Paper for decor

The use of paper streamers and balloons are inexpensive decor alternatives. Imagine using these for a child's birthday party. It creates a charming and playful mood.

Happy Halloween!

Playing with food

A while back I provided an idea of using a pumpkin or squash shell as a bowl for soup. The use of food in centerpieces or as decor adds another element to the event. Here is a clever idea for cucumbers. What a way to make an impression with the geometric tea sandwiches.

Featured!

Once again, one of our weddings is featured on New York Social Diary. Please click on the image below to view the featured wedding.




We will be providing more information on the wedding in days to come. We showed a little sneak preview last month. You can view the table setting here.

Asian Influence

Here is a Labor Day party we did. The party had a casual buffet, raw bar, and lounging on the lawn. The theme was Asian, the tent and food were Asian inspired. Lighting by Greg Yale with huge helium balloons filled with light floating above the tent and the lawn where guests had cocktails. Bill Tansey, the designer used lots of bamboo panels and bright orchids with bamboo chairs.

Please click on thumbnails below to view larger version.

Color Inspiration

Build your own cake!

A Simple Cake by Gail Watson allows couples to design their own cake combination. Her website allows you to mix and match flavors and decoration into your perfect dream cake. We recently built a wedding cake through A Simple Cake for our client and everyone could not stop talking about how beautiful and yummy it was!

Gail's work has been featured in Elegant Bride, Modern Bride, Oprah, Town and Country, Martha Stewart Weddings and Vogue Weddings to name a few. Check out her website A Simple Cake

Transition into Autumn

It is pumpkin season!

Pumpkins are a great substitute for bowls when you're having an autumn party. They bring a very festive look to the table. I love the look of soup in a pumpkin or winter squash on the table.

A little something for the guests

Here is a creative, cute idea to box a couple of m&m's or tiny party favors for your guests. The tied knot looks great. These boxes have a horseshoe motif, but the colors and motifs can be easily changed to create a nautical theme, beach theme, etc.

Mix and Match

Table decor for your event does not always have to be matchy-matchy. It becomes boring and overdone when colors are overmatched and made to look perfect. Here is an example of something whimsical. The colors work. They look good together without looking like this color scheme has been done a million times.

Creative Uses

Ribbons are a pretty, simple, inexpensive way to add character and color to your event decor.

Ribbons here are weaved together to add color to a plain, white tablecloth.


A ribbon is used as a belt for this placecard napkin ring. A very DIY-able project!

Sneak Peak

We are busy planning and organizing for a big wedding that is happening this weekend at the New York Public Library. Here is a sneak preview of what the table setting is going to look like for the wedding.

Sample Tasting Menu continued

Here is the second part to the tasting menu...

SEATED DINNER MENU

PLATED FIRST COURSE

Chilled slow cooked wild king salmon with spinach puree, fennel, orange and radish

Tartare of yellowfin tuna with fennel and potato crisp

Charcoaled beef carpaccio with pea shoots, reggiano and white truffle oil


MAIN COURSE

Miso glazed black cod with herbed citrus sauce, snow pea salad, farro and black rice

Braised short ribs with celery root puree, shredded Brussels sprouts

Provencal lamb loin with goat cheese potato puree, herbed zucchini and broken black olive vinaigrette

Lavender honey-glazed muscovy duck with rhubarb chutney, baby turnips,
roasted buckwheat wild mushroom salad


PASSED SWEETS

Nectarine brown butter tartlets
Apricot marzipan cake
Espresso ‘Manjari’ cups
Buttermilk panna cotta in a white chocolate cup
Rosemary honey almond crème brulee tartlet
Mini ice cream cones
Mini popsicles
S’mores tartlet
‘Toblerone’semifreddo lollipop
French macaroons

Color Inspiration

Sample Tasting Menu

I have to run to a tasting in a few minutes. I thought I'd share a little of what a tasting menu for a wedding would look like. These are hors d'oeuvres only. Stay tuned for the rest of the sample tasting menu!

PASSED HORS D’OEUVRES

SEAFOOD

Beet cured salmon on a potato dill blini
Blini with American sturgeon caviar and chive crème fraiche
Seared rare tuna ‘Nicoise’ on a pomme frite, black olive tapenade

MEAT

Truffled foie gras with onions agrodolce on raisin pecan crisps
‘Egg McMuffin’: English muffin with wild boar bacon, quail egg, truffled cheese
Braised short ribs with celery root puree served in a spoon
‘Retro’ pigs in blankets with New York deli mustard
Lamb loin on a rosemary skewer, mint chutney

VEGETABLE

Asparagus salad in a parmesan frico cup
Truffled grilled cheese sandwich with celery relish
Edamame puree on a nori chip

A modern alternative

A lot of my clients always ask me what is a great alternative wedding registry. They are done with Tiffany's. Been there, done that. Kate Spade is actually a wonderful option for wedding gifts. Their tableware is very modern, punchy, and much more practical for the times we live in. It is something you can use often. It is not like the Tiffany's tableware that your parents passed down to you.

Add some spice to your party!

For those who do not know, I like to use luminescent light up trays to serve desserts at weddings. They are such a great way to add character and personality to your event. imoi makes some amazing trays that you can use as platters to serve your hors d'oeuvres. They are fabulous and provides that much needed splash of color!





This would look so lovely for a summer event.


The British flag is just one of the many prints that imoi offers.

Color Inspiration

Country Wedding continued

Last week's wedding was held in New Jersey. The wedding was a very relaxed elegant affair. It had a very organic, country setting. Wicker branches, earthy chandeliers, and shades of green were used for the wedding.

Tasty Recipes: Sugary Sweet Pavlova

Who doesn't like sweets? Check out the recipe for this amazing pavlova.


Three-Layer Berry and Brown Sugar Pavlova
Serves 8
Active Time: 30 min
Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

By its very nature, a Pavlova is a little wild—as proved by these three tiers of airy meringue, which crack and crumble to reveal marshmallowy interiors while the berries' juices puddle all over drifts of whipped cream. And that playful mix of textures and flavors sure tastes delicious. Meringues aren't usually made with moist brown sugar, but here it adds a deeper kind of sweetness. Baking them in cake pans, another unusual technique, helps these meringues crisp up.

Ingredients
For meringue:
Confectioners sugar for dusting
1 cup superfine granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
3/4 cup egg whites (from 5 to 6 large eggs) at room temperature 30 minutes

For berries:
1 1/2 pounds strawberries, trimmed and quartered
1 pound blackberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For cream:
1 cup chilled heavy cream
1/3 cup chilled sour cream

Instructions
Make meringue:
1. Preheat oven to 275°F with rack in middle. Lightly butter 3 (8-inch) round cake pans, then dust sides of pans with confectioners sugar, knocking out excess. Line bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper.
2. Pulse superfine sugar, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a food processor until well combined.
3. Stir together vanilla and vinegar in a small bowl.
4. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using an electric mixer at medium speed until they hold soft peaks. Increase speed to medium-high and add sugar mixture 1 tablespoon at a time. After all sugar has been added, beat 1 minute more. Add vinegar mixture, then beat at high speed until meringue is glossy and holds stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Spoon meringue into pans (about 2 1/2 cups per pan) and smooth tops.
5. Bake until meringues have a crisp crust and feel dry to the touch, about 1 hour (insides will still be marshmallow-like).
6. Turn oven off and prop door open slightly with a wooden spoon. Cool meringues in oven 1 hour. (Meringues may sink slightly and crack while cooling.)
Run knife along sides of cake pans and carefully turn meringues out of pans. Carefully peel off parchment (meringues will be fragile and the crust may crack further). Carefully turn right side up.

Macerate fruit while meringues cool:
1. Toss berries with sugar and let stand at room temperature until ready to use (up to 1 hour).

Assemble dessert:
1. Beat heavy cream with sour cream using an electric mixer until it just holds soft peaks. Put 1 meringue on a serving plate and spread one third of whipped cream over it. Spoon one third of fruit (with juice) over top. Repeat with remaining meringues, cream, and fruit.

Note: Meringues can be frozen, individually wrapped, up to 1 month; thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature for at least 2 hours.

A Country Wedding

We just had a wedding in New Jersey a few days ago. More details to come!