Scott Wedding - November 13, 2010

Megan and Derek were married in Troy on November 13, 2010. They picked one of the warmest and nicest days of the year to hold their wedding, a pretty odd fact considering it was two weeks before Thanksgiving. The couple said their vows in the chapel at the amazingly beautiful campus of Emma Willard. The architecture there is nothing short of breath taking, and the small church was a beautifully intimate spot for these two to join their lives together in front of all of the friends and family. From there the guests went on to Franklin Plaza where they were wined and dined and got their party on. The room was dressed in a crisp white and the super "now" color of taupe on the girls really kept the classy tone going throughout the event.

Although Megan and Derek hired me to coordinate their ceremony only I have to thank all of the vendors that helped them (and me!) out on their special day. Of course I have to give a super big shout out to the Elarios for taking such ridiculously delicious photos of these two. Sorry to all of you readers who are overwhelmed with the size of this post but when you have Joe and JP Elario shooting one of your weddings it makes the process of narrowing down the blog photos nearly impossible! Also joining me at this event was the lovely and talented Tina Barbato from Flawless by Tina who did Megan and the girls' makeup, and Timeless Updos who I love to work with for beautiful bridal hair dos. Also want to say thank you to Lou Rizzo of House of Flowers for the stunning arrangements, Royal Limousine for the limo service and the fancy vintage Rolls Royce, Saratoga Photobooth for bringing in a fun photobooth for the reception, Coccadotts for making their cake, and Brett Wasserman of Silhouette Art on Video for the being the guy literally running around to get the best video shots throughout their day. Wait I'm not done with this awesome cast of characters - Thanks also to DJ Andy Pratt for packing their dance floor, and to Greg Cushman from Franklin Plaza and Nicole at Emma Willard for being joys to work with! Phew, I think that's it!

Working with Megan and Derek was truly a pleasure! These two have their heads on straight and are good real people who have a lot of love, respect, and admiration for each other. My favorite kind of couple! My only regret on this event is that I didn't get to stick with them through the end of the night, but from these photos you can see they were in great hands and seriously rocked their party out! Megan and Derek, you guys made it and had one of the most beautiful weddings I have seen! Congrats you two, and thank you so much for allowing me the chance to be a part of it! <3>

Now Hiring - Communications Intern

WPP has an opening for an intern to work on bridal communications and basic marketing initiatives. Candidates should be in college for or just graduated with a degree in communications, marketing, business, or a related field. Web design or web based experience is a plus. This is an unpaid position with a combination of home based work and work in the field for a total of about 10-20 hours a week. All those interested should send their resume with a cover letter explaining what they would bring to this position to shannon@weddingplanningplus.net before December 20th.

VanDixhorn Wedding - July 18, 2010

Mr. and Mrs. VanDixhorn were married July 18, 2010. They had an afternoon ceremony held at the Pine Knolls Alliance Church in South Glens Falls. The groom's father is the minister at Pine Knolls so this church was more than just the "family's church" - it was literally the family's church! Having the groom's father officiate was only a small piece of Lauren and Joel's very personal ceremony which included a unity candle lit by the two mothers and the church's music group providing the instrumental songs throughout. After the ceremony the bride and groom were whisked off to the Inn at Erlowest where they had a beautiful ceremony in Erlowest's ballroom. Haleigh Muskopf and the staff at Erlowest are always top notch and spot on and they really wowed the guests were their exceptional service. Joining me on this event was the always amazing DJ Greg Frasier, the fabulous and super sweet photographer Holly Greene from Out of the Ordinary Photography, flowers by the talented Crystal Riley at Price Chopper in Queensbury, superb town car service from Christopher Limousine, and the styling gurus Amy Elizabeth Smith for makeup and Timeless Updos for hair. Also at the reception was the ever popular Saratoga Photobooth where guests snapped old school photo strips and were able to paste them and write comments next to them in the couple's guest book. So fun!

Lauren and Joel are two of the nicest people I have ever met and I really had a wonderful time working on their wedding with them. They hired me at the very beginning, and because they live in Boston we planned all of their details long distance through e-mail and the occasional local visit. These two work so well together and it's so nice to see a couple who is kind and sweet and loving and just perfect for one another. They rock! Congratulations you two!!

Giving Thanks

As we reflect on this Thanksgiving holiday I just wanted to take a moment and thank a few special people who made WPP a great success this year.

To my family, friends, and my wonderful crew of interns and assistants - Thank you all for your support, dedication, and passion for event planning. I truly couldn't do this without you.



And to my 2010 brides and grooms - You guys rocked my world this year. Each of you holds a special place in my heart. This will be a tough year to top!




Photos 1-4 by Shannon Whitney, photo 5 by Tracey Buyce.
Photo 6 by Niki Rossi, photo 7 by John Seakwood, photo 8 by Belathee Photography, photo 9 by Bailly Photography, photo 10 by Out of the Ordinary Photography.

Check out VOW magazine to see WPP contributions

And the press just keeps on coming! VOW Magazine is a brand new wedding publication in the Capital District and guess who they call to contribute to their inaugural edition. :) Check out the article on destination weddings!

http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/From-Here-to-Eternity-What-you-need-to-know-722577.php

WPP is featured on another wedding website!

Wow this has been an incredible last few months! First we had a featured wedding on My Kate Parker's website, then we get WeddingWire rated, followed by the announcement that we will have a second wedding featured on the pages of the illustrious WellWed magazine, and now today - dun da da dun! - WPP has a wedding featured in the national bridal blog of Emmaline Bride. How cool is all of this??

So if you remember the recap from the Walley wedding last September at the Canfield Casino in Saratoga then you will likely enjoy reliving the whole event through the images and story (written by yours truly) posted on this blog. I am super happy for my bride Sarah and for photographer Rob Spring for getting their amazing talent published for the world to see!

So please, without further adieu, I welcome you to check out the WPP feature on Emmaline Bride.

http://emmalinebride.com/real-wedding/wedding-planning-plus-sarah-and-ryans-wedding/

Happy Halloween!

From WPP's mascot doggy Reilly (aka Wonder-Poochie)!

We're being featured - Again!!

I just learned that my August 14th wedding at The Sagamore Resort is going to be featured in the Spring 2011 WellWed Magazine! You may remember we had a featured wedding in their Spring 2010 edition, and we couldn't be more thrilled or more proud that they have selected another one of our events to grace their pages. If you are not familiar with WellWed it is a high end wedding mag that only has two issues a year and in those two issues they only have about six featured weddings. They get tons and tons of submissions and in all of the ones they received they chose us!! Super huge kudos go out to Jen Mardus who made this possible by being so talented and doing such a magnificent job shooting this event. And of course thanks go out to Andrea Tully (aka world's best bride) for planning an event that was so awesome this high end publication wants it to be a feature in their next edition. We are all so excited about this! I can't wait to see it!!!

Here's a few pics to remind you of the wedding - look for the magazine this winter. ;)

Wedding Linens - How to Best Dress Your Tables

Brides spend a lot of time making decisions about details of their wedding day, and some put a particularly extensive amount of thought on the linens for their reception tables. Besides uplighting and fabric swags there is no single item that makes a greater impact on the look of your reception than your table linens. So what do you choose? The standard white or ivory offered at your venue? Or do you spend the money to upgrade to a certain color, fabric, or specialty runner or overlay? At anywhere from $20-50 per table the choice to upgrade is certainly important to your budget. So here are a few examples of linen choices and the reasons behind the decisions that were made.

This chocolate brown tablecloth was the perfect 'neutral' backdrop for the pop of the Tiffany blue napkins. Add in the gold Chivari chairs and the look is modern, fun, and exactly the look this bride and groom envisioned.

Here is another chocolate brown tablecloth but this couple was having a fall themed event so we went with the golds, coppers, and orange colors as accents. To save on costs a copper runner was placed down the middle of the table to focus guests' eyes to the centerpiece and to add the added accent color to the table. Runners are usually much less expensive than an overlay or a full floor length linen which makes it a great option for couples who want to add some pops of color without breaking the bank.

Here is another runner, this time going down the center of a long dining table. This runner is of a specialty fabric with diamond shaped patterns sewn in, and the small brown colors in the runner match the chocolate brown napkins at each place setting. This couple was going for a very earthy and nature-inspired look so the caterer continued this theme and rolled the napkins up to look like fiddleheads. To complete the look, on the tables were also boxes of wheat grass, copper lanterns, polished rocks, and locally grown wild flowers.

Speaking of overlays, here is an example of a sheer beaded overlay on lop of a floor length beige tablecloth. I am a personal fan of using overlays because I feel that the multiple layers of fabric looks luxurious and extra fancy. Overlays give a special effect of having one color or fabric type on the tabletop while still showing the base fabric towards the bottom of the table. Overlays are usually square, although they can come in rounds, and vary in size. The smaller ones, as seen in this photo, cover just the top of the table, while longer overlays can go almost down to the floor.

Colors evoke emotion, and here is a great example of how your linens can really make a color impact on the room. Even though this is a close up shot of the table you can see how dramatic this lovely coral/pink silk tablecloth is. The fabric actually had several tones of pink and coral in it, which were exactly the colors used in other accents around the space. This reception was in an open air tent, and as the breeze came through the fabric moved and was able to beautifully shimmer all of the various colors. The crisp white napkins and china look classically elegant and the simple round blooms in the centerpiece tie in the primary and accent colors of the day. Looking across the room all of the tables shined in their pink tones and set a very sweet and elegant mood for the evening's events.

Here is another floor length tablecloth with some interested features in the fabric. If you look to the left side of the photo you can see the grid pattern sewn into this fabric, called pintuck. This pattern, along with the crushed look of the cloth, gives texture and adds interest to the linen. This fabric also has a two toned looked, and in some lights appeared brown while other times looked coppery. This was a fall wedding with many shades of reds, golds, and pinks used, and this neutral toned linen was the perfect backdrop to let all of the other colors shine.

Of course there is nothing wrong with sticking with the basics! This couple chose a white floor length linen for their tables to keep with their classic and timeless overall look. Instead of putting focus on a colored linen they chose to use other elements in the room to give tone and character. The gold Chivari chairs matched perfectly with the antique gold urns and the gold trimmed table numbers. With a room that has soft warm tones in the paint and the trim they kept their table colors muted to truly highlight the beauty of the architecture surrounding them.

Here is another example of how white linen can be the perfect choice when creating an overall reception room look. Obviously these two were going for a black and white theme and instead of focusing on linens we brought in this amazing black and white checkered floor and set up the rest of the design elements to highlight it. Crisp white tablecloths and napkins, black menu cards, dark Chivari chairs, and soft muted floral arrangements allowed for the floor to really be the standout feature in the room. This is a great example of how less really can be more.

And if you are a follower of this blog you probably knew this picture was coming up. This wedding had 35 total guests, all of whom sat around this one large dining table. There was a lot of design elements used on this table including an array of lush floral arrangements, hand carved votive candles, custom menu and place cards, and of course the place settings for each guest. But beneath it all is a beautiful silver palette that was created with linens. A completely unique approach was used here - instead of laying the linens out flat we layered sheer cloths in bunches all down the table. This bunching effect made the table look like it was covered not in fabric but in dreamy clouds of silver shimmer. This unique application of cloth was a flawless compliment to all of the other amazing pieces on this completely amazing dining table.

And lastly I wanted to show a linen that is simple but very dramatic. This tablecloth is quite possibly the most expensive fabric any of my couples has ever used. Thin ribbon was hand sewn onto the base layer to create small, identical, flower patterns. The fabric itself was thick and heavy and was certainly a conversation piece when the guests sat in front of it. This couple went for a very eclectic design look, bringing in natural earthy elements as well as global influences such as Moroccan votives and antique silver vases. There are few linen choices that could tie together all of the different styles happening on this table, and this gorgeous gem of a fabric did just that.


So what linen choices will you make??



(Photos from top to bottom: Shannon DeCelle Photography, Tracey Buyce Photography, Heather Bohm-Tallman Photography, Tracey Buyce Photograhy, John Seakwood Photography, Tracey Buyce Photography, Rob Spring Photography, Elario Photography, Tracey Buyce Photography, Belathee Photography)

A Look Ahead... Wendy and Tony's Engagement Shoot Sneak Peek!

Wendy and Tony, well, they simply rock... But maybe I'm a bit biased... Anywho, they are getting married at the Inn at Erlowest in October of 2011 and we are in the thick of planning this momentous day. This weekend they met with their photographer, the ever amazing Alisha Clark, to do their engagement photo shoot. Not even one day later I have a sneak peek photo from their time together. How cute are these two? And PS - Great shot Alisha! Can't wait to see the rest!