Still Live™’ by Brian Dorsey

One of the most fantastic NY photographers, Brian Dorsey introduced us to one of our favorite new ideas in interactive photography. At a July 3^rd wedding at Pier Sixty in NYC, the photographer set up a live digital gallery of the photos for guests to see practically as they were taken. It started with the moments before the ceremony that every guest doesn’t get to see and as the night progressed, the digital library got updated to include the ceremony and reception. Guests could literally cut a rug on the dance floor and then moments later see themselves on screen as a part of this amazing rotating digital gallery on a large flat screen monitor. Talk about instant gratification! Check out Brian’s work at www.briandorseystudios.com

Splash of Color!

Over the last several years, we've seen a fantastic trend popping up on the feet of many of our brides. The days of the boring white satin pump is long gone as brides are starting to use their feet as another vehicle to reinforce their wedding colors. Champagne, ivory and eggshell are being replaced with beautiful shades of pink, purple and blue. We're huge fans of how subtlety this pop of color makes it's entrance into the room as it peeks out from under the wedding gown. Here are three of our favorites! The purple pair belongs to Melissa. (photo by Todd France). She used deep purple calla lilies in her arrangements and on her stationery. The pink pair belongs to Dani, a bride that filled Pier Sixty in Manhattan with bright pink and orange. (photo by Brian Dorsey) And the navy pair belongs to Agnes, a bride that hosted a sophisticated event at NYC's Harmonie Club. (Photo by LCD photography) So while many brides are still sticking to the traditional white and ivory gowns, don't be afraid to show some color in the form of a fabulous shoe! Need to justify the cost? Remember that you'll more than likely wear a colorful shoe after the wedding than just a basic white one. I would pair any of these with a pair of blue jeans for a night on the town!

Bridal Gowns through the Generations

A fantastic and extremely creative Floridian bride dreamed of wearing her grandmother’s dress as she walked down the aisle in her May 2008 wedding. But when grandma told her she could not make any changes to the dress (and wearing it “as is” was not an option), she immediately had to come up with plan B. And in this case, Plan B turned out to be even more incredible as Plan A! She had a rare and unique situation where both her and her fiancé’s mother and grandmothers still had their wedding gowns. So as a tribute to them and their beautiful dresses, she displayed them on manikins at the reception venue. Not only did it give a peek into the family’s heritage, it offered a beautiful addition to the room’s décor. (And grandma didn't have to watch her gown get cut into a million pieces)

Southern Gospel

Last fall, we had a bride that wanted something unique and upbeat for her ceremony music. When trying to come up with a fun way to start her ceremony, we used a childhood story about the Pied Piper as inspiration for how to get her guests from the pre-ceremony cocktails out to the beach for the ceremony. But instead of a flute playing peasant, we hired an amazing gospel choir to arrive at the venue on foot. They approached the house in full song and led guests out onto the beach in a parade of clapping and excitement. When it was time for the bride to process, they started singing one of her favorite childhood songs, “This Little Light of Mine.” The bride wanted to avoid weepy classical music and to keep the ceremony as celebratory as possible. Mission accomplished!

Melangerie Inc.

This past summer we worked with an amazing....and dare I say best welcome bag company in NYC. Our bride was a medical resident in psychiatry with a super creative side that enjoyed everything in wedding design. When we first started conversations about welcome bags, Tara didn’t get excited about traditional paper totes or boxes filled with the obvious things like water and NYC maps at all. So I went on a crusade to track down NYC’s most creative duo and found Julie Tinker and Elana Dweck- the owners of Melangerie. They specialize in custom gifting and the creation of what they call, “mélanges.” For Tara and Greg, they created a custom NYC guide outlining the couple’s favorite spots, what they normally order, where their first date was, site of the proposal, etc and used the artwork from their Save the Date to reinforce their art deco feel and enhance consistency. Check out their site for more creative ideas: http://www.melangerienyc.com

Favorite Things: Nettleton Hollow

We all know being good to the environment while still planning amazing events is a constant struggle in the industry and especially for our “green” clients. For their outdoor engagement party, our couple Liza and Rob wanted to create a natural and elegant feel without using a ton of fresh flowers that would die soon after being cut. After doing some research, I came across the site www.nettletonhollow.com. Nettleton Hollow has a beautiful array of lasting botanicals, grasses, foliage, and branches. And considering you can reuse all of their materials, their price points are extremely fair. The couple ended up using clusters of the coral bush branches which created a beach-like feel without it looking kitschy and overdone.