Miranda had some great ideas of how she wanted to utilize the space. Their ceremony was on the east side of the Gallery at 6:30pm, as the sun was setting. Guests were greeted with steaming cups of hot apple cider and wine as the ceremony finished and while some lingered, most moved inside and took advantage of the time to go through our permanent exhibit. Guests were seated and treated to a fall inspired dinner complete with apple fritters and spaghetti squash!

Sine there were 50 guests and we did not want them to feel lost we set the guests up in a “U” which was really cozy and encouraged guests to talk more and get to know each other. I love the color combination and the small touches like the runners and the pressed leaves - Maher tables 1, Maher Tables 2

Even the cake was fall inspired - Maher Cake 1, Maher Cake 2

And Miranda and Chip wanted to make sure that all of their guests knew had helped them and where they could get all of the really cool things that they had so they made these cards to show everyone - Maher Cards 1, Maher Cards 2

And these may be the coolest seating cards/favors I have ever seen. The pressed flowers indicates where guests are to be seated and inside is a CD as a favor for the guests - Maher Placecards

 2 more weddings this evening and 1 tomorrow night and then the pool closes for the season and we slow down and try to get a head start on the wedding coming up for the rest of this year and next Spring!

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!

So I hosted my sisters shower yesterday. Garden Fair was this weekend - no catered events so I took the weekend off and planned a party. I wanted to start it in the morning so everyone would have their afternoon and evenings free to be with their families or even just relax. The shower was from 11am - 2pm. Guests were pretty much all there by 11:30.

My sister wanted something different then a typical shower. I knew she wanted some type of entertainment and it was really difficult coming up with something that everyone could participate in yet not have to squish into one room and sit and not be able to talk. The winning idea was to set up some casino games with dealers. We opted for Roulette - which a lot of people can play at one time - and black jack - which had 6 people playing at all times. We kept the food as finger foods so guests could eat and move at the same time. It was really fun and kept people engaged and amused until time to open gifts.

 Theresa Clower of Theresa Florals did some arrnagements for me, 1 on the dining room table, 1 on the bar, and one in each bathroom. They were beautiful and added to the overall feel. I always thinnk flowers finish the look of the party!

We had some signature drinks served as well as some hot spiced cider and coffee for the guests. Food - mini quiche, individual yogurt parfaits, mini crabcakes, cheese, and my sisters friend Lynn had her mom make some great ethnic food - egg rolls, fried rice, and noodles - yum!

Back to real work this weekend - a wedding on Saturday and one on Sunday.

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!

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!

Mike Kehr is the photographer this evening and he does such a great job. He was picked as an industry favorite and was shooting The Knot party last Tuesday. You can see his work on our photo gallery - the first few pics are all his.

Yukie did the flowers and the lanterns- great look. Graeber Placecard Arrangement These centerpieces are amazing. Graeber Centerpieces

Tonight’s crowd is smaller so we rearranged the VC to make it look full and perfect. This is only 88 people and I think it looks really great. Graeber Room

Rachel and I are in love with the look of the cushions. It is so much more uniform then the chairs bows and they have a chic look we think. Graeber Cushions, Graeber Cushions 2

2 more next weekend, and Joan is out on vacation!Chat with you then!

Renee and Matt used a florist I have not worked with before. As guests started to arrive at 5:50pm, they were still setting up the arbor at the front for the bride and groom - ugh! But alas, the bride was a moment or so late so it all worked out.

After the ceremony guests moved further into the VC and to the waiting bar and DJ. They are dancing in the same area this evening.

From there it was into dinner. Look at the centerpieces for the kids table Kids Table -  and the centerpieces on the adult tables are soft and sweet - Centerpieces

Faith West is doing the photos tonight so of course we can not wait to see those. Mathew and Renee decided to share some photos of their ‘Children” on the placecard table Dog Pics - and they made donations to various animal charities, right after my own heart - Charity

Tonight’s dinner was mostly vegetarian, again, I can relate. Dinner this evening was our fantastic heirloom yellow tomato gazpacho with grilled shrimp and Jason made a great vegetarian entree that everyone enjoyed - black bean cakes with grilled pineapple & black rice with a watermelon and jicama slaw - yum!

I wish they could have gotten their wedding outside but once again, when the bride and groom are enjoying themselves this much then everyone else does as well!

Mike Kehr - he is responsible for half of the new photos on our photo section of our website and spends a good amount of time at Winterthur. Mike is here with us on Saturday and he shot the Seliger wedding from 7-19 that you saw.

Faith West - Faith is here tomorrow night and she shot the other half of the photos that went up on our gallery - those are from the Kloss wedding on the 14th of June.

Donna and Mia from Beautiful Blooms - they did last Saturdays Scida wedding with the amazing orchids.

Kendall Brown of Eclante Events partnered with the Knot for the design and schematics of the party which was all about the environment and what we can all do to make a difference. Tell me anything you want with a glass of wine in my hand and it gets even more interesting!

Ed and Greg with EventQuip were there. These guys are hopefully about to become my new best friends. We have some interesting things happening at Winterthur and hopefully in another few weeks I can unveil some big stuff - and don’t email me and ask for a preview!!

Coming up this weekend we have 2 weddings, 2 the following weekend, Garden Fair the following weekend - no weddings allowed then - then 2 more after that and 3 more the following week - Whew! And we are already booking like crazy for next September and October so that promises to be just as busy.

I have not talked about my sisters wedding in a while - her shower is at my house on the 28th - yes the weekend I don’t have any weddings here I will send you an update on that after the fact - the date and time are not a surprise to her but everything else so I better not spoil it here.

And everyone - if you have things that you feel it would be helpful for Rachel and I to write about - let us know. We can always use suggestions. Have a great night and I will be back on tomorrow night!

Brie Scida and Clark Stossel were married tonight. Their hope was to be married at the Reflecting Pool and needless to say we have been rained out - well maybe downpoured out is a better use of words. Rain Plan = Galleries Reception Area.

Guests arrived on shuttle buses from the hotels and were greeted with unsweetened iced tea with mint. After the ceremony our set-up crew stepped in to whisk the chairs away and add some cocktail tables. Signature cocktail this evening was Mojitos…noticing a common thread?

 Clark and Brie emailed me a week ago and asked for some advice on what items they could add to personalize the Visitor Center some. They decided on renting green tea lights for the tables that you can see in all of the pics, these great seat cushions - Scida Chair Cushions, chargers - Scida Chargers, and some linens to spice up under the tent - Scida under tent tables

Beautiful Blooms did the flowers and of course they are stunning. Three different table arrangements - Scida Flowers - Tall, Scida Flowers x 3, Scida Flowers

I think the placecard table looks really cool this evening - Placecard 1, Placecard 2, Placecard 3

And I love what Blooms did with the flowers on the cake - Scida Cake

Rachel and I got a little creative on the front desk which was only possible as Blooms had some extra centerpieces - Scida Desk 1, Scida Desk 2, Scida Desk 3

Dinner this evening was a dual entree of sirloin steak and mahi-mahi that Brie and her mom came up with at the tasting. Scida Dinner. They topped the night off with Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream as the final mint idea. Scida Ice Cream

 All in all it was a beautiful evening for a beautiful couple. Hey, Hanna Stossel does have a nice ring to it……..