MODERN TABLESCAPE CHALLENGE

Images: Tory Williams Photography

4.25.11 UPDATE: WE WON!! Huge thank you to Brooklyn Bride and Newly Wish for the awesome challenge. See the details of the win here.

What a blast it was to collaborate with some of my favorite people for Brooklyn Bride's Modern Tablescape Challenge! It really was such a treat to brainstorm and break away from our everyday projects to do something fun like this. Find out all the details here.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, these folks....

Denise Fasanello Floral Design, Tory Williams Photography, Papermade Design, Nine Cakes, Classic Party Rentals and Adam Frank Inc.

This blog post would be incomplete without mentioning the fabulous Imperial Trellis fabric by Kelly Wearstler and Schumacher that inspired it all.

STYLE ME PRETTY FEATURE: LBB

Remember this post? Well I am thrilled to announce that Ron and Zena's wedding is featured today on Style Me Pretty's LBB today. I don't normally like to play favorites, but it is safe to say that Zena's bridal bouquet was my FAVORITE bouquet of 2010. I miss these two special people everyday, so it makes me smile to relieve the beauty of their wedding through their stunning wedding images. What made this day even more fun was sharing it with the following people:

Photography: Courtney Davidson

Floral Design: Denise Fasanello Floral Design

Venue: Giando on the Water

Paper Products: Ajalon Printing & Design

Band: East Coast Band with the amazing Lynda McLaughlin

Linen Rental: La Flor

Check out all the details here!

Pièce de résistance

Regina | Nikolai from Kinetic Science on Vimeo.

I can't mention the wedding below without including the pièce de résistance...the delightful film created by Justin Stanley of Kinetic Science. I can't sing his praise enough. The film completely embodies the event...dare I say it is perfection?! What do you think?

Looking forward to working with him many times this year.

STYLE ME PRETTY FEATURE

What can I say? Other than I am absolutely thrilled for Bespoke Affairs to be featured on Style Me Pretty today. Regina and Nik's September wedding was a huge highlight of 2010 for me. Absolutely adorable couple infused with some of NYC's brightest talents. It was such a treat to watch this wedding come to life at The Othmer Library and Bubby's Pie Co. I say this to my couples all the time, but, it is so important to match the correct and best vendors to each and every event. This wedding is the perfect example of just that!

The SUPERSTAR vendors:

Photography: Weddings by Two

Floral & Event Design (and so much more!): Poppies and Posies

Cinematography: Justin Stanley of Kinetic Science

Vintage Car Rental and Styling: Merci New York

Makeup Artists: Temptu

Paper Products: Papermade Designs

School Bus Rental: Island Charter

Check out all the details right here on Style Me Pretty today.

YOU COULD WIN...

Images: Cengiz from Adagion Studio

Ladies and gents, this is a contest that everyone needs to check out immediately! The very talented Cengiz from Adagion Studio is having the most amazing free photography giveaway! If you are not familiar with his work, you must visit his site.

Check out all the rules and info here. Hurry up because all entries must be made by February 28th and the winners will be chosen via a random drawing LIVE and announced on March 7th!

Cengiz is an international award-winning photographer, so this giveaway is not to be missed! I really hope one of my brides win. Cengiz is not only a fabulous photographer, but a pleasure to be around!

Good luck.

Timeless Films New York

Timeless Short from Ray Estrada on Vimeo.

Remember this shoot that Danny Weiss shot? Well, Ray at Timeless Films New York has put together such an amazing little film of the day. I'm pretty obsessed with the music too. I'm sure couples everywhere will want to hire him after watching this. ENJOY!

Special thanks again to everyone that was involved:

Photography: Danny Weiss

Dress: Annlum Red / Anna Zhu

Flowers: Denise FasanelloFloral Design

Makeup: Sally Duvall

Hair: Stacy Pitt

Veils: Artikal

Calligraphy: Anna Beckman

Accessories: Red Carpet Boutique

Model: One of my dear brides who saved the day when our model dropped out

IT'S HERE

Remember this post of mine? Well Vera Wang, your line at David's Bridal is spectacular...I have no words. All of the details and feminine textures that I have always loved from Vera Wang are now available at more than obtainable prices. Hurry up girls and make your appointments for February 11th when the gowns hit the stores. It's nearly impossible to pick a favorite. I might even have to buy the pink one and save it in my closet for a big black tie event.

Check out the entire collection here. You will fall in love.

BRIDE'S CHOICE AWARD 2011

I am thrilled to announce that Bespoke Affairs has been selected to receive the prestigious annual Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Wedding Planners!

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 Wedding Wire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on Wedding Wire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

Bespoke Affairs now stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the Wedding Wire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

I can not thank all my couples enough for your continued support and referrals. You all mean the world to me and I am so happy to be a part of such a big moment in your lives.

TULIPIERE

First image found here. All others here

If you follow me and my blog, then you already know that I find a lot of my inspiration in interior design. While shopping for unique pieces for my home I was reminded of my love of Tulipieres. Wouldn't a tulipiere work fabulously as part of a tablescape or centerpiece? I might have to do an inspirational shoot using them to show all you lovelies just how wonderful they can be! You can truly make these little jewels be the focus of something very unique and special.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Photo: Turn Loose the Art

Oh man...I have been such a bad blogger. BAD. My New Years resolution is to try to get better at it, what's yours? I have all these things I want to blog about, but I never seem to find the time...sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day!

Above is an image from a wedding I'll share next week. Wishing you and yours the best year yet!

INTIMATE WEDDING DETAILS

First 8 images: Jared Slater

Last image: Denise Fasanello via Flickr

Today I am happy to share with you some images of Emmie and Michael's beautifully intimate wedding at Alger House...remember them? The couple enlisted my services barely a couple months before their wedding day, when they decided to reevaluate the scope of their event, when they realized it was becoming more about the "wedding" and less about the two of them. We quickly got together and sat down so that I could learn more about the couple in order to infuse their personalities into the big day. Learning about my couples is really one of the highlights of my job and is paramount to getting the job done. Ultimately we decided to redesign the entire event to make it more personal and intimate, which was exactly what they had really wanted all along.

The morning started off with hair and makeup at The New Yorker Hotel. I was really excited to be working with makeup artist Anni Bruno of NYC Faces for the first time, such a sweetheart! The only other vendor that the couple had on board was their photographer Jared Slater, it was my first time working with him and it was a pleasure.

After we had a clear vision in mind for the event I knew the first person I had to call was Denise Fasanello to run with the floral design of the evening. I love working with Denise because she treats flowers as another medium of art and never ceases to amaze me. Everything seamlessly fell into place and Gail at Broadway Party Rentals finished off the decor with all of her lovely rentals for the evening.

Emmie and Michael communicated to me that they were avid readers and wanted to somehow incorporate that into their day. We decided to name each table after a NYC themed New Yorker Magazine cover. One of my favorite design aspects of the evening were the hand engraved bookmarks that served not only as the escort cards, but also the guests favors. Diane Russell at A Plus Engraving engraved each guests name onto the front and engraved the back with the table name.

Lastly...cake...yum cake. For something whimsical we went with Betsy at Nine Cakes. I'm such a huge fan of her cakes because they always look so darn pretty...but taste even better! If I ever personally have an event I want Betsy to make me a cake like this. Okay, now I need cake!

DAYDREAMING OF JERSEY SHORE DAYS & NIGHTS

Images: Danny Weiss Photo

I can't possibly mention another outstanding NJ wedding venue without mentioning Bonnet Island Estate...plus it gives me an excuse to post some of Danny Weiss' (a preferred photographer of Bespoke Affairs) amazing images! Click here to see more images from the above pictured wedding. Bonnet Island Estate is a masterpiece of the Jersey Shore located on LBI. I particularly love their quaint timber framed Boathouse Chapel. My husband isn't one for weddings (AT ALL), but even his interest in Bonnet Island Estate was peaked when he heard about this wedding, saying, "we should have looked at that venue". Although I wouldn't change a thing about our Manhattan nuptials.

The creators of Bonnet Island Estate are also responsible for many other standout NJ venues: Mallard Island Yacht Club, The Stateroom and the highly anticipated Ashford Estate. The Ashford Estate doesn't have a proper website yet (I think?) but with a quick google search I came across so many amazing posts on the Estate. Check out these images and these too. Seriously?? Whoa!

GIANDO ON THE WATER

Photos: Courtney Davidson Photography

The day before Thanksgiving I find myself reflecting on the past year. I have accomplished so much and I have so much to be thankful for. I really have to pinch myself sometimes when I realize how lucky I am to be making my dreams come true and making so many couples happy along the way.

Every wedding I work on holds a special place in my mind and every so often a couple truly captures my heart. I can not even begin to describe what a pleasure it was to work with Ron and Zena (pictured above).

Zena and I scouted a lot of venues for her and Ron's wedding day and we were pleasantly surprised when we stumbled upon Giando on the Water. It's one of those places you imagine only exists in the movies...with breathtaking views and a staff that treats you like family. Heading the staff at Giando is Joe Leone, what a fantastic guy!

I was also excited to be working with Courtney Davidson for the first time and her mentor Kenny Pang. Her images of the day did not disappoint. I can't remember the last time a couple of mine had so many amazing portraits of their wedding day to choose from.

One of the best parts of my job are all fabulous people that make the wedding day come to life! A big thank you is in order to Denise Fasanello Floral Design. Denise is a true artist and she always amazes me with her designs and creations, such a rare talent! This was my first time working with Ajalon Printing & Design, famous for their amazing letterpress special. I worked with them to create a custom letterpress invitation for my couple. We were all so pleased with the final result (which included Hebrew as well), that we immediately hired them to design ALL of the paper products for the wedding day, which we offset print. I can't forget to mention East Coast Band, who had the dance floor packed all night!

Wishing everyone reading this a wonderful Thanksgiving and congrats again to Ron and Zena!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

LOVE THESE TWO

Jonathan | Francine from Couture Motion on Vimeo

I mean, where does one even begin when describing this couple? If I had to use one word it would be FUN. This couple instantly became a vendor favorite across the board. Just take a look at this awesome video by Couture Motion and you will wish you were at this crazy fun wedding. Couture Motion is now based out of CA, but they will travel. If they lived in the NYC area still I would seriously hire them for every event. Every stinky one. They truly capture the essence of each couple. No two videos are the same. Remember this couple of mine? See how different their video is?

I can't wait to share the professional images of this wedding with all of you! Until then, check out their highlight video above...I cry every time!

NJ WEDDING: THE MANOR

Photos: Turn Loose the Art

I'm always a little disappointed right before I do a blog post of a wedding I worked on. Why??? Because the images on my blog are so darn tiny and you won't be able to appreciate them. Luckily you can see bigger images on Turn Loose the Art's Blog! If you are not familiar with Britney and Joe from Turn Loose the Art you must check them out! I'll be blogging another wedding soon that I worked on with them that is the complete opposite of this one...which is always fun!

I loved this wedding. Everything was inspired by Bertini's Italian Plume print. The print was carried through in all of the paper products and were designed by Bespoke Affairs. The print also inspired the color palette which was very natural and organic. Remember this post? Well, I was so thrilled to see the use of cabbage at this wedding. Fresh Art in Millburn, NJ did a wonderful job designing the florals and made the bride (and groom) very happy.

Are you a fan of Bespoke Affairs on Facebook? If so you can see more images here from this event.

NJ VENUES: PART ONE

Image Credit: Laffler Photography at Crossed Keys Inn

Today will be my first blog post highlighting venues I love in New Jersey (in honor of my move to Westfield, NJ). When I sat down at my computer this morning, I was really at a loss on what venue to feature first because there are so many fabulous ones to choose from. First I thought I'd highlight one of my favorites on the Jersey Shore. Then I thought I'd show you a spectacular new venue that is only a 6 minute ferry ride from Manhattan.

To be honest, too many choices and so many different styles were coming to mind...and then I said to myself, let's answer some emails and then revisit blogging later today. I'm so glad I did because a photographer friend mentioned in an email that she lives in Andover and I said to myself, Crossed Keys Inn...that's it!

So today I bring to you Crossed Keys Inn, an updated farmhouse on 12 acres of stunning property and possibly one of the most magical venues our great state has to offer. When you first arrive at the venue you are greeted with a tree-lined drive to a 19th century country estate. The charming grounds are filled with everything from lush meadows to cornfields. Your guests can even stay the night and wake to homemade breads, fresh local fruits and farm fresh dairy products.

After the reception is over, you can even wind down with close friends and family inside their playhouse where the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Marx once hung out. If that's not enough to win you over, their honeymoon suite is a secluded stone cottage with a jacuzzi for two.

AHHHH. I could talk and type for hours about this amazing venue. You really need to visit there and see for yourself! If that's not possible, check out their website which has tons of pictures and information on it...and they even have a blog!

The images in my blog post are by Laffler Photography, one of NJ's premiere wedding photographers (and NY for that matter!). Just take a look at these weddings he shot there and I dare you to tell me his images don't make you cry they are so beautiful. What a talent! My obsession with his photography began when he shot Kim's wedding, you might remember her from her day after session I worked on.