AILEEN + SHAI | The Liberty Warehouse | Red Hook, Brooklyn | January 2018

/

Aileen and Shai had a ton going on during the time of their engagement and wedding planning process. For one, they were pregnant! The couple was super happy and over the moon. On top of this, they were already renovating Shai’s loft for Aileen to move in and had to incorporate a new design into the renovation to accommodate their baby. If any of you have renovated any place of your own you know that renovations alone can be like giving birth to a baby with joy and pains along the way. All on top of renovations, preparing for a baby and careers of their own, the couple was still eager to plan a beautiful wedding.

Aileen is very feminine and did not imagine that one day she would get married in a place with any sort of industrial feel. However, in the end the Liberty Warehouse was a perfect fit! The couple did not have a long time to search out a venue so it was a good thing they came to a planning before signing. As their wedding was close to the holidays they were competing very much with holiday parties and events that venues had already booked and were still booking. We started, I think, in early November and this wedding took place in January! Aileen loved how the industrial details in the space were highlighted by the twinkle lights and chandeliers that were provided by Pegasus Lighting.

This wedding is a great example of an end result that is JUST what the clients dreamed of, which always makes our job worthwhile. We have the imagination and experience to put ourselves not just emotionally but visually into the shoes of our clients and we happily do so. Variety is what makes our role more fun! I can appreciate that this wedding was beautiful and we did a good job balancing the different elements that were needed to make Aileen and Shai’s dream come true!

Happy bees they all are now with a beautiful, happy baby boy! Mazel Tov to Aileen and Shai and their new family!

XO

Ashley + Team

Photography by Forged in the North

Planning + Design | Ashley Douglass Events

Florals + Design | Fleurs NYC

Photography | Forged in the North

Venue | Liberty Warehouse

Band | Hank Lane Productions, “ Pete Saunders Band”

Cake | Betty Bakery

Lighting | Pegasus Productions

Hair | Betsy Elisa

Makeup | Every Hue Makeup

Dress | Monique Lhuillier

Stationary | Katie Fischer Design

Rentals | BBJ Rentals

Rentals II | Party Rental LTD

KATERINA + BRIAN | Country Club of Fairfield | Southport, Connecticut | October 2017

/

This wedding was featured on the ever popular Over The Moon (OTM) blog in April of 2018. This wedding will also soon appear, in print, in the pages of Fairfield Living Magazine.

This wedding was a long time coming. While we were hired just about a year out from their wedding date, the parents of the bride took Ashley out to dinner to discuss their daughters FUTURE wedding almost four years ago. We had been in business four years at that time and they did not know when exactly this young man, this future son-in-law of theirs, was going to finally propose! NO JOKE! Flash forward three years, they are engaged. Phew! 

The newlyweds met at college their Freshman Year at St. Lawrence University. That is pretty impressive when it comes to commitment if you ask me. They both really are a pair, immediately seem meant to be, like their pulses are on the same wave length and they can read one another's thoughts. Calm, cool and collected they both were on their wedding day, a site you do not see everyday. 

The Bride Katerina is nothing if not tasteful and understated. Her mother Donna is a frequent party planner herself, spending decades assisting and planning charity events, as well as, her own social events at home. Surprising people with decor choices and other details was important to her as she really knew a good portion of their wedding attendees. Katerina on the other hand did not have those same experiences under her belt and cared very much about not appearing to try top hard or try too hard period. The day will be enough as it is - let's just hope for good weather. We did get fantastically perfect weather! 

We brought on Katherine from KDJ Botanica out of Westport, CT. Katerine and I totally speak the same language, truly finishing one another's sentence and knowing what the other is thinking before we say anything, when talking about decor that is! It is a treat to work with a talented florist that has the same aesthetic sensibilities. Chemistry is everything in life and she and I have it! 

What we love and what spoke to both Katerina and her mom Donna, was making sure color did not seem like a theme or too deliberate. Romantic and creative to an extent was necessary for them both to be pleased but also white and green alone was not enough. It would have been an easy choice given Katerina's own aesthetic but we worked hard to get the right balance or romantic color that seemed naturally occurring and also in muted tones. We did not want people to look at a picture and say something like oh they had a pink and tangerine wedding or a pink and yellow wedding...just a romantic wedding, fitting enough for the date and setting, with color blending well. 

The setting of this wedding was perfect. As CT wedding vendors know, The Greenfield Hill Church is a staple for weddings in Fairfield County, CT. It seemed to have been built for weddings! Ironically and so sweet, both the Bride's grandparents and parents had been married in the same church years ago! How remarkable is that! Also, this is such an open and welcoming church - no matter what your religion, you may want to visit on Sunday's after planning a few weddings here. The nicest people in the world run this congregation, on top of a cute picturesque hill in Fairfield, CT.

Then the wedding guests made their way down to one of the most stunning waterfront sections in the state of Connecticut. Country Club of Fairfield sits on a pristine portion of the Long Island Sound, with sunsets to die for - they will make you want to learn golf, if you can find a friend at this small club to sponsor you in order to go play! They also have really good shoe string french fries at the beach pavilion but I have gotten off track....

Having a Sperry Tent from Greenwich Tent Co. directly on the sand, waterfront, is a treat that planner's do not come across very often. 

Thank you to Glen Allsop of Christian Oth studio who we love. You captured the romance and twilight of the setting so well in your photos and thank you to The Light Mill for also capturing the mood so well in their wedding video. Cannot wait for the world to see these images in both the Over the Moon Blog (OTM) and in print in the pages of Fairfield Living Magazine. This will be our first Over the Moon Blog! We cannot wait to be featured on this gorgeous and discerning site. Many thanks to all people involved with making this happen! 

Enjoy! XO

Planning + Design | Ashley Douglass Events

Florals + Design | KDJ Botanical

Photography | Glen Allsop of Christian Oth Studio

Venue | Country Club of Fairfield

Band | 45 Riots

Cake | Lovely Cakes

Cinematographer | The Light Mill 

Lighting | Social Event Decor

Hair | Lachers: Hair by Demand

Make up | Emily Roznick

Tent | The Greenwich Tent Co.

Invitations | Sarah Parsons Invitation

Donut Station | Festivities

Cigar Rollers | Martinez Cigars

Piper | Jonathan Henken

Lounge Rentals | Gather and Lounge

Rentals | Nuage Designs

Rentals II | Party Rental LTD

Rentals III | True North Event Rentals

Rentals IV | Reserve Modern

EMILY + CARLOS | Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club | Cold Spring Harbor, New York | September 2017

/
Emily-Carlos-Portraits-348.jpg
Emily-Carlos-Reception-068.jpg
Emily-Carlos-Details108.jpg

This wedding was featured on Carats & Cake in April of 2018.

What to say about this fun loving, super chill, smart, all around wonderful couple and refreshingly simple wedding celebration! Emily and Carlos met at work. More specifically - when Carlos interviewed Emily. Needless to say she was offered the job but don't read into this; she was running circles around Carlos in no time and technically he was not her boss when she came on board to the company. 

Both hail from incredibly fun families that do not take themselves too seriously. Both their sets of parents ripped up the dance floor as you can see in photos. Even grandma busted a move and Carlos's mom got up on stage with the band to dance and she even sang a tune with them as well! Nothing better than a packed danced floor with three generations. 

We have to give a shout out to Mama Mary Alice for being so much fun, gracing us with too many treats and always having the best attitude about planning her daughter's wedding. Seriously, while we were looking out for our clients she was always looking out for us and so appreciative, as was the whole entire clan. And they are a clan of loyal families these two -  their love was busting at the seams on their wedding day. 

Additionally, last year was another season where we found overlapping faces from that season, as well as, seasons past! It is always nice for us to see past clients, couples and wedding guests that we have seen at many previous wedding - it is icing on an already delicious cake. 

Emily and Mary Alice both already knew of the adorable, sweet and kind flower man Andrew Pascoe who has been a respected staple on Long Island for decades. Simple white flowers with grass-green greens - the freshest you can find. That was the note and what he does best. Andrew does procure the freshest flowers from his wholesalers, like they had just been cut down the road and arrived arranged to the tent. Emily, Carlos and Mary Alice (MOB) are not fussy people, so too much going on was not necessary. They didn't need to blow people away with things they have not seen before but wanted to engage them, find personal touches and make sure fun was number one. 

The cocktail hour had a beer tasting bar. Emily and Carlos are beer connoisseurs and went out of their way to procure beer from various places, some on their own and some with the help of the caterers they hired, Sterling Affairs. As an example, Emily and Carlos visited Other Half a few times to get enough of a particular brew that they limit customers to only buying a certain amount each time! This was a station separate from the main bar. We had a large chalk board describing the seven various beers, served as tasting flight or alone. 

Another personal detail were the menus that had a back side with a custom made MadLib. There were four versions - one version for Emily and one for Carlos, then one in Spanish for both. We preset these with tiny golf pencils that had their hashtag printed on them. So freaking cute! These answered MadLibs made for great entertainment the next day at brunch which was held at Emily's charming childhood home, with perfect weather to boot. 

Thank you to CSHBC! You guys were so flexible and willing to come on board our detailed insanity. It is not a club that hosts such weddings yearly - Gary and the team were truly hospitable! Not to mention the water being so damn blue right there! Love to CSH. 

Thank you to Carats & Cake for featuring this wedding. Thank you to the vendors for a job well done. Thank you to Emily, Carlos, Mary Alice, The Boss FOB Michael, Carlos's Mom, Dad, and family for their spirit as well! We cannot wait to see you at more tables at other weddings soon! ;-)

See link to Carats & Cake HERE and more photos below, along with the participating vendors.

Planning + Design | Ashley Douglass Events

Florals + Design | Andrew Pascoe Flowers

Photography | Karen Wise

Venue | Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club

Catering | Sterling Affair

Gown | Harbor Bridal

Band | LUXE from Hank Lane Productions

Hair | I DO! Glam

Make up | RJ West NY

Tent | Sperry Tents Hamptons

Rings | Van Busch

Invitations | Ipanema Press

Day of Stationery | The Printery

Rentals | Party Rental LTD

JORDAN + ERIC | Westchester Country Club | Rye, New York | June 2017

/

This wedding appeared in the pages of The Knot in January 2018, on Inside Weddings, inside Westport Magazine, on Carats & Cake, Style Me Pretty and Westchester/Hudson Valley Wedding Magazine. 

This wedding was a class act filled with creativity and smart choices! We LOVE the vendors we love and cannot say enough about how hard they worked with us on this wedding to make everything come together on point. And the spirit and love at this wedding equaled its beauty! 

As most wedding decor, we started off with an inspiration board that came out of Ashley Douglass's first conversation with the beautiful and fun Bride Jordan. We both shared our love for home design, kitchens in particular, marble, mixed metals and pillows. You can see a screenshot of a portion of the first design inspiration board Ashley Douglass sent on to Jordan below. As you can see the wedding in the end did reflect some of these initial ideas, which is not always the case.  

Masarek Inspo 1 JPEG.jpg
Masarek Inspo 2 JPEG.jpg

Then somewhere down the line, once we have the florist contracted and in this case the lovely KDJ Botanica who we adore collaborating with, will get more specific on details and arrange a decor rehearsal day, the most fun you will have while planning!  KDJ and us have the same taste and could at times finish each other's sentences and I think she would say the same. Not to mention how stunning her arrangements are and the quality of the flowers she is able to procure time and time again! 

We played around with adding marble as an element or adding more grey/blue chiffon like runners and a zillion linens. In the end the result was a bit less romantic and more bright and a more refreshing take on modern for a wedding while still being happy and soft. The marble sealed the deal, as did the linens and then which shade of candle to be used. We love colored candles - so many options! 

This crowd was a super passionate, loving and happy a crowd, and clearly knew how to bust a move on the dance flower with fabulous tunes and endless amounts of time on preparation by Starlight Music NYC. 

We can't thank the Bride, Groom, and family enough for being open to ideas and having fun playing around until we got everything just right. It was a super fun night and thank you to the team at Westchester Country Club for accepting our endless back and forth with logistical ideas and details, and helping to make the planning perfect for both entire families. 

This wedding was featured in PRINT in The Knot New York. Check out the fabulous (and large) three page spread below and on newsstands all throughout New York! Vendor credits below as well! Thank you, thank you! XO 

The Knot 2018 SSNY Jordan Eric 1.jpg
The Knot 2018 SSNY Jordan Eric Melani Lust Ashley Douglass.jpg

Thank you to the fabulous team, including our own! Thank you Paige, Julia, Rachel, Page, Sarah and all! 

Planning + Design | Ashley Douglass Events

Florals + Design | KDJ Botanica

Photography | Melani Lust Photography

Venue | Westchester Country Club

Gown | Caroline Castigliano from The Plumed Serpent Bridal, Westport, CT

Bridesmaids | Joanna August from Bella Bridesmaids

Band | Starlight Music NYC

Cinematographer | Seaglass Studios

Lighting | Social Decor

Make up | Truly Happy Beauty

Tent | NY Tent

Rings | Diamond Cellar

Invitations | Bella Figura 

Poster Sketch of Dog | Social Alchemy Design

Day of Stationery | GCD Weddings

Lounge Rentals | Gather and Lounge 

Rentals | Borrowed + Blue

Rentals | Party Rental LTD. 

NICOLE + TERRY | Glenmere Mansion | Hudson Valley | June 2017

/

Check back late Spring/early Summer as this wedding will appear in the pages of a national magazine. To be continued....

Nicole and Terry's wedding has made our blog or shall I say our "comeback to blogging"! We use to love blogging but over time it began to only take us away from our clients and real work. Yet, you've all asked, so we are responding! Besides 2017 was just a KILLER YEAR for our weddings and other events, how can we not share the love - the beautiful pictures, the stories of sentiment, the fun, the camaraderie and also, our great appreciation for the work that we do!

Nicole and Terry's wedding was off the charts, not because of its beautiful design, stellar vendor roster and exquisite venue (okay the venue is pretty stellar), but truly because of how much love and time Ashley and the staff put into this wedding with the mother of the Bride, Anita Donofrio. 

Anita came to us after meeting with seven other planners which she reminded us of very often! We don't state this to not be classy but in doing so she emphasized that our skill set was apparent at our first meeting and also, more importantly, she felt that Ashley listened to her well. That is the take way and the biggest compliment on many levels. Anita, Ashley, and Julia, truly got on like best buds and major kudos to her daughter, Bride to be, Nicole, for letting go of the reigns in order to have a less stressful year as a full time professor and let her mother have fun! She gave into the element of surprise and in the end, happy she was! It did help some that Nicole and Anita have similar tastes in terms of aesthetics. We'd say Nicole only intimately knew about a good 25% of the wedding details, as they pertained to music and her own bridal preparations. In the end Nicole, Terry, and their children had a blast. It was irrelevant that this wedding was black tie and high end. The love was felt by all and the atmosphere was relaxed, warm and magical! 

Thank you to all our wonderful vendors who are listed at the bottom of this blog post. First however, take a look at a look at the gorgeous photos below. To see more on this wedding you can also visit the Blog of The Day, formerly named Ira Lippke Studios. Photography of this Wedding + Reception was taken by Nathan Smith of The Day. 

Event Planning & Design |Ashley Douglass Events

Photography | Nathan Smith, The Day

Videography | Clark & Walker

Venue | Glenmere Mansion

Catering | Laurence Craig Catering

Florist | Fleurs NYC

Tent | The Greenwich Tent Company

Band | Ground Control from Elan Artists

Cake | Lulu Cake Boutique

Lighting | Social Event Decor

Hair & Makeup | Arleigh Cole Hair and Makeup

Gown | A Little Something White

Invitations & Day-of Paper | Social Alchemy 

Rentals | Party Rental LTD

Rentals | Nuage Designs

Rentals | La Tavola