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!