Grey Likes Weddings

Every once in a while, we’re lucky enough to feature a wedding that is absolutely out of this world. Today, while we’re a little limited in order to protect the privacy of the bride and groom, but we thought you might not mind a peek into the styling from this stunning spring inspired affair at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. This has got us in the mood for cherry blossoms and gilded details. Which brings us to the East Coast design and planning team,  Jackie Esposito and Erica Powell of Ambiance Luxe. These gals are a total design power house…but don’t listen to me. Look at this pretty (shot by the ineffable JAG Studios).

Jackie and Ericka shared with us a little about the details of planning this spring extravaganza:

We had 5 months to plan the wedding from scratch including a venue search. The wedding took place May 30, 2011. We helped our bride to choose the types of flowers she wanted, the color palette of pink, aquamarine, soft sage, golds, and ivories.The florist, Katherine of KD&J Botanica did the most amazing job with this wedding. She has such exquisite taste and was even able to get the stunning cherry blossoms for the ceremony in late May, which is a challenge. Linens were a custom pink Dupioni made for the bride’s wedding. We had about 12 candles per table for tons of candle light, including some floating gold candles which are unusual. Jacklyn and her team from JAG Studios did an amazing job on this wedding, the colors are breathtaking. We love the cake from Ana Parzych’s Cakes, all of her flowers are made an designed by hand out of fondant or gum paste, and they are hand painted and applied by Ana. Music provided by Vali Entertainment’s Uptown Mix, the same band that played for Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.

To see more from this wedding check out the video put together by Fairytale Studio.

Photographer: JAG Studios // Videography: Fairytale Studios // Venue: Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, The Palm House // Florist: KD&J Botanica // Stationery: Admire Design // Cake: Ana Parzych’s Cakes // Band: Uptown Mix // Lighting & AV Equipment: Correlation Productions

We’re continuing with our equestrian theme for the day today with Emily and Cameron’s gorgeous summer wedding that took place at Kelowna Ranch in Okanagan Valley, Canada. There’s nothing I don’t love about this perfect setting–particularly the picnic cocktails on the lawn. There are so many more wonderful details that Emily shared with us, so be sure to read more!

Very special thanks to Gucio Photography for sharing their work. It’s absolutely stunning.

 The Okanagan Valley is where I grew up and it’s gorgeous scenery made the perfect back drop. We are both very passionate about wine so it also made sense to be in wine country. Twin Creek Ranch is a hidden gem that not many people realize is there. Being on a ranch offered that rustic and nostalgic country feel but with modern elements blended in. We wanted our day to feel classy and elegant but without pretension. We pictured it being a day of leisure and socializing, hence we did not do a seated dinner (it was all about mingling) and our creation of the “lawn lounge” invited guests to really relax and take in the scenery without feeling obligation to do anything at all. I wanted to have some subtle vintage/antique style touches to the decor to add to the rustic, nostalgic feeling that I wanted to create. Many of the cushions in the lawn lounge had covers made from vintage table cloths and we got a collection of Life Magazines from the the 1950′s and 60′s to set out for people to read.

For my dress I wanted something really simple and pretty with lace overlay. I thought that this dress by Pronovias had a timeless look. My bouquet was hand made by my godfather using antique brooches which we collected from flea markets, antique stores and some were even heirloom brooches from in my family. Cam outfitted him and his guys in suspenders from a Vancouver Boutique called Vencent Park. The ties were all randomly selected by the guys as to not look too uniform.

Many of our guests had come all the way out from Australia to be with us so it was also important to us that we showcase the Okanagan Valley and include as many local elements as possible. Our wedding favors were home-made preserves made by my mom from her own back yard peach trees and raspberries in the Okanagan. We chose all local wines and beers as well. We LOVE our classic pre-prohibition style cocktails so we featured negroni’s and gimlet’s on the bar. The Band: Maria in The Shower is a local Vancouver band that has a 1920′s Jazz sound and not to mention fabulous style!

Photography – Gucio Photogrpahy // Shoes: John Fluevog // Dress: Pronovias // Venue: Kelowna Ranch – Twin Creek // Band: Maria in the Shower // Cam’s Suit: Emilio Zegna // Cam’s Shoes: John Fluevog

There is so much to love about Merinda and Ben’s wedding…the flowers, the relaxed Martha’s Vineyard setting, the bride’s big poofy veil (I LOVE short poofy veils…I mean…let me prove it to you!). But what’s absolutely the most amazing thing is that the bride’s dress–that total stunner of a gown–was made by her mother! You can read all about the story below! Very special thanks to Fat Orange Cat Studio for sending over this East Coast knock out.

We were so happy that we chose to have our wedding on Martha’s Vineyard.  Ben and I spent a lot of time in Martha’s Vineyard since we met and we kept throwing the idea in the mix, but it would get tossed aside because of logistics. One day we decided that we were just going to take weekend trip there, meet with vendors and see where it brought us. As with every other trip there, as soon as we stepped off the ferry, we just felt so relaxed and knew that is how we wanted to feel on our wedding day. Most of our family came down the week before the wedding so it was just really great to get to spend extra time with all the people closest to us before the actual wedding day. None of it would have been possible without their help and we can’t thank everyone enough for being there with us! We really wanted something different and non-traditional. We couldn’t have been happier that we chose to get married in Edgartown!

My favorite moment of the day was our “first look”.  My dad and I went out on his boat for a spin around the harbor and Ben met us at the dock. My dad and I got to have a nice talk and the boat ride totally relaxed me. Then, seeing Ben standing at the end of the dock just made my day!

A lot of our elements were DIY, I hand letter pressed our save the dates, my brother and grandmother made our cake toppers, and we enlisted our friends to help with our favors, but the biggest and most memorable was my dress. My mom made my dress! When we started dress shopping, I was looking at pretty simple dresses and my mom would joke “I could make that”. So one day as I was looking through blogs I saw a dress that I loved and sent it to my mom (completely as a joke, because it looked way too hard to make) and said “think you could make this?” and she said, “sure, why not?” I laughed, but she wasn’t kidding! She had to make a few mock ups with different fabrics until I found one I liked, but throughout the whole process my mom remained relaxed and calm (even when I decided to move 3000 miles away from her before the dress was complete) and that’s how I ended up with the best dress ever!!

Vendors:
Photography: Fat Orange Cat Studio // Flowers: Dandeneau Flowers // Dress: by the Bride’s mom // Bridesmaids Dresses: Carol Hannah // Venue/Catering: Atria // Hair: Shear Inspirations // Makeup: Ashley Verbicky // Groom and Groomsmen Suits: J.Crew
Officiant: Brides Uncle, Brian Pattullo // Ceremony and Cocktail Hour Music: Good Night Louise // Reception Music: DJ Diana