Ambiance Luxe Wedding | Hartford Connecticut Wedding at the Pond House {Photography by HK Photography}

Amanda & Kevin met with us last year, and had decided to plan their wedding on their own. We were thrilled when we heard from them again last month to add a last minute Month Of + Design package! We loved helping to tie up all of the final details, especially the design. Amanda & Kevin were married at the Pond House in West Hartford, this past Sunday.

We met Amanda in her room at the Farmington Inn to bring her and the girls their bouquets. Amanda chose  a beautiful dress adorned with Swarovski crystals. The bridesmaids and Maid of Honor had chocolate brown dresses with Swarovski embellishments.

Hubert and Alka of HK Photography set up Amanda's dress on the end of the bed post to take some full length dress shots. I can't wait to see their photos from Amanda & Kevin's wedding! They spent so much time capturing every single detail.

Amanda asked me to design and print her placecards and ceremony programs for her. I used a beautiful woods butterfly for their programs to match Amanda & Kevin's fall color scheme.

 

Their custom monogram was featured on the front of Amanda & Kevin's programs. I noticed Hubert and Alka taking some photos of the program on the mantle, I can't wait to see them! 

 

The Pond House looked beautiful set up for Amanda & Kevin's rainplan ceremony. It was raining but all of the decorations we had looked absolutely stunning inside. I love the draped fabric and the cement floor of the Pond House in front of the dramatic back windows with the pond view.

Amanda was escorted down the aisle by her father and her grandfather. I love this shot with the three of them. The ceremony was so emotional!

Amanda & Kevin are such an amazing couple, they had waited for their wedding day for so long. Amanda incorporated handfasting into her ceremony, personalized by their JP Ernest Adams, who performed an absolutely perfect ceremony.

Click the above photo to view the mantle that Liz &  I worked on together. Liz found two sets of letters for Amanda & Kevin from Anthropologie! I had no idea they carried letters like this. She placed these two on the mantle and the other two on the backs of Amanda & Kevin's chairs.

We decorated the cocktail tables very simply with orange rose petals and purple dahlias. Sometimes simple is beautiful! 

The cake from Creative Cakes by Donna was provided by the Pond House. Amanda chose a simple fall colored cake with ribbon and gerber daisy accents.

Here you can see the other set of letters that Liz chose from Anthropologie, and Amanda & Kevin's son Donovan visiting them at their head table. As the night progressed on, the Pond House was more and more beautiful as the night went on. We loved how the candles in the windows sparkled like fireflies! Thank you so much Amanda & Kevin for allowing us to be a part of your wedding day. We are looking forward to seeing the professional photos from Hubert and Alka!

AMANDA & KEVIN'S VENDORS

Ceremony & Reception Venue Pond House Cafe 
Blog Photography & Paper Designs Ambiance Chic Wedding Designs
Photographer (images not shown) HK Photography
Wedding Cake Creative Cakes by Donna

Ambiance Luxe Wedding | Waterfront Connecticut Wedding at the Inn at Longshore {Photography by Robert and Kathleen Photographers}

Kathy & Tom were married last Friday, September 18, 2009 at Assumption Church in Westport, CT. Their reception was held at the Inn at Longshore in Westport. 

Kathy sent me all of her ideas when we first starting working together. She had the idea that she wanted a very romantic and classic feel. After looking at her ideas, her venue, her bridesmaid dress color, and her favorite flowers, I came up with the idea of Classic Pearl: a feminine traditional style with warm and glamorous accents.

 

 Kathy started her wedding day getting ready at her parent's home with her family and bridesmaids close at hand. Robert & Kathleen joined her to capture some beautiful getting ready shots, and detail shots of everything that surrounded Kathy.

 

 

Every gorgeous wedding starts with a gorgeous invitation. Kathy & I chose Adrienne from Admire Design to create her Wedding Invitations, Table Numbers, Placecards, Ceremony Programs, and even Candy Buffet labels. 

Kathy's penchant for detail meant having the appropriate inserts for her pocketfold including directions, response card, and lodging information that helped all of her guests get settled & organized.

I particularly loved the Directions card with the custom map that Adrienne drew for the Directions Card!

Kathy & Tom's ceremony took place at the Assumption Church in Westport, CT. Just minutes down the road from Inn at Longshore, it was very convenient for all of the guests to travel between the two locations. Assumption Church also has beautiful architectural details!

 

  

After the ceremony Robert & Kathleen took some amazing shots of the Bridal Party on the back lawn of the Inn at Longshore. Very James Bond.

Kathy & Tom decided to have a custom gobo made to match their wedding invitations. Adrienne from Admire Design made their monogram into a file and we sent it to the lighting technicians, Rob of Correlation Productions and he had it made into a monogram. 

 

Here is a photo of Kathy & Tom's Escort Cards. Adrienne set them up under the beautiful arrangements designed by Jane from Just For You Floral Designs. Jane did such a beautiful job of putting together Kathy's ideas with me! Jane is very creative and she can take any idea and make it beautiful.

 

Here is a closeup of the Escort Cards with the Swarovski Crystal embellishments. Adrienne hand-assembled all of the layers on Kathy's papers, designed all of the text and layouts, and added Kathy's personal touches!
 

Jane designed gorgeous cocktail arrangements that complimented Kathy's centerpieces and further played into Kathy & Tom's upscale, chic, and romantic wedding look.
 

Kathy's tall arrangements had a sophisticated draping pearl accent that Jane came up with during our design sessions. I loved the look and the warmth that the pearls added to Kathy & Tom's reception. Kathy wanted crystals and pearls to be the accents in her design.
 

Kathy, Jane, and I decided that we wanted to have two types of floral arrangements, one low and one high, so that the room had interest and wasn't all of the same thing. I often do this to add sophistication and interest to the room. Adrienne's Table numbers were displayed on easels that Kathy, Rochelle, and Lyssa found online together.

Kathy ordered a beautiful Guestbook pen from Etsy that was a major hit with all of her guests. She also found a bird cage and a Guestbook to match her style. Adrienne adorned her bird cage with ribbon and a custom sign.

 

Kathy & Tom's first dance was to Seal's Kiss from a Rose. Bock & Blu, their wedding band, learned the song especially for them! They were a wonderful band, and they sang an awesome variety of songs throughout the night and kept everyone on the dance floor!
 

Kathy chose a classic wedding cake by Angela Mia. It was delicious and beautiful and totally custom. Just remember when you go to a bakery that you can bring a photo of a cake you love. You can make your cake sophisticated and simple like this cake, and add in fresh flowers to match your wedding flowers. I loved Kathy & Tom's "B" bling Cake topper as well.

Adrienne & I put a lot of thought into Kathy's Candy Buffet. We pre-shopped two online candy stores and found the best candies in white for Kathy to choose from. Kathy ended up with Chocolate Malt Balls, Coconut Bon Bons, Candy Sticks, Rock Candy, White Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Chocolate Covered Jordan Almonds, Salt Water Taffy, White Amorini Chocolate Hearts, and White Banana Gummy Bears. Kathy & Tom's Candy Buffet was an instant success, nobody could stay away from it!

Jane placed a few of her arrangements in stemmed votive holders on the Candy Buffet, and sprinkled Stephanotis blossoms on the table top. Kathy & Tom's Candy Buffet was the MOST decadent I have ever seen!

 

Adrienne & I spent a few hours choosing ribbon placement and sign placement for all of the custom signs she made. Kathy & Tom's signature font looked beautiful on the signs!

Here is a close up of my favorite, the White Milk Chocolate Covered Malt Balls and one of Adrienne's custom signs. Adrienne & I had a wonderful time at Kathy & Tom's wedding!

Kathy spent so much time with us making sure that every detail was perfect! Congratulations Kathy & Tom, we loved your wedding and we can't wait to hear from you when you get back from your honeymoon! We loved every moment of our planning & your wedding day!

KATHY & TOM'S VENDORS

Ceremony Location Assumption Church
Reception Location Inn at Longshore
Paper Design Admire Design
Floral Design Just for You 
Wedding Cake Angela Mia 
Wedding Photography Robert & Kathleen Photographers
Candy Buffet Ambiance Chic Wedding Designs & Admire Design

Ambiance Luxe Wedding | Waterfront Connecticut Wedding at Rocky Neck State Park {Photography by Kevin Kelly}

Mike and Sara were married this past weekend, September 12, 2009 at Rocky Neck State Park in Niantic, CT. Rocky Neck's Pavilion faces the beach and ocean, and is available to rent for a wedding or special occassion, and is surrounded by beautiful park grounds. The Pavilion itself was built in 1936, and to rent the Pavilion call Sue at Rocky Neck! Sara, Liz, & I had a design meeting at Starbucks in Boston to review Sara's favorite colors, bridesmaid's dresses, centerpiece inspiration, lantern colors, and linens.

Sara was inspired by lively, colorful, and exciting scrapbook paper patterns. Sara designed her Invitations, Envelope Liners Save the Dates, Menus, Menus, Table Numbers, and Placecards on her own to highlight her favorite papers. She mixed and matched the papers to create an eclectic while still refined and personalized feel to her papers.




Sara started her day by getting her hair & makeup done at Salon Medusa in Norwich, CT. She finished getting ready at her Hotel with her bridesmaids. Her amazing photographer Kevin Kelley was there to catch all of the beautiful moments that unfolded while Sara was getting ready. 

 

For their ceremony, Candi of Candi's Floral Creations created these absolutely stunning floral pieces of artwork! She used Sara's papers, dresses, and favorite colors as inspiration and chose the most beautiful Dahlias, Bells of Ireland, Hydrangea, and Roses to complete Sara and Mike's floral design.

Rochelle and I found these beautiful Eyelet Paper Lanterns and lined Sara & Mike's sea-view aisle with whimsical lanterns and curley-q shepherd's hooks. Sara also created Reserved signs for her family for the first two rows of chairs at the ceremony. Candi's arrangements looked so natural and so wild in front of the water and surrounded by trees. Perfect! We moved these arrangements up to the reception after the ceremony so the guests could enjoy them all night!

Sara's MOH and bridesmaid's bouquet had Dahlias, Roses, Hydrangea, and seeded eucalyptus, and were the perfect bridge between summer and the beginning of fall. Sara's jade Nicole Miller bridesmaid's dresses were simple and elegant. Sara chose two different dresses for her two sisters, by the same designer in the same color!

Sara's placecards were also made of scrapbooking paper, all coordinating, with patterns that matched and coincided with each table number that was made with a different pattern.

In this shot you can see Rocky Neck's rustic and exciting reception room which is extremely long and full of layout options. The pillars were made from trees from State Parks in CT. We were able to tie Sara & Mike's lanterns to the pillars for a unique lighting design. Rochelle hung lanterns with satin ribbon from the ceiling of the reception space on natural sisal twine

We chose Sky Blue Pintuck Linens, Ice Blue Lamour Napkins, and a straight napkin fold to display Sara and Mike's menus. We used Seafoam Lamour on the buffet tables to tie in Sara's colors. Sara told Liz & I at her Initial Consultation that she wanted blue and green linens, blue to represent Sara's eye color, and green for Mike's eyes! Sara designed and sent out her menus to be professionally printed. She used the same flower design that she had used on her invitations, and beautifully displayed her menu choices from Cloud Nine Catering. Cloud Nine was fabulous from the moment we first visited them! Sara & Mike had a special Gluten-Free menu created, and Cloud Nine offered them a tasting of their choices. Cloud Nine did a beautiful job displaying their creations, and all of the guests enjoyed their fabulous food!

Sara and Mike wanted to keep their centerpeices romantic and whimsical and we composed an arrangement entirely of pillar candles and votives to mimic Sara's inspiration centerpiece. Stasia placed all of the pillar candles as Candi & I sprinkled hydrangea petals, rose petals, and orchids between the candles.

Sara & Mike choreographed their first dance to "Lucky" by Jason Mraz. They delighted their crowd with turns and twists, and made Rochelle & I cry a little! We loved Sara's dress by Vera Wang, and the beautiful bustle that Nardulli's of Manchester created for Sara. Sara & I chose to put patterned lanterns over the dance floor, to separate it from the dining side of the room. John and Tim from Party Pro DJ, run by Beth Angel, did an amazing job keeping the party dancing all night long! They swing danced, danced to Madonna and MJ, and had an amazing time!

Since Sara & Mike were Full Service clients, Rochelle & I helped them find Hair & Makeup, a seamstress for Sara's gown, their DJ, their florist, linens, Catering, and their Photographer Kevin Kelley from Kevin Kelley Photography. 

Sara & Mike's cake had crumbs on the outside for a whimsical flair. Here you can see Sara & Mike's gorgeous cake, made by Cloud Nine Catering and decorated on-site by Candi! 

Thank you so much to Sara & Mike for allowing us to be a part of your amazing and unique day! We hope you are enjoying your honeymoon!

SARA & MIKE'S VENDORS

Ceremony & Reception Venue Rocky Neck State Park
Catering & Wedding Cake Cloud Nine Catering
Wedding Photography Kevin Kelley
Sara's Hair & Makeup Salon Medusa
Wedding Paper Sara Vallerie 
DJ & Entertainment Party Pro DJs 
Ceremony Cellist Divina Strings