Chandelier Event: NYC Nightclub Nuptials at Hudson Terrace (Sally & Andy, Part Duex)

All Images Reserved: Max Flatow Photography

 

Last week, I promised I would fill you in on Part II of Sally & Andy's wedding weekend. As you learned in our North Fork Nuptials post, the ceremony and intimate feast took place out east at Jedediah Hawkins Inn in a bucolic country setting. Part wine-country, part bride's backyard, Friday night's festivities were warm, elegant and understated. Here are the details, along with more photos from Max Flatow.

But the fun did not stop there! On Saturday night, Sally and Andy headed back into their other home, Manhattan, where they hosted over 130 of their closest friends at a raucous cocktail party to celebrate their new status as Mr. & Mrs. Hudson Terrace proved the perfect venue to watch the sun set over the Hudson River (and Intrepid!) with wrap-around views of the NYC skyline, as guests wined, dined and danced the night away.

The evening had it's very own invitation. Together, we customized in deep red velvet to match the venues dramatic hue (Village Invites) and added a touch of black and white to the multi-layered paper to take the otherwise traditional format to a sexier place. Speaking of sexy, we wanted to pour a little hot sauce on the wedding decor. So I sought out the gorgeous floral stylings of my friend Grayson Handy at Prudence Designs who helped us pull together a reception featuring deep lipstick shades in red mercury glass, as well as a showstopper white orchid arrangement that was all the talk of the rooftop cocktail hour that started off the evening just as the sun set. Tables of flickering gold linens and red hot florals were an optional seating place, as Sally and Andy encouraged their guests to hit the dance floor all night long.

And, the piece de resistance was the downright scrumptious cake featured three flavors on different layers (red velvet, dark chocolate and carrot cake) covered in fondant featuring hand-painted red poppies. Of course, at Chandelier, we knew that cake (the only real "wedding" element of the night) needed more than just any cake stand! So, I sought out this lucite blinged-out cake stand through the totally talented and innovative custom crystal designer Tiers of Joy (love Etsy!!!!)--notice how we had to match the venue's chandeliers. We wouldn't have had it any other way!

Chandelier Event: Sally & Andy's North Fork Nuptials

All Images Reserved: Max Flatow Photography

Summer love has officially set in here at Chandelier Events. That's why we're totally swooning over Max Flatow's images of a recent North Fork wedding we planned this Spring. The Hamptons gorgeous sister, Long Island's North Fork proved a perfect backdrop for our couple Sally & Andy's April wedding. Not only was the evening a total culinary experience, with a five course meal prepared by Keith Luce and his team at Luce + Hawkins at Jamesport's Jedediah Hawkins Inn, but it was an elegant nod to the upscale, yet low-key atmosphere of Long Island's wine country that Sally and Andy (and we!) love so much.

Sally and Andy came to me about six months prior to the wedding date with a special wedding weekend in mind. They wanted an intimate ceremony and feast out East on Friday night, followed by a raucous cocktail reception in Manhattan (which we hosted at Hudson Terrace--we'll post those photos in Part II next week!) They had specific criteria for Friday evening's wedding: they wanted it to be special, delicious, picturesque, but in no way stuffy, formal or stodgy. Finding just the right venue became our biggest challenge and when we found Jedediah Hawkins Inn--an Inn that combined the best of old world Victorian Charm with the most modern luxuries and sensibilities (can you say woven leather ceilings!) -- we knew we had our venue.

The rest fell into place: ceremony in the gazebo out near the Inn's historic barn, cocktails in the original Speakeasy where they have Long Island Reisling on TAP!, and a five-course sit-down feast in the dining room complete withgorgeous mantel prepared just to their liking by Keith and his team. The florals were provided by Landscape Adventure in Riverhead (a family friend of the bride) and incorporated colors inspired by the Inn, the season (daffodils!), and lots of interesting containers indigineous to the environment from mason jars to milk jugs.

Guests dined on individual plates of duck wing confit ragu with cucumber raita, artisinal cheese and charcuterie and crudite served family style, fish, steak and smouldering pots of macked out mac 'n cheese--with wines handpicked by the couple. After dessert which included chocolate pudding with Peconic sea salt, homemade donuts, and a special strawberry shortcake, the entire family of 25 descended back downstairs to party the night away at the Speakeasy.

Next week, we'll post Part II of this special wedding weekend -- when our North Fork event moved into NYC Nightclub!

Spotlight on "Vintage Confections"

Stuffing an Easter basket or satisfying a sweet-tooth? We can hardly resist these gorgeous gems from Chicago-based Vintage Confections. 


From their mint-chocolate-chip lollipops to their whimsical candied moustaches to their series of candied birth gems, we're going crazy-for-Cocoa-Puffs over their inventive selection. They even serve up corn-syrup-free lollipops in fun flavors like citrus blossom, pomengranate, almond, clove and peppermint. I am hoping to find their rose-water marshmallows in my mother's day package (hint, hint)...We're also a big fan of their caramel collection (can you say, Lavendar Caramel!) and their monogram line which features 3" candied letters and numbers. What a great caketopper!


Right now, they're running a sweet promotion: get a free 1/4 lb. of ANY caramel of your choosing with ANY $10 order. Just put FREECARAMELS in 'notes to seller' on their Etsy shop checkout along with the caramel of your choosing. They'll include it free with your order!

Dinner Mints, Pistachio & Pink Champagne

We've just about wrapped up prep for this weekend's country-meets-city weekend wedding--and all the tiny details of planning two-weddings-in-one have come together. Friday night, our couple will share an intimate ceremony at an inn overlooking the vineyards of the North Fork of Long Island. Saturday, we'll make a mad dash back to the City that Never Sleeps for a raucous celebration! You bet, we'll be posting pictures of our ying-and-yang receptions. Think buttery yellows and sage green for the ceremony and farm-to-fork dinner reception, followed by luscious lipstick shades of red and shimmery gold and crystal for our night out on the town!


Needless to say, we're *busy* at Chandelier, rolling out Spring events and deep into our blockbuster Fall. But, as the calm sets in for the night, we can't help but indulge ourselves. Hey, what can I say--we can't get enough! It's like planning our own weddings, over and over again.


So, here is the first of our inspiration spotlights--brought to you, fresh-cut, in spring shades that invoke sweet auras of dinner mint pastels, pistachio greens, and delicate pink champagne. From a pink tulle Vera Wang wedding gown to long flowing blush chiffon bridesmaids (in a wedding styled by our friend Annie Lee and photographed by Caroline Tran) to this gorgeous bouquet featuring frayed-edge tulips! Just dreaming about the wedding we could create in these hues ....


Oh well, back to reality! Signing off for another whirlwind weekend... see you on the other side of the altar.