Featured Bride & Groom - Casey Girardi & Jon Mahoney

Casey and Jon met in 2009 when Casey moved to Hoboken with a group of high school friends.  With her new living situation, Casey became friends with Jon’s best friend, Mike.  Mike asked if he could bring a couple friends to Casey’s New Year’s Eve party at her parents ski house in Windham, NY.  She was skeptical about having two random guys she didn’t know stay there, but she made the right decision to say yes, as she met Jon that weekend.  It was the start of their love story.

Casey has been skiing in Telluride, Colorado every year since she was 12 and once dating Jon, he starting joining in on those trips and loved the ski town just as much as Casey and her family.  In December 2011, they went to Telluride for their annual trip and on New Year’s Day, Jon woke Casey up extra early to go to the mountain before it got crowded.  Needless to say, Casey was not too thrilled about the early wake-up call, but went anyway.  They got to the top of the mountain and Jon wanted to take a picture.  As Casey got the camera out, Jon said “You know…this isn’t the only reason I dragged you out here so early in the morning”. Casey looked at Jon to see him down on his knee holding an open ring box.  He said “I brought you here to ask you to marry me”.  She immediately said yes and laughed and cried from her happiness and practically fell out of her skis and tackled him in the snow.  They stayed at the top of the “See Forever” run for half an hour talking about how he asked her father for her hand, when he bought the ring, who knew about it and so on.  When they finally skied down, they found her entire family waiting for them with champagne and a video camera to capture the day.

Their wedding was a week after Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast, so it was a stressful time being without power and checking to see if all their vendors would be up and running for their big day.  But when Jon and Casey saw each other for the first time, all that stress melted away and they knew they were about to have the absolute best day of their lives.

Since Casey and Jon have such a passion for skiing and it has been such a prominent part of their lives, they decided to bring the theme into their wedding from ski lift tickets for place cards and Ski run table names.  These small touches were just enough so they could keep the whole overall event classy and beautiful, just like this couple. 

Casey and Jon, we wish you much love and happiness with your future together.  You are amazing people and we know that you will have a lifetime of great things to come.  Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!

The perfect wedding dress

Vera Wang’s Spring 2012 Wedding Collection

The bride is the center of attention on her wedding, and what makes her stand out the most? The perfect dress. Not just a dress. Not simply a fancy white dress. It has to make everyone go “Wooow.” It has to dazzle Mr. Future Husband. It has to be so magical you feel like you’re the most beautiful bride ever. It has to be flawless.

It has to be the perfect dress.

Designers have it so hard for us to choose the perfect dress, simply because there are too many dresses that can be categorized “beautiful” and “gorgeous” for your special day. These dresses are made from the most elegant and delicate materials such as lace, chiffon and satin, and designed with the most graceful details like embroideries, ruffles, laser-cut floral patterns, sparkles, pearl embellishments, …

Besides white, a lot of brides choose feminine colors such as light peach, ivory, cameo, lavender or pastel pink. If you’re going for bold, red is the choice. (Check out the red mermaid dress in Vera Wang’s 2013 Spring Wedding collection and you’ll believe me!) Colder colors with a hint of green or blue are not as popular, but if you aim for a different wedding theme color, why not?

The shape of the dress also varies (yup, didn’t I say it’s extremely difficult to pick the perfect dress above?). The best-selling of all categories is the princess-inspired gown, aka upper body form-fitting and dramatic, voluminous tiered skirt. This is arguably the most form-flattering dress shape, since the body-hugging part stops right at your waist line, creating an S-shaped skinny minnie figure, not to mention the lengthy, spacious, flowing skirt gives you extra room for those (wait for it) 5-inch heels (that makes you feel like a super model.

 If you’re team “fun and flirty,” you may want to consider the short, leg-baring dresses. Oops, did I say “baring”? The lace or chiffon overlay is a great way to hint the sexiness without going extra-revealing. These modern dresses are also great for brides who are ready for the dance floor!

            Next comes the… budget. If you have a wardrobe full of Christian Louboutine shoes and Celine handbags, then Oscar de la Renta, Reem Acra, Marchesa, or Elie Saab have some of the haute couture wedding dresses you might want to check out. If you don’t want to go popular with dresses from (well you know who) Vera Wang, definitely visit some of the less expensive stores such as J Crew, Topshop or Asos. Some people even get moms’ wedding dresses resized/altered, as these dresses embed a lot of wishes and memories for the new brides.

            So how far ahead should you order your wedding dress? Wedding dresses usually take 4-6 months to come in, so it’s safe to say that you should look into wedding dresses 6-8 months before the wedding date. More importantly, don’t get discouraged if every dress you like from Vera Wang has a “SOLD” tag! There’s gotta be a perfect dress for you out there.

            Below is “Twilight” Bella Swan’s wedding dress, designed by the amazing Carolina Herrera.

        Below is Kate Middleton’s wedding dress, designed by Alexandra McQueen’s Sarah Burton:

A Parisian Wedding

The thought of planning out a whole wedding in the perfect style that fits both your personality as well as your fiancé’s can be a daunting task. A great way to begin the process is to pick a theme that is interesting and beautiful and maybe a touch unexpected. A theme is always a great way to go with wedding planning because it makes the guests really feel that there was thought and love put into every aspect of the day. The theme can be carried out starting with Save the Dates all the way through the invitations, décor, place cards, menu cards as well as the menu itself, and ending with chic and sophisticated thank you notes.

What better theme for a wedding than the ultimate vision of romance? A popular new style emerging in the invitation world is a vintage Parisian feel that can incorporate anything from the famed Eiffel Tower to the River Seine. Paris has been named The Romance Capitol of the World because of its quaint scenery and endless sights to stroll past with the love of your life. Using things like soft cotton papers, couture lace, pearls, cameos and old-world, muted color palettes each enhance the sentiment of being among the opulently decorated sidewalk cafes and wonderful landscapes of Paris.

The culture and romance of Paris lends itself to many beautiful options without feeling cliché and can be eloquently incorporated into your wedding day. Borrowing the sumptuous feeling of Paris for the most special day of your life is a perfect combination! Ending your magical night with a toast of champagne would be the perfect touch of elegance.

Happy Valentine's Day!

History of Valentine’s Day Cards

As you’re browsing the shelves looking for the perfect card that expresses in words just how much your loved one means to you, have you ever thought about when the first Valentines card was sent, what it may have looked like and how they have the changed over the years?

From Emotionscards.com, here is the history of Valentines cards: Valentine’s greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, when lovers said or sung their Valentines. Written Valentines began to appear after 1400. The oldest Valentine in existence was made in the 1400’s and is in the British Museum. Paper Valentines were exchanged in Europe where they were given in place of Valentine gifts. Paper Valentines were especially popular in England. In the early 1800’s, Valentines began to be assembled in factories. Early valentines were black and white pictures painted by workers in a factory. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the late 1800’s. By the end of the 1800’s, Valentines wee being made entirely by machine. In 1850, Esther Howland, an American printer and artist was among the first to publish and sell Valentines in the United States. In the early 1900’s a card company named Norcross became one of the first companies to manufacture Valentines. With the exception of Christmas, Americans exchange more cards on Valentine’s Day than any other time of the year.

Whether it’s the paper heart your kindergartener brings home or the intricate lace card from your loved one, Valentine’s Day cards continue to warm our hearts with love. So don’t forget to get your loved ones a Valentines card and keep the tradition going strong.

The 54th Grammy Awards

Who will win “Best Record” of the year? Will it be Adele, Bruno Mars or maybe Katy Perry? What about “Best Pop Vocal Album?” There are so many good artists to choose from. Then there are going to be all the great performances such as The Beach Boys, who will be reuniting for their first time in two decades, playing with Foster the People and Maroon 5. The performances are great only surpassed by the hype of the evening.

The big question of course to start the evening is “What are you wearing?” For some it’s a couture gown, for others such as Lady Gaga it’s a dress made of raw meat. The stars want to make sure they look their best for this memorable night or at the very least want to leave a lasting impression on people. They’re a brand, an identity and they want people talking about them.

So just what does the invitation to music’s biggest night look like? Is it as eccentric as the personalities that attend? It took some searching but we were able to find the actual invitation. And just like the music producers critique the performances we have our opinions on what could have been done differently.

We’re like Simon Cowell but with a pleasant disposition. One thought, tie into the award aspect of the evening, specifically the unveiling of the winner, and put it in an elegant folder which can be opened would create a level of suspense and excitement when revealing the amazing invitation. Ours is a little different, but feel it would leave a lasting impression.

Now how do you generate the same excitement for invitations for your own Grammy party? Here are some of our thoughts and unlike the performance any of the below will be a sure winner.

Fancy Nancy Tea Party

Being in the invitation business, we are always blogging about wedding invitations or stationery. However, we do all kinds of occasions which require invitations. Recently we have been asked to create several "tea party" invitations for little girl birthday parties. For those of you who have little girls, I'm sure you are aware of the storybook character Fancy Nancy; for those of you who do not, I will briefly explain. Fancy Nancy is a sassy, whimsical little girl who has this passionate zest for life. In her small world of tea parties, school, friends and family she maneuvers through with an embellished attitude while she spouts out simple french words such as "merci" instead of "thank you" or "bonjour" instead of "hello". She is a colorful character with flowers, feathers, butterflies and bows in her repertoire, which clearly makes her attractive to little girls. I don't know if the "tea party" trend is contributed to Fancy Nancy, or if little girls just love to "pretend". In any event, I think it is a "merveilleuse" idea for a birthday party!

Elegant Stationery Returns - Wall Street Journal 8/25/2011

This was brought to my attention this morning by my friend's husband. He texted that I should go and grab a Wall Street Journal. Needless to say I did and Wow! A very common question I get asked is..."Hasn't email, social media, texting, etc. hurt the stationery business?" My answer is always the same. "No" I emphatically reply, but I always have the nagging question in the back of my mind..."Has it?, Will it?" I am declaring today that my nagging fear is removed and I am here to state to all you nay-sayers, "Stationery has Returned!!" The Wall Street Journal is confirming my affirmation. If you have any doubts about this subject I highly recommend you picking up, (or going online) to read the article, which is in the August 25, 2011 WSJ. For those of you who are hiding behind email, texts and social media and want to step out into a more personal, elegant, and hands on experience, don't be shy, go grab some swanky note cards and pen your friends a note!

Thanks JD!