Birds of a Feather

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Stationery

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

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

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.

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.

A Country Wedding

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

The Quintessential American Summer Wedding

Anna Kennedy of New York City, The Georgica Association in Wainscott, Long Island and West Palm Beach and Michael Safir of New York City and Williamsville, NY were married Saturday, June 27th 2009.

The Deacon Carl Sanfilippo officiated at the Catholic ceremony at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Bridgehampton, New York. His Excellency Father Miguel d’ Escoto Brockmann, President of the General Assembly of the United Nations participated in the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Eleanora and Michael Kennedy of New York City; Wainscott, Long Island and West Palm Beach. Her father is a New York City trial lawyer and is currently Special Advisor to the President of the United Nations General Assembly. Her mother serves as Vice President of the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy and a member of the Board of the Society of Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center.

The bridegroom is the son of Ann Safir of Dallas, Texas and of Diane and David Safir of Williamsville, New York.

The bride attended Episcopal, The Chapin School in New York City, Riverdale Country School and earned a Bachelors Degree in International Affairs from George Washington University. She was presented at the Junior League Debutante Ball 2003, New York City.
In March 2006 Anna was recognized at the UN by Madre, in a photo exhibition dedicated to a group of young women human rights activists. In 2003 she was given the Zonta International Service Award for young women in public affairs. She received the President’s commendation for work done on death penalty issues in the spring 2003 from the New York Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Presently she is a Criminal Justice Officer at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the United Nations, New York City. Her most recent mission took her to Uganda with the artist Ross Bleckner, whom she assisted in teaching art to former child soldiers who are being rehabilitated.

The bridegroom graduated from Weston High School in Massachusetts.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology with high distinction from Indiana University in Bloomington. In 2009 he received a Masters Degree in sports business from New York University. He is presently head of Salary and Arbitration Research at Peter Greenberg & Associates, a premier New York sports management firm.


The bride wore Carolina Herrera, a strapless, embroidered a-line dress, with a scallop neckline and hem with a sweep train. Her cathedral veil was bordered in embroidered flower buds. She carried pale blue hydrangeas. The bridesmaids wore J.Crew plum chiffon dresses. The bridegroom wore a Brooks Brothers dinner suit. The mother of the bride wore a embroidered, metallic short sleeved dress from Carolina Herrera. The father of the bride wore an Armani dinner suit.

The reception was held at the Kennedy home by the ocean in Wainscott. Cocktails were served on the terrace overlooking the beach with tented dinner dance to follow in the meadow. Olivier Cheng from New York City created a sumptuous dinner in a tent designed by Van Wyck and Van Wyck of New York City.


It was a quintessential American summer wedding at home in a white high peaked tent adorned with fabrics and flowers in multiple shades of blues and whites combined with both modern and classic details evocative of an elegant and hip outdoor celebration.

White gauze panels trimmed with natural flax flanked each entry pole to reveal the black and white dance floor, paired with a sea of white paper lanterns floating above.

A combination of rectangular, round and square dinner tables were covered with linen tablecloths in sky and pool blue interspersed with natural flax. This was supported by a combination of hand-painted indigo blue striped canvas walls and printed pattern pillows piled on white canvas bed ottomans flanking the dance floor which set a breezy tone for the dinner dance.

Centerpiece arrangements were collections of assorted shades of blues and whites consisting of orchids, hydrangea, hybrid blue delphinium, bachelor buttons, larkspur, white antique garden roses, forget-me-knots, and sweet peas interspersed with herbs in assorted sized julep cups and silver revere bowls. Selected dinner tables were anchored with tall clear glass cylinders holding coco palm fronds which created a canopy over the guests’ heads. Hand-blown cylinders in indigo blue placed on the bars were mirrored by the lapis blue water goblets at each dinner place setting.

“We have brought multiple layers of contrasting design elements together to create an elegant and gracious wedding for a beautiful young couple.” Mimi van Wyck.


As the guests departed late night snacks of Egg McMuffin and Truffle Cheese Crème Brulee French toast sent the guests on their way.

The raspberry wedding cake with cream cheese frosting was prepared by Mary Spellman, who also prepared the same cakes for Anna’s 1st Birthday and 21st Birthday.

Guests included:
Susan and Tim Malloy, Bobby Gianos and Amy Hoadley, Ginger and Matthew Dontzin, Joanie McDonell, Sandra Whitman, Eric Freeman, Burt Minkoff, Lisa Kennedy, Scott Kennedy (Anna’s brother and sister), Susan Calhoun and Charlie Moss, Susan and Bob Cochran, Nessia Pope, Harry Hurt, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Barker (President of Sony Pictures Classics), Candice Bergen & Marshall Rose, photographer Priscilla Rattazzi and Chris Whittle, Jennifer Maguire, (President of Tribeca Film Festival), Chris Isham (Head of CBS News, Washington DC), artist Ross Bleckner, human rights activist Bianca Jagger, Katherine Price Mondadori of the Italian Publishing house Mondadori. Artists Alexandra Penney and Dennis Ashbaugh, Joan and John Jakobson. Literary agent Ed Victor and Carol Ryan, designer Robert Rionda, Barbara Dixon, author Nick McDonell, Brooke and Daniel Neidich, Simone Monasebian, head of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in New York.

The couple will honeymoon in Puglia in Southeastern Italy and then return to their apartment and work in Manhattan.

Set-up of a Wedding

We are in Bridgehampton, New York right now putting together the finishing touches for Anna Kennedy and Michael Safir's Wedding. The set-up process is much more complicated than most people think. It starts days, sometimes weeks ahead of the actual event. Here is a look at the process.