January 24, 2012
Contrary to popular belief, incorporating personal collections into weddings has always been important to brides. The trend has just been a little more publicized over the past few years. But in our world of wedding planning and event design we’ve been amazed to see what keepsakes, collections and heirlooms our bridal couples have set aside for use in their wedding decor. For a 2007 beachside wedding in historic Lewes, Delaware, one of our client’s most important design goals was to display her collection of cherished wedding cake toppers in a sentimental, sweet fashion. Having collected vintage cake toppers for over twenty years, the bride’s modern love for traditional elements was one of our favorite elements woven through the wedding day.
What better way to style the vintage cake toppers than on wedding cakes? The award-winning couture cake baker, Truli Confectionary Arts, designed seven wedding cakes that were displayed on a 200-year old antique plank table as an old-fashioned seaside “cake walk” buffet. The traditional fondant-covered stacked cakes were designed in classic white and warm ivory, as well as the soft, beach-inspired shades of butter yellow and pale pink. The vintage cake toppers either crowned the top of the cakes or sat along the edges, where appropriate without compromising the design of the lovely cakes. Placed underneath trees holding ivory muslin lanterns, the cake buffet table allowed the 250 wedding guests to sample the cakes from both sides. Antique silver pedestals, vases and serving ware added that last touch of historic elegance that reflected back to the overall wedding theme. An incredibly sweet wedding all-around, pop over here to see more photos of this charming open-air seaside wedding celebration.
{Photos courtesy of Liz Banfield}
Leave a Comment » | 
DESIGN NOTES, WE LOVE, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Beach Weddings, Collections, Old Fashioned Weddings, Vintage Cake Toppers, wedding cakes, Wedding Personalization | 
Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
December 28, 2011
As we head into the end of 2011, we just couldn’t help looking back to this glittering New Years Eve wedding at The Rittenhouse in Philadelphia! This stunning celebration was all about sparkle, shimmer and shine!
{Photos: Tyler Boye} Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | REAL STORIES, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Holiday Weddings, hotel weddings, New Year's Eve Weddings, Philadelphia Wedding Planners, Philadelphia Weddings, rittenhouse hotel, White Weddings, Winter Weddings | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
December 2, 2011
Big thank you to wedding photographer Amie Schroeder for featuring one of our late Summer weddings on her blog! Not once, but twice! The vintage-inspired garden theme was a wonderful way to celebrate this wedding in the already-fabulously designed Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia.
One of our favorite designs we created for the event was this eye-catching twelve foot weathered table which greets guests as they arrived for the ceremony. We covered the old farmhouse tables with a varied collection of salvaged bird cages, oxidized copper vessels, old leather boxes, wooden trays filled with moss or grass, recycled books, mini-chalkboard signs and groomed topiaries in terracotta pots. The nooks and crannies of this collection were designed to showcase Diane Schaffer’s clever ceremony program that doubled as “place cards” as each program had a paper band that shared seating assignments.
Click here and here to see more photos of the event – from our whimsical bridal bouquet to the incredible French iron candelabra centerpieces used on some of the dinner tables in the hotel ballroom.
Leave a Comment » | REAL STORIES, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Event Designers, Outdoor Wedding Venues, Philadelphia Hotel Weddings, Philadelphia Wedding Planners, Vintage Weddings | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
November 21, 2011
Remember all those gorgeous flowers we mentioned on Friday? Well, here’s just a small peek at where they went and how they were used… {photos taken at the Hyatt at the Bellevue}
More fabulous photos to come soon! Not to mention the sensational wedding we produced at The Rittenhouse… it was a BUSY weekend for the Evantine Design Team!
Leave a Comment » | WE LOVE, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Brian Kappra, hotel weddings, Luxury Weddings, Philadelphia Wedding Planners, Philadelphia Weddings | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
November 18, 2011
Like most of the event industry, we’ve been working hard for months on end producing one beautiful event after another! and this weekend is no exception! This week alone our floral department has processed over 30,000 stems of flowers that Creative Director Brian Kappra ordered from various growers and sources around the world, including: 15,000 stems of white, ivory, champagne and pale pink roses; 1,000 stems of pale pink spray roses; 3,000 stems of white hydrangea; 600 pale pink peonies; 500 stems of white peonies; 2,000 stems of cymbidiuim, phalaeonopsis and dendrobium orchids; 2,000 french, white fringe and pale pink tulips; 500 white ranunculus; 500 stems of white lilac; 500 white and pink hyacinth; 500 white narcissus; 500 white miniature calla lilies; 2,000 stems of white lilies; 500 stems of lily of the valley; 500 stems of green viburnum; and 500 stems of white amaryllis. Add to that the 12 foot tall Willow and Privet, freshly cut from the nursery, along with the towering Russian Olive trees in full leaf and 20 foot vines of English Ivy… and we’re ready to install a luxurious gardenscape in one grand hotel ballroom and a modern urban oasis in another!
2 Comments | FLOWERS, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Behind the Scenes at Weddings, hotel weddings, Philadelphia Weddings, wedding flowers | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
October 27, 2011
As usual, the design studio is buzzing with activity this week! The Fall is notoriously known as “the busy season” for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and charity galas. All of which keep the talented floral design team cutting and arranging long into the night. Today the studio was filled with buckets of creamy roses, white lilies and tulips, as well as lavender roses and purple tulips, mini calla lilies, lisianthus, lilac, orchids and hydrangea. We even managed to find several bunches of autumn Clematis! For the most part, all of these lovely flowers will be monochromatically arranged in simple, straight-edged glass vases of all widths and heights. Now, tomorrow, we’re on to the next sensational event! Fiery reds!
Leave a Comment » | FLOWERS, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Philadelphia Event Designers, philadelphia florists, Philadelphia Weddings, purple flowers, White Weddings | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
October 19, 2011
Within a matter of hours, we transformed the streamlined, efficiency of a conservative Jewish synagogue into the glamorous, complexity of an elegant wedding celebration.
[Photo: Ash Imagery]
Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | PLANNING, REAL STORIES, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Luxury Weddings, Philadelphia Wedding Planners, Philadelphia Weddings | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
October 12, 2011
We certainly see it all in our Design Studio: colorful mounds of Black Beauty roses, stunning hand-tied posies of ruffled hot pink peonies, loosely gathered wildflowers in sunny yellows or tightly sculpted gathers of purple and white Picasso mini calla lilies. Every bride can, and does, name her own shade of blooming bliss! Time after time, more and more, we hear brides confidently state they’ll be holding a brightly colored bridal bouquet as a “here I am!” type of expression of their style and personality. Certainly, as event designers, how could we ever object to that fabulous freedom?
Yet, if you asked us what the majority of our brides choose to carry as their wedding bouquet we’d have to say: WHITE. IVORY. CREAM. And nothing demonstrates that point more beautifully than the lovely bridal bouquet shown above where we blended Stephanotis, Roses, Lily of the Valley and Dendrobium Orchids into a classic creamy confection.
{Photo: Faith West}
Leave a Comment » | FLOWERS, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Bridal Bouquets, hotel weddings, Luxury Weddings, Philadelphia Weddings, white flowers | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
September 28, 2011
The warm tones of terra cotta, amber and pumpkin look lovely in a casual mixture of roses, sweetheart roses and pincushion protea. Playful wisps of brown and cream-spotted quail’s feathers add a touch of autumn whimsy to the posy.
And although you can’t feel it, the stems of the bouquet were wrapped in soft sable brown velvet ribbon. Rich, vibrant and ready for Fall Weddings.
{Photo: Leah MacDonald}
Leave a Comment » | FLOWERS, PLANNING, WE LOVE, WEDDINGS | Tagged: bridesmaids bouquets, Fall Wedding Flowers, Luxury Weddings, Orange Flowers, Philadelphia Event Designers, Philadelphia Weddings | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
September 15, 2011
We recently met with an engaged couple who were guests at a stunning wedding we designed last summer in Center City Philadelphia. Lucky for us, the couple went on and on about the event they attended, remembering details and moments of the day that simply “stuck with them” enough that they just had to give us a call when their own engagement became official. EXACTLY what makes us do what we do! As we listened to them recount their experience, we realized, we never posted photographs of the wedding on our blog! “You really should! It was so beautiful!” the bride-to-be said emphatically. So, here goes. A little look back on Mary and Joe’s gorgeous wedding celebration at the Catholic Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul and the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia. [Photos by Ron Solimon] Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | REAL STORIES, Uncategorized, WEDDINGS | Tagged: Catholic Weddings, hotel weddings, Luxury Weddings, Philadelphia Event Designers, Philadelphia Wedding Planners, Philadelphia Weddings | Permalink
Posted by evantinedesign
