Wilshire Grand, West Orange NJ...The last post for 2011!

I'll be leaving you with a bright, beautiful Indian Wedding.   I'm in the process of asking the real photographer for her photo's.  The colors of the the centerpieces look off to me...they were much brighter...like the pictures of the bouquets.  

Since this is a slow time of year I'll be spending most of my time meeting with new brides preparing for upcoming weddings.  So until the spring I'll be wishing you a healthy and happy New Year!  

Bobby Van's Vault NYC

Bobby Van's vault, which is downtown....way downtown, reminds me of a place that gangsters in the 1920's were hanging out plotting how to distribute their hootch...1920's speak for liquor. The wedding literally took place inside the vault.

The Bridal bouquet was made of lysianthus, hypericum berries, eucalyptus leaves, peach and pink roses, and Cafe au Lait Dahlias.

Pew bows were made of the same, with hydrangea added in.

There were two large centerpieces on either side of the alter...unfortunately the only picture I have is blurry!

The centerpiece above was simple with roses and hydrangea. See the safe deposit boxes this is inside the vault where the reception took place...

Cocktail hr centerpieces of roses and eucalyptus.

The next wedding, an Indian Wedding at the Wilshire Grand in West Orange..get ready for some color!

Waterside Restaurant, North Bergen NJ

The Waterside Restaurant has an amazing view of the NYC skyline from NJ.

The wedding took place mid-September, in my opinion the best month to get married. The weather was beautiful. And since I wasn't permitted in the site until about 1hr before the reception I had some time to kill. I strolled along the waterfront, relaxed on a bench, took in the beautiful breeze and sunshine.

This wedding was dramatic and the bride had every last detail worked out. The reception was still being put together when I left, but seriously every last person working had some detail they were responsible for and everyone was scurrying around to make sure it looked perfect. And the cake...wait until you see my pictures of the cake!

This little bee landed on the bouquet as I was taking pictures.

Drama was on the menu for the day....and feathers were definitely called for! The Bridesmaids bouquets to the right were white spray roses and roses, either Akito..which are the pink, and Tibet, which are the white.

The Brides Bouquet was made of white roses, Juliette Garden Roses and White Dahlias.

Each bouquet had ribbed black ribbon with a cameo shaped rhinestone accent.

I can't wait until the end of the post to show you the cake so here it is!

I can't believe how real these spray roses looked...true artistry..if I knew who the baker was I would give them props!

The Bride really thought of every little detail. Including remembering that her vendors would probably be working straight through the day without much time to stop to eat. When I dropped off the bouquets I received this.....and a few hours later it really hit the spot! Inside was some candy, water, and a granola bar.

The more pictures I post the more I remember about the day. When I went to pick up the flowers things were a complete mess. My white hydrangea, that had been ordered before hand, ended up in someone else's hands somehow....this was a day where there was no white hydrangea to be found in the entire flower market...the only way you could have gotten it was either to order it before hand...or steal someone else's order! Then the roses I ordered were totally the wrong shade...they were more orange. So think...black ribbon, orangish roses = Halloween!..So the rush was off to try to find the right color, which luckily I did. Whew...crisis averted. The bride was very disappointed about the hydrangea. The best option I could go with was antique. I think in the end it all looked beautiful, but to a bride who had a very specific vision I know it was disappointing.

Since the site had a bridal shower booked for the afternoon that ran long I had to go to extreme measures to finish. There was no way I could make and travel with the candelabras all put together...so I found an out of the way spot in the parking lot to work...you can see the Waterside in the background.

There were three types of centerpieces for 12 tables...

Roses in a low black vase

Roses and Hydrangea on Candelabras

Roses and Hydrangea encircling lamps which really lit up for the reception

It really, really bugs me that the lamp shades were crooked in these pictures!

And for the sweetheart table pomanders of spray roses with a strand of crystals hanging from the bottom.

Coming soon....Two more weddings to post for 2011!

The Palace at Somerset Part II

Click here to see a slide show of my last wedding post from the professional photographer, Jayd Gardina (her link can be found in my favorite photographers to work with if you want her contact information). I've worked with her a few times and she is not only a great photographer, but a great person as well. You'll really get a sense of how rich and gorgeous these roses were..as she obviously knows how to use her fancy camera better than I know how to use my semi-fancy camera!

The Palace at Somerset Park

Finally! My Mac is up and working again, my photos are all intact, and I can get back to posting the last of my weddings from 2011.

I literally lost blood for this wedding.

Right now I do all my work in a half finished basement. I've rigged some lighting to help me along, but it is still on the dark side over the sink. As I was cutting the flowers so they could condition..which is just a fancy way of saying putting them in water for at least 24 hrs before I start working with them..(and I will say I was rushing) I quickly snipped with the clippers.....and sliced off 1/2 of the pad of my pointer finger on my right hand (I know....cringe). Even now I'm not sure why that finger wasn't on the clippers. Before I brought my hand up out of the water I knew it was bad...It would have be funny I think if anyone was watching me..I was holding my finger wandering kind of spinning around trying to figure out what to do. The closest thing to me was a box of kleenex so I grabbed a bunch. Luckily as I was coming up the stairs my husband came home...we called his mom...who is a nurse, and she came over and fixed me up so I could keep working. That was 4 months ago...I have a shiny circle on the pad of my finger...no finger print there anymore...and it still hurts!

And I still made all the bouquets and such...just needed my husband to help me with the short centerpieces which were submerged roses strung on wire.

So the main focus of this wedding were black magic roses...they seriously are so rich they look like velvet. The brides bouquet had black magic roses and black calla lilies and the groom had a boutonniere of a single calla, black magic rose and steel grass. Pictured below with the bouquet is the mother's corsage.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of black magic roses and the groomsmen had a single stem of black magic rose.

Jayd Gardina was the photographer for this wedding and I am dying to see the photo's she took! As soon as I have them I will post!

There were two types of centerpieces for the reception. And at our initial meeting as the bride was describing what she wanted I said "Like Beauty and the Beast?" and the answer was yes. So here is my take on the magic rose from beauty and the beast. I used a little trick to keep it submerged...otherwise it would just float to the top...the secret..it's called a pin frog.

I love this picture of them all lined up and ready to go...the staff was still fixing the table arrangements.

The short centerpieces were roses strung on wire, which was then wrapped around the inside of a 10in fishbowl vase.

More Weddings to come!