First order of business, Happy Memorial Day!!  Hopefully your stopping in on your way to an amazing BBQ or perhaps you’ve munched just a tad too much for the day & need some down time, either way, you’re going to be super pleased that you did because baby’O'baby do we have a treat for you!!  My favorite Philadelphia crew {Remember the gorgeous softer side of steampunk shoot? Click Here for a refresher} dropped a gem into my inbox just recently & I have been quietly coveting it in the corner in the meantime!  Their inspiration this time…. Disney’s #1 villaness, Maleficent, specifically Angelina Jolie’s upcoming reprisal of her!  I adore this shoot for a billion of reasons most of which is the simple fact that they pulled inspiration from such an unlikely source.  You know how I love my creativity with an extra side of special!  The team provided me with quite a lengthy run down of all the magic that happened, so do be sure to read through how they crafted this phenomenal shoot.  Before I send you packing, I’ll laundry list my favorite bits! {You know… in the interest of getting you back out to that BBQ!}  Gorgeous model {honestly, she could not be MORE perfect for this shoot, oh and PS-SHE did the makeup!!}, love love love the silver to purple ombre dress…. I think I need it in my life, I cant get enough of the Petits Gâteaux {I wish it made better sense for small cakes at weddings, as I do love them so!}, wonderfully earthy dark yet bold styling in the floral & design department and I am dyyyyyyying over those completely trippy & incredibly cool tulips!!  Honestly I could seriously go on about the session as  whole, but I’ll let your eyes do the walking!  Much  love on this holiday day~ Xo! Jess

A note from the incredibly talented team:

Ever wonder what Maleficent would be as a bride? Well, wonder no more! In anticipation of Angelina Jolie’s “Maleficent“, BG Productions and Papertini teamed up with amazing group of creative and talented vendors and friends to bring Maleficent into her wedding fantasy!

The colors scheme we chose for our Maleficent are Green, Gold with a touch of Dark Purple and Red. Golden Silhouette did a great job interpreting the colors scheme and theme into the stationery suite. Gorgeous shimmery emerald pocket envelope for the invitation and vintage gold spinning wheel pattern hand-stamped on each paper product. The invitation, program book, and menu cards are accented with gold threads to complete their interpretation of the spinning wheel. Now that the invitations are out, we’re ready for the big day!

Our Maleficent represents a fearless and confident bride. She is elegant, sexy, bold and gorgeous with a touch of edge. Tiffany from Dina Alon Hair and Make Up Studio styled her hair by combining Victorian rolls and gorgeous curls (what a great interpretation of Maleficent’s horns!). Alexis, our model, not only she is drop dead gorgeous, but she is also an amazing make up artist and fashionista! Alexis chose to do a dramatic, intense deep purple eye make up and paired it with a sexy hot red lipstick. To complete the look, her nails were done in a two-toned, dark purple/black and dark red with glitter and she put on her sexy black shoes. Voila! We have a perfect, glamorous, and gorgeous Maleficent!

We chose three different black dresses for her because, why just stick with one if you can have three? Her ceremony dress was an elegant ball gown layered with lace and tulle that was beautifully hand-tailored by Jennifer Kohler Designs. Papertini complimented the look with a modern textural cascading bouquet consisting of mini callas, scabiosa pods, galax rosettes and tulip anthuriums.

For reception, she switched to this fun and sexy sparkly long dress from Page Six…it’s haute. She sure knows how to command the room with this dress! We made sure no details were overlooked for her reception at the amazing Woodlands Historic Mansion! Papertini styled the wall with gold paper doilies and textured round mats. They accented the fire mantle with antique lanterns and dark purple candles and filled the fireplace with a wild, textural floral arrangement with black pussy willows (these are natural!) as the center of the attention. For Maleficent’s sweetheart table, we used gold chargers with matching gold wares (how cool are those!) and goblets accented with dark purple dinner plates. We topped off the plate with emerald green napkins and Golden Silhouette’s elegant menu and place cards to complete the look.

For her cake display, Papertini created a dramatic set by enhancing a potted branch with agonis leaves and decorated the antique trunk with matching antique stands for the cake and candles. The gold cake, made by the one and only Ciao Bella Cakes, was subtly decorated and accented with a black feather as an homage to Maleficent’ crow. The cake was accompanied by two matching mini cakes (which, by the way, is a great idea for couple’s cakes or as alternative to cupcakes).

The hanging place cards were displayed on a gold spinning wheel (spray painted bicycle rim!). To add more pizzaz to the table, Papertini created interest points on the table using various vintage green vessels and an all green floral arrangement. As the guests walked in, they were treated with a glass of Kir Royale, our Maleficent’s signature drink. The drinks were displayed in a beautiful and ornate set of champagne glasses courtesy of Cathie and Al. After dinner, our Maleficent was ready to have some fun and switched to her dancing dress! We chose this fun and flirty short dress from Page Six…it’s haute and she rocked it! Thanks to Create the Moment for all the coordination so our Maleficent could truly enjoy her soiree!

A HUGE thanks goes to the one and only Cathie from BG Productions was there for our Maleficent capturing all her moments and preserving this glorious day forever. A special thanks goes to Al, from BG Productions, for filming our behind-the-scene, Rachel Odle for all her help and Primitive Dwellings for the amazing upholstery work done for the bench prop (with uber cute pillows to boot!)

Vendor Love

Venue: The Woodlands Historic Mansion, Cemetery, and Landscape | Dress Store: Bebe, Page Six..its’ haute | Dress Designer: Jennifer Kohler Designs | Hair Stylist: Dina Alon Salon | Cake Designer: Ciao Bella Cakes | Paper Props: Golden Silhouette | Event Planner: Create The Moment | Event Designer: Papertini, LLC | Furniture: Primitive Dwellings | Cinema and Video: BG Prodcutions | Photographer: BG Productions

I am feeling a bit Marie Antoinette this morning, so cake we shall have!  I am not even going to be bashful about it, I have a ridiculous sweet tooth so when it comes time for cake tastings, desserts, or the not so occasional cupcake craving…..well… just steer clear of me, that’s all I am going to say!  But in all seriousness, sweets are such a wonderful part of the wedding process and a truly epic place for design!

For today’s WIWW feature, I have chosen a Great Gatsby {might as well embrace the current trend!} inspired cake that comes to us from SBW friend, Style Unveiled.  Now if you don’t already know of her {I find this pretty much impossible!} most certainly carve out some time in the very near future to get to know her and her delicious site which is filled with tremendous amounts of pretty, inspiration, and everything in between.  Everything she selects to feature is beautifully styled & perfectly on trend.  You’re welcome ahead of time!

Ok so back to our Gatsby cake.  To view Styled Unveiled’s sneak peek post on the cake,  Click Here and for the full write up on the Gatsby inspired wedding, Click Here.  What makes this gorgeous cake work so well, isn’t as much about texture {though always a key player!}, color & a beautiful mix of media, but design itself.  Specifically how Paola Cake Atelier was able to whip literal art deco design elements into cake form.  The overall effect is a stunning art deco cake that is perfectly on trend with the roaring 20′s!

 *Photograph by Jamilah Photography

There are two major attention grabbing elements at play here, both of which echo that of art deco design.  Working from the bottom up, our base layer is given the rhinestone chevron treatment in impressive symmetry relaying a very classic art deco design from back in the day.  The sharp lines & crisp angles are very much inline with the elements used in the 1920′s,  often immortalized in the florish of buildings created around that time.  It is a hallmark of the art deco era and an unmistakable fingerprint.  Whether these sparkling gems are edible or not, I can not say, but if I know my bakers, these crafty wizards can make just about anything edible, so my money is on yes!

The show piece layer of the cake is indeed a stunner, playing handily into a look often seen in the brooch headpiece many flappers would wear in the roaring 20′s.  Perfectly designed & expertly made, this band layer utilizes not only fondant carving to mimic fabric but hand crafted detailing that, piece by piece, assembles into that of an art deco brooch.  Ovals, tear drops, even more rhinestones come together to create a show piece element that is a gorgeous piece of jewelry all its own.

When viewed together, these two layers resemble that of an outfit a flapper may wear, a sequined chevron dress with jeweled headpiece, dont you think!?  The overall design is terribly clever and I would be remiss if I did not point out that the finishing elements of the softly beaded pearl dots & simple 2 row rhinestone base layer are the the perfect accoutrements to such terrific design work.  Poignant and beautifully understated exactly as they ought to be.  Likewise the choice of cake stand is incredibly brilliant, here again, echoing the art deco style.

I really encourage you to head over to check out Style Unveiled’s Full Post on their Gatsby Inspired Wedding.  There are so many terrific elements that your  little fingers are going to get tired from all the pinning!  So do tell me, which are your favorite elements of this beautiful cake?  Are you a chevron fan or do you fancy more complex patterns?  Gatsby certainly has a strong hold on design at the moment, are you a fan of all things Great and Gatsby like?!

Vendor Love

Wedding Cake: Paola Cake Atelier | Venue: Vizcaya Museum & Gardens | Photographer: Jamilah Photography

In honor of my birthday {yup you read that right!} I am doing what any respectable girl would do, I am throwing myself a sweets party naturally!  Those of you that know me, know how insane of a sweets tooth I have & when they come in the form of phenomenal cupcakes… well its on like Donkey Kong!  I actually have a dream of one day opening a bakery {with 0 pastry experience mind you!} and calling it “This Is Why I Run” Hehe!  Dont steal my awesome name in the mean time though!  Last year I celebrated my birthday with the Sprinkle Cake heard ’round the world wide web {click here to sprinkle} so why not keep to tradition and feature some more amazing treats!  A sweet team {pun intended!} in Minnesota got together and put on a dessert bar clinic!  Be it carnival infused, classics inspired, or vintage noshes, the team touched on all kinds of yummy goodness.  From cakes to macaroons to cupcakes, there are so many scrumptious delights to play with.  The food decor styling is clever & bright, certainly crafting the desserts bar as a focal point all its own!  Each setup has a unique finger print, but what I truly love is how any bridey can easily apply this to their day & make the most picture worthy sweets spot!  Be warned….reading this post might induce severe sugar cravings & possibly lead to a bakery run

Vendor Love

Bakery: Sweets Bakeshop | Venue: Spill the Wine
Florist: Sadie’s Couture Floral and Event Styling | Styling & Vintage Rentals: On Solid Ground Vintage Rentals | Photographer: Erin Johnson Photography

Having now had many a conversation with a new bride-to-be regarding how she should tackle her own wedding planning, there is a common theme that kept coming up that I am 1000% most brides battle.  Where do I start?  The biggest concern that she has voiced to me on a number of occasions is essentially she doesn’t even know where to begin to sort out what she wants.  A spot of advice flowed out of my mouth that now comes as natural to me as breathing.  Sometimes you have to figure out what you don’t like, to realize what you do like…& by default, what you do want.

As it turns out, I am my own case & point.  Before I ever got engaged, I was totally Team Brown & Turquoise wedding.  I was so pro that color combo that my darling BFF, when she got married, was heavily influenced to my watery brown ways! (Thankfully in the end, she did not!)  When the clock finally started on our own wedding planning, into the browser went brown & blue weddings.  Turned out, it wasnt me… at all.  This ended up bring an important lesson for me.  Granted I am pretty opinionated to kick things off, but it was a reality check for me to realize some really defined lines of things I really did not like.  This helped me shape & direct my vision in a way I didn’t realize.

Another case & point is that for years I had a major female hard on for what I refer to as ‘The Mad Hatter Cake’  You know the type.  Crazy uneven levels, funky colors and explosions of God knows what going on.  Yeah, those….  When the time came to start looking at cake inspiration, oddly enough, I almost immediately realized how very much I actually did not indeed like them.  When I would force myself to close my eyes, envisioning my own wedding, I knew it was wrong, it didn’t belong, it didn’t fit us.  Once I got off of that idea, I began to look at fundamental things like shape of the cake, size, & so on.  Once I was able to decide that square cakes were not for me, I easily found myself pursing round cakes, from there I started to see the levels of the cakes, and how many we wanted.

After that, our direction become even more clear.  Did we like sugar flowers, are we ok with fondant, do we want pearls, or waves of ruffles.  When you start lining things up and systematically shooting down those that dont belong, your vision will become a lot more clear.

I think that there is this magical illusion that exists to wedding planning.  It needs to be romantic, it and of itself, the planning process, needs to woo you.  It should come naturally, like life fitting into its puzzle and all that other cue movie music BS.  Sorry kiddos, I am here to tell you it simply doesnt work that way.  I can not stress enough here that at the end of the day, a wedding is a party, an event.  Something you strategically design & plan for.  It simply is not this mystical thing that unfolds before your eyes.

Thats really the crux of it.  By sorting out things that I knew I completely did not like, did not fit, I was able to begin to hone in on what indeed was right.  I know it can be overwhelming in a blank canvas sort of way, to jump onto Pinterest, wedding blogs, magazines and so on, suddenly getting inundated.  Its almost like staring at a photo collage, your eye doesn’t quite know where to look first.  Take my advice, and start with what you dont  like, its easier anyway.  Trust me, once you get  a sniff for what you actually think is indeed you, look out world!  Much like a dog that catches a scent, once you know, the world of design is your oyster & suddenly everything falls into place!

{*Stunning Veil on top bride: Fascinating Creations} & {Bottom Bride Photo by Juliet Elizabeth}

Well it seems this week is well off to a good start and I must say, I am feelin it!  I found out just recently that our super gorgeous wedding cake made by the ever amazing Jenn of Birchgrove Baking (also maker of the now famed viral Sprinkle Cake!) was going to be feature in the newest issue of VT Vows.  Today they sent the page along my way & I am swooning all over again!  Jenn did such an amazing job really bringing to life the whimsical cake we had really hoped for, never mind the to die for yummies that the cake embodied!

 *Our cake is the middle cake on the right hand page.  Photograph by Sarah DiCicco

One last note which deserves big mention, VT Vows is a child magazine for the WellWed group.  They are stunning boutique wedding magazines (both print & online) covering NY, Hamptons, Cape Cod/Nantucket/Martha’s Vineyard & Vermont.  Not only do I love the quality of their work, styled shoots they compile & never ending stunning weddings, it was VT Vows itself that lead me to my hair stylist for my own wedding!