and the bride wore pink

i'm in ogunquit, maine for our annual trip with my husband's brother, sister-in-law and their four kids. the first day was rainy but since then it's been glorious weather.

last night we were enjoying wine after dinner, relaxing on the patio when my son luc (8 years old) calls the adults to the back deck for a surprise. when we got there, chairs were set up with an aisle down the middle leading to the barbeque. he then announced, "you are invited to the wedding of deacon and esme!" d is 5 and esme is 6. gulp. (we didn't have the heart to tell them that being first cousins that sort of thing is frowned upon, not to mention illegal, but...) it was so cute. the bride wore a pink dress with a pink scarf/veil.

luc acted as officiant, the barbeque was the "altar" and the groom's big brother wilder was the ring bearer.

luc began, "deacon. esme. you two have been through a lot together. you've played together. you've fought together. and here you are getting married."

then, "esme, if deacon gets sick or something do you promise to take care of him?" she nodded yes.

he then turned to the groom, "deacon, do you promise to take care of esme too?" and he said yes.

i swear i'm not making any of that up.

p.s. this morning esme came to me first thing and said, "i don't want to be married anymore. it's wierd and now whenever i laugh deacon is going to laugh and he's going to call me honey and want to play together all of the time."  the lawyers have been contacted.

a carousel wedding

bethany and ben came to us in a rather unusual way. let explain. a bride of ours, ashley, came to jane frazzled because she had to up her july wedding to memorial day weekend. her fiance was entering the police academy and his soon to be employers would not let him have the time off. (no worries though--everything worked out beautifully for ashley and i will share her wedding in another blog post). this left her original july date open sort of last minute. elsewhere in connecticut, bethany's florist became sick and could no longer fullfill her obligations as florist for bethany's july wedding to ben. so she called jane and it all felt into place.

bethany and ben married at lighthouse point in new haven with the ceremony on the beach overlooking new haven harbor and long island sound. their reception followed  in the carousel pavillion which houses an antique carousel built in 1916. one of less than 100 still in operation today in the u.s. it's a wonderful space, and while i'm not a beachy wedding person myself, i have to admit, i had wedding envy.

getting crafty with moss

i get the best projects around here. usually they involve glue. the kind of glue that gets all over my hands and doesn't come off for days. i thought the floral glue was bad, but i think the 3M super tac is worse. but truth be told i do have fun with them. this weekend's project were moss cones to line the aisle. the bride asked for "something different" and jane said, "let me handle it."

check it out...

august 18, 2010

here i am lamenting the end of summer and labor day looms ever closer... furthermore, it doesn't seem possible that jamie and keith's wedding was a year ago...

you know how some people look like their pets? well, often couples/brides look like the colors they choose. take jamie. her color choice of oranges and peaches and blues match her fun and outgoing personality perfectly. she loved summer flowers and wanted "fun" and from there gave jane a great deal of creative control over the specifics of the flowers.  jane chose orange dahlias, coral roses, orange ranunculus, which contrasted against the blue-light purple of the delphinium and veronica. added to that was green hydrangea, white astilbe and maidenhair fern. all those colors play against the green and blue of the attendants dresses all to lovely effect. i look at these photos and just can't help but to smile.

beautiful photography provided by eric foley.

our jane

way (way) back i introduced some of the just for you team, people you might meet at the shop, hear on the phone etc. i didn't really talk much about jane then, because i wanted to dedicate a blog post just for her (how do you like that play on words, huh?). now i am finally getting around to it. actually, i had been trying to find a picture of jane as a flowergirl in my mother and father-in-law's wedding but when i asked sis if she had one she told me she was sure she had one and that i was welcome to look through her boxes. when i replied "great! i'd love to!" sis laughed out loud. not a sypathetic or happy laugh, but a laugh that really said the joke was on me. evidently there are a LOT of boxes...so, um, another time i guess...

jane's first job was in high school, just after she turned sixteen. she looked like this at the time:

well, not exactly like that. she didn't always wear paper elf ears.

that first job was at a florist shop that her friend's mother worked at. it was valentine's day and as we all know one of the busiest time of the year for florists. and so it goes that from that time forward she has been working with flowers. some periods were more off than on, but the constant was there. jane attended rittners school of floral design in boston and worked at various florist shops and studios. she did banquet work too, but ultimately wanted to run her own studio so she started out modestly by putting a flyer/coupon in the local paper to advertise and "just for you" was born. weddings came in and she juggled two sometimes three different jobs in addition to the floral work, while also managing three young kids at home. she worked out of the barn in the back of her house, attended workshops and trade shows constantly rethinking and improving her work and her game. as a mother of three small children myself, it is with the utmost humility that i say i admire jane so much for the business she's put together while also being a terrific mother/sister/aunt. it's not easy, it never is--as she'll tell you--and you won't often even know the path you're on or where it will take you, but you keep putting one foot in front of the other and you just keep moving. you keep moving and you may very well find yourself walking right into your dreams.

as many of you can attest, jane has built a well deserved reputation in the connecticut wedding industry. you won't find a more genuine person or honest businesswoman, or for that matter a more decent human being. and i'm not just saying this because the woman signs my paychecks.

bridal inspiration for the day

in paris. thinking how lucky she is to have found both the perfect man and gorgeous christian louboutin heels. on sale for like, practically nothing.

what's the point in having a fancy camera if you don't bring it along to take actual pictures?! true to form, i forgot ours, not once, but twice this weekend. argh. lucky for me, jerome braga was the photographer for the event and he always takes good detail shots for us. but still, i am thwarted from sharing photographs of the weddding with you now.

the wedding in question took place at the wesleyan barn in middletown and it was my first time seeing this particular venue. i just loved it. it's a great blank canvas for a wedding. it's very barn-y (well, duh) and unfinished and of course easily lends itself to a down-home sort of affair. but it could just as beautifully be a high-low venue with tall elegant flowers and impecable linens. there is a covered courtyard that i pictured with custom cushions and draped fabric, like a morroccan tent. in all cases, romantic candlelight is the name of the game. there are small lights and white laterns hung from above by the venue, and they are simple and sweet.  8 wooden posts beg to be wrapped or hung with wreaths or other embellishments or of course, left alone. lots of options. it reminds me of the wedding of one of my best friends years ago. the wedding was in california, but also in a barn. there were oriental and eastern rugs overlapping each other on the dias where the band set up . there were also beautiful ornate chandeliers that the owners had purchased. it was so elegant and yet approachable.

here's a picture of the barn i stole from the venue's website. it doesn't show jane's work, but it'll have to do until i can get OUR pictures up ;)

everyone keeps talking about the end of summer, back-to-school stuff is in the stores and it's making me a bit nuts. it's still the beginning of august! let me enjoy these long lazy (as if!) dog days of summer. what IS a "dog day" exactly? hmmm....

so i was going through pictures of some of our past weddings and came across the wonderful may '09 wedding of jackie and ben which took place at the branford house in groton. the pink color says summer to me and for now helps to keep the golds, siennas and spicy fall colors at bay for a bit longer. (i do love the fall, but all in due time).

lindsay and talia from sixpence for your shoe coordinated this pink confection of brightness and fun.

lovely photography provided by steve depino.

specifics

i always find it helpful to know specific flowers and meant to tell you the specific flowers used in tina's wedding (from the last post)...duh.

anywho, jane used aubergine calla lilies, chartreuse orchids, deep purple anemones, baby green hydrangeas and purple stock.

there now. you can all sleep better tonight.

vega wedding

excuse the interuption from blogging...where does the time go? oh, i know, chasing after 3 kids plus houseguests of 4 additional kids + one adult. i think things are back to normal now.

tina vega is a former coworker and friend of jane's going way back. tina is the director of catering for the southbury crowne plaza. being involved in the planning of many weddings over the years, when it came time for her own april wedding tina knew what she wanted and jane was delighted to help her bring her vision to life. the wedding and reception were both held at the southbury crowne plaza (well, duh...and i hope she got a good deal!)

gorgeous photography by the talented people at brian ambrose photography.