The Finishing Touch — Weddings, Events, Design, Paperie

We had the pleasure of planning a bridal shower with one of our favorite wedding professionals, Vandana Taneja of Vandana Jewelry, in honor of her sister-in-law, Rajni.  The shower had to be as stylish as the gorgeous Bride-to-Be so we designed the shower to have a chic Pink & Black French Couture theme.  Everything from the hand cut invitations to the bridal shower bingo cards were custom made to evoke an atmosphere of fashion, fun, and fabulousness.

Thanks  to Vici for the fantastic food, Linens by RazaTrade, Infinity Entertainment, and David Toth Photography for capturing all of the beautiful details!

Congratulations to Rajni and Harry who were married just a few weeks ago.  We wish them a lifetime of love and happiness.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce that on Friday, November 19th, Tina Tinervia Velez succumbed to her long battle with breast cancer. As members of the Association of Bridal Consultants of NJ, The Finishing Touch had the honor of working with Tina and her family to create the wedding of her dreams. Even though she was bound to a wheelchair and weak from treatments, Tina became an advocate for breast cancer awareness and was an inspiration for many.  We are deeply saddened to hear of her loss and we wish her husband Paul, daughter Ashley, and her family all the best during this difficult time. Today we take a look back at her beautiful wedding and reflect on all of the happiness and joy that day brought to Tina and Paul.

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We first learned about Tina through Erik Kent of NJ Wedding.com who had read about Tina on her sister’s blog, ‘Tina’s Elevator:Chronicle of a Strong Woman’s Up and Downs.” Tina was first diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2006. Just two years after she beat it, she was re-diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in September 2008. In late January 2010, a PET Scan showed that the cancer in Tina’s organs (liver, lungs, chest nodules) had shrunk. Unfortunately, the cancer in her bones has spread. Through all of the ups and downs, Tina knew one thing for certain…that she wanted to marry Paul, the man who had been with her through it all.

When we learned about Tina’s wish to have a wedding, we knew right away that we wanted to help make her dream come true ~ but we would of course need a little help from some of our friends! As State Coordinator of the New Jersey branch of the Association of Bridal Consultants, Candice teamed up with some fellow ABC members to create an amazing wedding day for Tina and Paul.

One of Tina and Paul’s wishes was that they be able to be married outside in nature.  On June 26th, Tina and Paul got their wish as family and friends gathered at Monmouth Battlefield State Park in Manalapan to witness their marriage. Tina looked beautiful as she was carried down the aisle by the groomsmen on a magnificent doli. With the ceremony led by Officiant Julie Laudicina, Tina and Paul exchanged their memorable vows.

After the ceremony, guests headed to The Excelsior in Manalapan for the reception. Cocktail hour music was provided by Elegant Ensembles, and set the tone for the evening of celebration. Everyone was then brought into the ballroom, where they experienced the beautiful decor that was created for Tina and Paul by the many generous ABC NJ members. All of the amazing floral arrangements were done by Robin Rohsler of Rohsler’s Allendale Nursery and Florist. Lighting design was provided by Dynamite FX- and they chose the perfect lighting to really bring out all of the decor. The linens were provided by Select Event Rentals, which also helped to accentuate the color scheme of the wedding. Along with planning services, the Finishing Touch also provided day of stationery for Tina and Paul including escort cards, table numbers, and signature drink signs.

Tina, Paul and their nearly 160 guests danced until the very end to music provided by Craig Scott Entertainment.  Timothy Glenn Photographers and Multi-Vision, were there from start to finish to capture all of the beautiful and emotional moments throughout the day.

We were touched to see how happy Tina and Paul were – with many photos showing their glowing smiles. It was an amazing, emotional, and powerful day for everyone in attendance- but for Tina and Paul it was a dream come true. We were so happy to have been able to be a part of their special day.

Special Thanks Again to ALL of the very generous vendors who contributed to their day:

-Paper Works & Events of Englewood, paperworksandevents.com –invitations

-Officiant Julie Laudicina of Staten Island, New York, julielaudicina.com – ceremony.

-Elegant Ensembles of Closter, elegantensembles.com –ceremony and cocktail hour music.

-Magda’s Designs, Inc. of Bloomfield, magdadesignsbeauty.net– hair and make-up.

-Craig Scott Entertainment of Rochelle Park, craigscott.com – reception music.

-Dynamite FX of West Berlin, dynamitefx.com– lighting.

-Ocean Tents & Party Rentals of Manahawkin, oceantents.com – chair covers

-Confectionary Designs of Bogota, confectionarydesigns.com –groom’s cake.

-Select Event Rentals of Pennsauken, weparty.com – linens.

-Timothy Glenn Photographers of Ridgewood, timothyglennphoto.com –photography.

-Multi-Vision of Paramus, gomultivision.com– videography.

-Rohsler’s Allendale Nursery & Florist in Allendale, rohslers.com –flowers.

-Mariya Molduvanova – wedding day coordination.

-Dawn Carter -Taylor Nicole Events -taylornicoleevents.com- wedding day coordination.

-Christine Hyder- Christine Hyder Events-  christinehyderevents.com - wedding day coordination.

-Kathi Evans- All the Best Celebrations – atbcelebrations.com – wedding planning

-Bride Ideas of West Orange, RhondaWeddings.com – public relations.

The Finishing Touch recently had the privilege of planning and designing a ‘Fairy Tale’ themed baby shower for our couple Ailyn & Janine. We had a great time working with this awesome couple who are expecting a baby boy. For their invitations, we designed a custom fairy tale story book that featured a small verse along with all of the details of their day.

The shower was held on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Maritime Parc in Jersey City. The ceiling was decorated with ice blue and white paper lanterns in various sizes and the ledges featured various vintage glass jars, votives and flowers. As guests arrived, they were greeted by a tall Manzanita branch arrangement that was adorned with hanging candles, mason jars, and flowers as well as their seating cards. Drinks were also offered to the mingling guests which featured ‘Maritime Punch’ and other mocktails. In place of a sign in book, guests were asked to write their well wishes for the new baby inside the covers of a story book.

Guests were seated at their tables which were labeled as chapters of a storybook such as ‘Once Upon A Time’, ‘The Baby Bump’, ‘Happily Ever After’ and more. Tables were draped with light blue and chocolate brown linens featuring leather bound storybooks, glass cylinders decorated with a paper overlay of vintage children’s book illustrations and accented with arrangements of hydrangeas and wildflowers. At each setting was a custom menu which showcased each course that was to be served.

After dining, the guests showered Ailyn & Janine with many gifts for their new baby boy. Instead of a wishing well, guests were asked to bring a storybook for the baby and they placed them in an antique book shelf located near the gift table. After opening gifts and playing some Baby Bingo, it was time for cake!

Confectionary Designs did an incredible job creating a custom ‘Fairy Tale’ cake for Ailyn and Janine. The cake was designed as three stacked storybooks decorated with figurines made out of gumpaste -they even incorporated a Yorkie figurine to represent the couple’s pet! Not only was the cake beautiful but it was delicious as well! For favors, guests received Vintage Moon bookmarks wrapped in white and blue as well as a keepsake photo of each guest with Ailyn in front of the NYC skyline. Special thanks to Melissa Calrow from Photography by Melissa for capturing all of these fabulous details!

We had a great time creating this Fairy Tale shower and we wish Ailyn, Janine and their new baby a very happily ever after!

Check out this slideshow that our friends at Confectionary Designs created about the event!

Looking for a great favor for a bachelorette party or shower? Or how about a unique way to ask your friends to join your bridal party? Well the TFT Girls absolutely love this week’s fab find for just that!

Bubbles and Beauties create custom bath bombs that look and even smell like cupcakes! These chic ‘guilt-free cupcakes’ are an awesome twist for a fab favor that everyone will love. They offer over 25 flavors to choose from such as Berry Cheeky, Pepper My Mint, Choc of the Town, Strawberry Fields and more. After choosing your favorite flavor, customize each one for your special occasion with a saying such as “Will you be my Maid of Honor?” or “Jamie’s Bridal Shower”. These are the perfect favors to unwind and enjoy an after party soak!

Read more about Bubbles and Beauties custom bath treats here.

Attention Brides – Attend a swanky cocktail party just for you on Thursday, Dec. 2nd!

Come to the Bride Chic Cocktail Party at the Woman’s Club of Ridgewood on December 2nd from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The evening will feature hors d’oeuvres, champagne, wine pairings, cake decorating and more. Be sure to visit the spa within the event where celebrity make up artist Olga Shikhris will be demonstrating modern bridal looks. Tickets start at only $10 and all proceeds will benefit Wish Upon A Wedding New Jersey.

Wish Upon a Wedding is the world’s first nonprofit wish granting organization that provides weddings and vow renewals for couples facing terminal illness or other serious life-altering circumstances. Less than one year old, the organization has 16 active chapters, and will have granted 12 wishes by the end of 2010. Whether you are a bride or groom to be, a wedding industry professional, or you simply love the concept behind their mission… YOU can help make Wedding Wishes come true, while raising crucial funding needed to sustain this wonderful, new nonprofit organization. Order your tickets for this great event today!

Where: Woman’s Club of Ridgewood- 215 W.Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450

When: Thursday, December 2nd 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Click here to purchase tickets for this event -tickets are limited!

And be sure to visit our Facebook page for more information.

Congratulations to our couple Rebecca and John who welcomed a new addition to their family! Jacob John was born on October 29th weighing in at 7lbs 4oz.

Today we take a look back on their “Match Made in Heaven” themed wedding.

We wish them all the best with their new ‘little piece of heaven’!

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This past Spring we planned and coordinated a wedding for our couple, Rebecca and John.  In addition to the planning, our Event Design division designed the event’s decor and stationery to reflect the couple’s ”Match Made in Heaven” theme.

Rebecca loves the color blue and has always loved anything with a cloud pattern.  They also met through a Young Adult group at their church so a Heaven theme was perfect for them.

The wedding was held on May 18th with the ceremony at Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church in Garfield, NJ and the reception at The Knoll Country Club – East in Parsippany, NJ. The Knoll Country Club did a fantastic job and accommodated all of the couple’s unique requests including serving blue champagne at the cocktail hour and at the tables for the toast!  The couple also had a special blue cocktail called the “Blisstini” which had a custom feather trimmed coaster.

For the guest book, Rebecca and John used a photo booth from Party Booths.  Guests took pictures in the booth with props like feather boas and sunglasses.  The pictures were then pasted into the guest book and guests wrote messages to the couple.

The table centerpieces from Santos Florist were blue and white hydrangea with crystal accents that  were lit up from the bottom to represent clouds floating in a blue sky. Custom crystal branch centerpieces from our Event Design division were also lit up from the bottom and placed on either side of the sweetheart table. Each table was named for the theme – Blue Sky, Heaven, Angel, etc.

The tables had Kate Aspen “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” favors on them.  To personalize these, the “Something Old” box contained an old photo of them, “Something New” box contained wildflower seeds to grow something new, “Something Borrowed” box contained a lucky penny, and the “Something Blue” box contained a blue notepad that had “Thank You, Love Rebecca & John” written on it.  Each box contained a poem that explained what was in each box.

The Parisienne (dessert) table was held in the tent, which was illuminated in blue.  They had a signature coffee cocktail called the “Capodicino” as a play on the couple’s last name which was sugar rimmed, set on fire, and topped with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. At the end of the evening, guests were treated to a Candy Bar aptly named “Sugar Heaven” complete with blue cotton candy.

The takeaway favors were Sun Catcher/Car Air Fresheners that matched the wedding perfectly, they had a cloud on them with all blue and white crystals hanging down.  The tags on the favors read “Safe and Happy Travels.”

It was definitely a “heavenly” event. We wish them all the best!

Photographs by Infinity Photography

We can’t believe it was a year ago this week that Meghan and Keith were married on a beautiful autumn day in Hoboken! We all wish them a very Happy 1st Anniversary!

Check out this blog about their classic autumn wedding in the home of “Mickey Blue Eyes”!

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One of our favorite couples, Meghan and Keith, wed on 11.7.09 at the trendy W Hoboken. Both marathon runners, it only made sense for them to send out their save the dates with a picture of them in their running gear, tying their shoes and stating ‘Guess who’s tying the knot!’ written below. Meghan, who’s spreadsheets almost outdid ours, and Keith were a very organized and decisive couple throughout the planning process.

One of our favorite hotels, the new W Hoboken played host to the wedding on this crisp fall day. Meghan and her bridesmaids had hair and makeup done at their hotel room which provided an absolute stunning view of the NYC skyline. Playing homage to their Irish backgrounds, bagpipers led the way as Meghan and her girls, dressed in beautiful champagne dresses, walked from the hotel to St. Peter & Paul’s church a few blocks away. Always something that excites a bride, cars honked and walkers yelled their best wishes as we passed by.

As we know there can always be things that happen that are out of our control no matter how much preparation takes place.  In Meghan and Keith’s case all enjoyed a laugh as Keith tripped over Meghan’s veil just as she arrived at the alter, removing it for the remainder of the ceremony. Father Frank joked that ‘if this was the worst thing that would happen in their marriage, they were golden!’. A beautiful ceremony led by Father Frank whom had guided the couple throughout pre-Cana, provided touching & humorous stories of the couple. Once declared husband & wife, everyone was led to the W Hoboken by the bagpipers.

Cocktail hour was held on the second floor and offered an array of passed hors d’oeuvres and food stations such as Mac & Cheese balls, sliders, an Asian wok station. Along the ledges, the couple provided old photos of past family weddings, as well as a slideshow that played on the W’s built in plasma TV. Detailed touches consisted of the cream and brown scroll place cards to match their invitations as well as custom table numbers, provided by The Finishing Touch.

The ballroom was adorned with crisp white linen, brown chivari chairs and deep red & orange centerpieces. Craig Scott Entertainment provided the 8-piece band, Escapade, along with a Frank Sinatra impersonator. Keith and Meghan danced their first dance to ‘Better Together’ by Jack Johnson.  To pay respects to the great Frank Sinatra,  Meghan and her father danced to ‘The Way you Look Tonight’ sung by the Band’s extraordinary Sinatra singer.

The cake, provided by the now famous Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, was cut and guests were also treated to a cigar roller (what Hoboken wedding would be complete without offering Sinatra’s signature: a cigar) as well as The Finishing Touch providing a delicious candy bar stocked with the couple’s favorite candies. Guests couldn’t get enough of the chocolate-covered pretzels, Twizzlers and Swedish fish, claiming they were filling a second bag ‘for their spouse’.

All in all, the day turned out to be an absolute gorgeous and successful wedding day for our beautiful couple, Meghan & Keith. It is always bittersweet for us when the wedding night comes to a close, but we know we will always be in touch as we hope they will share their honeymoon, new home and possible baby news with us in the future.

Many thanks to the fantastic vendors we worked alongside of:

W Hoboken – A special thank you to Vivian & Brad who took care of our every need and made the planning process & day-of a breeze!

St. Peter & Paul Church & Monsignor Frank

Shrewsbury Quartet

Craig Scott Entertainment

Jan Press Photography

Gardens Bloom Florist

Hoboken Premium Cigars

Check out our couple Nicole and Chris on the cover of the Times Beacon’s Fall Bridal Guide! The couple’s wedding day was also featured in an article which discusses all of the fabulous details of their ceremony aboard New Jersey’s oldest tall ship, the A.J. Meerwald.

What an amazing photo of such an amazing couple!

Click here to read all about their beautiful wedding on Long Beach Island!!

Check out this awesome video of Amy and Mo’s wedding that was shot by Art Guglielmo of Northeast Horizons. The couple chose to have this same day edit to share with all of their family and friends during their reception.

To watch the video of their beautiful day, click here.

Click here to read more about Amy and Mo’s fabulous wedding!