We are very excited to have received "Bride's Choice Awards 2012".  Thank you very much for our past clients voting and writing nice reviews for us on WeddingWire. 


--Nellie

Wedding ideas

I came across some interesting and fun wedding ideas and thought I would share it here:

1) Manzanita Wishing Tree:
Instead of a traditional guestbook, display this wishing tree at your wedding reception and have your guests to write down lovely messages and wishes for the two of you. You can purchase a Manzanita Wishing Tree Kit at www.bloomsandbranches.com

Picture courtesy of www.bloomsandbranches.com

Add some crystal strands to the tree to make it look even more beautiful:

Picture courtesy of http://nggonzales.blogspot.com/

2) Wine cork place card holder!  You can buy these at: http://www.uncommongoods.com/

Picture courtesy of http://www.uncommongoods.com/

3) Personalized wedding dress hangers and cake toppers
You can purchase at Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlissfullyWired

3) Customized wedding signs
can be purchased at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/familyattic

4) Fingerprint tree guestbook
Another alternative way to a traditional guestbook, use a fingerprint tree guestbook. Let guests' thumbprints serve as leaves for the bare tree.
can be purchased at: http://www.zazzle.com/

Picture courtesy of http://www.zazzle.com/

Wedding Films By Robert Cawthorne: Jenn + Mike

I am so excited to share Jenn and Mike's wedding video here!  Thank you Robert for sending it in.  Jenn and Mike flew Robert all the way here from Chicago to film their wedding.  After I watched the film, I completely understood why Jenn and Mike did that.  If you like Robert's film skills, please contract him at robertcawthorne@me.com.  Your money will be wisely spent.


Jenn & Mike from Robert Cawthorne on Vimeo.

Jenn + Mike's Chateau Briand wedding!

On 9/24, Jenn and Mike were married at St. Joseph's church and the reception followed at Chateau Briand.  Their wedding was definitely one of the most beautiful weddings I have coordinated.  My favorite part of the wedding was the outdoor cocktail hour. There was a 50% chance of precipitation, but with Mother Nature's cooperation, Jenn and Mike's 210+ guests were able to enjoy drinks and food under a starlit sky.  The outdoor garden was decorated with dazzling floral arrangements, palm trees and white couches.  The beautiful garden gave guests the feeling of a South Beach wedding.  For the rest of the night, guests enjoyed gourmet food and great music from Full House Band.  Jenn and Mike's family and friends were all excited about the wedding and their enthusiasm showed by dancing the night away until the very last minute.
I will let below pictures speak for their gorgeous wedding!  Thank you Jenn and Mike for being such a great couple to work with and allowing me to be part of your big day!  Hope you guys are having a fantastic honeymoon in Jamaica!

Stay tune for Jenn and Mike's wedding film by Robert Cawthorne.

--Nellie

Niko and Nick's professional wedding pictures are in!

I am so excited to share some professional pictures from Nick and Niko's wedding by Katie of Katie Chao Photography.  Thank you Niko for sharing these gorgeous photos with me!

This beautiful wedding took place in Chelsea Piers in Manhattan in July.  If you like Katie's photography skill and are searching for a NYC wedding photographer, she can be reached at chao.katie@gmail.com .

--Nellie

50% off on your wedding cake!

Who doesn't want to save money when it comes to wedding planning?!  Recently I coordinated a wedding and I know my client paid a fraction of what others would pay for wedding cakes.  How?  I did a little research and found it-- Fake wedding cakes! (I know it doesn't sound too nice, but wait until you see below pictures of the cakes.  They look just as pretty and most of all, it looks so real that no one can tell it's fake) The owner of "Fake Wedding Cakes" stated the calculations out for us:

"Foam cakes can often cut your cake budget in half.  For example, consider a wedding reception 

for 150 people: 150 people x $3.50 per slice of decorated bakery cake  = $525.  A decorated 
fake cake of the same size starts as low as $110 and remains a beautiful centerpiece 
throughout the entire evening.  Sheet cakes start as low as 16.99/48 servings.   When ordering 
a foam cake, you serve sheet cakes to your guests, resulting in a significant savings to your 
cake budget.  
Fake cake 110.00 +  sheet cakes 50.97 = total 160.97.  Total savings 364.03."

You might ask, "how about when it comes to cake cutting?"  No problem, there is a slit in back of the cake where the couple can place a knife there.  "This will give you the 'look' of the bride and the groom cutting the cake while a piece of cake can be placed behind the fake cake so the bride and groom can still feed each other.  You can have your cake and eat it too!"  This whole process looks 100% real when it comes to photographing cake cutting ceremony.  

During my client's wedding, after the couple "cut the cake" (placed a knife in the foam cake slit), I moved the foam cake to a different room, so it looked like as if I brought the wedding cake to the kitchen to cut.  Meanwhile, the kitchen staffs are already cutting the sheet cakes =)

Furthermore, you can rent a wedding cake and return after the wedding! http://www.rentthecakeofyourdreams.com/index.html

Below pictures are taken from Ultimate Fake Cake site: http://www.ultimatefakecakes.com/

--Nellie

Niko and Nick tied the knot!

On 7/9, I was the coordinator for Niko and Nick's wedding.  Everything was perfect for this wedding: the venue, the weather, the decorations and most importantly the couple!  Niko and Nick are friendly, down-to-earth and they just wanted to have a good time (I am sure they did!).  There was a downpour the day before, but the weather cleared up overnight just in time for the wedding.  7/9 turned out to be a beautiful sunny day just for Nick and Niko.  Their 85-guest wedding was held at Sunset Terrace at Chelsea Piers, and with the weather's cooperation, guests were able to enjoy the breathtaking views of the Hudson River.

One fun factor of this wedding was definitely the 1,000 origami cranes Nick and Niko spent months making.  According to Japanese culture, "a bride who folds 1,000 paper cranes before her wedding will have a prosperous marriage."  The origami cranes was used here and there to add personal touches to N & N's wedding, but at the same time we didn't go overboard with the crane decorations.  All the cranes used were for the right moments and right places.  Some of the cranes were hung down from the ceiling during cocktail hour, some were used as the backdrop for a photo booth (another interesting part of their wedding), and some were used on wedding favor bags for guests to take home.  Nick made a big crane for Niko, which we used on the cake table to hold the little cupcakes.

Another fun factor of this wedding was the photo booth provided by Katie Chao Photo.  Blue cranes were used in the backdrop for the booth and Niko provided guests with a small white board and marker, which guests used to write romantic message for the couple and funny phrases about themselves, during photo sessions.

Thank you my friend, Anna, for helping me - I always have fun working with you. Cakes and cupcakes are from KakesNYC.  Lauren of Chelsea Piers and Katie of Katie Chao Photo are both very friendly and fun to work with.  Thank you and hope to work with you guys again in the future!

Lastly, the creative bride is also the owner of a jewelry shop- Chocolate Sushi Handmade.  Everything is handmade there.  If you are thinking of purchasing some handmade jewelry for yourself or your bridal party, definitely check out Niko's shop.

Below are some of the pictures Anna helped me take: