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Rochester NY Oak Hill Wedding

Published on January 16, 2018January 27, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

This wedding started and ended at Oak Hill in Rochester NY and was gorgeous from start to finish. From the big to little details, it was all there. Add in that it was the first wedding of the season for us… perfection.

Lets start with the gorgeous and move from there…. The veil and dress gaaaahhhhh.

Photo Credit: Natalie Sinisgalli Photography

You can see the full effect here when she was going to do a first look with her father. Huge props to Natalie for this shot. It is one of my favorites.

Ahhh the anticipation… I love a first look!

The wedding ceremony was held at Linehan Chapel, beautiful inside and out!

The details for this wedding were to die for… The head table had napkins that were embroadiered with their initials. Such a great idea, as they can take them home and use again for all the future family dinner parties.

Champagne makes people happy, champagne bars… even happier.

Doesn’t get much more regal and romatic as this!

Desert by the amazing, five of each please. The Groom went to Villinova, so Scratch came up with this dessert display as the grooms cake.

Orient Express kept everyone moving all night long, including the bride and groom who pretty much didn’t leave the dance floor all night.

Late night snacks finished the night off.

Seriously there was not a detail that wasn’t addressed. Such a fun day, great weather, great company and above all an amazing couple.

Rochester NY Birthday Party – Movie Themed

Published on February 26, 2015January 23, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

About a month and a half ago I started to try to plan my oldest daughters (BG3) seventh birthday party. I don’t know what goes on in everyone else’s house hold but my kids start planning their birthday parties 364 days out, and it changes 364 times. So I never know what to expect when I ask them what they want.

She wanted a movie themed birthday party. I was like… AMAZING… we can do it AT the movie theatre.

NOPE…

BG3- “But Mom if we do it at the movie theatre I can’t have an ice cream sundae bar! You can just set up a movie theatre in the basement and Grandma can make a movie theatre themed cake”

Well she just had it all figured out for me.

It was actually pretty awesome to design a party for one of my girls that didn’t have any pink in it. What was even more awesome was that it was Oscar night the day after the party, so all the decorations in Target were Oscar/Movie themed. So I took some of those, added a few more things, repurposed a few and voila, movie themed birthday party.

Oh and how cute are the marquee letters, Michaels for the win.

As you can see we had a plethora of pillows and blankets for the kids to watch the movie (Despicable Me 2). Once the craziness of the food, cake and presents was over I was able to sit back and just listen to them laugh hysterically at the movie. A pretty great #mommoment.

My mother in law was able to pull off an amazing cake, all the kids were so excited that there was pop corn on the cake. One actually complained when his piece didn’t have any on it (we were scraping it off because we figured they wouldn’t want it).

Also for dessert we had the infamous ice cream sundae bar.

Each of the kids was able to take home a box of candy from the “Concession Stand” a pop corn container (thanks to the $1 section at Target) and a “Hollywood Walk of Fame” handprint.

When the party is over, all the kids have gone home and your oldest daughter thanks you for such a “really awesome party Mom”, there is nothing greater.

Boston MA Event – Signature Drinks at #partyattheharrisco

Published on December 18, 2014January 23, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

My sister-in-law and brother have a pretty amazing gig going on in Boston. They take pictures and video of some of the most gorgeous people and they love their job. They decided to do a brand launch for The Harris Company their newly combined company. The party went off without a hitch. Food was delicious and the signature drinks were on point.

So on to the signature drinks.

I wanted two choices, because two is always better than one. Plus since this was in November, they also needed to be fall drinks, rich colors and flavors. Makayla and David like gin and tonic, so I wanted to do a play on that. We named them “The Selfie” and “The Mugshot”, aren’t we clever….

Cinnamon is a great flavor especially for the fall, and prosecco is just more delicious than tonic. After a cursory google search I found this Cinnamon and Pear Fizz . The simple syrup and pear puree were made the night before, leaving the cinnamon stick in but removing the rosemary, to give the simple syrup that much more cinnamon flavor. That way the next day the everything just needed to be combined, quick and easy.

Next was a whiskey drink. Nothing says warm and cozy like whiskey. Also I love ginger, and apparently so does everyone else because Moscow Mules are so popular right now. I did a slightly modified version of a “Horses Neck”.

1.5 oz Jameson
2 shakes of bitters
Top with ginger beer and a twist of lemon

Cheers!

Buffalo NY Event -“The Swing” Book Launch

Published on December 4, 2014January 23, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

When Heather first called me to help her out with the launch of the her new book “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson, which she illustrated I was beyond thrilled. Firstly because she is amazingly talented and seeing her success is extremely exciting, and secondly I LOVE this book.

The venue was the Roycroft Power House and it was perfect to display her work. This space is awesome, wide open, lots of room to mingle and tons of light. My sister in law the photographer would go gaga (if she did that) over this space. These black art displays were on either side of the room so Heather was able to display the books artwork.

As “The Swing” is a children’s book, there were kids crafts designed by yours truly and an entire kids corner where kids could craft, draw or read, while their parents socialized, ate and waited in line to get their book signed. These really cute book marks that the kids could decorate were designed to look like Bean the dog from “The Swing”.

There was a line of people waiting to have their new book signed from the time we started until we left. We set up a display to showcase her work so guest could see the progression of Heather’s work. I picked up the old ladders, used some twine, and some spray paint. Viola…. art display. How cute are the little swing details?! As you can see Heather is pretty awesome and donated 50% of the proceeds that day to

Of course there was food, and per usual my mother-in-law did an incredible job with the dessert. How cute are these dog cookies. Just like the kids craft they also match the dog Bean from the book. She is one talented lady.

If you are interested in buy the book you can get it through Amazon.com .

Finger Lakes Wedding – It’s in the details

Published on July 30, 2014March 21, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

You want your special occasions to be just that… yours. When your guests come to your event you want them to see personal touches that show your likes and style. The best part is that it doesn’t take much to make your event special.

Here in Rochester and Finger Lake area we have a lot of voracious sports fans. Adding the Buffalo Bills theme song to the wedding song list is almost a must around here. Syracuse Orangemen garters and themed favors also add just enough sports theme without overwhelming the entire wedding or event.

It can be as easy as adding a quote from your wedding song as part of the décor.

(photo credit Janelle Rodriguez Photography)

The bride and grooms initials in a central position.

(photo credit Janelle Rodriguez Photography)

Or some adorable foot wear and chair decor.
(photo credit Janelle Rodriguez Photography)

(photo credit Janelle Rodriguez Photography)

Unique personal touches like these help make your event personal, not generic, and your special event memorable, for you, yourself and your guests.

Finger Lakes Wedding – Banging Entertainment

Published on July 21, 2014July 1, 2015 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

Entertainment for your guests is a must have. While a DJ or band used to be the go to and still is, other forms of entertainment add to the uniqueness of your event. The past couple of years the photo booth has been extremely popular, but my new favorite especially for the summer months is fireworks.

They are romantic, highly entertaining and who doesn’t love a light show?! Here in Upstate New Yoke we have Majestic Fireworks which services, Syracuse, the Finger Lakes and Rochester. What is awesome about Majestic Fireworks is that they do it all for you. All you have to do is tell them what you want and they communicate with your venue, set up licensing and set off the fireworks, making it so you can enjoy your event. Check out their display from a couple of weeks ago!