A smile you can hear… some people just have it.  My sister in law is certainly one of those people, though after 4 years of knowing Christina Wisboro, I naturally also associate the genuine laughter that comes with it when I view photos of her in full force smile.  Christina & Hill Hardy met one another just a short bit after the hubs & I reunited.  It was an interesting relationship to watch develop & grow as I didn’t need to know Hill’s prior preferences in a gal to know how he was smitten as all hell when it came to Christina.  Thick as thieves my hubs says, and that simply could not be more dead on!  When the time came to ask for Christina’s hand, Hill proposed in a very Hill way.  {Read about that here} They asked if I would be their wedding planner & I politely declined in the desire to purely being a family member on that day & wanting to take the day in as such.  I offered my aid & input as needed along the way of course, as well as designing some of the lovely decor elements for them: wood crate slate signage leading guests along the Prospect Park pathways and wood burned birch wood table numbers in beds of moss.  For the card/gift area, we thought  a picnic basket was perfection considering the venue was the Picnic House!  The basket was laid on a large bed of moss surrounded by birch wood and candles, sprinkled with cream rose petals, much as the tables were as well.  These elements combined with the super tall twiggy centerpieces, paper lanterns which gently swayed from the sky & a very gorgeous twiggy wedding arch, all played handily into what started off as a simple Save The Date which included initials carved into a tree, which blossomed into a wedding theme: Fall In The Park.

Being that this is my family, as well as the fact that I designed some of the elements, I am going to forgo my What Storyboard Likes section to tell you a funny story and something that future bride’s can take heart in.  Let’s go with the lesson first, so we can leave your chuckling in the end!

Just a few shorts days before the wedding, the folks that were to be handling the day of coordination for the wedding, backed out.  Pretty much what your thinking,  that is up there in the worst case scenario hand book.  If there is just about any vendor quitting that will stress the hell out of a couple, it would be the one  that was to run the show.  Without question I jumped right in and took over the reins.  Having someone to run our wedding was one of the biggest elements that made my day as easy breezy as it was and Hill & Christina deserved that same calm on their big day.  In a way I am glad it worked out this way, as being able to handle this for them was better then any gift I could have given them.  So whats the life lesson here?  No, please don’t take it as vendors being unreliable.  The wedding lesson is being as prepared and in the know as possible, leading up to your event.  If something goes wrong, you will already know what part comes next and be able to pick up the pieces that fell, if only for a moment.  And of course, just breathe, it will all work out, it always does.

Now for the funny!  As you have I am sure by now noted, there is one adorable black lab hanging out in this wedding.  His name is Curtis {Martin} and is seriously one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met.  He & Truffle {our dog for those that dont know} are diehard bff’s.  Being a lab, Curtis loooooves swimming and catch, like mega crazy, omg omg omg where’s the ball/stick catch.  This is notable for a very funny reason, hehe.  When we were setting up the ceremony area outside, as the florist were installing the twig arch, they were having difficulty making it level on its own, on the park lawn.  Being rather intuitive, they grabbed a few larger rocks/sticks to help secure the arch.  Enter Curtis….  well good ol’Curtis saw a stick jammed under the arch and I can only assume he thought ‘Oh yeah, game on!’ {Curtis was off leash, shhhh don’t tell }  He proceeded to snatch up a stick and run around in circles like the happiest pup you’d ever seen!  Fortunately it wasn’t a keystone stick, so the arch remained up right, but there was a good few seconds of, sh*t grab the arch!!!!  All we could do was laugh, Curtis was being a pup after all,  he just wanted to play!

 

Novella of the Bride…

Hill was born and raised in Manhattan,  and attended college in Vermont.  Currently working for an Engineering Firm in lower Manhattan, Hill has found the perfect thing to aim his very objective personality at!  Christina was born in Queens and raised in Long Island.  Though Christina worked as Media Manager at ESPN for many years, she was recently hired by HBO {SBW Note: Winter is coming!!} and is very subjective.  Together they perfectly compliment  one another one, thick as thieves if you will.  After meeting at Whisky Town in July of 2009, they have been inseparable ever since.

The theme while not intentionally highlighted, transpired as “Fall in the Park”. It started out with our save the date, which had our initials carve in a tree and the theme evolved from there. I would say I was going for rustic elegance.  A lot of branches, burlap and neutral colors. We picked the Picnic House in Prospect Park as it was outside the mold of what I typically had seen for wedding receptions.  The brick layers, the wooden floors, the bay windows, it had a natural decor. Once you step foot into the venue there is something very quaint and grand about it all at the same time. I also grew up going to parks and something about it reminded me of my grandmother and that time. I thought to myself, my grandma would of liked this…

Bride’s Favorite Moment: “The ceremony. Hands down. Having all of our friends and family huddled together on the expansive bluff with the colors and smells of fall all around us made for a very memorable day. For a public space, our ceremony was extremely intimate and personal.”

Vendor Love

Venue: Prospect Park Picnic House
Wedding Dress: Justin Alexander
Shoes: Nine West
Hair Stylist: FAB Artistry
Makeup Artist: Sleek Beauty
Groom’s Suit: J. Crew
Invitations: Dawn Correspondance
Music: Jay Corbin
Lighting: Universal Light & Sound
Florist: Pedestals Florist
Caterer: The Raging Skillet
Baker: Potion Cupcakes
Event Design-Coordination: Storyboard Wedding
Photographer: Weddings By Two

When I visualize a Manhattan wedding, there are only a few small variations that come to  mind.  My default dream Manhattan wedding is sleek, modern, upscale, elegant, classic with a bit of art deco nod.  Ashley Rupeka & Patrick Mokros’s wedding is a beautiful package of exactly that.  Even more special is that fact that Ashley & Patrick are two very good friends of mine, and yes I had to good fortune to attend this gorgeous affair.  Small bit of back story first… I have known Patrick {& his lovely sister Molly} since 2001, watching the both of them blossom into this life.  It goes without saying, having known someone for such a period of time, I have seen Patrick in & out of a few relationships over this time period, none that I was particularly a fan of.  I note this only because of a fun fact {dont worry not trying to get Patrick in any hot water!} In 2009 a mutual good friend of ours got married.  As his guest for this wedding, Patrick brought along and I quote ‘A good friend from home’  I can’t exactly explain why, but I thought to myself, yeah ah ha…..   As I came to find out, Ashley & Patrick were actually high school sweethearts & as I watched them interact that night, I knew something was very different.  I liked Ashley right off the bat and really liked the way that Patrick just seemed to ‘hum’ around her.  He didn’t know it yet, but I did.  I actually told him so that night.  ”You’re going to marry this girl some day” I told him.  He smiled at me in his cheshire way, explaining to me that it was strictly platonic & that he just needed a date for the wedding.   Riiiiiiight

It feels weird for me to write out the ‘What Storyboard Likes’ portion of this feature {as I normally do for my wedding features} for my good friends.  Instead, I want to share with you an awesome moment that I can only enhance with  my personal account of what happened.  Allow me to explain one small thing to start off with, Patrick, is a mischievous lil bastard, love him, but if he is given the chance to, oh I don’t know…. get frosting on Ashley’s face, yeah, he’s that guy!  So here’s how it went down.  I honestly do not know if they before hand discussed the whole don’t you dare ruin my makeup by pushing my face in the cake thing, what I do know is that it all started off innocently enough.  Whether being a good boy got the better of Patrick, I am not sure, but next thing you know, there’s a giant dollop of frosting on Ashley’s nose.  Ashley { who by the way, is a good nature gal that can & will give it right back to Patrick, another reason I adore her and that she is so very perfect for him} took it all in stride only to have Patrick one up himself immediately, ah… going and getting the frosting if you will, hehe.  See my lil gif below

Believe it or not, this isn’t the end of the story!  Shortly after Ashley recovered from getting frosted, then slimed if you will, Patrick was laughing off to the side, discussing a bit with those around him.  I’ve got to be honest, I myself didn’t see what happened next coming & I think the photographer was equally caught off guard, figuring it was all over.  Well, Ashley got herself a nice piece of cake & introduced it to Patrick’s face &  let’s just say, the crowd went wild!!  It was such an amazing moment for a few reasons.  One, they really did start off all well behaved.  As guests, we pretty much accepted that it was going to be a no frills cake moment.  Much like any great horror film, the moment you settle in, relax, the sh*t hits the fan truly taking you by surprise.  It was such a fun moment, one made even better by how wonderfully each took it.  There was nothing but love & fun in that moment, much the way I imagine Ashley & Patrick see themselves together.

 

Novella of the Bride…

We are High school sweethearts that reconnected after 11 Years.  Our friend Jessie was the first to call that we were going to get married a few years ago at Andy’s {a mutual friend} wedding.  Now she is doing a write up on our wedding!  I think this was her scheme all along!  {*SBW Note: For the record, I did NOT make Ashley write this!  When I got their questionnaire back & saw this in the tell us about yourself section, I about spit out my water in laughter.  Trust me I got skills, but that would be some next level stuff!}

We really wanted our wedding day to be as intimate as possible.  With our wedding being a trip for most of our guests, we wanted everyone to experience NYC in a different way, not as tourists.  I have always said that if I could be alive at any different time, it would be in the 1920′s!  We didn’t want our wedding to look ‘themed’ & really didn’t want it to be a typical wedding, wedding. I think we really wanted our guests to feel like they were coming to a more elaborate dinner party, and we really wanted everyone to be as comfortable as possible!  We tried to have little antique/1920′s touches here in there, with the classic champagne glasses, longer dinner tables instead of round tables, and more candles than usual to make the mood romantic and cozy.  We really wanted it to be a different wedding experience that anyone has ever had.  The Harold Pratt House made us feel like it was an adventure, CLUE if you will, and transported us back in time to a page right out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald book.  We loved that we were able to use every room in the mansion, and the fact that it is absolutely beautiful didn’t hurt either.

We hired Beth Harris, event coordinator, from The Harold Pratt House to coordinate and to take charge on our wedding day…we didn’t hire a wedding planner.  I don’t think our day would have been as perfect if she was not there.  She was seriously like Jesus reincarnated in a petite blonde…that girl parted the ocean that night…wait was that Jesus or Moses?

Bride’s Favorite Moment: “I don’t know if I have a favorite moment per se, for the entire 6 hours melted into one giant memory that went by far too quickly.  But, just having our closest friends and family in the same room with us, witnessing our vows, eating dinner together, and dancing the night away…is something that I will never forget and I will treasure for the rest of my life.”

Groom’s Favorite Moment: “There’s really no way that I could single out one thing that made the day.  Everything just came together so well.  We had all of the right people in the right place, eating the right things, dancing to the right music that was being performed by the right band.  Most importantly, I had the right girl in the right dress walking down the aisle to a very lucky me.”

A Final Note from Ashley: “Our wedding photographer, Laura Miller, is now known as ‘That ninja photographer’ to all of our guests.  I don’t know how she did it, but she happened to catch every moment…perfectly.  We think she multiplied herself before coming that night, to be able to be in at least 4 different places at once.  We have photos that tell a beautiful story…   I also want to say that Patrick is by far the most incredible man, he gave me {along with our respective parents} a wedding that I don’t think I could have ever dreamed of having.  I wouldn’t have changed a thing, because it was an absolutely perfect day…and he makes all of my days perfect.  I am one fucking lucky girl.

 

Vendor Love

Venue: The Harold Pratt House
Wedding Dress: Reem Acra
Bridal Boutique: Gabriella Bridal
Bridesmaid Dress: Club Monaco
Shoes: Yves Saint Laurent
Hair Stylist: Rita Hazan Salon
Makeup Artist: Nam Vo
Groom’s Suit: Yves Saint Laurent
Music: Naked Soul Band from Perrone Brothers
Lighting: Glen Goldman Productions, inc
Rentals: Party Rental Ltd
Florist: Laura Remmert Events
Caterer: Benchmarc Events
Baker: Momofuku Milk Bar
Photographer: Weddings by Two

*Photograph by Orn Oskarsson

Our downtime here at Storyboard continues, as the hubs & I, along with the sis, head off to Iceland to ring in the new year!  I see a time in Iceland post in the future & hopefully a few good snaps of the stunning Aurora Borealis, a total bucket list item for me!  We’ll be back in action starting on Jan 3, so until then, toast up & celebrate another amazing new year a head of us all!!  Much love~ Jess XO!!

 

Last year I touched on an issue that, as it turned out, there were some strong opinions on.  Let me give you a quick recap, a la TV show 30 sec bring you up to speed montage.  Our wedding was at the very end of August, after dealing with post wedding things, honeymoon, etc, we started to slide into the Holiday Season.  My work, at the time, becomes extremely demanding, to put it mildly, around the holidays, so hand writing a billion Thank You’s was not really an option, at least not if we wanted to be timely.  There in laid our paradox….  Be tardy and send the Thank You Cards after the holidays, OR Combine our Christmas Cards WITH our Thank You Cards.

At the time I decided I would take our indecision to a higher power, you guys!  I whipped up a post {noted above} asking for your thoughts & feedback and I’ve got to be honest, most people were pretty down on the idea.  I got a range of responses from its ‘cheaping out’ on our guests, to take the opportunity to use more then one awesome wedding photo.  While we truly did hear what everyone had to say and where everyone was coming from, in the end, we combined them.  When it comes to this matter, I really truly think, there is no hard & fast rule.  Sending a Thank You is a flat out must, that goes without saying.  The manner in which you do, well that becomes a bit of a gray area doesn’t it?

A final look at our holiday cards to our friends & family.  Naturally I am showing you the final version minus the hand written Thank You’s.  Those are private!

Our route of choice to solve this little matter was the following…. Firstly, we choose a gorgeous design from Minted {doesn’t seem to be available any longer}, which was pretty much the opposite of ‘cheaping out’.  We chose a 4 page card, showing a total of 10 images and a large custom message area.  Here we crafted a carefully worded note to our recipients, something that still allowed us to send this as a Holiday Card to those not a part of our wedding day.

We then turned this into the Thank You Card portion by hand writing {Yes we didnt escape this altogether} a short note on each, directly to the recipient, thanking them personally & specifically to their gift.  When our guests received their cards, there was no mistaking that it was indeed a holiday card, but likewise that we had taken the time to remember them & personally let them know how much we valued their taking time to be at our wedding.  While I realize this is far from traditional and not everyone’s idea of the right thing, this is what we did, & right or wrong, I really do not see this as a bad idea.  We took the time to carefully create a gorgeous card, gave a personal seasonal message, as well as included a hand written note to each person.  Things do not always need to stay the same year after year.  If you take the time to come up with a classy, well crafted, new idea, there is nothing wrong with going that route.  What do you guys think of our final product?  Do you like our idea or wish we had kept to old school tradition??  I encourage everyone to be creative & equally expressive as they meet each of their wedding needs!

*All Photographs by Storyboard Wedding

 

*SBW Note: We have all recently seen {or lived through personally} so many heartbreaking pictures of the Jersey Shore in the aftermath of the immense Hurricane Sandy that ripped through the north east only a few short days ago.  Today’s feature, as life would have it, takes place along the gorgeous Jersey Shore, at some of the more fun attractions, only a few months prior.  Let us, instead of feeling the pain now created from this force of nature, move to celebrate the wonder of the shore at its best, and what it will be once again.

If you dont think a color can be the basis of a theme for an engagement session you clearly have not met Adrienne Duda!  One of the perks I enjoy most with having Storyboard is that I get the opportunity to feature my friends & family as life takes them down this road!  This summer shore time engagement session is just that case!  Adrienne Duda & Paul Kalinauskas are two very good friends of mine & I am more proud to say that I connected them with their photographer, the amazing Cengiz of Adagion Studio!

Adrienne & Paul will be getting married next June 2013 along the Jersey Shore, though to be completely fair, not THE Jersey Shore.  We’ll leave the fist pumping & orange glow to the experts!  When it came time for A&P to come up with a theme & location for the shoot, using the amazingly colorful shore line of Asbury Park was an easy decision.  Adrienne has a deep, deeeep love of pink, I kid you not, she throws a PINK Party every summer, so over time her love of Pink has crept into Paul’s wardrobe!

Having Pink as a basis for the shoot, toss in some completely fun inducing settings, et voilà! A&P really shine as the light hearted, joyful couple that they are!  This delicious treat of an engagement session is a truly sweet reflection of who they are as a couple really capturing the essence of their love!  I decided to get a bit more in depth for this feature, volleying up some questions to each with one….simple….rule, No Sharing!  Thats right, A&P were not allowed to let each other in on their respective questions OR answers!  They too are seeing each other’s comments for the first time…right now!

 

Whose idea was it to throw popcorn in your face{Paul}?

Paul: “The original plan was to try and catch one kernel thrown at me, but that was tough to catch on camera.  I’m not sure if Cengiz suggested it first or Adrienne decided on her own to take a handful of popcorn and just wing it at me, but the resulting photo ended up being great.”

Funniest moment while shooting?

Adrienne: “Standing on the bar throwing popcorn at Paul. The wind was a challenge that day for sure, and Cengiz just kept telling me to throw handfuls of popcorn for Paul to catch in his mouth, but for the most part it just blew all over the place. By the way – no one at the bar even gave us a second look as we laughed and looked ridiculous.”

What was the thought behind a ‘Pink’ theme?

Adrienne: “Ha! There was no thought behind our pink theme…it just was! Anyone that knows me knows that I absolutely adore pink. Luckily, Paul was a big fan himself, and after the first year of hosting my annual Pink Party together as a couple, I think he was officially sold. Starting with what we would wear, pink was a no brainer, and then we just naturally gravitated to pink props…why choose another color if pink was available?! It’s happy, it’s youthful, it’s playful, and it just makes you smile. Exactly how I’d want someone to describe us.”

Why was Asbury Park your ideal spot for the engagement photos?

Paul: “We thought Asbury Park would be a great place for the shoot because it offered many different types of backgrounds, all within 1 mile of each other.  It has the beach, a boardwalk with shops and food stands, some historic architectural landmarks, a waterpark, a mini golf course, and many new art pieces and construction from the regentrification of the downtown area.  It gave us an opportunity to use many different backdrops and we ran out of time before we could use them all.”

Favorite photo from the shoot?

Adrienne: “My favorite picture is probably not the most obvious, but it feels the most “real” to me – the “blowing bubbles” photo. When we were blowing, or attempting, to blow bubbles at each other, the wind was blowing and they kept popping. We were laughing hysterically and focused on each other, and I think it really captured our personality.”

3 Words that best describe the engagement shoot to you…

Adrienne: “Personal, Cute, “Us”… I think the last word is the most important. From the moment we got engaged and began planning, we knew that we didn’t want to do anything just because that’s the way it’s normally done, or because that’s what you’re supposed to do. We wanted everything to be about our favorite things, our favorite places, and what makes us happy and smiley.”

Paul: “Fun, Exhausting, Memorable… It was a fun day, but with all the changing of outfits and locations within a limited time frame in the hot weather we were exhausted by the end of it.  We were happy to sit down for some happy hour drinks by the water when it was over.  It’s a day I will never forget.”

Did you & Adrienne throw down an epic game of Mini Golf?  Who won?

Paul: “Not that day.  We wanted to hit as many of our location ideas as possible.  But we did play 2 rounds last weekend, and I won both rounds, which means I’m finally starting to catch up to her in overall wins in our head-to-head mini golf battles.”

What moment during the shoot sticks out the most to you?

Paul: “Inside the photo booth.  It was a hot day and even hotter when we were inside the photo booth together.  Cengiz was taking photos of us from outside the photo booth, so he could only see us from the knees down, and we couldn’t see him at all.  We had no idea what he was capturing.  So the combination of the hotness in the booth and the unknown of how long we were going to be in there stick out.”

 

If there was one thing you could say to Adrienne/Paul right now, what would it be?

Paul: “Thanks for being there for me, I know I you will always be there for me, and I can count on you to put a smile on my face each and every day.”

Adrienne: “Be serious! He’s such a smarty pants that I’m sure he’s thinking about how to twist any serious question and serve up a funny sarcastic comment instead of showing the world his feelings!”

The strong man game, did you give it a go?  How did you fair!?

Adrienne: “Oh I did try match Paul’s skills on the strong man game, and while I did it with style, I don’t think I moved the bar even an inch (I could barely lift the hammer up and over my shoulder!)”

What was the moment you realized Adrienne/Paul was the one you wanted to marry?

Paul: “Looking back at it, I probably realized I wanted to marry Adrienne after our trip to Ireland.  It was a trip with my family, and when I didn’t think twice to ask her to join us on a vacation across the Atlantic; I knew that this girl must be very special to me.  We stayed at some unusual bed & breakfasts and we were literally squeezed into one car driving across the Irish countryside, and despite all that, Adrienne was smiling the entire time.”

Adrienne: “Not sure if there was one exact “moment”, but I knew right from the start that we were just meant to find each other, and there was nothing in this world that was ever going to let me give that up. Oh, and after meeting Paul’s family and falling in love with them…I knew he needed to be mine forever (even if he didn’t know it yet!) – they’re awesome!”

I must say, the photo with the watering can & you leaping is kinda flawless, how pumped were you when you saw the final product?!

Adrienne: “Its so fun! Was kind of a surprise to see the entirety of it too, because I couldn’t see Paul while I was dancing around and being silly, and he couldn’t see me. Acting like the little kid that I seem to think I am paid off!”

What is the best thing you have learned as a result of being with Adrienne/Paul?

Adrienne: “Without any hesitation, I can say he makes me a better person. I’ve never met someone so incredibly thoughtful. Everything he does, that he touches, that he experiences, is to the fullest and with everyone else in mind first. I love this about him, and I think I’ve tried to embody this admirable trait.”

Paul: “That she will always be there for me.  Whenever I have a weak or insecure moment, I can count on her being there to give me a boost.  Even if she is not physically there beside me, I know in my heart that she is there with me, and this has helped make me a better person.”

Favorite photo from the shoot?

Paul: “That’s a tough question.  I like so many.  If I had to choose just one, I guess I would go with the picture with the two of us standing in the window sill with the ocean in the background.  The window creates a great frame around us and the combination of the colors and the ocean in the background makes it look so relaxing and peaceful.”

 

Any parting words for newly engaged couple’s yet to do their engagement photos?

Paul: “Be yourselves and have fun.  I’ve seen plenty of beautiful, sultry, sexy engagement shoots and Adrienne and I could have tried to do something similar… but our personality is much more playful, and that’s what we aimed to capture on our shoot.   And after seeing the results, our personality really comes to life in the photos.  Many of our favorite photos were the ones where we were just being our playful selves and having fun.”

Adrienne: “I think the best advice I can give is to just be yourself…if you are a very serious romantic couple, pick a setting and a style that embody that, if you are super social and playful like we are, have fun with it. You don’t want to feel like your being forced to do something that’s not you; you won’t enjoy it, and it will be reflected in your photos.”

*All Photographs by Adagion Studio