Sunflowers and puzzle pieces lenta sunny mysterious feel to this evenings festivities. When the puzzle pieces were put together it was Van Gogh’s sunflower pic. Sunflowers captured the feel of the estate and the amazing weather on this gorgeous summer evening. Curry and Bob held their ceremony at the pool with cocktail hour following and then back to the VC for stations and dancing. The food looked great and people rushed back to the VC to enjoy dinner and start to dance. It was a great evening and we wish all the best for Currie and Bob!

Ceremony at the Pool

Mango Rum Soup Shooters - Caribbean Station

Mexican Station

Black Bean Cakes, Avocado and Mango Salad

No not for me - for the guests at tonight’s wedding! Caitlin and Rodney love the beach and everything that goes with it. Caitlin said to me earlier this week if she could not get married on the beach then she would bring the beach to her, and she did. There are so many great little details here that I could not wait to share them with you….the girls starfish necklaces, the one bridesmaid who had a small starfish affixed to her up-do, the signs, the table names, ahhh

 Beautiful Blooms did these great centerpieces - I want one for my house!

Cocktail hour by the pool

Cocktail Hour by the pool

Seared Scallop on wonton - yum!

What a creative, gorgeous centerpiece

Table names

Table names

Liberty Lane Bake Shop Cake

The other centerpiece - simply elegant

Creative placecards

On the 31st of July we were once again blessed to work with Kendall and her team from Eclatante Design. They had the best clients - Gina and Jason - and they had great karma - 86 degrees with a faint breeze by the pool. I cannot wait to get more shots from Kendall but look at what I got snapped quickly in between helping make things happen:

Amazing ceremony back drop

Bruschetta Station

So cool - the dahl drummer was great - and coupled with the DJ - the guests would not get off the dance floor and eat

Hi everyone. First lest me say that I am sorry I have been remiss the past two weeks about posting. I got some much needed time away after the weddings on the 26 and 27th and I never got the chance to post pictures from Corey and Shawn or Maryann and Chad which is a shame as they were both gorgeous brides with some gorgeous touches. Maybe if the ladies send me some pics I can post late.

Last night - after the 2:00 pop up storm - we hosted the wedding of Emily and Phil. I want to show you even more then what I am posting now and I am waiting for Jim Grahamwho was the photographer last night, to send me some of his shots - you have to see the way these two had the Gallery lit - amazing! I always love the work that the Eventions team does.

Let me tell you what I do have though in the meantime. After the storm we had some much needed cool breezes for our ceremony and cocktail hour outside by the pool. Emily (And Phil?) thought of some great little touches - love the card holder. I was able to carry it around securely for them throughout the cocktail hour!

Loved these programs - remember 1 per couple is more then enough

Cute card holder

Pond Water - no refreshing cucumber water for guests

Sweet Peas simplicity

Beautiful Blue

Nervous Dad

Picture Perfect

Dinner and dancing were held in the Gallery. As always Meg from Sweet Peas of Jennersville did a great job and the music from Tom Barrett was fun and fit the couple great. Newest thing I have now seen - Phil actaully rented 2 identical tuxes and changed completely once he came in from outside. Now there is a guy who knows how he reacts to the heat!

Cake by Liz Marden

PS - Emily if you are reading this in Aruba Phil wanted me to tell you to turn off the computer and go be with your husband!

More pics from Jim Graham - thanks Jim -these are great!

Saturday evening was the 3rd night of festivities for Sue Ann and Mike and their lucky guests. Sue Ann and Mike had a lot of guests from all over the world and they really wanted to show that they really appreciated everyone taking the time to come into town and celebrate with them. Thursday night kicked off with a small intimate dinner for guests and family. Friday night after the rehearsal the whole gang went to the country club for a BBQ and pool party. The guests stayed at various hotels - including blocking every room at the Inn at Montchanin; where they held brunch on Sunday for guests. Rumor has it that some of the guests then headed down to Dewey Beach on Sunday evening!

Kimberly from Liberty Lane worked on Sue Ann’s cake with her

Linens were a mix of sangria and ivory vine from Total Table

The ceremony was at the reflecting pool and their rain plan was under a tent on the VC patio due to their size

Flowers by Yukie did the beautiful peonies on the tables. We also had the pleasure of working with the team from Proud to Plan - Lisa and Danielle specifically. It was so great to have an extra set of hands and another person helping me to greet guests and get the ceremony off without a hitch. I don’t think I could have done it without them. They do the best thing for cards - it is 4 picture frames together that cards may go into -

2 more weddings this weekend - stations in the gallery on Saturday and seated dinner in the VC on Sunday. Look for more posts then!

Hi all! What a weekend - our tasting showcase on Friday, wedding on Saturday, and we hosted the annual graham partners event on Sunday and all day Monday - whew! Saturdays wedding was delightful! I have had so much fun with these two families. Tim and Sarah are really the first of their group of friends to get married and everyone was just so excited to be a part of it.

The weather held - it was hot and sticky but we had pre-ceremony beverages for the bridal party while they were taking pictures and the guests enjoyed themselves though they were all happy to get back to the VC in the air conditioning!

Meredith and the team from Winterthur Florals id the centerpieces. I think the pop of color on the napkin is a nice touch as well.  Joel Plotkin was the photographer and he did a great job as always - though he needed help for this one as he has a broken arm right now!

Cake - Liberty Lane Bake Shoppe

Seating Chart - framed

Candy Table as a Favor

Flip Flops set up in the restrooms for guests

More flip flops

Winthur Floral Department

Visitor Center - ready to party!

Good evening everyone! We just had the best weekend - 3 weddings, 3 gorgeous couples, and 3 great ceremonies with no rain plans in site - whew!

Friday evening started the weekend with Leah and Raleigh. This cute couple dated all through high school and college and they look like they were literally made for each other. Yukie did her flowers and Leah was stunning in an ivory lace dress with a 40’s inspired hairstyle - she looked so coordinated with the estate. They started with ceremony and cocktail hour at the reflecting pool and then moved back to dinner and dancing at the Visitor Center

At the pool - getting married!

ready for guests

Cake by Liz Marden - brandy almond buttercream

Slide Show on, placecards in wheat grass

Lined up, but watching the slide show!

Saturday night had a very vivacious crowd attending. We started with the ceremony at the pool and then Kristin and Mike snuck some alone time in for pictures and the guests hopped on the shuttles and came back to the patio for cocktail hour. Their evening continued as they danced and had a ton of fun in the Visitor Center. I loved what Theresa Florals did with the centerpieces - 3 different table arrangements, and eventions lit the room wonderfully. I got to work with Kristin from all about events planning - she is so laid back and relaxed - a great person to work with!

Liberty Lane cake

Theresa Florals - different floral arrangements

Another floral arrangement - my favorite

Placecard table

Eventions lighting - the perfect finishing touch

Tonight wraps up a busy weekend - I actually just met the bride and the groom for the first time yesterday when we did the rehearsal! I actually worked with the mother of the bride and w planned the whole thing with her in California!! Ceremony on the patio, Steve Croce is playing the music (so I am totally relaxed cause I am working with the best tonight!), and the Winterthur Floral team did the flowers on this wedding. I love this cake that Kimberly designed - I think it might be my favorite (or maybe I am too biased as I know it is the sunshine cake!).

Ceremony on the patio

Winterthur Florals does the arbor

Liberty Lane Cake - this may be my favorite one I have seen in a long time!

Winterthur Florals

A lot of hard work went into making this weekend so successful including my bridal attendants Lauren and Jessica and my great team in the kitchen and running the events including Josh and Adip. I can not do all of this without these great people and they are the same ones that are going to be taking care of your weddings if you are lucky enough to be getting married here.

Hopefully you are finding the pictures inspiring. I look forward to bringing you more next weekend. Have a great night everyone!

What a great night tonight. Sometimes I think the couples vibe just makes the night. Lindsay and Andrew are pretty laid back and relaxed, they are just so happy to be around each other and they have such a warm loving vibe when they are together, people can not help but to look and to smile. I have had a lot of fun as both Lindsay, Andrew, and both moms were very involved and oh so helpful.  And some sweeping azaleas in the background aren’t bad either!

Aptly named - look at that reflection!

Bridal attendant Jessica fluffing the trane

Making her grand entrance

Donna and the gang from Beautiful Blooms did the decor. Gorgeous orchid shimmer cloths were the backdrop for the mercury glass arrangements that varied from table to table. And let’s not forget the setting for the wedding with this great addition to the arch at the reflecting pool - I love the layers of crystals cascading from the top

Table arrangements

2nd Table Arrangement

Lovely cherry blossoms with more crystals on the placecard/frame table

Kimberly from Liberty Lane Bake Shop did the cake this evening and I think it is so pretty with the sweet floral touches supplied by Beautiful Blooms.

One of my favorite people - Steve Croce - is our DJ and master of ceremonies this evening. Steve is so great to work with, he just helps us make the night smooth and makes us look good. Gotta love that!

Winterthur Guest Book and Chocolate Truffle Favors - yum!

We are working with a new photography team tonight - Tony Baida and his son Sal. Really nice guys. I am hoping to catch a glimpse of some of his photos at some point this evening.

Cocktail hour on the VC patio

The past two weeks I have been so lucky to work with the great vendors on our list. I can not stress to all of you how much easier this makes my job pre-ceremony and how much more time I can spend on the bridal party and double and triple checking things for your wedding when I am not chasing new vendors throughout the 1000 acre estate!

More events next weekend and a big 3 in a row the weekend after - whew. Lets hope the weather continues to hold as it did today on this beautiful evening!

Good evening everyone! Our first May wedding was this past weekend and it was GORGEOUS! The azaleas are in bloom early and making quite the display. It was warm but I will take heat over rain any day as I think most of you know. You have to see the pool pics that I got - wow!

Guests arriving at the pool

Greeting Guests - Great Ushers!

Setting up cocktail hour

Perfect Ceremony Backdrop

Steve actaully worked with me at a previous job and I had multiple chefs in the room as guests on this one. No pressure on Jason the night before Point to Point and wanting to make sure that Jessica and Steve were really well taken care of and everybody was well fed.

Jessica and Steve picked stations - we had Italian, Mexican and they upgraded and added a sushi station on an ice carving. Guests started to eat as they came into the VC from the pool and the DJ - Dave from Signature DJ’s who is great - was getting guests on the floor dancing. this worked out great - no real lines, plenty of dance time, and plenty of time to eat as much as guests wanted. Yukie did a great job on the cottage looking flowers - but she is always great.

I hope to have some more great picks from Joel Plotkin to add to the few I did - sorry - I have to get back into the blog  grrove - I did not do a good job of getting lots of pics!

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!!

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

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!

Hi everyone. Great wedding this past weekend - Sarah and Chris and her parents were awesome to work with - it is so much fun to work with a couple for a year and see everything come together so beautifully.

And you know how I love the finishing touches - the ribbon on the cake that perfectly matches the bridesmaids dresses, the linen overlays that match the table names that match the menu cards - I think these are the thing that take a wedding to the next level and show your guests that you really thought about every little detail.

Summer Green Ribbon = gorgeous summer cake

Added touches - linen, table names, menu cards

Family Portraits on the Front Desk

Beautiful Room

Placecards and donation notice

The couple made a donation that was near and dear to them. Remember - your guests have enough little picture frames and bottle toppers! Do something good for a hometown organization that so desperately needs the money now and feel good about the fact that I am not throwing all the leftover favors away at the end of the night!!

Hey Everyone - sorry for the lag time! Our blog was done for some maintenance but we are up and running again.

Great weather - and great weddings this past weekend. I am going to do a separate one for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday Amanda and Andrew were so cute - they were both so into every little detail - ex - Andrew got his guys matching ties, argyle socks, and supposedly - I certainly did not check - matching boxers! From the linens to the lights, to the flowers to the programs, to the place cards and the table names, everything came together in one of the most beautiful weddings so far this year. Judge for yourself:

Pretty Pink Programs

Pretty Pink Petals - hanging from the arbor at the pool

Spring Green in the Gallery - perfectly pretty - Flowers by Yukie

Pink Placecards and votive candles

What a cute cake kimberly made - buttercream flowers - yum!Beautiful Lighting from Eventions

I started my morning off looking at the weather and thinking we would not get in the ceremony of Emily and Tim here at Winterthur. I watched the weather all day and saw big chances of thunderstorms right around 6:00PM when we were supposed to start.

Emily’s one wish was that if she was not going to get married outside at the Reflecting Pool, that she would at least be able to take photos outside. She ended up getting the best of both worlds. Just to be safe we did the ceremony outside and cocktail inside. The rain held off until after the guests were inside for dinner.

Emily and Tim ended up with a really beautiful evening. The Azaleas at the Reflecting Pool are in full bloom and are absolutely perfect. Besides having a wonderful outside experience, the Visitors Center where the group was having dinner and dancing looked great too. Emily picked out some great toppers for her tables and of course the cake looked good too!

Overall it was a great evening, the Bride and Groom could not be happier and we truly beat out Mother Nature for the night!

Holt Ceremony

Beauty at Winterthur

Reflecting Pool

This past Saturday was the last wedding at the Reflecting Pool for the Season. Lauren and Eric ended up with a beautiful night at the Reflecting Pool for their Ceremony and Cocktail Hour.  Since the daylight hours ran short, cocktail hour was a bit shorter than usual. The guests came back to the Visitors Center a bit chilly, but they were warmed back up in no time. We love working at the Pool, but with the lack of sunlight and the nip in the air, we are happy to close up shop for the season!

Evening everyone

Tonight at Winterthur Museum we have the fabulous wedding of Robin and Scott. I first toured Robin and Scott about 18 months ago and I remember thinking then how much I really wanted to work with them as they were so much fun and so relaxed. Now all of this time later they feel like close friends and family and I am so happy for them.

Ceremony at the pool as the sun sets - how romantic. Cocktails around the candlelit pool and then back to the Visitor Center for dinner and dancing.

Some nice special touches this evening: African Violets as favors

Placecards in a picture frame (a green idea for those of you who like that!) Picture Frame Seating Assignments

Some nice lanterns in the lobby Candle Lanterns

Flowers by Yukie did the beautiful arrangements and the hanging Asian lanterns Asian Lanterns, Asian Lanterns, flowers

And look at the great outside lighting Outside lighting, Candles on the Railing

Robin and her family also decided they wanted to honor their family and have a pasta course. I just walked through the kitchen and the penne a la vodka looks divine! Jason is also whipping up the vegetarian option for the night - samosas with sauteed fall vegetables, tofu, and chutney - yum!

Tomorrow brings another wedding - this one is at the Gallery and intimate - a perfect 50 people. Looks like they are going to get some great weather fall weather as well!

What a weekend we had here at Winterthur - 2 weddings and great Delaware weather for both of them!

Joe and Elaine were married in front of 40 guests on Sunday the 21st (the last day of summer - sigh). Ceremony at the Reflecting Pool followed by cocktail hour. Janesch Ceremony, Janesch Ceremony 2, Dinner and dancing in the Gallery.

Joe and Elaine really wanted their guests to feel the DuPont hospitality. We greeted their guests with glasses of champagne as they pull into the parking lot and a limo was there to bring them to the pool. From there guests mingled with the groom and the best man until it was time to start. The ceremony was short and sweet and guests then drifted around the pool with cocktails. Janesch Pool, Janesch Path

At 7:45 as it was getting really dark, we started to escort guests to the Gallery along a candle lit path. The Gallery looked great with a slightly different set-up and these great new linens from Special Occasions and flowers by Yukie. Janesch Head Table, Janesch Room, Janesch Flowers

This coming weekend is our annual Garden Fair on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Guests will come from all over to fill all of the interior grounds to look at various wares from tons of vendors. A really great event! No weddings this weekend due to the event set-up so Rachel and I are getting a little break - then we have 5 weddings right after that. We will check back in after the weekend - have a great one!

Evening all. Another magnificent wedding here at Winterthur tonight. Last weekend of summer and the weather here in Delaware is a great 74 degrees - no humidity - little bit of a breeze - just enough to stir the plants in the garden and the frogs and lilies in the pool!

Adam and Nicole were married this evening and it was a great ceremony. We started a few minutes late but caught back up. Photos were taken afterwards and their bridal attendant kept everyone well fed and drinks full. The bridal party loves to have a good time and they are such close friends. Guests were in awe of the beauty of both Winterthur and of Nicole! Boucher Pool, Boucher Arch

Nicole and her mom - Cathy, were in a few days ago to wrap everything up with me and they brought me an extra copy of their invitation. I instantly asked to show it to all of you as I think is so special - look at the antique post card they found on E-Bay and had re-produced for the invitation and reply card - she had a firm in Seattle do them for her that she saw in a national magazine. Boucher Postcard, Boucher Invitation, Boucher Invitation 2

Nicole and Cathy also wanted a different look for the seating tables. We have some round, some various sizes of square and some clusters of round. This is for about 150 people with stations and it works great. It would probably take up too much space if it were plated or with another 50 people. Boucher Tables - grouped, Boucher Square, Boucher Room

Something different for the place-cards - Boucher Placecards

They did menu cards for the tables - this works out great as guests can figure out which station they want to check out first - Boucher Menus

A nice simple cake this evening - Boucher Cake

We have an intimate wedding tomorrow with the ceremony at the pool and dinner inside the Gallery. I will be back on tomorrow evening. Have a great night!