Design Sample--Hamptons Beach Club Wedding

For every party we create, our team produces a "design sample" to give clients the opportunity to approve and/or edit each element on the tabletop. For this wedding, the bride wanted a kind of easy elegance in the tablescape. We created three different versions of this type of arrangement, so that at the party, the room will have texture and light on many levels. This is a photo of the design sample meeting, which in our case, takes place about a month before the wedding. Isn't the color story beautiful?

I love the blowsy blue and green hydrangeas paired with the more exotic orchids, and the submerged woven steel grass in the vase adds an oceanic vibe.

We based our color story around a very chic, muted khaki pintuck tablecloth in taffeta, and added an amber goblet as an accent to the club's simple, but lovely glassware.

To add more interest at eye-level, we nestled resin (ecofriendly) coral, vases filled with white blooms, and blown glass votives in varying patterns, as well as taller floating candles. There's no such thing as too many candles! The effect will be breezy and effortless, and the addition of just a few of these tall pieces within the room will work beautifully with the soaring ceilings in the club. The verdict: everyone loved it! Can't wait for the wedding!

The bottom line: if you're planning a big, important celebration such as a wedding, make sure to include a design sample meeting in your contract. This way, you'll make sure everyone is on the same page, you'll have a chance to voice concerns or just approve the overall design, and you'll avoid surprises on the big day!

Finding your perfect wedding venue

For all those couples who just got engaged and spent the holidays drinking champagne and celebrating, now's the time when you may have started thinking about dates and places. I truly believe that finding the right setting is the most important choice you'll make about your whole celebration. Why? Because where you celebrate influences how you celebrate.

What I mean is, place creates mood. So your party mood at a black tie reception in a country club or at a historic mansion will undoubtedly be different than a clambake on the beach. You'll eat different foods, dress differently, and just feel different.


Left is a very downtown reception I designed at Pipa restaurant... the space itself is casual, sexy, and spicy, just like the party!


Above, you can see the grand scale of the Puck Building ballroom, which set the stage for glamorous designs and oversized elements...and an outdoor reception on the lawn at Wave Hill in the Bronx.


The point is, before you dive into looking at the overwhelming number of different wedding venue choices, think about the mood you want to create. Make a list of adjectives that describe how you want your wedding to feel. "Casual and carefree," "Modern and Minimalist," "Classic and elegant..." choose words that will help define your priorities, look in travel and interior design magazines for inspiration--if you can find words and images that capture the spirit of what you want, you can much more easily target finding your perfect place to celebrate. Happy hunting! I love to hear from couples about great venues, so definitely let me know if you've found your ideal setting, or challenges you came up against in seeking a venue.