Wedding Trends of 2011~ Yellow

This past season we did a ton of yellow weddings.  Not complaining, it is an amazing color so cheerful. Yellow screams summer, sunshine, and happiness! Also, summer is full of yellow flowers: Dahlias, billy balls, solidago, sunflowers, spider mums, black eyed susans, roses,  Isn't that what a wedding is, a cheerful event? Yellow adds that pop of color when mixed with any neutral and make a great statement. It works for any style wedding...classic, vintage, modern, nautical, or spring, summer or fall weddings... Here are some sneak peeks of this season's yellow weddings. 

vintage wedding at a private residence... photo credit Rachael Anderson  

yellow fall boutonniere... photo credit- Rebecca Hansen Weddings

vintage ceremony chair accents... billy balls and vintage ribbon... photo credit Audra Photography

yellow polka dot dress with billy ball, cockscomb bouquets photo credit- Audra photography

vintage table designs using vintage milk glass with yellow flowers... photo credit-Audra photography

vintage cut glass with votives and vintage bottles with billy balls... photo credit- Audra Photography

modern wedding cake with yellow ribbon... photo credit- my iPhone =) 

yellow accents in a fall wedding.... Photo credit- Audra photography

Sweet Thanks from a Mother of the Bride

It is always nice to wake up to a sweet note of thanks.  Amanda Walker was such a fun, laid back bride.  She wanted a classic nautical wedding in Lincolnville, Maine.  She chose the Summit at Point Look Out and it was a great choice, for her classic Maine wedding.  The results where lovely and we had so much fun, meeting Amanda and her family, delivering her bouquets and setting up the centerpieces.  Today, after being up ALL night with a sick kiddo, it was a nice get this note of thanks from Amanda's mother.....

Finally getting around to say Thank-you so much for the

beautiful centerpieces and bridesmaids bouquets and most of 

all Amanda's beautiful bouquet. It was simply gorgeous and

with her Gram's gold pin attached to it completed it elegantly. 

She has had many compliments about her flowers.

Transporting the flowers to Point Lookout was appreciated 

more than you know... a very big plus,plus. Happy Holidays to 

you all.

Here is a link to photos by Russell Caron.... Amanda's wedding


Thank you Debbie for the sweet note.... it was a great pick me up.


xo
a

Real Maine Winter Weddings~ Red & Silver Glam

Amanda wanted a glamorous winter wedding, with roses, and candelabras... crystals, and garland.  Kathryn and I created Amanda an inspiration board that consisted of two designs....

The long head table would have five candelabras four lower and one large with a rose pomander in the center.  Two large arrangements on silver pedestals would also be on the table... The tables where cover with a silver detailed overlays and 30 square votive candles to draw light down, as well as up with the 24 candlesticks...

On the smaller  round tables we had three rectangular vases with one dozen roses in each vase and three silver candlesticks on the same silver scroll overlays.

We add crystal pendants on the large candelabras and added sparkle details in the rhinestone snowflake napkin rings, and snowflake ornaments with the table numbers.  The escort cards where snowflake ornaments that huge from a manzanita branches draped with crystals.... The effect was Glamorous, Elegant, Classic

We used 500 red roses in this design, Amanda' s bouquet had 50 red roses as well as 15 red callas, wrapped in satin and added silver sequin details, and a vintage brooch from Amanda's family....

The ceremony took place in the mountain chalet's  great room.  We lined the aisle with cylinder vases filled white pillar candles and white pine garland, that filled the room with smell of winter....

It was a wonderful winter evening with good food, good friends, and good cheer.... there really is something about a winter wedding in Maine.....

Photographer- Russell Caron
Flowers- sweetest thing wedding*floral design*events
Venue- Ski-esta
Catering- The Good Food Store
Dress- Kenneth Pool
Shoes- Aldo

Look at even more sneak peeks on facebook.... click here

sweet news.... Maine, the perfect wedding destination

We are so excited, and really giddy to tell you we are revamping our website.  So, in all that hustle and bustle we haven't blogged, shameful.  Our goal of the new website, is a modern look that is packed with information and inspiration for our future clients.

We are also thrilled to announce we will be featured in TWO magazines this year!!  I know,  crazy!! Real Maine Weddings will feature Laura & Nolan's Real Maine wedding of the year... and Seacoast Bride will be featuring Sam & Sasha's wedding!!  We are honored and blown away by the response we are receiving from clients new and old.  We love designing interesting weddings that reflect our amazing clients.... and we love that you all love our weddings too...

Inspiration board for our December wedding

We have an amazing wedding coming in December at the amazing Ski- Esta in Bethel Maine.  It is an amazing location and in the winter is a paradise.  To create an amazing ambiance we are using silver, red and lots of candle light.  The ceremony will be in front of the large windows, lined with candles, the aisle will be lined with candles as well.  The bride is coming down the seeded eucalyptus garland stairs.  The table will have to different design scape's.... The first design is tall candelabras with roses on silver linens.  The second design will be lower arrangements of roses with vintage candlesticks.  

Say what?

This has got to be one of THE most beautiful bouquets sweetest thing has ever done!  We gave you a sneak peek on Thursday of last week, but here's the real thing.  Anne Schmidt of Anne Schmidt Photography just sent these to us, and we couldn't wait to share them with you!  Between Amber's amazing skill at creating gorgeous personal flowers, and Anne's phenomenal photographer's eye, I must say that these shots are the bomb-diggity.  Say what?  You heard me. 

Bridal Bouquet with coral roses, Billy Balls, red pincushion, peach Calla Lilies, Fiddlehead.  Photo Courtesy of  Anne Schmidt Photography.

Groom's Boutonniere with Billy Balls, peach Cala Lily, Fiddlehead.  Photo courtesy of Anne Schmidt Photography.

Bridal Bouquet on rocks.  Photo courtesy of Anne Schmidt Photography. 

Mama Beth's Big Day!

We know you're all eager to hear what's happening with the Real Maine Wedding of Laura and Nolan.  With only three weeks left until the Big Day, you can imagine that everyone's feeling pretty excited.  Laura and Nolan recently had the opportunity to make their wedding rings at Brown Goldsmiths in Freeport, and Laura had lots of fun picking out her wedding day jewelry at R.D. Allen Freeport Jewelers.  This weekend Laura is bachelorette-ing it up with her girlfriends, and I can only imagine what Nolan's brothers and soldier buddies have in store for him! 

But, what, you may ask, are Nolan & Laura's mothers up to?  Ready to hear the sweetest thing ever?  Nolan's mom, Beth, is actually preparing the ceremony she'll be using to marry the happy couple.  Can you even stand it?  I'm verklempt just thinking about it!  Here's a little from Beth about her experience getting the service together, and some details about the day she and Ellen, Laura's mom, spent together in Freeport while Laura & Nolan finished up some important and fun wedding details.  She sent this to us just last night, and you can almost "hear" the excitement in her voice:

Last night I sat down to begin trying to put together a wedding service. It was late and I kept thinking, I'll do a little more and then I'll finish it tomorrow. But I was on a roll and couldn't sleep until I finished it. (Funny, I found out today that Laura couldn't sleep either because she was excited about her bachelorette party this weekend!--I don't hold out much hope for sleep the week of October 21st!) I ran to my e-mail this morning to see if Nolan and Laura had written anything about the service--nothing! Uh-oh! I got nothing left! But bless their hearts, they approved it later on. So with a sense of relief, I left to meet Laura's mother, Ellen in Freeport. 

We strolled the sunfilled streets of Freeport very nearly in Laura's and Nolan's footsteps of the 24th, but not exactly. We met at Linda Bean's Maine Kitchen and Topside Tavern and sat down with her wonderful manager, Chris to finalize details of the Rehearsal Dinner! He was so gracious and it was hard to choose from all the delicious items on the menu. But we did and it is going to be a fabulous evening! Everyone had such a good time at the Welcome Home party for Nolan in July, I can hardly wait for October 20! Then we settled down to a great lunch of lobster roll and lemon meringue pie for Ellen and crabmeat roll and flourless chocolate cake with orange sauce for me! (We're contemplating very strict diets later!) Fortified by lunch and a sense of accomplishment, we went down to Brown Goldsmiths Jewelers on the off chance that we might see THE rings shhhhh! They are gorgeous and everyone there was so nice! After walking to the other end of Freeport looking for shoes for the big night, we walked back to R.D. Allen's. They are the jewelers who made Laura's spectacular earrings for the wedding. Again we felt so welcome. (And I must say, everywhere we went that Laura and Nolan had been, it was a mother's dream come true to hear such wonderful things about our children!) We finished off a busy day by finding the perfect gifts for our five little flower girls at R.D. Allen's. Tomorrow we can say, 'this month'! And everything is falling into place! 

But what will we do in November?

Beth and Nolan at the engagement party hosted by Linda Bean's Maine Kitchen.  Photo Credit: Audra Photography.

 

 

 Okay, who's crying now? 

The last straw...

Okay, as much as we wish we could, we just can't take all the credit for this find.  We worked a wedding a few weeks ago that boasted some of the most darling personal touches.  The theme during cocktail hour was a pink old-timey carnival, complete with popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream cones, and of course, cocktails served with the most ADORABLE paper straws.  The bride found them on etsy, and we have vowed to track them down for any bride or hostess that wants them, and will soon be carrying them in the studio.

Here are a few photographic samples for your viewing pleasure, but be warned, you will want some!:

DimeStoreBuddy

The Party Fairy

Fall is here, and so are we!

Wow!  What a crazy summer!  We have had a wedding every single weekend since sometime in July.  We are the best kind of tired and busy, and can't wait to start sharing all the photos and details of our weddings from the past few months.

Today we are in the studio working on flowers for a Saturday bride.  Her pallet is autumnal, and if we do say so ourselves (which we do!), the colors and flowers we're working with today are stunning.  Bright orange pincushions, peach calla lilies, muted yellow billy balls, coral roses, and fiddleheads.  We LOVE working with so much color and texture.  Gor-geous!  We'd like to wish Ashley and Alan all the best as they look forward to their big day!

Pincushion flowers

Fiddleheads

Sneak peek of the finished product!

Laura & Nolan's Real Maine Wedding

The decor, dress, invitations, and cake have all been selected.  The planning of Laura & Nolan's celebration is well under way and thepromises to be absolutely beautiful.  The decor of classic elegance will include chocolate brown and shades of yellow.  The dress is a true confection, its gathers reminiscent of whipped cream.  The cake is sure to be delicious, and beautifully decorated!  So, now that almost everything is in place for their dream wedding, it's time to start thinking about the HONEYMOON!!! 

Dragonfly Trips is partnering with Real Maine Weddings to offer Laura and Nolan three amazing destinations for their post-nuptial enjoyment. 

Bar Harbor Inn

First up is the Bar Harbor Inn,pictured above, with its picturesque views of Frenchman Bay and immediate access to all things Maine.

Disney All-Star Movies Resort

Disney All-Star Movies resort is the second offering, its name self-explanatory, with a good possibility of "star"-gazing. 

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Finally, the warm, white beaches of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, a welcome change to the temperamental summers of the New England Coast. 

So, we know how we voted.  Where do YOU want to send Laura & Nolan?  Go to Real Maine Weddings and help this lovely couple choose their honeymoon locale!  :~)

Patchwork & Whimsy: A Baby Shower

So, what's a designer to do when the expectant mother makes clear that, though she is having a girl, she is far from "girly"?  In this case, the answer is to provide distinctly feminine touches while indulging the guest-of-honor's slightly more masculine side. The baby shower, by the way, was held at the couple's Manchester, NH home, the centerpiece of which is a red-velvet wallpapered "man room".  To accommodate mom's tastes and blend with the existing decor, we used bright but gender-neutral colors built on a theme of patchwork, carnival stripes and polka-dots.

We used wooden boxes as vessels and filled them with a brilliant combination of bright red mini-carnations, yellow and green mums, purple stalk, Bells of Ireland, sunflowers, fuschia cockscomb, Billy balls, fiddleheads, and roses in yellow, pink, and green.  The arrangements were placed on a homemade tablecloth created to suit the theme: offset patches of pink, grey, green, and purple.  In the background hung a gorgeous banner created from craft paper and reading "elizabeth", each panel adorned with stickered wishes for baby's personality, such as "adventurous spirit", "feisty", and "dreamer". 

Deep-fried tacos and Dr. Pepper, Mom's favorites, were served along with two different types of Sangria.  Guests were sent home with the most incredible cake pops, created to match the theme by the incomparable Wanda Prouty.  All in all, this baby shower was far from traditional and loaded with fun!

All photo credit to Andrew Davis and a special thanks to him for coming out last-minute to take some pretty amazing pictures of our theme! 

Photo credit AndrewDavisPhotography  

Patchwork Baby Shower theme, fiddleheads, wooden boxes.

Baby banner, craft paper, shabby chic, whimsy.

Wanda Prouty cake pops, patchwork whimsy babyshower theme.

Invitations!

As we anxiously await voting results on the dress and decor, don't forget to vote on invitations for Laura & Nolan's October Real Maine Wedding!  There are three gorgeous wedding trousseau's from which to choose, each one offered by Hullabaloo Studios.  Team Laura and sweetest thing met with Marcy from Hullabaloo at the beginning of the month and settled on these three fantastic designs.  Each one was exquisitely photographed by Anne Schmidt Photography.
 

Photos by Anne Schmidt Photography

photos by Anne Schmidt Photography

photos by Anne Schmidt Photography

We know which one is our favorite.  All that's left is for you to vote on yours! 

Michelle Turner & Well Wed Blog post!!

I love Michelle Turner for many reasons: her talent, her ambition and her amazing heart.  She is one of my favorite photographers and we always have sooo much fun together.  She let us know a few weeks ago that Sam and Sasha's wedding was picked up by yet another blog..... EEEK!!! So exciting!! Vermont Vows, a publication of Well Wed Magazine has used Sam & Sasha's wedding as a inspiration board on their blog.  Check it out here,  we are so honored, thanks Michelle for loving our work as much as we love yours!!!  xo

P.S.- Michelle has published a book on photography..... It is a must have for any photographer or lover of all things weddings.... it can be purchased at Barnes & Noble or Amazon

Sam and Sasha make an appearance there too....

The dress, the dress, the dress!!!

We have to begin by saying that Laura Plaisted, official Bride-to-be, didn't put on a single dress that DIDN'T look fabulous!  She was such a good sport, opening her mind and trying on dresses she never thought she'd choose.  Because they all looked incredible on her, it was super hard to narrow down the top three, but with the help of her mother and mother-in-law, she did it.  Audra from Audra Photography joined us at Bridals by Sandy in Alfred to take pictures of our gorgeous girl.  Sandy, by the way, was the sweetest, most low-key bridal gown consultant EVER!  Thanks, Sandy! 

The first gown is a gorgeous tiered A-line that looks absolutely stunning as a gown.  The twist?  The bottom two tiers come off to turn it into a show-stopping cocktail dress!  Gown #2 is a fabulous mermaid style elegantly overlaid in lace.  It is both classic and elegant.  Gown #3 we lovingly referred to as "whipped cream".  It has sumptuous gathers of fabric cascading from the mermaid bodice.  It is a slightly more contemporary look, but is still absolutely exquisite.

You now have until this Thursday to go to the Real Maine Weddings site and vote for your favorite dress!

Audra Photography

Audra Photography

Audra Photography

Time to Vote!

Today marks the first official voting for the details of Laura & Nolan's fabulous Real Maine Wedding!  You can visit www.realmaineweddings.com to help us decide the decor theme.  We have brought a taste of these to each of the Bridal Shows put on by The Maine Wedding Association, and are excited to finally reveal them to the public.  We love each of these designs and can't wait to find out what you help choose for the lucky couple!

On the table, so to speak, are "Vintage Chic", "Traditional Charm", and "Cool Contemporary"... 

"Vintage Chic" is casual elegance at its finest.  A white table linen is overlaid with a buttercup yellow table runner and topped with birch rounds, stunning antique milk glass vases, candles in mason jars, antique tins, and an assortment of flowers that include Billy balls, tulips, and cream roses.  Opaque pastel plates are used as chargers, with vintage-feel linens completing the look.  The effect is sumptuous but light; think high tea held outdoors at a countryside estate.  This tablescape is the ultimate in "upcycled" glamor.

Photographed by Audra Photography.

Next is "Traditional Charm".  A rich chocolate pintuck linen covers the table.  A striking trio of red roses and calla lilies grace the center, surrounded by lots of gold votive holders.  This look is reminiscent of Old Hollywood glamour.  We can easily picture women in gorgeous dresses and men in tuxedos gracing these tables.  Traditional table service, set off with gold chargers, adorns each place setting.  Serve from the left, clear from the right, please.

Photographed by Audra Photography.

Finally we offer the "Cool Contemporary" look, so-called for its black-and-white minimalist drama.  A black tablecloth is overlaid with a sheer, white linen.  Placed in the center of the table is a tall square vase, topped boldly with a huge arrangement of monochromatic carnations, David Austin roses, spider mums, and Star of Bethlehem, accented with peacock feathers, and punctuated with an inverted calla lily submerged in the vase itself.  This is a conversation piece, surrounded by an array of small, square votives and candles floating in slim cylinders.  The effect is nothing less than sparkling. 

Photographed by Audra Photography.

So, go, vote now, and check back in two weeks to find out which design-scape made the cut!