sweet & savory with michael stuart ny

{home made glazed donuts}

{mini sausage & pepper hero}

{truffled steak & eggs}

{prosciutto dusted bay scallops}

{cheddar apple tarts}

the holiday season always means we're going to eat a lot of yummy food, which is fine by me. i like to refer to it as my winter weight and i work really hard at it. i got especially excited when i saw these recent food photos from one of our weddings with michael stuart ny. when it comes to savory they can certainly compete with the best of them. from their truffled steak & eggs hors douvres to their prosciutto dusted bay scallops my mouth is already watering.

in this spread though it's not the savory that has really captured my attention. it's the sweet! mostly the home made, glazed donuts. yes, please!

photography by tory williams

bowery hotel wedding

alexandra and david got married at one of our favorite venues in the city, the bowery hotel. the venue itself is cozy, rich with history, and very romantic. both alexandra and david are big foodies, so they knew they wanted unique centerpieces that incorporated their favorite seasonal vegetables. we were really excited about the concept from the beginning and we went totally crazy when it came time to source all of the produce. we literally scoured every fruit stand, farmers market, and grocery store in manhattan and brooklyn to find what we were looking for and enough of them to complete each table. the best finds were mini eggplants, which have a specific name that i can't remember at this point and the peachy colored currants. the other elements included mini artichokes, tomatillos, cabbage, rutabaga, potatoes and i'm sure there are a few other little things hiding in there. i hope some of the guests took home the produce at the end of the night to cook up a feast the next day!

photography by robert sukrachand

Monday with Matt: Meet Edith

I hope everyone will check out this profile from The New York Times if the haven't already of the lovely Edith Susskind of Staten Island. Doesn't she look like she's a hoot?! There's an article and a slide show, she's got some really cool stuff! She owns a gift shop in Staten Island, that I have a feeling would totally be worth a ferry ride.

maefield and co

looking for unique, darling, heirloom children's gifts this holiday season? look no further! maefield and co has hit the market and it just doesn't get cuter than this! check it out here!

Twigs & Honey

Matt's post last week about old wedding photos left me feeling really inspired by the 20's trend of wearing the veil low on the forehead. Then, I came across Twigs & Honey's new 2011 collection and was blown away! It doesn't get much more romantic than this...

I am also loving this more 50's inspired short veil.
It would look amazing with a tea length dress...

Check out these styles and more at Twigs & Honey

Anything But Turkey...

Every year, part of my Thanksgiving tradition is attending a party thrown in my town called the 'Anything But Turkey Party' or as we all call it the 'ABT.' As you can probably tell from the name it is a potluck type shindig where anything but turkey can be served up. This year we're bringing one of my family's favorite hors devours and I thought I'd share the recipe with you. Warning, they are addictive and a bit naughty to say the least.

Mama T's Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

*One Bottle Soy Sauce
*1/4 box Brown Sugar
*3-4 cans Water Chestnuts (whole)
*Bacon (2-3 packages should do)
*Mango Chutney (mom suggests using Major Greys) or alternatively peach chutney works very well

Here's a pic of them in production.

Preheat the oven to 350 F
Line a sheet pan with non stick foil
Mix soy sauce (I prefer Kikoman) and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
Drain and rinse the water chestnuts.
Put them in the soy/sugar mixture and let soak for a few hours (2-3 should do it)
Cut bacon into thirds
Wrap each water chestnut in a piece of bacon
Dip back into the soy mixture to coat (you'll be glad you did this; it'll give the bite a nice glaze later)
Place bacon wrapped chestnuts on sheet pan place in oven
Bake until they are brown and crispy
Serve with chutney
Enjoy!
P.S. Try not to eat them all before guests arrive!

shop paperfinger!

holiday wrapping stamp set?! yes, please!

midwinter wishes stamp

custom, cotton ribbon!

big, big, exciting news today! our amazingly talented friend bryn from paperfinger, who we mentioned in our last post, launched her new and improved online store today! she has lots of new goodies to choose from, including some custom items to die for. i want it all!

maria & oliver

this wedding was extra fun for us, because we had an amazing line up of vendors beside us all day. it took place at the foundry, michaelstuart-ny catered the affair, loli events was the amazing planner behind it all, paperfinger did all of the gorgeous calligraphy, and weddings by two took all of these great photographs for us to remember it by. whoo it doesn't get much better than that!

the flowers were designed with sarah garden roses, ranunculus, dahlias, fig, mentha, queen annes lace, succulents, crab apples, and PORCELAIN VINE (our favorite).

Monday with Matt: Old Wedding Photos

I was surfing the interwebs a few nights ago and I found the greatest flickr gallery. Its a bunch of vintage wedding photos, and they are so fascinating.


I love the length of her dress.


Her headpiece is so over the top, but I do really love the 20's trend of wearing your veil across the forehead.




It would look really modern with a bias cut gown that skimmed the body. So thank you truity1967 for curating this really inspiring gallery.

sweet paul

with the holiday season officially upon us i know i'll be doing lot's of entertaining and hope you will be too! we'll be hosting thanksgiving at our new apartment on thursday for the first time ever. whoohoo! michael's family is coming over and we have a killer menu planned out. the only thing that could make it any better is if my family was coming too, but we'll see them soon enough for a cozy week in new hampshire next month.

around the holidays i am always tempted to try new dishes and bake something i've never tried before (which is pretty much everything because i never bake). somehow unknown to me, i stumbled upon this amazing online magazine that is jammed packed with gorgeous photographs of fall food dishes & amazing recipes. i'm sure this is proababy the most popular magazine around and i am behind once again, but if you haven't heard of it you will definitely want to pop by and check it out. thank you sweet paul mag! click here for the full magazine and holiday recipes.

california dreamin

dreamin of cali with our ladies jen & bryn. happy friday!

xoxo

tammy & ron at angel orensanz

tammy & ron wed at angel orensanz on september 10, 2011. big thanks to heather waraksa photography for sharing these gorgeous shots with us!

Heidi Merrick

I recently came across L.A. designer, Heidi Merrick's, gorgeous threads. Heidi, daughter of famed surfboard shaper, Al Merrick, was raised with a belief in the importance of beautiful craftsmanship. This attention to detail and quality is certainly evident in each of her gorgeous pieces. Here are a few of my favorites...

I think some of her styles would make amazing bridesmaids dresses or even wedding dresses for the more adventurous of brides. This plaid 'Henry' skirt would be particularly charming as a bridesmaid's look for some seriously stylish fall nuptials.

See these styles and more at Heidi Merrick

p&p and town&country

there has been so much exciting news around here lately. from the knot to ny wedding magazine to this most recent publication. it has always been a dream of mine and juliet's to be a part of town & country, so when they contacted us earlier this year we were seriously giddy. it is even better seeing it come out in print. pick one up soon because its an all around amazing magazine with lots of goodies from some great contributors! thanks t&c!

liz & dave

liz and dave were one of the absolute sweetest couples we had the chance to work with this year. they gave us a sense of their style, sensibility, and color palette but left the rest up to us. we had a blast designing their flowers and just adore this little one wearing her hair wreath!

{venue: the foundry photography: robert sukrachand}