Great things are happening!!

Two wonderfully talented women have teamed up to bring Boudoir photos to a whole new level! The Swank Sessions are starting November 25th. This is a fantastic wedding gift for your new husband, a great anniversary gift, or even just something to do for yourself.

Michelle LoConte of Pink Comb Salon http://idohairandmake-up.com/word/ and Brooke Ismach (soon to be Mrs. Tackeff) of Tackeff Photo www.tackeffphoto.com are now offering "Swank" Sessions at the Pleasantdale Chateu.

Here is a post from the blog announement:

The Experience Includes:A One Hour Swank (Boudoir) Session with Brooke of Tackeff PhotographyLuxurious Suite at The Pleasantdale Chateau,Full Service Hair, Make-Up & Lashes with Michelle Lo Conte of I do Hair & Makeup/Pink Comb Salon,Private Password Protected Online Gallery for easy but discreet viewing & ordering,5×5 Leather Album (your choice of colors: Little Black Book or Red Hot Mama),Laminated Wallet Peek for his eyes only! High Resolution Files $700.

We will also be providing mood music and some sweet refreshments.

A Perfectly Pink Package: Get ready for your closeup, by taking advantage of all the services provided at PinkComb Salon. For those girls on the “Naughty List,” Michelle will be offering a special package to get you ‘photo glamorous’ that includes: a mani/pedi, eyebrow shaping & a complimentary blow out. The price is $45 (roughly 50% off the salon’s usual prices).

Tuesday NOVEMBER 25th - only 6 slots available!
swanksessions@gmail.com201.308.9186 (Brooke)

Congratulations Laura and Rupert!!

I met Laura and Rupert a few months back when issues surrounding the wedding really started to stress Laura and Rupert out and they decided it was time to call in reinforcement. Their theme and colors were already decided, vintage nautical, everything white and navy(with some lace overlays here and there) The location was chosen, an outdoor ceremony overlooking the water with a gazebo draped with navy and white fabric as the backdrop when they said "I do", however.....



Two days before the ceremony it was evident we would not be escaping the wrath of the worst kind of outdoor wedding crasher there is, the remnants of Hanna were on her way. Sure we had a back up location, covered to shelter from the rain, but with the winds, that wasn't going to work out either. Time to brainstorm, with the assistance of Rachael at Southwinds, we brought the outside, inside. The fabric that was to drape the gazebo pillars were now going to create a gazebo effect, the chairs and benches were brought in and it looked fabulous!!



They chose a beautiful (tear jerking, even having read it once and heard it the night before ) reading, which was read by family, and wrote their own vows that made everyone giggle a bit here and there.


We moved the cocktail hour into the reception room and had the formal photos taken in the ceremony location. Luckily the weather passed towards the end of the night and they were able to take a few pictures outside as originally planned.


The reception was amazing, food was great, everyone had a blast, the dance floor was packed, the bar was busy, and the bride and groom danced the night away. Laura did an amazing job with all the details for the day, everything tied in together so nicely and you can see all the hard work she put into everything.I have to make a special vendor mention here. In her vendor search, she stumbled across an amazing cake baker/decorator..on Myspace!! Can I just tell you how amazingly tasty this cake was!!! The details were so perfectly executed. How did we survive back in the 80's without internet?!?!?! These hidden treasures would never be found.






Speaking of post 80's electronic devices, that many of us couldn't live without today, cellphones!! Proved to be a necessary device needed for one person inparticular who would of missed a good portion of the reception,and would of been soaking wet, had it not been for cell phones.
Sorry Dad, couldn't pass it up : )

Oh I could go on and on, but I can not end this post without giving praise to a very special lady to the bride and groom, who is not only Laura's grandmother, but a very talented woman. She hand painted a replica of the venue for their invitations. I can not imagine how long it took her, but wow, what an eye for detail, it was perfect!!

Laura and Rupert,
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of pulling together your dream wedding day. It was a pleasure getting to know both of you and witnessing your new beginning together. I wish you both a long and happy future.

I think I say it all the time, but once again, it was a pleasure working with such a fabulous group of vendors who all came together to ensure a perfect day for this couple. I hope to have the opportunity of working with you all again. Thank you Stephanie for providing a few photos to me.


Vendors

Southwinds Grill: Rachael (609)242-2648
Photography: Stephanie http://www.stephaniejonesphotography.com/
Flowers: Bonnie http://www.petalbeach.com/
DJ: Mitch http://www.musicmastersnjpa.com/
Violinists provided by http://www.musicmastersnjpa.com/
Cake: Jennifer http://www.jennicakesnj.com/

I've had the time of my life....

I did have the time of my life designing and coordinating the wedding of Ray and Astaire, July 25th of this year. A true couple made for each other. They compliment each other so well and you can tell in just a few minutes, by the time it takes to finish a cup of coffee at Panera Bread how in love these two are.

The theme color was chocolate brown, gold, with hints of red and some asian flair, and how could I forget branches, lots and lots of branches!

While along the planning road there were a few glitches, the end result was worth every second when you saw the look on the bride and grooms face when they saw their reception room for the first time. First though, we must talk about the ceremony...

Guests at the ceremony were escorted to their seats by the attentive ushers (no one was left unescorted) down the aisle lined with tall branches and a red runner.

While I was sad to miss the ceremony once it got underway, I must say in the photos I've seen, everyone was beaming and it looked like a wonderful ceremony.

Onto the reception...

The reception table details included chocolate brown linens, trumpet vases with a handfull of tall curly willow branches and red tealights hanging off the edges, a pair of chopsticks, gold ribbon adorned chocolate brown favor boxes filled with the most delicious french chocolate truffles I've ever tasted, red ribbon wrapped votive candles, and finished off with red and ivory flower petals.

One of the most important elements of the reception details for the bride was lighting. The walls were washed with red and gold uplighting.

And now onto the asian flair...the lounge area! We easily covered the hint of red throughout the room, and we had the chopsticks, but it just wasn't enough, we needed more!! Paper lanterns!! What goes great with paper lanterns, well paper parasols of course. They look just as great hanging upside down as they do being held upright. This was our final added element (and my biggest challenge, the ceilings were cement! Not very condusive for hanging things temporarily, but I found a way!)

While I did have "the time of my life" working with Ray and Astaire, I should mention "the time of my life" was their first dance song. And no these two couldn't stop at just a song, they totally upstaged the movie by dancing away a perfect choregraphed duplication from the Dirty Dancing finale.

A special thanks to all of the wonderful and fabulously talented vendors (and assistants) who really helped create, capture, and preserve every detail of the day for Ray and Astaire. It was a great pleasure to work with all of you.

Elizabeth- Westin Govenor Morris. www.westin.com/Morristown

Steven and Brooke- Tackeff Photography(engagement,wedding day, and day after photos) http://www.steventackeff.com/

Bob- Visions Lighting(uplighting/gobo) rlobue@peoplepc.com

Dan-Dynamic Productions (video) http://www.weddingvideonj.com/

Will Taylor- Venom Media(video) http://www.venom-media.com/

Tom Gordon- DJ.(contact me for info)

Michelle LoConte (hair and make-up) www.idohairandmake-up.com

And finally, to Ray and Astaire. Thank you for choosing me to assist you in bringing all of your visions to life for your wedding day. I wish you a lifetime of love, health and happiness.

Tammy

Kathrina and Henry

Kathrina and Henry took advantage of the time her parents were here visiting to tie the knot. They celebrated with 50 of the their close family and friends at the Chart House in Weehawkin. With a beautiful view of the NYC skyline in the background it was the perfect setting for this intimate dinner celebrating their love which is sure to surpase those tall buildings.

Congratulations Michelle and Chad

The showers held off although the humidity didn't. One couldn't tell by looking at Chad who was cool as could be waiting for his bride to arrive. Michelle was absolutly radiant. They exchanged their vows in front of several friends and family and then we were off to the Tides Estate in North Haledon.

Michelle knew exactly how she envisioned the reception room to look. The more candles the merrier and that is exactly what she got.

Each table was filled with 3 stagering candle centerpieces surrounded by several votives as well as pink and ivory rose petals. The house lights were turned off and the room was completely illuminated by candlelight.

Congratulations again to Michelle and Chad. May your future together always be bright.

Photos courtesy of Photography by Hope

and so, blogging begins

While I must admit I love new things, things that seem a bit challenging, this blogging phenomenon has my head spinning! Yet, I will embrace it, I will post, I will read comments, and I will respond to them if need be. For now, I will explore all the layouts, I promise to try and upload some pictures soon. And most importantly I hope to blog my progress soon : )