The Finishing Touch — Weddings, Events, Design, Paperie

Our very own Candice Benson, MBC™ is featured in the first brand new issue of Wedding Planner Magazine! Candice was interviewed for this ‘Master Profile’ section of the magazine where she shares some of her thoughts on items such as 2011 trends, goals and inspirations.

Check out this great article and learn all about Candice and how The Finishing Touch came about!

Join us on Sunday, April 3, 2011 for a Deborah Lynch Country Club Bride and Groom Wedding Showcase! Walk through exquisitely themed rooms in the mansion of Jasna Polana where their preferred professional vendors will showcase their products and services. This is an especially exciting opportunity as this will be the first time Jasna Polana will open its doors to non-members to host the country’s most memorable weddings and events. The Finishing Touch is honored to be a part of this amazing event as a preferred professional. Meet with top designers Jean Ralph Thurin and Project Runway’s Malan Breton , cake designer Sylvia Weinstock, and of course The Finishing Touch!

Register today to be a part of a new experience in Bridal shows and meet the top professionals that will make saying YES flawless.

Date:    April 3, 2011
Time:    11:00AM – 4:00PM
Venue:    Jasna Polana Country Club
RT 206 to Province Line Road (entrance)
Princeton, New Jersey 08540

Cost:    $35.00 -Includes admission for you and your guest as well as a fabulous gift bag featuring the first issue of the Preferred Professional Network Book YES and plenty of must haves.

Click here for more information and to register!

Join us next Wednesday, March 20, 2011 at the Metropolitan Pavilion for the New York Weddings Event!

There’s so much you have to think about to ensure your special day is extraordinary—why not find a way to make it easier? The New York Weddings Event does the legwork for you, bringing together the most creative and stylish wedding service providers for one incredible evening.

As you sip cocktails and stroll through the Metropolitan Pavilion, you’ll discover the city’s top jewelers, caterers, photographers, bridal fashion designers, venue liaisons, planners, and much more. It’s the most exciting wedding event of the year!

Recently, TFT hosted ‘Cocktails & Couture’, our annual client party for our current, past and future clients. We had such a blast with all of our guests and vendor friends that we had to share all of the amazing details!

The night kicked off at our new office in Millburn, where our guests were greeted with some champagne as they took a tour of the new space.  Once everyone was ready (and the champagne was gone!) we all headed around the corner to Exquisite Bride for an evening of
Cocktails & Couture!

Guests walked the red carpet as they entered the room which featured some fab furniture, compliments of Jersey Street Furniture Rentals. The rooms were adorned with fun floral pieces created by Floral Sentiments. Kevin of Platinum Entertainment, our ‘resident’ DJ and emcee, set the tone with some chart topping tracks.

Our bartender for the evening was Brandon from Flair Everything and he definitely added tons of flair. He served up some delicious signature drinks such as the TFTini, Blushing Bride and Diamonds are Forever. Everyone enjoyed watching him create the drinks just as much as they enjoyed drinking them!

Martini Bistro created some delicious fare for our guests to enjoy along with their cocktails -the spinach turkey wrap was a big hit! And for dessert? Extremely yummy and beautiful cupcakes and cookies from A Cake Dream! Check out these incredible red velvet and cream cheese cupcakes.

All of our guests mingled and had the chance to walk through the rooms of Exquisite Bride to see all of the stunning couture gowns and accessories. Exquisite’s designer shoes were on display as well which all the ladies in attendance had to check out! Bardot Lingerie also showcased a few of their sexy pieces from one of their collections.

Guests also had the chance to meet with Magda of Magda’s Designs for a free make up consultation! Also on hand was Kristina of Plumes in Bloom who creates gorgeous hair accessories. The whole TFT team rocked some of her hot designs – these are a must have- stay tuned for our Fab Find feature on them!

During the evening, we also held our ‘Newly-to-be-Wed’ Game, where engaged couples played for a chance to win an amazing wedding prize package. Our contestants did a great job answering questions about wedding facts, etiquette, celebrity weddings, fashion and more. After a few exciting rounds of competition, the final round was neck and neck and it went to ‘sudden death’!

Our grand prize winner was Jessica (pictured on left below with a shocked reaction!) who won planning services, an engagement photo session, musicians for cocktail hour, DJ entertainment for her reception, wedding day make up and hair, custom hair accessory, a cathedral length veil, and a sexy lingerie set! It was such a close game that our second place winner, Kristina, (pictured below on right) also took home a beautiful cathedral length veil.

There were lots of other fun raffle prizes such as dinner and an overnight stay at the Westminster Hotel in Livingston, handmade jewelry by Vandana, Vosges Chocolate gift box, family portrait session, custom art cookie certificate and more! Everyone in attendance received a fabulous gift bag filled with items from all of our sponsors as well as treats from Chocolate Bacio, W Hoboken, Creative Custom Card Boxes, and more! Each of our guests also made time for some fun photos to take home with them in our photo booth provided by Party Perfect Rentals.

It was an amazing evening and we are already looking forward to next year’s client party!

Thank you to ALL of our fabulous vendors and sponsors for this event-

The Studio Photographers
Exquisite Bride
Platinum Entertainment
Cinematics
A Cake Dream
Flair Everything
Jersey Street Furniture Rentals
Floral Sentiments
Bardot Lingerie
Magda’s Designs
Plumes in Bloom
Martini Bistro
Westminster Hotel
Party Perfect Rentals
Vandana Jewelry
Chocolate Bacio
W Hoboken
Vosges Chocolate
Creative Custom Card Boxes
Party Rental Ltd.
(201) Bride

With Love and Style,

The TFT Girls

Couture fashion designer Monique Lhuillier has been creating gorgeous, show-stopping gowns for over a decade. She has been a celebrity favorite (as well as one of ours!) for the red carpet as well as the aisle for stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow and Drew Barrymore.

Recently she launched two new lines of Bridesmaid gowns -
Monique Lhuillier Bridesmaids and ML Monique Lhuillier!

The best part about these collections? How affordable they are!

Monique Lhuillier Bridesmaids (seen above) will retail starting at $300 and the collection can be found in bridal salons across the nation.

The ML Monique Lhuillier Collection will be available at Nordstrom and all gowns are under $200!

We love that bridesmaids can be on a budget and still be in high fashion for your wedding day!

Here are some of our faves from the ML Monique Lhuillier Collection~

Are you engaged and starting your planning process but don’t know where to begin?

Hosting a theme party at home and looking for some creative ideas?

Or maybe throwing a fabulous surprise party for your parents and need some inspiration?

Well we want to help!

Starting next week the TFT gals will be answering your questions in a weekly post,            TipsTricksTrends with TFT!

We will be taking your questions all week long and every Wednesday the team at TFT will share our thoughts.

Simply submit your questions to info@thefinishingtouchevents.com or send us a message on Facebook or Twitter!

So whether you are unsure about wedding etiquette or having a Louboutin vs. Choo debate send your questions our way!

Are you following us on Facebook and Twitter?

Be sure to follow us at The Finishing Touch and @TFT_Events!

Calling all Wedding Professionals! You are invited to tour and enjoy the newest and most prestigious venue in New Jersey, The Ashford Estate located in Allentown, NJ on Wednesday, March 23rd. Enjoy some passed hors d’oeuvres, dinner and dessert and meet with other wedding industry professionals. That’s not all!  Alan Berg, VP of TheKnot Market Intelligence, will serve as Guest Speaker to discuss various topics to help your wedding business thrive! This is an amazing opportunity any wedding professional will not want to miss!

Registration Is Open to Wedding Industry Professionals:

Where: The Ashford Estate

When: Wednesday, March 23rd 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM

$35 for ABC Members / $45 for Non-Members

To Register Click Here!

Special Thanks to our vendors: Main Street Fine Catering, Party Rental LTD, Shop Rite Liquors Pennington and Weddings of Distinction.

We had a great time planning and designing Sophia’s 1st Birthday bash! This little gal was such a sweetie – so naturally we went with a super fun candy and sweets theme!

Held at The Woman’s Club of Ridgewood, we had a blast designing the room with the pink, brown and white decor consisting of candy, flowers, balloons and more!

Check out some photos from this sugary sweet celebration -

Special thanks to our good friend David Toth for these fabulous shots!

Our beautiful bride-to-be Rosemarie has been doing a fabulous job as (201) Bride’s ‘Bride Blogger’! She has been blogging about her progress and keeping everyone up to date on all of the details for her June 2012 wedding. We are so excited to be working alongside Rosemarie and her fiance Robert in planning and designing their big day! In her latest blog, she discusses her amazing engagement party held at the Palisadium that we had the pleasure of putting together. Read below for more about this enchanting engagement bash and be sure to keep up with Rosemarie on (201) Bride!

Click here for Rosemarie’s latest blog post!

We love pre-wedding parties!  They give the couple a chance to celebrate with family and friends without the formalities of the wedding day.  They also give the couple an opportunity to express themselves and do something unique and fun.  That’s why we were thrilled when our couple, Rosemarie and Robert, asked us to help them plan and design an all out engagement bash at the Palisadium in Palisades Park, NJ.

The couple wanted something romantic and fun with lots of sparkle.  To compliment the breathtaking NYC skyline views from the Palisadium’s wrap around windows, we created a romantic Victorian inspired event with a modern City Chic twist.

The event was announced with custom designed invitations from our Paperie team.  Silver embossed pockets were embellished with handmade crystal chiffon paper, black velvet ribbon, and gorgeous rhinestone vintage buttons.

We designed four coordinating table designs in pink, black, and silver with crystal and rhinestone accents.  Incredible flowers displayed throughout the room were provided by Santos Florist.  Our friends at Confectionary Designs outdid themselves with an absolutely gorgeous 4-tier cake with sugar pearl accents and custom heart cookie favors that complimented the donation made to the American Heart Association.

We congratulate this beautiful couple on their engagement and look forward to their wedding in June 2012!

Thank you to our incredible vendor team for making this a night to remember:

Venue:  The Palisadium

Dress:  Terani Couture gown from Brielle’s Boutique

Flowers:  Santos Florist

Music and Lighting:  DJ Express

Cake and Heart Cookies:  Confectionary Designs

Photos:  Anthony Rudick Photography and Mariya Molduvanova

Special thanks to Association of Bridal Consultants members, Agnieshka Burke and Mariya Molduvanova, for all of their fantastic help setting up that day.

Having Soroya and The Finishing Touch handle my daughter’s wedding was the best decision we could have made. Soroya attended to every concern. On the day of the wedding, everything went smoothly thanks to Soroya and Stephanie. I would certainly recommend her and The Finishing Touch to friends and family.