Good morning everyone - I am so sorry that I have not been posting more often. And here it is another snowy day at Winterthur - but look how beautiful!

I have been just as busy as ever - not what I was expecting during a close. Josh and I just finished getting everything ready on paper for Easter Brunch, we are opening a new cafe in the store (10 more days - yikes!) , there are renovations in our kitchen, Jason and I are hard at work on various menus, and Mary Jane and I have been trying to keep everything organized here in the offices.

Winterthur re-opens on Tuesday, March 9, jst in time as the witchhazels are coming out in bloom and the crocus behind the museum are starting to pain a light carpet of purple.

New catering packages are on their way and we are really excited by the amount of people we are meeting and booking for the remainder of 2010 and 2011 is getting packed already in a few months (can you say May is 90% booked already!).  Hope all is well with all of you out there. Attached are some pictures for you to see what we have been doing!

beind the scenes

replacing the walk-in fridges

Snow covered estate

Snow covered patio at the Visitor Center

Good afternoon everyone and Happy New Year!

First let me say I am sorry I have not posted more recently - with the holidays and events, the time has gotten away from me. I thought I would update you on what is new with Restaurant Associates and Winterthur…

This is the busiest time of year for us with new inquiries and selling new weddings. We just booked 5 new weddings in 2 days! Some for what we have left in 2010, some for 2011. Calls come in and I am busy trying to have people out to see this great estate and take tours with me and answer questions. I have met some great new people and I am really excited to be working with them for their weddings!

I updated and added a few more people to our preferred vendor listing and that was just updated and placed on the web for any of you in need of more suggestions.

Jason and I are combing through the menu packages and offerings. It is that time of year where we adjust for the next year and change pricing and food options and so on. If you are thinking of booking and have not yet - hurry and get signed with the current pricing as I know there will be some type of increase with the new packages.

Looking ahead to Spring - Save the Date - Friday June 4 is the next group tasting if you were not able to make the 1st one or just want to see some more great ideas. I have just started to work on this one so I don’t have too much to share…yet, but I will keep you posted.

The museum will be closing to the public February 1 - March8. I will be working but I will be the only one here. I can set whatever hours work with your schedules so I am lining up all of the upcoming brides (and grooms) that I can to meet and do final details, pick linens, choose cakes, and work everything out for your weddings. If you are getting married in May or June and have not met with me yet or don’t have a meeting scheduled - now is the time to get in touch with me and lets get you in here. July and August couples - feel free to contact me as well!

I am sending out the schedule and placcing Jessica x 2 and Zanthea, our amazing bridal attendants, on weddings in the next few weeks. I am also working with one of my favorite employees, Josh, whom a lot of you  met at the tasting. He is taking on an expanded role assisting me and you will be seeing him more in the months to come.

I am done talking about what I am going to get done and getting back to work. Please contact me if there is anything that I may do for any of you.

Hi Everyone. We are in the middle of the holiday blow out season right now but I want to take a quick moment and let you know a few things.

Rachel has taken another job with Restaurant Associates at an account in Baltimore. She left on the Sunday after thanksgiving so I am still trying to get my legs underneath me. I am a bit behind responding to emails but I see them and I will get to them, I promise!

I also just got a note from my great buddy at Eclatante - Kendall. She just got the December Color Story on her blog and there are some more (and the last) great shots of Winterthur and the conservatory - a new space. Pics by Marie Labbancz and flowers by
Beautiful Blooms. Take a look at the blog.

Remember - if your wedding date is in May or June you should have a meeting scheduled with me to go through all of your planning and notes. The sooner the better as I am going to contact the rest of the Summer 2010 brides in a week or so. Have a great evening and I will post again soon!

What a great mission and what a great team that puts this event on. The committee is so focused and there is a wonderful group of woman who work so hard on this event all year long. It is my absolute pleasure to work with them on an event that is so meaningful every year.

This year the committee wanted to mix it up - we had previously had a seated dinner in the Visitor Center. This year we turned it completely around and had stations and hors d’oeuvres in the Gallery with an extended tent. Theme - Moroccan Nights. Check out some of these great ideas and pictures…

Look at the cool cushions the Shine committee made

Seating for 80 under the tent

OOOhhh - Seafood Station - Shrimp Towers!

Quite getaway on the Gallery Steps

Custom Menu - Exotic Food Station

Custom Menu - Comfort Food Station

Good evening everyone! Wow - last night was a lot of fun. I am sitting here reading emails from people who attended last night - both brides and their families and our great vendors, all saying what a great vibe there was in the air.

Guests were checked in by my wonderful bridal attendants, Jessica, Jessica, and Zanthea. Michael Hunter and his fellow musicians gave us some great background music. Guests mingled in the lobby while sipping apple cider cranberry spritzers and trying 10 of our fabulous hors d’oeuvres, including my personal favorite, the lobster and brie burrito. We also set up the bruschetta station - yum! Special Occasions did the great linens and the Winterthur Floral Team did a great job on all of the florals in the front. Dave Williams of DVideography was able to showcase some of his marvelous work as well.

Winterthur Florals, Holiday Inspired

After “cocktail” hour, guests slipped into the main room and were greeted with an amazing room and so much to see. Steve Croce was spinning some tunes, Brian Toner with Eventions had some great lighting, and we had both of our cake vendors - Kimberly Withers and Liz Marden.

Eventions GoBOWarm Lighting

Claudia from Special Occasions worked with me and we set up so many different tables with collections for the spring, summer, and fall to inspire. Theresa Floral did the flowers, each one different and beautiful.

Sweet ideas for the sweetheart table

Flowing orchids on the buffet - Theresa Floral

We also featured some of our standard linens and worked with our friends at Party Rental to show off some great enhancements including glassware, chargers, tea lights, other color cushions, and chivari chairs. Theresa made the white collection simple yet sensational and the Winterthur team took ivory to new heights.

Party Rental Glasses, Theresa FloralParty Rental Chargers, Winterthur Florals

And of course there was more food if I am going to call this a tasting ,right? Salads, salads, and more salads. 5 great entrees and 5 featured items off of our fun stations. I have a vegetarian couple getting married here and the chef whipped up 2 great options for them to try as well. Everyone got to try so much food and we should have gotten everyone up and dancing to burn some calories before Thanksgiving.

And don’t forget - this was our first one. Shoot me an email or respond to this post to let me know your thoughts and feedback. Have a great holiday everyone!

Eclantante Entrance

Nov 12th was my first holiday party of the year. Kendall Brown, Donna O’Brien, and Claudia Seyler of Eclatante Design, Beautiful Blooms, and Claudias Make-Up Studio respectively, held their holiday party open house early so that all of us “in the biz” could make it before the holiday rush.

Kendall and Leila were the consummate hostesses, streaming between the shops and welcoming guests outside while Donna and Mya mixed and mingled and kep the flow going.

I caught up with some old friends and colleagues that now work for Feast Your Eyes catering. I sampled some great red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and an adult milkshake with what else but Bailey’s in it! There were some warm firepits outside with make your own smores stations. Heaters lined the walkway between the shops and there were throws for brave guests to curl up in and snuggle and people watch (or was that just me?).

I got to say to some other great people including Mike Kehr and his team and Dave from DVideography. Mary Reugg from Brides Philadelphia was also there. I snapped a couple quick shots - take a look.

Festive Scene

Sexy Claudia

Comfy Throws

Cool Ice

Hello again readers. While I have not been posting I don’t want anyone to think we have been slacking over here. We are hard at work getting ready for our 1st ever tasting on Nov 24th featuring some of our great vendors and so much food!

I wanted to let everyone know that I am currently revising the catering packages as we are going to be offering you a choice of 2 different cake vendors - our fabulous Kimberly Withers and the infamous Liz Marden. Liz has been a pastry chef in this area for over 20 years and loves when she now makes cakes for children of prior wedding couples.

Kimberly’s style allows you to mix and match your perfect combination. Liz puts her combinations together for you with signature items such as her White Chocolate Mousse Cake - Light and airy white chocolate mousse, sandwiched with a combination of chocolate and vanilla cake layers and raspberry jam. Other choices include Milk Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry Mousse, and Bananas Foster!

Both of the ladies will be here on the 24th with samples and photos. While you won’t have time to dig into every specific question, you will have plenty of time to sample and look and see what options best suit what you are looking for. We are so excited to be able to offer you more options and can’t wait to hear your feedback after the 24th!

Hi everyone
Check out Kendall’s blog for the great October Color Story and some more photos from our photo shoot:
http://www.eclatantedesign.com/blog

October is almost over, just a few more weeks to our inaugural catering tasting showcase on Nov 24th!

Our wedding season is over for 2009 and I thought I would take advantage of the break to write on a few topics that I thought about throughout the year but did not want to post on in lieu of weddings. This one has started to come up a lot this past year - vegans. What is a vegan? Vegans are people who eat no animal products (including no eggs, dairy, and usually even honey) as opposed to vegetarians who simply do not eat animals/meat (including beef, poultry, fish, etc). Why do you care you might be thinking?

A few times this past summer we had a guest tell one of our butlers that he or she was a vegan. They insisted that they had noted that on their response cards. Our team would spring into action but coming up with a vegan entree in the middle of serving a few hundred guests is no easy feet! We aren’t talking pasta and a red sauce gang - we are talking about veggies and fruits and natural products that we want to taste and look good.

We want to take care of your guests needs and the more information we have ahead of time the better we can serve them. We want you to tell us about every allergy you know - even if you think that item is not on the menu. Same with vegan vs vegetarian and even when your great grandfather wants a well-done steak. Taking care of these things for your guests allows them to enjoy your wedding without worrying about being hungry or getting sick.

I can tell you that I was at a wedding a few months back and had noted vegetarian on my response card. After a cocktail (okay, maybe 2) and no vegetarian items at cocktail hour I was ready to eat dinner. 1st course came out - wedding soup - meatballs. They had no vegetarian alternative. Second course, salad with bacon. Again, no vegetarian course. Now I am starving and everyone at my table is uncomfortable knowing they are eating more and more and I have nothing in front of me. And yes, they did have a vegetarian entree for me but they should have known to take care of each course for me - we do!!!

Moral of my long winded story - let us know what your guests need and we can determine for them what they can eat - from the bar snacks to the desserts. Any questions - don’t be afraid to ask us - we work with this all year round!

I had a great time today working on a photo shoot with our buds from Eclatante - design and planning and our other fellow colleagues - Donna from Beautiful Bloooms, Marie Labbancz Photos, and Claudia on hair and make-up. I can’t wait to see these shots published. Here are a few of the pictures that I took. As soon as I get the professional ones I will have them up for you to see how cool this was!

Reflecting Pool

Blue like the water....

Staging the ceremony space

Lower Level of the Pool - Super Cool Aisle Runner

Reflecting Pool - Lower Level

A week ago on a nice quiet closed Monday here at Winterthur we had a great photo shoot with Marie Labbancz. She is a very talented photogrpher that has shot on the estate a couple of times. These are all dress shots - I LOVE the short one by the way. Check out her blog to see all the cool shots.

http://www.artoflove.com/blog

Hi Everyone. Jacqui and Ricardo are getting married this evening in the Gallery, with cocktail hour in the lobby of the Visitor Center and the dinner inside. We have some great linens tonight guaranteed to transform the space and set the scene.

Ceremonies inside the Gallery are so serene. They need little to no decor.

The bride is wearing one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen and she looks amazing in it!

Great linens from Special Occasions. I love the two tones - green see through and blue stripe. Brown on the bars was a great accent.

Sorry there are so few pics - my camera was misbehaving. This was such a great family to work with - so warm and friendly. We wish them all the best that the future can hold for them!

Accent tables this evening in copper silk - gorgeous. From our friends at Special Occasions Linen!

My bartenders - they don't like their pictures taken!

Guests were ready to dance and party as they were invited up to dance the rest of the bride and grooms first dance.

Dance, Dance, Dance

Great lighting at this time of year - look at how the cake just glows

Family Photos on the Front Desk, Slide Show on the Center Screen - Nice Touch!

This was such a great group to work with - I wish them all the best for the B & G and their families and friends!!

I realized a week or so ago that we have no videographers on our preferred list. the reason for that is fairly simple - i have worked with some very pleasant people but i have never seen the end product of their work so I don’t feel I should recommend them! I attend a NACE meeting a day or so later and when I starts mentioning that to my colleagues I kept getting the response - “You have to talk to Dave and Sheryl, DVideography”. It was uncanny - I really mean that every single person I respect raved about these guys!

So I made the connection - had them down - and they brought me a disk of some past work from here and it is amazing! We are so excited to now have even more great vendors on our list with Winterthur experience and all so respected in this crazy wedding world we work in. Please check out their website at

http://DVideography.com

This is a two wedding weekend here for us at Winterthur - our last one this season. The bridal season is slowly winding down and going out with great beauty if last night is any indication!

Great fall weather at 74 degrees and great vendors made last night at the reflecting pool and the visitor center remarkable. We worked with 3 of the best - eventions lighting, steve croce - DJ extraordinaire, and Sweet Peas florist. I think rather then tell you about what a great job they did I can let the pictures speak for themselves!

Nice placecard idea

Placecards - up close!

Individual Wedding Cake Favors - Yum!

Night View

GoBo on the Patio

Hi Everyone - we have just decided to try something different this coming year and everyone I have chatted with is so excited for this cool opportunity for all of our pending brides -

On NOVEMBER 24, 6:00PM - 9:00PM  - You are invited to our first ever Tasting Showcase!!

The nitty gritty - Per your catering packages you still get the same amount of people that come. We will do these every 6 months so please plan accordingly (next one to be in June!). Want to bring your friends and family? Register with us for a small per person charge. If you are getting married and want to come to more then one of these - please do - again, a fee will apply after your first one, but it will be a great way to network.

What will you get to see and do? - when you step into the VC we will have a photo show on the screens, a great cocktail hour band and a mocktail bar for you. We will be passing tons of hors d’ oeuvres for you to try.

You will then be graciously moved into the VC where you will see flowers, lighting, tablecloths, and of course - Food!! We will offer both stations and served options. Our bakers will be on hand to greet you and tempt you with their wares. I will be there with my whole team - Chef Jason, Rachel, Mary Jane and our great bridal attendants - Jessica, Jessica, and Zanthea.

We are inviting some past brides and parents so that may chat with you and share ideas and offer suggestions on everything you might be wondering about.

The fluff - We are so excited to make this change and by not doing the individual tastings any longer, be able to offer you more food, and direct access to approved vendors and a room full done up - a complete design inspiration for you. Our hope with this date is total convenience for you and your family since it just 2 days before Thanksgiving and we know that so many of you are already traveling into the area.

We will still need to schedule time for each bride to sit one on one with me and map out all of the details for your event. Each meeting will take approximately 1 hour and we can schedule those from here on out.

Please email me with your acceptance!!

The pretty parents are readyThis bride is ready to run down the aisle!

Dinner and dancing back at the VC. Kirstin arranged for my 2 favorite favors lately - a photo booth and a candy buffet! 3 different table arrangements - flowers and candles. And I love the VC this time of year with the candles and the lanterns.

Centerpiece 1

Centerpiece 2

A View from Outside

Photo Card Holder from Proud to Plan

Liz Marden Cake

4 Responses to “9.12.09 Princess Blue”

• Denise Kravitz - MOG (September 22nd, 2009):
  
  

  What a fantastic wedding! With the great direction we had from Erin Proud, Nicole, Jessica, and Liz Marden everything came together effortlessly. Thanks to our friends and family for celebrating with us! The best part? Matt and Kirsten are truely ment for each other.

• Gary Kravitz (September 22nd, 2009):
  
  

  It was a wonderful Wedding. The guests I spoke with had a very enjoyable experience.
  MANY thanks to Erin, Nicole, Jessica, and the
  staff at Winterthur. The event was amazing.
  Thank you ALL

I just got word this morning that Joel Plotkin has more great pictures from Brian and Beth’s wedding here on Saturday up on his blog

http://www.plotkinphotography.com/blog/

And Kendall - whom we had such a great time working with on the large tented wedding here at Winterthur just got the first part of the wedding up on her blog with some pictures that I know you will all love to see

http://www.eclatantedesign.com/blog/

And I also just got the latest issue of Delaware Bride - the only wedding magazine dedicated to Delaware and guess where they shot their latest pictorial - check out the website and click on the featured article “Enchanting” (after enchanted woods) Let me know if you like any of the shots and I can tell you where those are for your pictures

http://www.delawaretoday.com/Delaware-Today/Delaware-Bride/

Evening all. Great weather again this evening. I love this time of year as it gets dark now for the dinner and dancing but you still have the sun and the sunset during the ceremonies and cocktail hour.

Ben and Sarah (yes - you made the Blog!!) just got married at the Pool and are now having a great time in the Visitor Center. We turned the ceremony and faced East today so that the beautiful white blooms would be the backdrop. Sarah was able to walk threw the arch with her dad - what a stunning picture.

White Flower Back Drop at the Pool

Sarah and Ben had a vision for the Visitor Center and it looks great!! Of course I think everyone knows we love the black and white in the Visitor Center. Eventions did the lighting and the draping for them, linens by Special Occasions set the tone for an upscale garden wedding.

Visitor Center Entranceway

Blue Lighting on White Drapes

Mood Lighting on the Seating Tables

White Cake, White Dance Floor

I hope you found some great inspirations with the pictures from this weekend. Looking forward to next week and more pictures and stories for you!