Elkins Estate was, as you can see, the perfect place to implement this vision!

Rian of Eventions was the master behind the lighting and draping that brought out the magic of the entire design! 

We absolutely love the floral arrangement by Beautiful Blooms created out of a birdcage with a beaded dragon fly accent (from the personal collection of Donna from Beautiful Blooms) and filled with lush Alaskan pink peonies, early season virburnum berry, yellow roses and butterfly asclepius.  

Our couple’s table was decorated with a painted martini glass from Anthropologie,  Michael Weems’ green etched wine glasses, vintage plates and Anthropologie bowls. 

Notice the charming monogrammed votive candle from Eclatante’s Boutique placed at the couple’s placesettings.

And how absolutely fabulous is the bridal gown by designer Kenneth Pool, thanks to Jennifer’s Bridal in Wilmington, Delaware!  Our gorgeous model, Paula, was styled beautifully by Claudia Seyler of Claudia Seyler Hair and Makeup.   Claudia also provided the exquisite jewelry including this perfectly suited dangling drop bracelet and headband.   

As you can see, Claudia is a pure genius at what she does!   She also did a beautiful job of creating the perfect soft, flowing hairstyle and subtle makeup as the perfect look for this month’s story creation.

Our bride carried a beautiful hand tied bouquet of Alaskan pink peonies and early season virburnum berry expertly created by, of course, Beautiful Blooms!

Next up:  our breathtaking September color story of rich deep purple and yellow!

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/

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!

This morning I got up ridiculously early to get to New York City to a meeting with Silvia Weinstock, the original phenom of masterpiece cakes (more on that later).   In addition to our  terrific meeting, Donna (from Beautiful Blooms) and I tripped throughout the Flower Market district in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.   

It was just amazing to walk through garden after garden of gorgeous flowers in the middle of the all the urban sounds of NYC.   I just Love New York!   Here are some pics of today’s field trip.

Here’s one of my favorites.  Almost every flower shop had it’s own adorable greeter.   I love this guy sitting in the pin cushions!

We’ll tell you more about what’s happening with Sylvia Weinstock these days and what we’ve got up our sleeve!!

So, it’s not a big secret to those who know me — I’m a bit of a skeptic.  So, when some people (whom I trust, actually) suggested the use of “angel cards,” I sneered. For those skeptics among you who, like me, have no idea what an “angel card” is, it’s an affirmation card – something like a fortune cookie, except bigger and more directed towards making you feel really good about yourself.   

Would you know it, in spite of all my skepticism, angel cards found me — sort of.

Way back (two months ago) when I was trying to figure out what paint color went where in our new home, I decided to have some fun and paint the employee bathroom in our new home with blackboard paint and keep a cup of colored chalk in there. The original idea was that Leila, Taylor, our interns and I could write secret notes to each other that would never been seen by the outside world. (The bathroom reserved for clients and customers in the boutique is in completely different room.)  But when our industry friends, our personal friends (many of whom overlap), our family (and some random other people we know) wandered back into our office, they came upon our blackboard painted bathroom and wrote wonderful notes to us!   

Here are my favorite walls EVER — a never-ending source of inspiration!

Well, it’s official.   Eclatante is growing up.   

We are thrilled to tell you that Eclatante is moving to a new and beautiful new space in the chic, new section of Philadelphia known as  ”Liberties Walk.”   We’re really excited!

Eclatante’s new home will be the three glass store fronts you see here along one full side of a block of Liberties Walk.  Right now, the space is very raw — as you can see from the photos (taken by our great friend Marie Labbancz).  Consider these our “before” shots!

Lots of other amazing new things are coming, too!   Stay tuned to watch the evolution from this raw space into Eclatante’s new home and for all the new things coming to our block!  

The inspiration for our March Color Story was my own wedding, which happened a few years ago in late March.  I’m still thrilled with the colors we chose, but, of course, new twists and turns are part of everything Eclatante does.  So, here we go with what I believe is one of our most beautiful color stories ever!  

The venue for our March Color Story was the absolutely enchanting Carousel Room at the Please Touch Museum.    We all had such a great time in there (how could we not? It’s a real carousel!).  (These two photos are courtesy of the Please Touch Museum.)

So, with this as our backdrop, we brought in an amazing team of professionals who, together, worked and played so well until the way-late at night to bring you this month’s color story.  We were, again, truly fortunate to have Marie Labbancz photograph our story so that you can see just how beautiful it was!

The drop-dead gorgeous wedding gown (designed by Monique Lhuillier) and the adorable short lace party dress Oksana was wearing were delivered and styled by Mary Helen Ranieri, the owner Suky Occasions.   Claudia Seyler (Claudia Seyler Beauty) created the absolutely perfect look for Oksana, our beautiful model. 

Bill and Donna of Beautiful Blooms were the ultimate perfectionists creating their gorgeous florals that adorned this fantasy perfectly.  The centerpiece consisted of three vases wrapped in white lace paper filled with a mixed arrangement of purple hydrangea, deep plum tulips, blue curiosa roses, purple double lisianthus and muscari. At the base of the vases were smaller vases with lace accents filled with muscari. The whole table was accented with navy blue skinny taper candles.  

Two Paper Dolls masterfully stepped up to the plate with gorgeous periwinkle and white lace table numbers and seating cards – absolutely perfectly suited for our story.   They always get it right! 

The beautiful finishing touches, including all the elegant table top pieces, and those amazing “ghost chairs” by Party Rentals Ltd. and the wonderful and perfectly coordinated linens from The Total Table – made this Color Story absolutely flawless. 

Another captivating detail were the multiple streams of periwinkle satin ribbon painstakingly hung by VU- Events, who also did a fantastic job of lighting our beautiful table.  

Beautiful Blooms created a lovely hand-tied bouquet of lavender hyacinths, blue curiosa roses and purple double lisianthus with a lace ribbon detail on the bouquet. 

Finally, the food and wine were nothing short of phenomenal — created and beautifully presented by the chefs at Max & Me Catering.   David Robison, Max and Me’s Executive Chef and Theresa Linskey, the Sous Chef, prepared a feast of Seared Foie Gras with Ginger Cassis Sauce and Silky Onion Puree.  Unbelievable!

We hope you’ve enjoyed our March Color Story as much as the whole team enjoyed bringing it to you!

Stay tuned for our April Color Story – another stunner!

Welcome to a new very hip and extraordinary event space in Philadelphia.  It’s called Artesano Ironworks Gallery and we just LOVE it.    

Artesano is an early twentieth-century renovated warehouse that has been converted to a truly gorgeous 10,000 s.f. loft style indoor/outdoor event space. The space itself is so so cool, but then, there’s the magnificent hand forged iron art work all over the place. Upstairs, the gallery of amazing artwork hangs above a floor of elegantly restored polished hardwood oak. Downstairs, the tres-chic cocktail area downstairs connects with a truly cool European-inspired outdoor courtyard that is totally unforgettable. And it has its own plentiful parking (a major plus in Philly)!

Eclatante was thrilled to help create an open house for Artesano. Take a look at these amazing photos by Gerald Tomko Photography – I think you’ll see the Open House was a great success.   All the details — the flowers (by, of course, Beautiful Blooms), the aesthetically pleasing and super-tasty food (by Jeffrey Miller Catering) and the amazing lighting (beautifully executed by Rian Winther of Eventions Productions) made this Open House really unique and beautiful in every way.   

We really are looking forward to creating amazing events in this space.   Stay tuned!!!

Eclatante Event Design and Beautiful Blooms announce a great new joint project – monthly color stories.   

November Color Story

There’s no use fighting it with pastels – November was created for great rich and interesting colors.   And lately, we’ve been craving plums.   So Eclatante imagined a wonderful color palette and designed a fantasy table party perfectly suited for a cool and brilliant November celebration.

After creating our color palette,

 we came up with our inspiration board:

Once we lined up the perfect home for our photo shoot – the classically modern F.U.E.L. House in Philadelphia — Eclatante could start the design process in earnest. 

Our first idea was to design widthwise table runners to be made out of paper.   Our dear and talented friends at Two Paper Dolls created these awesome paisley table runners (with color-opposing table numbers) that were perfectly matched with the gorgeous plum linens we found at Wild Flower Linens.    We found just the right coordinating glass chargers and tinted flutes at Party Rentals Ltd.    The masters at VU-Events flawlessly executed our drapery and lighting design. 

Finally, Beautiful Blooms’ amazing floral design: The centerpiece of the table is a vintage green glass container with a dome design of sterling roses intertwined with a cage of plum calla lilies. Green glass rectangle vases are filled with a pave of purple anemones and aqua glass bud vases filled with stems of magenta phalenopsis orchids.   Every napkin is accented with a single orchid bloom.

We were thrilled when Feastivities came up with the perfect entrée for a fabulous November party — pan-seared duck breast with olives, braised plum tomatoes and grilled asparagus.  YUM.

And the whole thing was expertly captured by the amazing photographer – Marie Labbancz.   She is such a genius!

I met Donna O’Brien of Beautiful Blooms about three and a half years ago when I was starting the process of planning my own wedding.   I interviewed about ten florists but couldn’t find that special someone who understood what I meant when I said — “flowers are secondary, I want centerpieces with elements!”  But Donna’s eyes lit up when I presented my little challenge and off we went.   Since then, I have worked with Beautiful Blooms far too many times to count.  

Donna has successfully built a team of people at Beautiful Blooms who are just like her —  each painfully talented, tenacious about their jobs and so willing to go waaaayyyy beyond the call!   The studio is crazy most of the time — each event is the ONLY event.   Each client is the ONLY client.   It’s amazing what goes on in that brick and cement warehouse in Northern Liberties.   Its scares me sometimes — always a gush of creativity everywhere and and a flurry of activity from the perfectionists that make up the Beautiful Blooms team.

All this to say — Donna, Bill, Maya, Amanda, Keith, Teri and Alaine and all of the other Beautiful Blooms guys got exactly what they deserved.  

THEY ARE THE ABSOLUTELY

BEST IN PHILLY 2008

We’re really excited that The Bride and Bloom Magazine asked us to design this photo shoot for their Spring/Summer 2008 issue. We had a great time with Donna and the gang at Beautiful Blooms and with Marie Labbancz — photographer extraordinaire! And the dolls of Two Paper Dolls did their usual amazing job of providing just the right touches with their printed material.  Such creative dolls they are!

Take a close look at those great little boxes of flowers that were our “seating cards/favors” for each guest — little mini flower arrangements to take home. And another one of my favorites — tea cups! I’m really hoping this takes off — they finish tables off beautifully and it’s another way to present a stunning, unusual table.

You really should take a good look at this great bridal magazine. It consistently provides brides with interesting and creative ideas and is full of drop dead gorgeous stuff. I get completely lost in it every time I pick one up. This issue is on the newsstands now. Grab one and tell us what you think!

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.