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