Taxicab Confessions - a Brooklyn Filipino wedding at Bubby's Pie Company

There's something distinctly beautiful in the classic Yellow Taxi. And although I know that the yellow cab is not unique to NYC, it has a distinct city quality and so it was only appropriate to be the mascot for a beautiful wedding at Bubby's in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.

Bubby's is an expansive space with home cooking and amazing pies! As a regular attendee of their amazing brunch, I love the fact that the space has become a very popular wedding venue. With a loft area, it's overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, a large dance floor and long bar, it has such character and is just perfection for any special event.

The loft and long staircase was perfect for the introduction of the many sponsors and the bridal party. And the details of this wedding did not go unnoticed and the line dancing to the Todo Todo and Lets Get Loud were led by that one Filipino aunt who knows makes sure everyone is in line.

The only Filipino tradition not included this evening was the famous Money Dance but the full dance floor made the night fly by without it being noticed.

Guests were very creative with the Polaroid guestbook, taking it outside and around...


Balcony view


Rob at work


With homemade pies as dessert, J&J opted to cut a small personal cake


And the on site photo booth led to lots of frivolity




Salamat J&J for having us be witness to your celebration!

Architectual Love in Brooklyn's Smackmellon

I love Brooklyn. Actually I love the city but then again having been born and raised in Astoria, Queens that goes without saying. So I always jump at the chance to work in the city. Not that I don't love New Jersey. But the city generally offers the opportunity for interesting spaces both aesthetically and architecturally. So it was only appropriate that architects would pick the fabulous and eclectic art space that is SmackMellon. It is a raw space with huge windows overlooking the Manhattan Bridge.

Without a doubt, it is absolutely stunning. Being a raw space, though, it requires all variables to be brought into it. So I was excited when after meeting James & Vivian in the park in DUMBO they decided to use me as their coordinator. They had very particular designs of the space and even used Auto Cad to draw up seating plans and table decoration plans. With the assistance of their friends, Maggie (my assistant) and I took the raw space and made it a warm and beautiful wedding reception venue. And although there were a few hiccups along the way (lots of rain and a table and chair rental delivery that arrived 2 hours late) at the end of it all, it was absolute perfection.






The details of the day were exceptionally thought out. All the decor was bought and arranged by James, Vivian and their families. Including hand written table number/menu cards, the use of NY Skyline blocks as decoration, and individually selected wine (red and white) and Cava and Taiwan tea favors hanging from the seat backs.







I also had the opportunity of working with Jacob Pritchard of JP Wedding Photo which you can see me standing next to here as he took pictures.


He blogged about the wedding himself so please visit it to see more stunning pictures of the space and the event (and a smattering of pictures of me in the background!

But not only was the wedding itself beautiful by looks alone but also by the people in attendance. The absolute warmth and love that permeated is hard to describe. The toasts were endearing and to hear James who is clearly NOT Chinese speak perfect mandarin and give homage to Vivian's parents was heart warming. They truly evoked what marriage is about with their absolute adoration for one another. Not to mention how wonderful they looked. James in his bow tie and Vivian in her Vera Wang gown.

It was absolute bliss and I'm grateful to have been able to work for them and help to make it that way.

Cultural Display - Egypt meets the Dominican Republic at The Tobacco Warehouse

We had a totally glorious wedding not to long ago at the fabulous Tobacco Warehouse. I love when we have the opportunity to really feel a part of the wedding and with unique venues I seem to feel this so much more. Let me take this opportunity to say something about a-typical venues (i.e. non-catering facilities.) They truly allow for a very customized kind of flow. Catering facilities have their plus points as they take care of many specific details that truly can be worthwhile for many. But they have a pretty standard time line that is dictated by their serving patterns. With independent catering and a varied serving style, the vibe of the whole event can be customized to really center on what the bride and groom want to focus on. And this is a great example of it.

They started with a unique procession...

The Egyptian wedding procession is called Zeffa/Zaffa. During this the bride and groom are brought to the wedding party in the evening, led by a music band. For this procession a particular, rather slowly played rhythm is used: Dum tata tak tak dum tak tak. The drums playing this rhythm will tell you from far away, where a wedding is taking place. So from the entrance of the park to the tobacco warehouse the drummers drew the attention of guests and park goers alike. Upon arriving at the tobacco warehouse Rob mixed traditional music with the player and guests gathered to dance a welcome.

From there the party had a natural flow with cocktail hour continuing and photos taken throughout.

Guest were invited into the main tent. Dinner was served continuously family style throughout the night, a combination of cold platters and hot platters of delicious ethnic variety. Catering was provided by the amazing Roquette Catering headed by Monica who also owns Tini Wine Bar in Brooklyn and I cannot say enough of not only her wonderful food and staff! Dinner included watermelon, feta and olive salad, babab ganoush, mahummarrah, stuffed grape leaves, grilled lamb chops, chicken skewers, skirt steak bruschettta and more. Totally lip smacking delicious!

And Rob DJ'd a perfect balance of Arabic and Spanish music along with everything from 80's to funk to club. I will say that the vibe of the guests was so celebratory, the dance floor was continuous flow of activity.

And let me not fail to mention the amazing details thought up by Randy & Sherien. Everything was thought out so wonderfully. From the table cards, to the color scheme to , the belly dancer, the flamenco dance troupe and the Dominican Wedding Cake I will admit to having had 4 pieces of.

Perfection!

And now that I've shared my meager photos, let me share with you the link to the AMAZING professional photos taken by Angelica Glass. Note Rob and me in the last shot of the post. Randy & Sherien on Angelica Glass' Blog.