A KPW Island Wedding off the Coast of Portland, ME

When Isabel and Ben found us and told us their idea to incorporate her Venezuelan heritage into his Maine wedding location we were more than thrilled at the opportunity to combine the two very different cultures. Using the Venezuelan culture we were able to incorporate vibrant aqua's and oranges into a coastal Maine island setting and when the two blended it created a beautiful overall design. Take a look at some of the images below. . . KM

The people who made this wedding happen:

Wedding Planning and Floral and Event Design: KPW studio

Photography: Claris Photography (myKPW member)

Videography: MapleLoft Studios (myKPW member)

Ceremony Music: Copley Chamber Players

Cocktail Hour and Reception: Dj Ryan Parker for the KPW Studio

Reception: Combo Sabroso for Cuzin Richard Entertainment Associates (myKPW member)

Custom Runner: The Original Runner Co.

Rentals: Be Our Guest Party Rentals, Boston, MA

Table Numbers and Placecards: Jan Boyd Calligraphy (myKPW member)

Ceremony Location: Sacred Heart Parish - Yarmouth, ME

Ceremony Transportation: VIP Tour and Charter

Bride Transportation: Grace Limousine (myKPW member)

Reception Location: Great Diamond Island, Portland, ME

Caterers: Diamond's Edge Restaurant (myKPW member)

Cake: Something Sweet by Michelle, Worcester, MA (myKPW member)

Hair: Hair that Moves, Berwick, ME (myKPW member)

Makeup: Joya beauty, Dover, NH (myKPW member)



All of the fabulous images are from Liesl Clark of Claris Photography.

The ceremony aisle was lined with simple galvanized buckets filled with white Hydrangea and miniature green Hydrangea. Notice the simple aqua banding to give the guests just a hint of what was to come.

This runner was absolutely gorgeous, we had it custom made by the Original Runner Co. to match the design of the wedding invitations.

Here is a close up the ceremony aisle adornments, very Maine with just a hit of Venezuela.

The Bridesmaids looked amazing in their aqua dresses and the contrasting vibrant orange bouquets of Mokara Orchids, miniature Calla Lilies, Crocosmia, and Milva Roses looked phenomenal.

Isabel looked beautiful in her gown (Love the orchid in her hair!), here she is leaving the ceremony in her antique car which was provided to us through Grace Limousine at the very last second after our original vehicle had a mechanical problem. We are so thankful that they drove all the way from Manchester, NH to Portland, ME to help us out!

We were so thrilled with Isabel's bridal bouquet composed of Cymbidium Orchids, white miniature Calla Lilies, white Freesia, white Polar Star Roses and white aqua gem studded Stephanotis.

The Maine Coast is such an amazing place for a wedding, despite a little bit of wind, Isabel looked stunning as she arrived on Great Diamond Island after the ceremony.

For the cocktail hour we made use of festive white feathers and green Monstera Leaves to bring in a little more of the Venezuelan feel.

Adding a signature drink to your wedding can be a fun little addition for your guests to enjoy. For Isabel and Ben we created a drink called the "Ocean" it was comprised of Hypnotiq, Coconut Rum, a splash of Pineapple Juice and a Splash of Club Soda, served on the rocks. A very festive drink with a aqua color to match the overall theme.

A small “cajita de paja” (straw box) that was hand-made in Ecuador held a Venezuelan chocolate. Venezuela is a major exporter of delicious cocoa, which is renowned world-wide. We paced the straw boxes inside the white boxes and adorned them with aqua ribbon and a custom quilled tag.

The wedding cake was comprised of two flavors, one representing Venezuelan culture, and one the Maine culture. Half of the cake was coconut based, with Passion Fruit frosting and Mango, all fruits that grown in Venezuela. The other half was a traditional lemon cake with blueberry sauce representing the famous wild blueberries that grow in Maine.

The table numbers were created by Jan Boyd Calligraphy, we loved the combination of having the table number and table name combined.

The glassware, china, flatware, linens and chairs were provided by Be Our Guest Party Rental out of Boston, MA.

These milk bottle lanterns are always a great addition to any wedding where your guests have to walk somewhere in the evening. Plus you can customize them to match any wedding by simple adding matching ribbon. These lanterns lined the road leading the reception site.

At Isabel and Ben's reception the guests had to walk a short distance from the tent to the rest rooms, the paper bag lanterns provided a nice pathway to direct the guests throughout the evening.

Here you can see the paper bag lanterns in the evening . . .

In true Venezuelan tradition Isabel and Ben wanted a Cotillion during there reception, take a look at the these masks!

A great way to add some depth to a tented wedding is to have custom lighting to uplight the ceiling of the tent. For Isabel and Ben we chose some warm oranges and pinks to create a warm and festive atmosphere for the guests.

Such a beautiful couple . . .


Hope you enjoy!

KM

A summer KPW wedding on Squam Lake

Megan was one of our favorite clients this summer and I think you'll understand why after you look at these photos. We usually work with brides who want a fairly simple and subdued design but Megan was the exact opposite. She came to our studio with Pucci fabric and sapphire blue bridesmaids dresses in mind and we were in love! We wanted to keep the wow factor somewhat of a surprise throughout the ceremony decor and cocktail hour, but as soon as you entered the ballroom at Church Landing in Meredith, NH you were shocked with deep sapphire blue dupioni silk table cloths and Pucci-inspired toppers on each dining table. Hope you enjoy the images! Plus, could Megan and Josh have had better weather for their entire wedding weekend... I don't think so! KP

The people who made this wedding happen:

Wedding Planning and Floral and Event Design, Welcome baskets, Paper Products: KPW studio

Photography: Emilie Inc. (myKPW member)

Welcome Party, Pre-launch Reception, and Sunday Brunch catering: The White Apron, Dover, NH (myKPW member)

Tent for Murphy Residence: Sperry Tents Seacoast, Portsmouth, NH (myKPW member)

Restroom Trailers for Murphy Residence: Dave's Septic, Bedford, NH

Ceremony Music: Woodwind quartet for the ceremony through Cuzin Richard Entertainment, Portsmouth, NH (myKPW member)

Cocktail Hour and Reception: Holy Cow! Band

Rentals: Custom linens provided by Indigo Moon, New Rochelle, NY

All other rentals: Be Our Guest Party Rentals, Boston, MA

Ceremony Location: Chocorua Island Chapel, Church Island, Squam Lake

Ceremony Transportation: Wolfeboro Trolley, Squam Lake Natural Science Center- pontoon boats, Puffin III 1928 Fay and Bowen

Reception Location: Church Landing, Meredith, NH

Cake: Something Sweet by Michelle, Worcester, MA (myKPW member)

Hair: Hair that Moves, Berwick, ME (myKPW member)

Makeup: Joya beauty, Dover, NH (myKPW member)



All of the fabulous images are from Emilie Sommer of Emilie Inc. Photography.



We started the wedding weekend Friday night at the Murphy's home on Squam Lake- where the famous On Golden Pond movie was filmed. We created a casual and fun cookout with a fantastic Sperry tent that we figured we should reuse for the pre-launch reception for the ceremony on Church Island. This might be the most beautiful lake in NH, what do you think?



These are Megan and Josh's welcome bags we put together for them... notice the hints of blue throughout but without overwhelming the guests... wait until you see the reception photos!



We love reusing flowers when we can so Friday nights flowers were all sunflowers and we changed a few containers and the layout of the tent for Saturday's pre-launch reception.



Had to post this.... Megan's younger brother was in charge of shuttling some of the VIP guests and some vendors to the ceremony island and he couldn't stop himself from feeling like James Bond- how often do you drive a speed boat in a formal tux? :)



I told you Squam Lake was beautiful...



Sometimes weddings are all about logistics... Megan and Josh's wedding was no exception... having almost 200 guests coming from all over the country, all driving or being shuttled to a private home in Center Harbor, NH to get on two different fleets of pontoon boats to make it to a 4:00 pm ceremony.... ahhhh! In order to make this run smoothly, Megan's mother Lauren suggested we give everyone tickets to differentiate between the first and second boat runs... To make everything match, we found tickets that were blue and purple which we thought made the perfect statement!



Because we had two pontoon boat runs scheduled, and because the trip took almost 15 minutes each way, the first group of guests were left on the island for a bit of time. Megan's mom suggested we give these folks something to do so we made copies of one of the recent NY Times crossword puzzles, bought some golf pencils, copied the history of Church Island, and brought lots of bottled waters for their enjoyment as they passed the time.



Megan arrived at Church Island in a classic 1928 Fay and Bowen Lake antique boat which we will show you in a bit... The hard part is getting to the island without wrecking your hair style... Megan embraced a bit of old Hollywood and wore a pashmina to cover her hair.. love it!



Now on to the ceremony... this was an interfaith ceremony so we had a pastor who happened to be a family friend of the Murphy's and rabbi present and we enjoyed the service so very much! Here are a few images of the aisle adornments and the huppah, which we adorned with the bridal veil of Megan's grandmother and Josh's grandfather's Tallis. We love adding these personal touches to a ceremony!







Here are the ladies as they prepare to walk down the aisle! Such a beautiful royal blue bridesmaid dress color, right? We wanted Megan to have all the color in her bouquet so we reversed the palate and gave the ladies all white flowers.



Another close up of the personal flowers.





Right after the ceremony, we had Megan and Josh sneak off in the Puffin III for a few minutes of alone time... Here they are returning to the island for their photos.



After the ceremony, Emilie and J gathered all the VIP guests for formal and informal photos on Church Island while the guests left for the reception.



Now onto the details of the reception and to reveal the color scheme we've been talking about.. The first place we revealed the infamous Pucci-inspired print was right on Megan's bouquet...



Here's the place card table that turned into the favor table at the end of the night... here are images of the table with the favors adorning it.





We must make mention that the favor's were hand made by Megan and her family as she is famous for making the best fudge in town!





We LOVED this deep sapphire blue dupioni silk... it catches the light so beautifully.



Here's a close up of the Pucci-inspired table toppers.



In addition to sapphire blue, Megan loved yellow so we added these callas to each of the napkins for a bit of color emphasis.



We always like to bring something special in for the bride and groom's place setting so we had two custom chair sashes made for their chivari chairs.





To complete the modern transformation to the ballroom, we brought in our white lounge furniture and replayed Megan and Josh's video montage from their welcome reception on a large plasma tv.

So last but not least I thought I would finish this post with my favorite shot of the entire wedding... this is why you want to hire a photographer who makes you feel completely comfortable and relaxed like Emilie... could Megan have looked more happy and peaceful?



Seriously....

Thanks for reading! KP