anyone for brunch? gorgeous china, a simple boiled egg, toast soldiers with homemade blackberry jelly with a good book is what i call a good morning. and don't for get some sweet macaroons to finish off the moment...
Last weekend we attended the Amsale NY Gala Event and met some lovely brides planning their weddings for 2011 and even 2012!! The dresses were absolutely divine. My personal favourite was the Ally dress (an elegant short strapless Alencon lace dress with sash at the waist). Congratulations to Angela Wilson for such a successful showcase.
Love Love Love these short dress inspirations found online at Dust Jacket Attic - perfect for a getaway wedding perhaps? I am obsessed by lovely shiny sashes at the moment!! Photos by Olivia Graham/InStyle Weddings
Getting ready for a "wedding free" weekend at SugarLove, enjoy yours x
good morning!! i am so excited to share with you all that Weddings Fresh has been featured in this season's Get Married Magazine! whoot!!! i am so pumped about this, i could barely stand it when i received my copy in the mail yesterday!!! so proud :) and i also want to give a big shout out to Get Married by letting you in on their most recent giveaway for brides and vendors alike! so check them out--they are full of inspirational eye candy, insider tips and this month an interview with project runway's designer Anthony L. Williams on how to be fabulously retro--love it!
thank you, wendy and Get Married!! GET SHOPPING + START SNAPPING TO WIN BIG!
SHOP: Pick up your fall issue of Get Married (available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Target, CVS, Kroger, A&P, Waldenbooks, Book World, Hasting, Books-A-Million and more). Your first issue is FREE by registering at www.getmarried.com
SNAP: The most creative, fun, outlandish shot of our cover that you can dream up!
SHARE: Tweet your favorite picture to @GetMarried (you MUST include #getmarriedcontest AND @GetMarried in your tweet), or post your pic on our Facebook wall (become a fan of Get Married @ http://www.facebook.com/GetMarriedMedia)
WIN: Vendors: A FREE listing in the fall issue of the hottest new bridal magazine Brides: A one-year subscription to Get Married magazine
GET INSPIRED + GET PLANNING: Our fall issue features more of what you want!
* Bridal trends and this season’s hottest colors to fit every bridal style
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* Sultry Beach Getaways: (with a chance to win a honeymoon!)
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Pick up your fall issue of Get Married and Get Creative! Contest ends Monday, August 30th.
good morning! i know i'm not big on posting pink, 1 year old birthday parties here on Weddings Fresh but that doesn't mean i don't gush over them! i couldn't resist my good friend's beautifully sweet design from her little Anya's first birthday! she's one of those women, and especially moms, that you look at and wonder how she has time to be good at everything she does--cooking, photography, sewing, baby hair accessories design and now to the list, pretty party design!!
love you, min! check her out, Mindy Strauss, for more!
We're proud to announce that we won! The Annual Big Apple Awards, produced by ISES, the (International Special Events Society) honored us with beautiful Simon Pearce crystal apples for Best Overall Design/Decor; Best Social Event and Best Table Top Design for 2010. Fun, fun! We're going to share images from our nominated events soon.
We are proud to announce that Wedding Library Bridesmaids have entered the digital age! We've been busily, painstakingly, putting each of our dresses on line for easy reference and even for purchase! This is huge, because as we've discovered, we're the first to put these collections on line as a cohesive web destination. Little by little they'll all be there, but for now, check out the site. If you decide to purchase via the Internet, we'll even give you a 15% discount as a special gift for trying it out. (Until September 1).
If you want to share the url: it's www.theweddinglibrarystore.com
It all started with an interview for ABC where we were asked to speculate on the cost of putting on a wedding of this scale and magnitude. Time will tell if our estimates are correct!
ABC News Chelsea Clinton Wedding Price Tag: $2 Million Chelsea Clinton, Marc Mezvinsky Wedding Is Unlike Anything Rhinebeck Has Ever Seen By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
July 22, 2010—
It's turning out to be one of the hottest weddings of the season, and probably one of the most expensive.
When Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky tie the knot on July 31 they will be surrounded by friends, family and an A-list of celebrities that is likely to include more than one world leader. Hey, Dad's a former president and Mom's the current Secretary of State, after all.
Details of the wedding are slowly leaking out -- it's presumed to be in the small upstate New York village of Rhinebeck -- and it doesn't appear to disappoint. While nobody but the Clintons knows the exact price, it's shaping up to be a costly affair: the total price tag could easily reach $2 million.
When Jenna Bush got married two years ago at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, planners estimated it only cost $100,000 for the "down-home" celebration.
To get a better sense of exactly how much it will cost, ABC News reached out to one of the nation's top wedding planners, Claudia Hanlin, founder and partner in The Wedding Library. Hanlin, whose firm is the largest in New York, is the person the CEOs of major companies and the heads of hedge funds call when they get married.
She also happens to know Bryan Rafanelli, the head of Rafanelli Events and Clinton's wedding planner -- though friendships only go so far and Hanlin swears not to have any inside information about this top-secret event.
"My assumption is that what they want is going to be a lovely, traditional wedding," Hanlin said. That will actually keep the cost down, a bit. Don't expect exotic animals flown in or fireworks here as a grand finale.
Vendors may discount their services because of all the free publicity they will get from this event, but that is doubtful given the extra stress and work involved in this complicated wedding.
"Having to do everything in secrecy is a lot harder," Hanlin said. "Not telling your staff what time to show up but having them on call, that adds a lot of stress and difficulty to the event."
Chelsea Clinton, Marc Mezvinsky Wedding
So without further delay, here is a breakdown of what it costs to put on a wedding for a former president's only child.
Reception Space: $125,000 to $200,000 -- Clinton and Mezvinsky are reported to be getting married at the Astor Courts, a sprawling mansion designed by Stanford White in 1902 for John Jacob Astor IV. It's a private home owned by Clinton donors Kathleen Hammer and Arthur Seelbinder. It also happens to be on the market for $12 million.
Hanlin said the owners will need to do post-wedding cleaning and repairs, and had to take the house off the market for at least three days but probably a week or more. That doesn't come cheap. Then again, having the Clinton wedding at your home might add a bit to the value. And since the owners are already big donors, why not let the family use the house for free?
Catering: $750,000 -- The wedding is said to being catered by Blue Ribbon Restaurants, St. Regis and Olivier Cheng Catering and Events. One might be doing the cocktail hour, one the main meal and another late night snacks. Hanlin said each would charge around $500 per person, given that they will have to share a kitchen and coordinate with two other caters. Plus, there is the remote nature of the location. With 500 rumored guests at $1,500 each, that's one expensive meal.
Flowers: $250,000 -- Hanlin knows one of the vendors who worked on the engagement party for the Clintons.
"My sort of insider information from her is that they're not extravagant as a family," she said. "They're not wanting a lavish, over-the-top floral design."
That's good news for the accountants. Jeff Leatham, artistic director of the Four Seasons George V hotel in Paris, is said to be doing the arrangements. Hanlin said $175,000 to $500,000 could easily be spent on flowers for a wedding like this. Her guess: closer to $250,000 given the family's tastes.
Planning a Presidential Wedding
Music: $40,000 -- Jimmy Vali is said to be handling the music. Hanlin works with him frequently and said Vali would normally charge $28,000 for a wedding like this. But he might be pulling out all the stops for the Clintons.
"Maybe Bill will get up there and play the sax," she said.
That's going to require extra rehearsals. The size of the affair will also call for more elaborate staging.
Wedding Dress: $15,000 -- The dress could be anywhere from $5,000 up to $25,000. Hamlin pegs Clinton in the $15,000 range.
Photography: $35,000 -- The Clintons need to hire somebody who "will be ironclad and discrete," Hanlin said. Nobody wants embarrassing shots sold to the tabloids.
"They need to feel that everything is going to be private," she said.
Such photographers cost $25,000 plus $10,000 for a second person, which becomes necessary when you have more than 200 guests.
Video: $25,000 -- For a woman who has grown up in the national spotlight, it's probably a given that her wedding will also be captured on video. This is not a family that has shied away from the cameras.
Lighting: $75,000 to $100,000 -- The perimeter of the estate needs to be illuminated along with each of the estimated 50 tables inside for the guests.
Hair and Makeup: $20,000 -- The members of the bridal party need to look their best.
Invitations: $40,000 to $50,000 --"I would guess that they would go with a very nice, classic invitation," Hanlin said. That means $40,000 to $50,000 for the invitation, menu card, details about security, calligraphy, programs and postage.
Clinton Wedding Takes Over Rhinebeck
Party Planner: $175,000 -- Hanlin said she didn't know how much Rafanelli would charge for this event. Hanlin would charge $75,000 to $125,000 for a normal, upscale wedding. For something like the Clinton wedding, with its massive issues of privacy and security she said the price would be between $125,000 and $225,000, probably right at the $175,000 mark.
"When you have an A-list guest list of people from around the world who all have different needs, as the planner you need to know what they want," Hanlin said. "A guest list where every single guest is a VIP in their own right is a challenge."
Rehearsal Dinner: $250,000 -- Owner Josh Kroner, owner of the local Terrapin Restaurant is said to be catering the rehearsal dinner at the Grasmere farm estate on the edge of town. Hanlin said it could cost $1,000 a head for each of the 200 guests to cater the meal, and probably another $50,000 for simple flowers and decor.
Security: $30,000 -- This is a tricky one. The Secret Service will be providing its normal protection for the Clintons and yes, you the taxpayers will be covering that but there might be additional private security needed for the A-list guests. (President Obama, if he comes, will presumably also be bringing his own taxpayer-covered security detail.) Hanlin said private security for a typical celebrity wedding runs about $30,000.
Miscellaneous: $50,000 Add another $10,000 for valet parking, $8,000 to $10,000 for the wedding cake, $5,000 for welcome gifts, another $17,500 for favors at the end of the night and a few extra thousand for those unexpected last-second items that you never thought about.
i can't express to you enough how wonderful my day was yesterday! my kiddos were with my in-laws, the sun was out, time was infinite and opportunities arose out of each and every step. i am so thankful for the time away and moments to collect thoughts and dreams. with that in mind, i stopped by Aspiring Couture to check out their bridal collection by Blushless. this online site was created as a platform for up and coming independent fashion designers to flourish and find their own niche in the couture world. i love the idea of coming alongside young, fresh minds and giving them a place to grow and be seen!!!
i was introduced to Blushless about a year ago, and they have truly taken their own high fashion bridal to a new level. perhaps not for the traditionalist out there, but i think you brides might be surprised at just how fabulous you would feel in these couture designs. some of these dresses are a perfect fit for any bridal shower or rehearsal dinner you may be attending--of course, that is if you are making the party a true party! you don't want to show up over dressed to your own shower... :)
hope you have a fabulous weekend!! see you on monday...
i'm taking a little break today to do some personal inventory. it's important to do that every once and a while. for faith, for family, for friends, for business, for life... {image: jose villa via joy thigpen}
good morning! i received this wedding a couple of weeks ago from Rachel Grace Photography and have been so excited to share it with you! the couple, Adrienne and Evan, wanted to spend the an entire celebrating their union together at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO, by holding their ceremony in the morning light and a romantic reception in the warm evening. gorgeous! i adore the bride's dress--so perfect for an outdoor wedding in the sun!!
thank you, Rachel and we wish you the best, Adrienne and Evan!!
Vendors: Wedding Planner: Talia Events Florist: Cori Cook Floral Design Music: A Music Plus Ceremony: Chautauqua Park Reception: Hotel Boulderado Dress: Anna Be
it's nice to be home! we had such a wonderful time at the beach! it was the first time for both of the boys visited the ocean and they had a blast! i wanted to give a big shout out and thank you to the blogs who have recently featured the Romantic Garden Party shoot: Project Wedding's: Lovely Day, Lucky Me! and Grey Likes Weddings! if there are more of you out there who have shared this labor of love with your readers, to you i sincerely say, thank you. it was so fun to create and i am so excited to do it again in the near future!
i know i just posted about flowers in your hair last week, but i thought we could look at the more modern, creative side of the trend. i found these fabulous hair accessories this morning from Untamed Petals. i absolutely love 'em! there are great benefits to having a custom, fabric hair piece. 1) they won't brown, wilt or fall apart (hopefully!) during your wedding day 2) you can create almost anything to give you the exact look you are hoping for and 3) it is a beautiful keepsake you can cherish in the years to come. do you ladies have a preference??
Loving the new Polka Dot Bride site and found a sweet new little Rustic Wedding shop online which brought home many memories of our little log cabin in the Hollywood Hills. So many cute ideas for a rustic wedding or celebration event at the Whispering Pines site. Some inspiration for you - Mini Chalk Boards, Blackboard Arrow Plaque, Rustic Guestbook (in Bear or Moose design), Heart Zinc Tag, Mini Snow Shoes, Tin Lantern, Twig Votive Holders and Wooden Sailboats are just a few ideas for the perfect personalised day on a lake or in a boathouse. What about a picnic by a river or a log cabin in the mountains? Hope you are enjoying a getaway weekend somewhere special, Leigh x
i'm in the midst of packing up, what seems to be our entire house to getaway for 3 nights at the beach! oh dear, there's a lot to be done! here is the latest designs from my good friend Amy-Jo Tatum. she is an incredible designer with clients who voted her in the top 10% in WeddingWire's 2010 Bride's Choice Awards! what an honor and congrats to the beloved, Amy-Jo! she has plenty more designs available on etsy and her website. check her out, ladies!
We are so excited to be nominated for 2010 Best Wedding Planner by 10news.com!!! Please show your love & support by voting for us! And If you REALLY LOVE us, leave a recommendation! Help us move up the ranks right here!
good morning! i'm sorry i miss you guys yesterday, my family and i are getting ready to move in the next couple of weeks and we have been trying to tie up the loose ends with our new house. so excited but there is a lot to do!!! and we just so happen to be leaving town on thursday--everything seems to happen at once, doesn't it?! so i will be absent on Friday but i have a special Gown Friday for tomorrow!!
i love these creative hair accessories from Poppies & Posies. especially the succulent--so organic and so fresh! i used real flowers in my hair for my own wedding. i loved the fact it was not only less expensive (ya!) but it really added a romantic touch to my look. i chose the Gardenia because it was a beautiful, full white flower. and i bought two to keep them looking fresh for my pictures & ceremony as well as the reception. i was a little nervous because it was 100 degrees that day, but they both held up perfectly! are you wearing flowers in your hair??
good morning! i know i'm not big on posting pink, 1 year old birthday parties here on Weddings Fresh but that doesn't mean i don't gush over them! i couldn't resist my good friend's beautifully sweet design from her little Anya's first birthday! she's one of those women, and especially moms, that you look at and wonder how she has time to be good at everything she does--cooking, photography, sewing, baby hair accessories design and now to the list, pretty party design!!
If you want to share the url: it's www.theweddinglibrarystore.com.j.jpg)
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We are so excited to be nominated for 2010 Best Wedding Planner by 10news.com!!! Please show your love & support by voting for us! And If you REALLY LOVE us, leave a recommendation! Help us move up the ranks right here!
