Nantucket Weddings Unveiled

Today we have guest blogger Marty Kelly of Marty Kelly Papers giving us the 411 on how she came up with her designs.

When WellWed told me they would be shooting a tablescape on Nantucket in a sorbet color palette, I knew my designs would have to be super summery, fresh, and fun. For the menus and escort cards I chose beach umbrella and flip flop motifs, reminiscent of carefree moments in the summer sun. Knowing that sorbet was being served, I designed some colorful personalized word cloud cone wrappers. On each wrapper I printed the couple’s names and all sorts of loving sentiments and sweet nothings, like “joy, hope, smiles, forever, friendship, and family”.  Summer loving at its best!

photo by Zofia Photography

photo by Zofia Photography

This beautiful cake was created by Jodi of Jodi’s Cakes:

photo by Zofia Photography

These amazing, creative and fabulous tasting appetizers (trust us, we sampled them ALL) are by Kim Reed of A Taste of Nantucket:

photo by Zofia Photography

Great inspirations for your summer Island wedding!

We thought we’d tempt your sweet tooth today with this beautiful confection.  Enjoy the snowy weekend everyone!

photo by Zofia Photography, cake by Kendra Lockley

Monograms never get old, especially if you style is more preppy.  An embroidered runner on the cake table display’s your new initials beautifully as you start this new chapter in your lives.   Enjoy your weekend everyone!

photo by Zofia Photography, flowers by Soiree Floral, cake by Jodi's Cakes

You can’t help but smile when you see this photo.  The amazingly talented Jodi of Jodi’s Cakes created this beauty.

Happy Friday everyone!

photo courtesy of Daphne Borowski

I am taking over photo Friday for just this week to talk about the amazing shoot we did for Style Me Pretty. We traveled North to a rustic barn with the most fantastic team of vendors you could ever hope for. Such a collaboration this effort was… and the results were well worth all the hard work!

In talking about the design with the team, I knew that texture was going to play a huge part in the concept of this shoot. We had a beautiful sunny day to shoot and indirect natural light flooded the barn allowing me to pick up on all the subtle textures on the table. This natural light with the added candles and overhead bulbs created an amazing warm feeling to the table setting. It glowed! One of my favorite photos from the shoot is the cake table. With all the amazing layers of linens, the rough wood and soft window light, the shot is filled with texture and completely showcases the rustic elegance of the shoot concept. (All photos by Brea McDonald Photography)

Photos By Brea McDonald Photography

Photos By Brea McDonald Photography

Photos By Brea McDonald Photography

Here is a bit of the feedback left from those who checked out the shoot.

Abby from Style Me Pretty said: “And Brea McDonald who snapped the pictures, well “talented” doesn’t even scratch the surface.”

Teresa writes: “That cake is so INSANE! The photography and cake combo is unstoppable.”

And Stacey shared: “This is a great take on the “dress” shot. the accessories, the barn background…subtle and romantic.

Congratulations to all of those who were involved in this fantastic shoot! Concept Design & Styling : Meagan Gilpatrick, Maine Seasons Events / Stationery: Sara Fitzgerald O’Brien, Griffin-vites Stationery / Photography: Brea McDonald / Flowers: Dawn Kelly, Soiree Floral / Video: Meg Simone / Jewelry: Private collection / Dress & Shoes: Ashley Vaughn, Occasions Bridal & Tuxedo / Rentals: Rentals Unlimited Boston / Cake: Erin Gardner, Wild Orchid Bakery / Venue: The Barn at Walnut Hill, Contact: Gail Landry, glandry{at}townandshore.com

If you read the blog on a regular basis you are familiar with the talents of Sara from Griffin-vites Stationery. Her custom water color art translates so beautifully into Nantucket weddings. Her creations are a work of art and have a unique style all their own. Sara created, from scratch, a custom design for the Style Me Pretty shoot this past fall. Here is what she shared about her design process.

“The idea of creating a stationery suite that focused around a chic farm wedding was appealing and unique. The image of the rooster stood out to me at very first glance of our inspiration board, and provided a solid design foundation from which to work. I gathered my illustration concepts around those things that were bird-related, but could also be found on a farm; roosters, feathers, a nest with eggs, etc. I thought it might be fun to incorporate a nice graphic detail on each paper piece as well, tying all items together, from start to finish…. a sort-of rusted chicken wire provided just the look I was hoping for.”

Photo By Brea McDonald Photography

Incorporating her original watercolor artwork onto high-quality textured papers. The invitation suite was accented with an illustrated hand-lined envelope and rustic twine & feather embellishment.  The vow booklets for bride and groom each featured half of a nest illustration, that when held together formed one complete nest and were bound with rustic twine tassels.  The unique vow booklets are one of Sara’s signature custom items, offering the newlywed couple a keepsake of their words exchanged during the wedding ceremony.  Thin place card paper ‘ribbons’ featured the tiniest of rooster illustrations, also found on the table numbers and menu cards.  The paper ribbons with hand-notched ends, displayed guests’ names, printed in pale blue and were tucked perfectly into the miniature nest favors at each place setting.

Photos By Brea McDonald Photography

Photo By Brea McDonald Photography

Sara’s designs were a huge hit with many comments on how fantastic the roosters were. Who knew a rustic wedding could be so chic!

Robin lefts us a commented that said:
This stationery suite is beautiful!! The attention to detail is amazing, lining the envelopes to look like chicken wire! So unique! It’s the little details that really tie an event together and if guests received these invites in the mail they would know instantly that they were in for a rustic but elegant wedding that was going to be filled with thoughtful details!

We have a sweet tooth today.  We were pondering the many different flavors of wedding cakes, and before we knew it we had sugarplums dancing in our head.  We started a list of some of the most fun, creative, unique, original, and some just plain down-to-earth good old fashion flavors.  The quesiton is – which flavor are you choosing for your wedding cake?

1. Yellow cake with raspberry filling
2. Italian cream cake filled w/rasberry topped w/ white choc buttercream
3. chocolate chip cake filled w/ white choc mousse topped w/choc buttercream
4. coconut cake filled w/ choc ganache topped w/ vanilla buttercream
5. Tiramisu
6. pink champange
7. dark chocolate
8. mandarin
9. banana nut
10. German chocolate
11. amaretto
12. Lemon/ orange cake
13. Carrot Cake
14. Black Forest Gateaux
15. Plain white cake
16. Plain chocolate cake
17. yellow with custard and fresh strawberries
18. yellow with oreo mousse
19. dark chocolate cake with a raspberry puree and chocolate ganache
20. almond cake with a buttercream/praline filling
21. banana
22. cherry nut
23. coca cola cake
24. hazelnut cake with cannoli cream filling
25. chocolate Kahlua fudge cake with Bailey’s mousse filling

photo by Amy Poor, cake by Jodi Levesque

If you are planning a winter or fall wedding why not add in pine cones to your decor? Check out this inspiration board from Snippet & Ink. The pine cones add texture, color and a touch of mother natures charm.

{Snippet & Ink board photo credits top row from left: boutonniere from InStyle Weddings, basket of pine cones from Martha Stewart, seating cards photo by Carol Masica. Row 2: reserved seat from The Knot, photo by Sarah K. Chen, cake from Martha Stewart Weddings. Row 3: invitation by Ceci NY, photo from Martha Stewart Weddings, bouquet via Once Wed}

We have had some island brides-to-be ask us if we had any suggestions for creative cake toppers.  It really depends on the season, the style of your cake, and the colors of your wedding.  We found a few inspirations for sale on Etsy and thought these fit the bill perfectly.

First up – for the bride who wants to carry out that island feel this little gem is perfect.  Available at Shell Scapes on Etsy

photo courtesy of Shell Scapes

Many couple who have Nantucket nuptials try to incorporate their beloved pets into the big day.  Not all venues allow them, so this cake topper is a great way to make sure your furry friends are a part of your special day.  You can find these handcrafted items on etsy by Khary Goarts

photo courtesy of Khary Goarts on Etsy

For the couple who wants something a little more subdued/sleek, these birds are great and can be done in different colors.  Nature/bird elements will continue to be big in 2010 and honestly, nature never goes out of style.  These are available by Sugar Rush Cakes on Etsy

photo by sugarrushcakes on Etsy

Here’s to a ‘Whale’ of a day!  Happy Friday!

Cake by Jodi's Cakes