A preppy reader, Elizabeth, e-mailed about her summer 08 wedding in NYC. Her big concern was making their clambake reception more sophisticated. After doing a lot of research on all that clambaking entails, I saw that the "theme" of a clambake could/would make her wedding seem more like a backyard bbq. So, I took a breather and decided to approach it more like a really Gatsby-esq sophisticated, beautiful and prepptastic garden party. 
I started with thinking about how she could handle the set up. Elizabeth will be having the reception at an outdoor club, so I think two great big white tents are the way to go. One tent can be used for the clambake preparation and the bar/dancefloor and one tent can be used for seating. It's in the seating tent that you can create the sophistication and look that you crave.
I loved the thought of an afternoon wedding at a small historic chapel, with guests waiting to celebrate the couple who would be leaving in what else - an antique white rolls royce. I love the thought of ivory and green and the brides dress (a steal at $850) is so simple, yet so beautiful. I also like the though of guys in sportscoats and kakis and I love bringing green in for the bridesmaids dress (the ones pictured are by vucouture). If you wanted to make it a litte more formal, do navy suits for the guys with coordinated green ties.
And I think you should take the ivory and green and incorporate it into the rest of the wedding details:
I started with thinking about how she could handle the set up. Elizabeth will be having the reception at an outdoor club, so I think two great big white tents are the way to go. One tent can be used for the clambake preparation and the bar/dancefloor and one tent can be used for seating. It's in the seating tent that you can create the sophistication and look that you crave.
I loved the thought of an afternoon wedding at a small historic chapel, with guests waiting to celebrate the couple who would be leaving in what else - an antique white rolls royce. I love the thought of ivory and green and the brides dress (a steal at $850) is so simple, yet so beautiful. I also like the though of guys in sportscoats and kakis and I love bringing green in for the bridesmaids dress (the ones pictured are by vucouture). If you wanted to make it a litte more formal, do navy suits for the guys with coordinated green ties.
And I think you should take the ivory and green and incorporate it into the rest of the wedding details:
- A beautiful tablescape like this one pictured. White chairs, white linens, ivory hydrangeas in silver vases and hints of green through tableware.
- A simple cake in ivory that is covered in the same ivory hydrangeas with a touch of green berries.
- Have custom lobster bibs made for guests with your monogram and date
- For favors, have take home lobster crackers waiting for guests at their place setting with a little note attached with ribbon saying "We're taking a crack at marriage"
- I didn't feature an invite, but this one in honeydew really coordinates with the theme.
Good luck Elizabeth - I hope you have fun with the rest of your planning!
I also hope everyone else in blogland is as ready for their weekend as I am. As I said before, we're throwing a shower for some good couple friends. I promise some pictures for you all next week.
