Thursday, November 19, 2009

Wedding Gown Sale!


Bridals by Elena in Severna Park will be hosting a Designer Sample Sale during the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. Select sample gowns will be 30% to 75% off MSRP. These bridal sample gown designers include Romona Keveza, St Pucchi, Demetrios, Maggie Sottero, Anjiloque, Watters, Winnie Couture, La Sposa, San Patrick, Impression, Jasmine and more.


This salon is a Knot top pick and gets good reviews on Wedding Wire.

Be sure to make an appointment by calling 410.975.0076.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Straight From the Runway

It was a fun night filled with beautiful flowers, delicious food and fresh from the runway fashions from Waters Bridal. No we weren't in New York City, we were at the closest thing Baltimore has to a New York bridal salon: Betsy Robinson's Bridal Collection in Owings Mills.

The front desk was adorned with a fresh flower arrangement.
This beautiful Waters dress is new for 2010. Love it.

Sassy bridesmaid dress also from Waters. Look at how well this combination of flowers goes with the dark blue dress!

The detail on this bouquet is amazing. All flowers for the event and on the photos shown here are from the talented Victoria Claussen at Romance of Flowers.

This floral chair accessory is perfect for denoting the bride and the groom's chair at the reception.

Victoria added bling with hanging crystals and Mercury glass votives.

Here it is, our table display at the entrance to the salon. The elements on this table are from Select Event Rental: dark brown chivari chairs with latte bengaline cushion, Crystal stemware, Deco flatware, Copper Sparkle charger, Starlet Copper base cloth and Organic Gold tablecloth.

We doubled the napkin using Fantasy Chocolate and Pebble Ivory, also from Select.

The flowers at the base of the gorgeous centerpiece from Romance of Flowers.

A simple bouquet of white tulips grace the entance table.

Time for champagne. Pictured from left to right: Kelly Barry, Victoria Claussen, Elizabeth Bailey, Betsy Robinson and salon manager Jennifer
Draping and Lighting: Accent on Events
Photography in this Post: Katherine Morrison
Make-Up for Models: Studio of Make-Up
Other Vendors at the Event: The Event Library, Table Toppers, Ralph Alswag Photography, Suburban Video and The Wine Merchant

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Wedding Websites


This post is from Guest Blogger Kristin Sardina from Wedding Mapper



Pick a Website, Any Website

We all know that first impressions matter. And we also know that every couple wants their wedding to be unique. It is with these givens in mind that we understand the interest in wedding websites being offered to, and selected by, couples in the wedding space.

Wedding websites are often the first displayed material for guests to view and to get an impression of the formality of the weekend, and are therefore chosen by couples with discernment. Many websites vie for couples to use their site to display their wedding story, the wedding details, and post their wedding registry. How the couple then selects which site to use is an algorithm few can comprehend but it seems to be some relationship among the following variables: knowledge (couples will select from a website provider that they know or have heard of), design (couples want to select a design that will be unique and represent their personalities or the aesthetic of the wedding event), and price (in this economy especially, couples seek bang-for-their-buck).

For a long time theknot.com used to hold the reins in the wedding industry. Appealing to the first factor in the decision process (knowledge), theknot.com is able to capitalize on its brand name to solicit many couples to use their wedding websites out of the valuable benefit of name recognition. However the times, they are a changin’, and many other websites now compete to have couples use their products. In addition to theknot.com, couples can now choose from ProjectWedding.com, MyWedding.com, WeddingWindow.com and, new to the wedding website scene is WeddingMapper.com. Within the last month WeddingMapper.com has launched its wedding websites and offers more than a hundred designs, appealing to the desired “unique” factor that couples demand.

WeddingMapper.com’s new websites are synced with couples’ wedding map so that the map is integrated into the website; and in addition to being able to see where the Ceremony or Reception is, guests can, with a click of a button, get directions to or from there to other events or locations on the map!

Appealing to the last factor, (money- honey) WeddingMapper.com’s websites are also free and can be used in tandem with the other free tools their website provides. Theknot.com, ProjectWedding.com, and MyWedding.com also offer free wedding websites for couples, while WeddingWindow.com charges $11-$159 for use of one of their web designs, but they also offer 536 designs!

So brides and grooms, pick a website, any website, but first do some research on the best site for you and your event.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Drink Responsibly

Happy Halloween !

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Melissa + Pat: The Reception

With the perfect weather in place and our couple newly married, it was time to show the 120 wedding guests a good time.
Catering was by the fabulous Linwood's under the direction of Sherri Levin.
This couple had the wonderful idea of having individual wedding cakes on each guest table instead of a floral centerpiece. Not only was it a pretty addition to the table, but the guests loved serving themselves cake after dinner.

The table linens were provided by Gala Cloths.


The couple is introduced as Mr. and Mrs.


First dance song to Wild Horses (!).

Funny toast by best man Mike.

Followed by a heart felt toast by Maid of Honor Allison.


The bride and groom sat at a small sweetheart table for dinner. The patio at Gramercy spills right into the gardens.

After dinner, bride dances with her dad to "Forever Young".


Does the cake topper look familiar? It should. It is modeled after the bride and groom!

The cake cutting. Play nice.


Great photograph of the bridal bouquet on the sweetheart table.


Love this shot of the dining patio after dark.


The resident Gramercy cat comes downstairs to see what all the ruckus is about.


The catching of the bouquet. All the single ladies...


Lively dancing with music provided by Paul Lavin of Royal Music Service. He was terrific.

More dancing...


and what's a reception without the imitation of the Rockettes?

Last dance. Sweet.

The sparkler send-off at the front entrance. Sometime I'll tell you about the problems with giving lots of drunk people mini fireworks.

Into the limousine. Congratulations Melissa and Pat!
Wedding Site: Gramercy Mansion
Caterer: Linwood's
Wedding Planner: Elizabeth Bailey Weddings
Linen Rental: Gala Cloths
Wedding Cakes and Guest Cakes: Linwood's
Deejay: Paul Lavin of Royal Music Service
Thank you Kimberly Brooke for providing all the images for the three blog posts
about Melissa and Pat's wedding!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Melissa + Pat: The Ceremony

At 6:00 pm sharp we were ready to begin the ceremony at Gramercy Mansion. These images were captured by talented photographer Kimberly Brooke.

Pat and Mike and John take a minute for a photo in the parlor at Gramercy.
Ceremony music was provided by St. Charles String Quartet.

The officiant for the ceremony was Bill Duffy who is also the innkeeper at Gramercy.

Cutie pies Beatrice and Diego walk up the aisle perfectly.

The gardens at Gramercy provide a beautiful backdrop for the processional.

Just waiting for the bride...

With blusher in place, Melissa and her Dad walk up the aisle.

Time for the vows.

Look at that sky!!

Love this photo.

The kiss of course.

Smiles all around.

Groom holds the bouquet for his wife.

Alone at last (at least for a few minutes).

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Melissa + Pat: Getting Ready

On a Thursday evening in July, Pat and Melissa exchanged vows at the historic Gramercy Mansion in Green Spring Valley. Want to know just how fun and how smart this couple is? They had the wedding on the start of a 4 day holiday weekend and partied right through the long weekend, celebrating with family and friends. The wedding celebration began the four days of a family reunion, barbecue, brunch and other family organized events. The couple got to visit with their extended families all weekend before leaving on a honeymoon on Monday. Now that is a celebration!

The weather was not what we expected. July in Baltimore is supposed to be hot and humid, but not on this wedding day. It was beautiful and comfortable and a wonderful day for a party.
The bride's make-up was expertly applied by our friends Jayne and Julie at Double Take.

The bride's beautiful gown was purchased at Bridals by Elena in Severna Park.

Delicate shoes...

Simply stunning bouquet...
Bride dressing with a little help from Mom.
The bridal suite at Gramercy is perfecting for getting ready.


The veil is added.

and earrings

and a classic French manicure.
Brides love the steps at Gramercy for photos.
Love this shot.
Bride with her fashionable Dad.

Bet the girls loved wearing these dresses.

Flowers by Judy created simple, classic flowers for this wedding.

The grounds at Gramercy are filled with fountains and sculptures.

It was such a pleasure meeting and working with Kimberly Brooke Photography for the first time at this wedding. She is sweet, efficient and as you can see, talented.
All the images in this post were taken by Kimberly.