Author Archives: Kathleen

Inspiration: Steel Blue & Fuchsia

February 6, 2009 – 5:15 pm

This is a color palette from a wedding we photographed back in August, Elizabeth & Kevin at the New Haven Lawn Club. Click here to see our post about their day. Elizabeth selected classic tea-length bridesmaids dresses in steel blue (definitely something they could all wear again). To warm up the whole look, fuchsia was the perfect compliment to the steel blue, and created the perfect pop of color.


The gorgeous flowers were done by Jen at Fleur de Lys in New Haven. (www.fleurdelysfloral.com) The lighting and room décor were done by the incredibly talented Darin and his crew at the New Haven Lawn Club. ( www.nhlccatering.com) When you walk into the Lawn Club and see the vintage chandeliers and original fixtures, you feel like you have walked into a classic old-Hollywood mansion. And with all the flowers and lights picking up the steel blue and fuchsia color palette, there was no other word to describe the room… it was magical.

I’m loving putting together these inspiration boards! It’s so much fun to look back at some of our weddings and admire all the details and colors we’ve seen at weddings. We completely understand how much work it is to plan a wedding (we were there not too long ago ourselves). I remember one of the most amazing feelings was the first time we saw our reception room on our wedding day – to see it all together and perfect, it was incredible. That’s why I love these boards so much – a great way to give our couples a little touch of that feeling all over again.

We’d love your feedback – what do you want to see for our March board?

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Inspiration: Red Hot Holidays!

January 2, 2009 – 11:27 pm

First Regular Blog Feature: Inspiration

In the spirit of starting the New Year off fresh, I started going through old boxes and folders hoping to clean out some drawers. In the process I discovered our wedding planning box from our own wedding – dusty from lack of attention for the last year and a half (we got married in September 2007). Like I do most of the times I clean, I seized the opportunity to take a break. I sat down on the floor and looked through the contents of the box. It was filled the standard wedding planning materials – to do lists, receipts for purchases, and tons and tons of pictures I tore out of magazines for inspiration. Dress ideas, flower ideas, decoration ideas – I had pictures of every possible detail. Looking at the box, you’d think I had seen it all. Yet, even with all of those magazine pages I always see some great new idea at the weddings we working and think, gee why didn’t we think of that?

I always try to take note of all the great ideas I see (and take tons of pictures of them), to share them with my friends and family that are getting married. Then it hit me – why not share it with not only them but all of our 2009 (and 2010) brides on our blog?! So this will be a new regular feature – right now we’re aiming for once a month and hoping to do more throughout the year. Since today marks the very first one, you can expect a new one on the first Friday of every month.

So to all you blog readers – here is our first (of many, hopefully), regular features titled simply, Inspiration. They’ll all be different – some will be based on color palettes, some will be seasonal, some will convey a theme, etc. And all of the pictures will be from weddings we have personally photographed – ideas from real brides and actual weddings (mostly right here in Connecticut). We want these inspiration boards to spark ideas and conversations – so feel free to comment away….ask us questions, give us your feedback, etc.

Since the holidays are such a popular time to get engaged – we have two friends that just recently got engaged (congrats Mary & Melissa!) - we decided to start off the first inspiration board with holiday theme. The holiday season is so magical - the churches are decorated, family is gathered together, and love is just in the air. And brides can have a lot of fun with their dresses too – you can add a cape, a fur stole, or a red sash. Plus there’s the opportunity for so many great reception details – red always pops but it really comes alive against a snowy backdrop and Christmas lights can dress up your reception venue.

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A Christmas Memory

December 23, 2008 – 5:46 pm

1950s New Jersey

He walks down the street on his way home, his hands stained with dye from the fabric factory. It’s tedious work but it pays the bills. It’s worth it when he walks through the door and sees the happy faces of his wife, three little girls and two sons. The oldest has already shown her natural maternal instinct, even at such a young age. She helps with her siblings and takes excellent care of her dolls. She runs over to him. He smiles down at her, reaches into his pocket and presents her small bunch of remnant fabric. It’s not much but she knows exactly what to do with it. Since her grandmother has taught her how to sew, she knows these swatches of fabric would be perfect for her doll. The doll she named after her own middle name, the name she hopes to give her daughter someday…Kathleen.

1980s New Jersey

My parents always made Christmas special for my brothers and me. There are too many amazing memories to even begin to list them all. But this year something got me thinking about my grandfather. My mother has always said that he really set the tone for Christmas for her. He loved the holiday – loved giving gifts, having everyone all together. Some of her favorite memories are decorating the tree with her siblings on Christmas Eve, shopping with him for her younger siblings as she got older, and – yes, getting fabric from him to make clothes for her dolls. I’m not entirely sure he would do that at Christmas time, but the way my mother passed that tradition down to me during this time of year.

Like most little girls, I had a favorite doll. She was a Cabbage Patch Kid. I got her by an odd chance. The year they came out I was a little too young for them, so my mother wasn’t even paying attention to the craze that has begun over them. She was walking around a store with me in the cart and a saleswoman walked over to her. “You have a little girl,” she said. “You’re going to want one of these.” And she handed my mother one of the dolls. My mom might have put it back since I was too young, but she glanced at the doll. She had a adoption certificate in the box like all Cabbage Patch Kids. Her name was Mildred – the same name as my grandmother. My mom took it as a sign. Mildred was by my side from that point on.

I only parted with her once a year – on Christmas Eve. My mother told me that if I left her for Santa, Mrs. Claus would clean and mend her. Since I was the kind of little girl that loved making mud pies and running around in the yard (I have three older brothers – I had to keep up) - my doll was desperately in need of repair come December.

Christmas morning it was like I got a brand new doll - with neat hair, a clean face… and the very best part – a brand new outfit. The first year of this tradition, my mother and I were going to wear matching outfits for Christmas (very cute when I’m 5 – today not so much). So when I came downstairs that morning there was Mildred – dressed in the very same outfit. I was mystified – how did Mrs. Claus know? My favorite year was when my mom made a whole trunk full of new clothes for Mildred. And of course there was a matching trunk (normal size) filled with dress-up clothes for me. And they were all the same for every costume there was for me, there was a matching one for my doll.

My grandfather was there on Christmas day every time my Mom did one of those gifts. And even though he’s no longer with us, I know he’d be happy to know that the simple act of bringing home fabric swatches launched a tradition and special memories for both his daughter and granddaughter.

Merry Christmas Mom & Dad – we love you and can’t wait to see you.

Kathleen & Rob

On the left, my mother and I when I was about 4. On the right, me and my Poppy, her father.

Mildred and I in matching outfits - photography was something quite different back then, so please excuse the image quality.

Posted in Personal, Rob & Kathleen | Comments (2)

Song of Solomon - The 11 Year Old Goldfish

October 7, 2008 – 5:01 pm

We wanted to start sharing some more personal things with all of you so you can get to know us a little better. One way we thought we would do that is for both of us to share little stories that make us who we are. Here is one of Kathleen’s…

When I was 13 years old, my Uncle Ray got me a couple of goldfish for my birthday.  I had wanted one for a while.  (In my favorite books when I was younger, the Anastasia series, Anastasia had a goldfish named Frank that she used to talk to all the time.

So when we went to the pet store that day, I was so excited.  We got a 10-gallon tank, some rocks for the bottom, some little tank decorations (might have even had one of those scuba diver things that make the bubbles), and 3 fish.  I wish I could remember their names.  I would stare at that tank for hours, usually listening to Pearl Jam’s Vs., and thinking I was SO deep and introspective.  (It was the 90’s, everyone thought they were deep and introspective, or just moody.  What can I say, Angela Chase was my hero).

Needless to say, those fish didn’t last very long.   They are goldfish after all.  When they died though – I was devastated.  I got more fish after that but they were not the same.  Until Solomon.

I got Solomon in high school – about 1997, I’m not sure which.  Back then he was tiny, like your normal $.25 fish.  He grew a bit, but he never got too big.  Except for one part of him.  He has a large, strange growth on one side.  I have no idea what it is or what caused it.  It has gotten gradually bigger over time and has taken over more and more of his left side.  I have talked to pet store owners, vet techs, etc., to find out if there is anything that can be done about it.  They usually respond with something like, wait – a goldfish?  You can’t do anything for a goldfish!

So here he is – 11 years later, still plugging away.  Yes – 11 years.  He is an 11-year-old goldfish.  (Friends and family – feel free to comment to back me up on this one.)  

He lives simpler now – in a bowl instead of a tank, with just one piece of decoration – a castle that he loves to swim through.  He’s not quite as fast a swimmer anymore, but I do firmly believe that he responds to the sound of my voice.  Which makes sense - we’ve had quite a while to get to know each other.  Over the years, we have lived in at least 5 different locations. We traveled back and forth from CT to NJ (where I’m originally from) at least 6 times, with Solomon in a container on the passenger side floor of my Toyota.    

For any of you who don’t believe it’s possible for a goldfish to last this long – here he is.  I clearly couldn’t replace him because he is quite distinctive looking.  No other fish could look like this. That’s because there is no other fish like Solomon.  And there never will be.

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