Two weeks ago we designed a beautiful wedding at a private home in Sagaponack, New York. It was a grand affair in a tent on the client’s property. We worked on the design for months and the family was over the moon with the results. As soon as all of the photos come in I promise I will post!
But first a little story for Inspiration Tuesday…..
There were two trees flanking the entrance to the property and a tall tree by the back porch. We filled the trees with long lengths of grosgrain ribbons, strings of shells, hanging lanterns, and wind-chimes. All of these elements swayed softly in the breeze. When the sun went down the trees just came alive. It was magical!! So magical the family asked us to leave the tree by the porch in tact for them to enjoy throughout the summer.
On Sunday afternoon after the last guest had left, she was finally able to sit down and enjoy a moment on the back porch. She felt relaxed and inspired. It occurred to her that the simple sound of wind-chimes was a very powerful design element indeed.
For a recent wedding in Nantucket the reception was held in a beautiful tent erected close to the beach. The theme was “Great Gatsby” by the sea. Dove gray is the hottest color going this season and so of course we used it to drape the ceiling of the tent.
Getting the scaffolding into position for the work to begin.
Grey chiffon blowing in the sea breezes.
Our guys work their way along the ceiling of the tent to secure the fabric. Not only does the draping add a soft romantic look but it is a great way to hide seams and hardware that may distract from the design.
The same fabric is used to wrap the wooden poles that support the tent.
First the floor gets built, carpeting goes down then the drapers go in. Once that is done-the rest of the work can begin.
Nick & Mohammad bring the draping down the sides to form a curtain that will capture the breeze and reinforce the romantic, dreamy feel of the evening.
Last week I posted about the rehearsal dinner for our Nantucket wedding. This week I am excited to share some behind the scenes shots for Destination Friday of the ceremony preparations at the First Congregational Church. If you climb the church tower you will find the finest views on the island, not to mention they ring the bells when you say “I Do”!
At the entrance to the church we created a pave arch of peonies and spray roses with ivy to give it a more delicate look. I like the neat tight look of this design as it really shows off the architecture.
Inside the sanctuary Jose is creating two grand arrangements of spring branches and roses to flank the alter. Simply and stunning is all you need in such a beautiful setting.
Kim begins to fill out the dogwood frame of the arrangement with other flowers, such as hydrangea, viburnum and roses.
And then completes the beautiful arrangement with peonies, lilac, majolica roses, and viburnum.
Although I am not a huge fan of flowers down the aisle, the wooden pews from this church are gorgeous. Along the outside of the pews we added smaller nosegays with trailing ivy. Just enough-not too much.
As a beautiful finish to the church, and to make sure the photographer got gorgeous shots as the couple processed down the aisle-we placed large arrangements on pedestals at the back of the church.
My family has always spent summers at the shore so it was only natural that my cousin, Rebecca and her now husband Ed have their wedding there. And since the sea and shore were always so important to our family, we wanted to incorporate it into as many aspects of the design as possible.
The candy station gave us an opportunity to both give a nod to the sea and salute the bride’s grandfather (my uncle), Russell Lord, who built and sailed sneakbox sailboats on Barnegat Bay. We duplicated a line sketch drawn by the bride’s grandmother (my aunt), Barbara Lord, on to a crack and peel label and then applied it to the candy bag.
We grew up with a “live car” at the end of our dock to house the bounty of crabs we caught during our regular summer crabbing expeditions. I thought it only appropriate that we use one to receive the bounty of envelopes for the bride and groom on their wedding day.
This block and tackle belonged to my late grandfather Alfred Conrad Naeole and was the perfect way to recognize him among the sand dollars and starfish.
Here is where I really get into the minutia-The stems of the boutonnieres were wrapped with bakery box string from one of our favorite family haunts in Lavallette New Jersey-Kay’s Bakery.
The Straight Wharf is the quintessential Nantucket restaurant for a rehearsal dinner or small wedding reception. Imagine calling “central casting” and asking for the perfect New England dining spot with great food and great service. Operator “12″ would politely respond- “Good news Michelle-there is this place called the Straight Wharf Restaurant.”
Below is the view from the back porch of the restaurant where guests can watch the boats from the harbor or, if your number of guests is small enough it would be a fanatasic spot for cocktails.
In classic Michelle Rago style, we styled a grouping of nautical elements for the cocktail tables including vintage spy glasses that guests could attempt to catch a glimpse of Moby Dick with.
New chef/owners, Amanda Lydon, Gabriel Frasca, Scott Fraley and their team jumped through hoops to accommodate. We moved furniture around, rigged candles from the ceiling, put shuffles in the powder rooms with whale songs and added a trio for dinner. It was the perfect night for the couple, their families and friends. Make sure you try Straight Wharf’s “clambake,” which includes corn pudding, little-necks, and lobster.
For the seating cards we simply scanned the existing business card from the restaurant and added table numbers and guest’s names.
This is a great shot of the dining-room. My team hung the candles from the rafters and…..that was it. All the chairs and tables belong to the restaurant and this is their standard table setting. Scott even graciously supplies the table numbers not to mention he pours a mean glass of red wine.
The colors for the papery and guest gifts throughout the wedding were hot pink and navy. We ordered L.L. Bean bags and sent them to be embroidered with this cute whale tail design. We filled them with a baseball cap with a different whale image, Nantucket chips, whoppie pies from the Nantucket Bakery, Aunt Leah’s fudge and a little boat building kit. I love coming up with cute catch phrases to be used throughout the wedding as they really help to set the tone and unify the guests.
We also had the gift bag emblem, which we pulled from the invitation, printed on the cocktail napkins not to mention the father of the bride loves whales. I will doing a piece just on the papery from this wedding as it one of my favorites!!
Planning Team Rago from left to right-Shana, Casey, Michelle, Kelly and Shira…(missing Danielle & Michael who are busily overseeing the tent set-up for the wedding reception.)
