I have been a blogging delinquent. I promise that I am back.  Generally speaking, I like to think I do a good job of balancing work and writing and life, but the truth is we’ve been running on a 10+ here at the AaB offices since September in our busiest, most fabulous, grandest winter wedding season EVER culminating in the rather amazing wedding of Emily and Jason held over President’s Day weekend (more about that later).  I lost myself in the details of their awesome loft wedding – can’t wait to show you photos- AND then I had to get out of dodge for a little while to recharge my batteries.  I headed out west for a girls weekend in Palm Springs to catch our breath before our two big SPRING celebrations- our very own lovely Mayra’s wedding next month and something rather fun at Skylight One Hanson.

My first day out of the office I will, admit, dragging my feet around feeling a bit burnt out when I got the most exciting gift a planner/ designer can get after a wedding- FABULOUS PHOTOS of Carolyn and Scott’s New Year’s Eve wedding.  I promise, seeing the wedding in person is awesome, but having great images is almost as good! It reminds you of how all the collective hard work of the event payed off AND, in the case of Carolyn and Scott, it quite literally made me tear up seeing how HAPPY AND THRILLED they were with their ceremony, being married, joining their lives and throwing a pretty rockin’ New Year’s Eve party.

When Carolyn and Scott first called it was September and they said that they really, really wanted to have a wedding on New Year’s Eve.  THIS coming New Year’s Eve.  We said, No Problem.  Then Carolyn told us that their dream was to have the reception at The Grand Arcade in Asbury Park- an area of real significance for her and Scott as they have watched the rejuvenation of Asbury, live in the area and felt like it was their back yard.  They hadn’t really had many weddings in that space, but we said “No Problem”.  Then we found out that the area- which is generally open to the public- was going to have  a 30′ Christmas Tree in the middle of the room and could we “make that work” and we said “No Problem.”

The Grand Arcade at Asbury on a "Regular Day"

The Grand Arcade right before Carolyn and Scott's Reception

And so, the train to Carolyn and Scott’s New Year’s Eve wedding took off, we had an amazing ride along the way and an an even more amazing time at the party itself.  Carolyn and her mother were awesome to work with, and Mayra, who has probably never had quite the logistical challenge that this presented, pulled off an absolutely seamless event.  The team at Madison Marquette (who manages the property and does the sound and lighting) were amazing and Great Performances created a menu that was unforgettable and personal.  As the “Director of Pretty”, I think I did a decent job of working with a 30′ Christmas Tree and creating an intimate feeling for their friends and family in a rather large space.  A giant thanks to the lighting team, 29th Street Marketplace, Classic Party Rentals and Fernanda, our florist for making it all come to life.  AND a HUGE thanks to Inku for these amazing shots!  More images are available on his blog.

Cocktails and family photos were held in the adjacent, landmark theater.

The ceremony was held in a beautiful, nearby church. Before guests boarded shuttles to the reception, they saluted the newlyweds with giant Sparklers- a MAGIC MOMENT that set the tone for the night. The bride's AMAZING Lazaro dress was from Kleinfeld- they made miracles happen turning it around in no time!

The bride wanted PURPLE, but to tie it in with the already existing holiday decor, we used RED as a contrast color and worked with the team in Asbury to decorate with more reds and silvers. To make the space feel more intimate, we angled the tables INTO each other and used candelabras for a glamorous look that added height. We also used assigned seating and had guests break British crackers to break the ice and as an homage to Carolyn's years growing up in the UK. For escort cards each guest had their own glass of bubbly waiting for them to sip while they found their seat.

It was REALLY a magical and fun night! At midnight the bride changed and they toasted in 2012! Our team passed out noisemakers and more fun and dancing ensued. It was a blast! (and we were working)

I love the color gold. I have noticed that over the years I have acquired a disproportionate number of gold colored items in my closet; jackets, tops, and mainly shoes. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will find it’s way into my wedding colors:)

So how excited was I when I saw Martha Stewarthad these AMAZING gold gowns on their site today? My heart melted with these two particular dresses. Two totally different styles, but both so glamorous!

Fabulous gowns from Anne Bowen and Jenny Packham

Now, I know that not everyone wants to rock a gold dress. However, that shouldn’t mean that you can’t find a way to fit it into your look. I  love this clutch was on Net A Porter (by Anya Hindmarch).
A bag not enough of a statement piece for you? I am OBSESSED with these rough and stunning “Smoke and Mirror” crystal and gold earrings are from Shop Bop (Erickson Beamon).
Hope these make their way into your wedding:)

This year has been filled with my friends celebrating their love. I have been to 3 weddings as a guest in the last month! Now, I can tell you the things that I LOVED as a guest! I will write a blogpost on that next week, but for now I NEED to tell you all about a new service that I just discovered.

I have a large number of South Asian friends and often have an excuse to wear sari’s. Over the years, I have been gifted quite a few as bridesmaid gifts. Xochitl jokes that I have an ethnic section of my closest. However, my friends events outnumber my outfits.

So how excited was I when I heard about a new site where you can RENT them!?  I have been telling my friends for years that a sari rental business would be genius. Well, it turns out that the people over at  Sari Closet agree! Sari Closet is a new service that was developed by students at the UCLA Anderson school of Management. It seems that I was not the only girl wondering what I would wear to the next wedding!

Check out these great modern styles. The rental comes with both a sari and petticoat (the skirt worn under the sari) but not a blouse. The styles are shown here without a blouse, but just know that this is not typically the way these are worn.

Want to choose a little something more conservative? Then this might be the way to go.

Now, if you have never worn a sari, then here are a few words of wisdom (that I sadly learned the hard way). This attire looks super comfortable…but isn’t. Also, the entire sari is kept up by two very large and expertly placed safety pins. This means that you either need someone who knows how to do so, OR you need to practice my friend! I say that it is worth it. When else will you get to wear such a lovely outfit! So, the next time that you are invited to a South Asian wedding, I say you give this a try!

Feeling a little wimpy? Then you can always create your own outfit. It’s not as hard as it seems. Pair a long tunic, tights, and scarf and you are all set! Gold accents never hurt:) Here is my faux Indian outfit from this past weekend. The tights are American Apparel and I got compliments from everyone. * Here I am standing in front of a China case at the Richard Nixon Library in California. Sari Closet can help you with Bindis and jewelry if that is where you want to be bold!

*Thanks for the idea Radhika:)

Early this spring we had the pleasure of working on the classically romantic wedding of Marjan and Ryan, reinstating my confidence that yes, traditional elegance is still alive and well without being at all stuffy or boring or lacking personality. Here are some shots of the gorgeous evening we designed together at the de Seversky Mansion including these amazing custom painted invitations by Kristy Rice at Momental Designs. Blush and plum were our palette for the entire event, largely inspired by Marjan’s blush toned Ines de Santo Gown. I’d already posted a bit about the ceremony space, which we decorated with seasonal cherry blossoms to mask some of the venue’s less “finer” points, but it also created a lush, romantic environment for their vows.
After the ceremony and cocktails everyone made their way to the grand ballroom of this majestic Gold Coast mansion. The carved wood panels and the ornate plaster details on the ceiling were a stunning canvas for our team from Luminous Lighting. And though the venue came with these great gold ballroom chairs, the gold was too harsh for the rich look we were going for, so we repurposed those for the ceremony and brought in a fruitwood chair instead, which paired elegantly with these fabulous aubergine crinkle linens. Laura Hooper created the escort cards and table names (after the couples favorite restaurants in the city). Melanie and the team from Melarosa brought our vision to life of romantic opulence with these stunning florals, which then inspired Marc Joseph and his amazing cake. Since the bride’s dress was not white, how could the cake be? So Marc used a base of blush fondant for this masterpiece. All in all, a breathtaking evening for a stunning couple. We were thrilled to be a part of it and we hope you enjoyed this little peak at some of the amazing photos Heather Waraksa shot.

As wedding season wears on and things are getting hotter and more humid every day, and our days seem to be non-stop, it’s a great time of year to give our make up regimens a boost. Here are four products that have been saving our lives for the past few weeks as we’ve gone from office to party and event set-up to wedding.   Since Kate Middleton did her own make up, (I still don’t believe it!) I know more and more of you  have been toying with DIY faces for the big day as well.. So, here are some products that we are loving.

1.  My ABSOLUTELY favorite new product is certainly Naturapathic Vitamin K Brightening Eye Serum.  The Naturapathic people sent us over a bottle and frankly, Mayra and I were duking it out over who would take the bottle home. We must get a hundred emails a week with girls writing to us who want to be wedding planners, what they don’t know is that right around March we cease sleeping soundly and instead wake up in the middle of the night  thinking about Emily’s fitting and Molly’s pies and whether Rascal the Pony will show up on time. So, by May, the idea of a brightening eye serum doesn’t just sound like a good idea, it looks like a necessity. Anyway, I started using it two or three weeks ago and less than a miracle cream, it really acts like an all natural concealer.  I’ve frankly even dabbed it on a couple of zits and I think it totally worked.  It’s not cheap, but since my bottle was free, I can say clearly that it was worth it.

2.  I have greasy eyelids.  Apparently this is part of what keeps me getting carded at bars (apparently my oily skin is good for fighting wrinkles!) but it is truly a disaster when it comes to eye make up.  It slides right off.  To try and prevent this I have been over-applying to drag proportions  in the morning and then lugging my makeup around to re-apply at night… So, Mayra wisely suggested that I buy myself some “primer” ,which apparently everyone in the office already had heard of and used, I selected Too Faced Shadow Insurance Anti-Crease and it has CHANGED MY LIFE.  For only $17 I can actually just put on normal amounts of make up and not worry that I won’t still be wearing it three hours later.

3. Last year I got some swag that I just loved at Engage, the Smashbox O-glow Cheek Tint.  I fell in love with it and it is certainly my go to staple for color in the warmer months.   I have no clue how to apply make up and this makes it nearly impossible to give myself clown cheeks.  It also feels like nothing and doesn’t melt at all.  I now can say I am a convert and this is a staple of my make up case.

4.  Mayra got a present in the mail a couple of weeks ago- It was the Urban Decay “Urban Bride” package. They had put this together as a promo to coincide with Bridesmaids coming out but it was a TON of products intended to help your bridesmaids keep a polished look on the big day and (theoretically) a great gift for your bridesmaids.  It included Razor Sharp Ultra-Definition Finishing Powder, Eyeshadow Primer (which Mayra loved) Supercurl Curling Mascara (another thumbs up for the mascara!)
Lip Junkie Lipgloss and   All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray, which Mayra swears by and says has been keeping her make up in place during these sticky summer days we’ve been having.  They claim it will help make up stay put for 16 incredible hours.  It also had an edible Marshmallow Sparkling Lickable Body Powder, which sounds kinky, but good. It retails for $42, so it’s actually a pretty good deal.