Floral Wedding Bliss: Reception

The Place Card Table had
a centerpiece with Calla Lilies & hanging
votives on gold dusted branches. 

Mom and me getting things ready
Saturday before the big event... & Gigi

White roses in antique cracked mirror glass vases on the
mantle of the ballroom fireplace. There were many
candle votives placed around them & the wonderful
wedding cake in front from Crown Bakery. White Cake with
Raspberry and Blood Orange Filling and Buttercream Frosting. 

I think one of the funniest memories I have of Saturday prior to all the festivities beginning, was me running around the estate barefoot ensuring everything was falling into place, and meanwhile my glam squad captain, a.k.a celebrity hair stylist extraordinaire, "Christian" from Salon 647         
running behind me trying         to get me upstairs to the bridal suite for nearly two hours. For some that sounds like a nightmare to do any arrangements before one's own wedding and worrying about the details, but for someone like me, dare I say a slight control freak, I enjoyed doing my part and seeing things through to completion -- it actually had a very calming effect. 

So when the florist arrived with all the flowers and I saw them for the first time not only was my morning complete, but I could finally go upstairs. It was such a gratifying moment when I could relish in the beauty of the centerpieces, bouquets, vases -- all the flowers that I envisioned for my wedding right there before my eyes in gorgeous arrangements.  

The most talented designer who has to take all the credit and who I cannot speak more highly of is Maureen Szczurko, owner of The Flower Stop in Worcester. Maureen not only listened to every detail I told her from months in advance, she not only could see exactly what I was envisioning, but she took it to levels I couldn't even imagine. It's really special to meet anyone who is so gifted and passionate about their craft, and it shows through their work. 

These 3 Ft. Cylinder Vases had a variety of either

Calla Lilies or Orchards sunken in the water with

candles floating on top. They were spread throughout

the foyer and especially in the grand fireplace shown left.

Centerpieces: White Eggshell Roses,  Calla Lilies Picasso,
Dark Eggplant Calla Lilies, Snow on the Mountain as filler &
Dusty Miller Silver Lace around the bottom.

I wanted a French, Chic theme. Not over the top like Marie Antoinette, but not too Provincial either. Something elegant and en vogue, timeless like Coco Chanel. I wanted all white but bursts of deep eggplant from the Callas and Picasso Lillies, then highlights of sage that would tie it all together. Maureen fully accomplished that, a literal translation that she created. Not only with the flowers, but the vases she used for the centerpieces to the decorative scape on the fireplace mantle.  

The table design with gold chargers, matching crystal candelabras
and frames, satin eggplant napkins and centerpieces.
The linens were satin champagne tablecloths with
crystalized organza overlays. 

Rather than have each table be a number we used artistic creations that inspired love. For instance, my husband got to choose our head table so his choice was John Coltrane's album, A Love Supreme. Above you'll notice the table has a frame of Romeo and Juliet which is where my pappou (grandfather) sat. He would always tell us in his younger years they called him "Romeo." Other tables included: Phantom of the Opera, A Farewell To Arms, Casablanca, & Moonlight Sonata. Whether it was film, song, opera, play, book, poetry or paintings -- we chose our favorite works of love.

The head table had the tall crystal candelabras as well as short votive candles spread across the table. Since the bouquets went with the overall floral theme in the dining room I wanted to highlight them and use them as centerpieces. All we did was purchase extra vases for each bouquet to be evenly distributed across the table. The white roses with the deep eggplant and Picasso Calla Lilies stayed on theme.

We really wanted to emphasize the arts throughout our wedding. One stunning touch was having ballet dancers perform "Over the Rainbow" during dinner. They were local dancers from the Albany Berkshire Ballet non-profit. For a donation, the lovely ballet dancers performed so wonderfully and really added such a nice touch. To be honest I was inspired by the Kanye West "Runaway Music Video" -- great video!
We also had gospel singers for the ceremony from a local Church, in addition to a special gift from family members playing the trumpet and violin. Poetry and song was dedicated during the ceremony. We had a big brass band playing jazz and standards during the reception, and after-hours with a live Greek band.  The party kept going and the ambience was just right :)


Some of these photos were from family and friends -- Thank You! Most are from the professional photographer we used, Rich Frederick -- a wonderful job capturing these moments -- thank you!

Floral Wedding Bliss

One of the most magical days of my life was my wedding day. It was so special because of all the love Charles and I felt all weekend long with our family and friends in the Berkshires. As the bride, what made the wedding so spectacular in my eyes, was having all the details we worked so hard at over the past year come together on that day, and transport us to a gilded era of a black tie affair with Champagne flowing, flowers everywhere, a big brass band playing and having all of this done at the Elm Court, a Vanderbilt Estate in Lenox, MA. 

Since this blog is dedicated to either flowers, food or wine I wanted to post an entry about all the flowers at my wedding from the centerpieces and bouquets to the creative pieces spread around the estate. Maybe this will inspire others searching for a similar theme, or if anything it will allow me to relive the magic.

My beautiful flower girl Cloe & lovebug Gigi

Our wedding on August 27, 2011 was the weekend of Hurricane Irene! I didn't believe in having a "plan B" for rain prior to knowing there was going to be a hurricane heading our way. So we set up for the ceremony   as we originally planned in the back of the Estate with a 50 foot red carpet and a vista over looking the mountains and trees behind the cresdenza. 

Thankfully I have a pic of what we envisioned, because the rain drops started to  come down and we moved over to a spontaneous plan b on the terrace. 

A Red Carpet as opposed to white adds a stunning backdrop
against the bride's dress & tuxedos for photos.
A way to save money & time on flower pots is
bring the pots to a local landscaper to do them for you. 

Although the ceremony didn't take place where I had envisioned it, I didn't even notice when the time came and my father walked me down the aisle. I guess that's the magic of the day when everything just feels perfect.

Colorful Gladiolas for the Ceremony.

         

I had known I wanted the reception done in white with bursts of deep eggplant and some sage green for slight accent colors. So I decided I wanted the ceremony to be different with lots of color. I love gladiolas -- they're a flower that just makes me happy when I see them -- they're lively & fun! Incorporate your favorite flowers in your wedding because it will make a difference when you see them in the photos.

Butterflies remind me of my late yiayia (grandma in Greek). When my yiayia Mary died, soon after I was suddenly seeing lots of butterflies  around me, sometimes in the most random places that you wouldn't expect a butterfly to be. And every time I saw them they made me smile and feel warm. So on our wedding day we let out butterflies as a gesture to my yiayia being there in spirit. 

A big reason Charles and I chose Lenox as our wedding destination was for its natural splendor. We loved Lenox for Tanglewood, and its overall arts and culture, but Nature is very important to me, and we both appreciate natural wonders. So we wanted to incorporate the majestic scenery all around us in our wedding photos. 

My next blog will be about the reception flowers that were throughout the interior of the Estate.


I will end this blog with a poem by ee cummings that one of my best friends dedicated to Charles and I and read during the wedding ceremony.  


i carry your heart with me


i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
                                  

i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Fall Festivities on the Hudson Valley

On a beautiful fall day my husband and I decided to escape the city in a rental car to the Hudson Valley. The 30 minute drive on the Henry Hudson Parkway through the mountains and some very late foliage was well worth it, let alone the whole day of activities I had planned for us including a Rockefeller Estate tour, apple picking, and 4,000 lit up Jack O' Lanterns.

Our first stop was Sleepy Hollow, a village in Tarrytown, where iconic American author Washington Irving wrote the tale of the Headless Horseman. We didn't get to go to the terrifying Horseman's Hollow haunted walk through the forest, but we did do a fantastic tour at Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate.

Not only was the home, gardens and overall property breathtaking, but it was fascinating listening to the very knowledgable tour guide's stories on John D. Rockefeller and his family.

One thing I especially liked was one of Rockefeller's mantras that he was known to tell his children, "Order and Balance." He was extremely organized and disciplined, and found balance in life from making an abundance of money through owning Standard Oil, and giving back an abundance through all his charities focused on world peace, education and health.

It was so admirable to hear about all of the Rockefeller charities starting from John D. Sr. all the way down to the youngest son and daughter-in-laws. The Rockefellers did so much for New York City from creating Lincoln Center and the MOMA, to building lower Manhattan to keep business thriving downtown, getting the bid for the United Nations Assembly to be built on the East Side of the city, considerable land and park preservation, and of course son Nelson being the state's four term Governor and Vice President to Ford.

Next was off to Wilken's Fruit and Fir Farm via the Saw Mill Parkway for apple picking, but mostly buying lots of lovely things in the gift shop and eating lots of lovely things from their bakery. I'm not much into donuts,

but Wilken's homemade APPLE CIDER DONUTS were simply AMAZING! They sell so many that they are constantly being made fresh and hot. The donuts were light, dense and flavorful -- not syrupy or artificial tasting -- just perfect. Honestly, I wish I could wrap them up and send them over to everyone right now... Not too mention enjoy one myself as I write this post!

So with time to kill before the 8:30 Jack O'Lantern Blaze, we decided to go to a restaurant on the Hudson River to have a glass or two of wine, and something to eat to relax and reflect on our great day.

We heard of Harvest On Hudson, sitting right on the River with a great big lot of grass for customers to sit on benches and enjoy the view.

It was like an amazing first date all over again seven years later. We sat there for a few hours philosophizing, conversing, cuddling and just plain loving life. So far the day couldn't have been any better, and we still had 4,000 pumpkins to check out.

To end our day, Charles was such a good sport to drive back towards Tarrytown 20 minutes out of the way to the great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. It was really something walking through thousands of creative, artistic carved pumpkins all lit up in the great outdoors. There were probably more adults than kids enjoying it. It was well worth the drive and $17 ticket to go. Of course I had another apple cider to end our fantastic day.