Wedding PINNING Plus!

Are you on Pinterest? But more importantly, are you following wedding experts like me on there? I have been busy on Pinterest pinning wedding inspiration photos, details from our past events, accent pieces from our own weddings and even a few personal pins as well. Don't find out 6 months from now that every bride you know is working off of Pinterest and you are just now beginning to explore it.
Come follow me now.

Truet Wedding - September 24, 2011

Kristina and Jason Truet were married on September 24, 2011 in Lake George. Their ceremony was at Rodgers Memorial Park and their reception was at the beautiful castle venue of The Inn at Erlowest. Kristina and Jason live on Staten Island but her family has a home in Bolton so the couple spends a lot of time up in this area. In fact Jason proposed to Kristina at Rogers Memorial Park so it seemed fitting that they should return to that spot to say their vows and make their marriage official.

Kristina and Jason found me 8 months before their big day. They wanted help in creating the design and decor aspects for their event and also my help with day-of wedding coordination. Kristina loved the idea of having a fall themed wedding so we went with shades of oranges and yellows in the flowers and used fall leaves as accents in various places. The bridesmaids wore a deep orange and the guys were in grey which is a very pretty fall color combination. Even the car the couple drove away from the ceremony was orange! Lucky for them that Kristina's dad happened to have an orange classic Corvette in the garage for them to borrow. :)

For the reception the ballroom at Erlowest was decorated in a rustic elegance with tall manzanita trees as centerpieces on the tables and glass orbs with tea light candles having from the branches. The bride and groom went with a long Tuscan or Renaissance style head table allowing all of the bridal party and their guests to be seated together. On this table there were floating candles to give light and sparkle to the table and we reused the bridesmaids' bouquets to act as standing flower arrangements down the middle of the table. This is a great way to give your Tuscan table a full and colorful look without spending money on extra centerpieces.

Joining me on this wedding was a cast of fabulous vendors! I have to start by thanking Tom Wall of Tom Wall Photography for taking these images of Kristina and Jason's big day. Tom you rock! Also big thanks go to my girl Erin Dewey at Erlowest, Dave Bigler of Dave Bigler Productions for his videography service, Doug Fisher of Designs by Douglas for the beautiful bouquets and tall tree centerpieces, and Andy Pratt DJ for keeping a rocking party on the dance floor. Lastly I also want to thank Jessica Rowell from Carissa Ceremonies for officiating a truly beautiful ceremony, Spa City Duo for their ceremony and cocktail hour music, Make Me Fabulous for beautifying the girls with hair and makeup service, Saratoga Photobooth and Advantage Transportation for their limo service. Wow that was a lot of vendors!

And of course I can't end this post without thanking Kristina and Jason for allowing me to be a part of their special day. You guys are a riot and were super fun to work with. I send you many wishes for a long and happy marriage!

Scahill Wedding Photo Featured In The Knot NY Magazine

Tracey Buyce is an amazing photographer so it makes perfect sense that the images she shoots make their way into major magazines. I had the honor of working with Tracey on Alexis and Jon Scahill's Sagamore wedding, the image of which is pictured above. The creative genius - David Michael Schmidt of Renaissance Floral Designs - created a magical tablescape for the bride and groom and Tracey took this beautiful photo of it. It's very exciting to see our wedding grace the pages of this magazine. Thank you to The Knot NY for publishing our work!

Other vendors who worked this wedding were Amy Elizabeth Makeup Design, Craig Scott Entertainment and Clifton Park Rental Company.

My Valentine

Photo by Matt Ramos Photography

Today is the universal day of love and I can only do my part and follow suit by posting
an homage to my special Valentine:

*****************

Thank you Adam for being my friend, my shoulder to lean on and my biggest fan.
Without you so much of my personal and professional success would not be realized.
You are everything I want and something I feared I would never realize.
You are my life, my light and my everything.
I love you.

*****************

Congrats to all the happy couples out there!
Wishing you all a very happy Valentine's Day!

We LOVE invitation sales!

Love is in the air!

And what better way to express our love than by offering
our biggest invitation sale yet!

We want you to take 25% off your order of bridal invitations and stationery.
Let this 25% discount be our way of showing how much we love our clients!

This discount offer is only good on orders placed by
March 10, 2012. Call or email to set up your
free invitation consultation today!
___________________________

Offer good for new clients only.
Discount available on orders for wedding invitations, save the date cards, bridal shower invites, wedding day stationery and all selections from our personalized gift lines.
25% discount is honored up to a max of $100 off.
Not to be combined with other offers.
Discount ends March 10, 2012.
Call or email Wedding Planning Plus to schedule your free consultation.

Photo Session for Me!

This weekend I got to spend a little time on me, and with the help of friend and colleague Tara Wiley I spruced myself up and got some much needed new head shots. I have to say it was really weird getting in front of the camera mostly because I spend a lot of my time at weddings staying out of the photographer's lens. But Tara took good care of me and even kept me going through a cold 20 degree weather day that also came with tons of heavy wind. I was freezing!

Tara is a super talented photographer and the owner of Tara Wiley Photography. She is located just south of Albany and available to shoot events all over the northeast. Lately she's been on a roll with baby photos and if you want to get some ooey gooey newborn and baby face love then you have to check out her website. And of course keep her in mind for weddings and events, as well!

Thanks so much Tara!

xoxo,
Shannon


PS - I couldn't decide on my favorite so I thought I would put up a few and hopefully someone can help me choose. If you have one you love leave a comment to let me know!

Cake Frosting: Fondant or Buttercream?

Photo by Gallery 9 North

Your guests enter your reception ballroom and their eyes land on your beautiful wedding cake situated underneath a beam of angelic light. They ooh and they ahh but what are they seeing? A cake frosted with fondant or one with buttercream?

Some details in wedding planning are easy to decide on and some are, well, not so much. When it comes to choosing your cake you have several choices to make - round, square or abstract? Chocolate, vanilla or red velvet? Mousse filling or fruit filling? And what the heck is the difference between fondant and buttercream frosting?? Now I can't help you tell you what flavors taste best (well I can but your taste buds should probably make that decision for you) but I can help you decipher the ins and outs of your two frosting options.

All four of the photos above are cakes that have been made with buttercream frosting. Buttercream is the frosting most commonly used in wedding cakes and is the one that most resembles the frosting you get on birthday cakes, cupcakes, and most frosted items at your local bakery. Buttercream can be dyed to match any color and can take design elements on it such as swirls, dots, etc. Usually buttercream frosting is included in the cost of your cake and not something you have to pay extra for. The downside to buttercream? It is applied to the cake with a pastry knife and therefor can show any flaw or imperfection. If you have seen a perfectly smooth frosting on a cake before it probably wasn't buttercream. Now I'm not saying that buttercream will give you a messy look (these cakes above look nothing close to messy) but you can't get the shine and complete flawless smoothness with this type of frosting.

Now these four cakes have been made with a fondant icing on them. Fondant is almost like a sugary play dough, and it's rolled out in sheets and laid down on top of the cake layers. It can't stick to the cake itself so a thin layer of frosting, most often a buttercream, is applied to the cake layers prior to the fondant begin laid on. Because this frosting is applied as one whole sheet and not by knife or bakery tool it maintains a completely uniform smooth look, as seen in the examples above. Fondant can be made in any color and can have decorative icing details applied to it. The downside of fondant? Most people aren't crazy about the way it tastes. It is much more of a paste like layer than a fluffy frosting so the texture and taste are different than what most people are used to. Also fondant is almost always an upcharge so a cake with fondant frosting costs more than one with buttercream.

So there you have the ins and outs of cake frosting. Now go brush your teeth!

Photography credit for the eight cake images above:
Photo 1 - Tracey Buyce
Photo 2 - Out of the Ordinary Photography
Photo 3 - Belathee Photography
Photo 4 - Jessica Patch
Photo 5 - John Seakwood
Photo 6 - Tracey Buyce
Photo 7 - Bob Donlon
Photo 8 - Jessica Painter