In my book, Mother’s Day should be “everyday”! Even though we honor and dedicate a significant day in May with gifting, breakfast in bed, brunch, spa gift certificates, manis-pedis, special dinners out and tons of love, is it ever enough? As we all know, being a mother is a 24/7 role. My motto is "once a mom always a mom". And I don’t know many moms who don’t answer the call of duty when their child, be them wee-little ones or grown-up ones, need them for “anything”. Photography: Coral Dove Studios As a wedding planner, I am privileged to witness moms as they show up to support their children in their milestone step of marriage. I meet some at the start of our work, and others the day before the wedding at the rehearsal, depending on how our couples chose to involve their parents in the process. Regardless of when or how, there is one common observation and that is that each-and-every mom will go to any length to make sure that the wedding day is a perfect as possible and that their child’s dreams are met. They are selfless in their pursuit to please their children and to insure their happiness. Photography: Top row, left to right: Tracy Jade Photography (2), Coral Dove Studios and Olya Vysotskaya Photography Bottom row, left to right: Brian David Photography, Forged in the North and Olya Vysotskaya Photography I recall as I planned my wedding, my mother’s quest was to help me navigate what this day would evolve into. I was so fortunate that she took my lead (despite how controlling she could be) while guiding me with insight and practicality. This was long before couples had planners and in hindsight, I realized she gave me my first instruction in Wedding Planning 101. When we were shopping for my wedding gown, and on our 4th visit to shops, I saw her smile before I looked at myself in the mirror and I knew immediately that this was the gown I would wear on my day. She just got me and I’ll admit, 99% of the time she was right. I still appreciate that she always let me arrive in my own time without insisting her way was the only way. I did eventually learn that her way often saved me many steps. ![]() Yet, moms also have “their” things when it comes to what’s important on day-of. My mom was obsessed with the caterer and making sure that the food and service was on pointe. She took great pride in being the “Queen of the Kitchen” so it makes sense that this would be her mission control on our day. For some reason (which I chose to forget), she was obsessed with the harvest table. At the start of cocktails she pulled me aside, infuriated about some detail that was overlooked. I was too relaxed and too happy to care about her plight. It would have been the perfect time to have a planner step in to defuse my mother’s rage, so I just had to walk away and let her get over it. Side note: On a wedding day, the rule and still is, the bride gets to do whatever she wants. ![]() After cocktails were over and my mom calmed herself down, I recall that her joy was first and foremost centered around my joy and the ease I felt as a new bride in my cotton damask gown (which she starched and ironed to perfection the morning-of). She also lit up to see how beautiful the oak paneled dining room looked dressed for dinner, how the early fall gardens glistened gold on a sunny October day. After her gin and tonic and sitting to a perfectly cooked and presented dinner, she was ready to enjoy her night and not worry about mine. I recall seeing her dance with my brother as if she was dancing on a cloud with the brightest smile ever. And as the night went on, being with, laughing and talking to her lifelong girlfriends as if they were teenagers having a blissful night out on the town. She worked the room in totality and made sure that she had time with everyone. She LOVED people and she always took time to connect. She was for sure a social butterfly. On my wedding day and while witnessing my clients with their mothers on their wedding days, I am invariably moved to tears by the power of “mothering”. They are no greater bonds as there are with mothers, their sons or their daughters and, on a day, as special as this one, it shines so magnificently bright. Photography: Top row, left to right: Autumn Jordan Photography (2) and Brian David Photography Bottom row, left to right: Joshua Brown Photography (2) and Jessie Casey Photography I realized once I became a mother, and after I lost my mother, how much we take for granted when it comes to our mothers. Moms are so often called to duty, and most do it with sheer love and dedication, an endearing smile, letting you believe that perhaps they were put on this earth to serve only you at your whim. I know my mother did. She never denied me anytime I needed her and she often anticipated my needs before I even knew what they were. Never a complaint. Yet how often does a mother get to feel as if she is free to just be the woman she once knew when she had no responsibilities to anyone but herself, the freedom to do whatever makes her happy at any given moment? I think now, not nearly enough. Photography: Left to right: Adam Okimatsu Photography, Jessie Casey Photography and Tracy Jade Photography ![]() On this Mother’s Day and throughout the year, my hope is that ALL mothers can experience the appreciation and love that they so deeply deserve from their families and that they feel empowered to serve themselves as much as they serve others. I will be forever grateful to my mom for all she did to ensure my happiness in life. And for her unconditional love from the day we first set eyes upon each other to the day her eyes closed. I am forever grateful to my Amelia, who makes me feel like every day is Mother’s Day. Her sweet gratitude, love and kindness is a daily constant as I try my best to be as good a mom to her as my mom was to me. I am so proud to be hers. Cheers to all the magnificent mothers in the world, now and forever!
XOXO Paula
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As I patiently wait for spring to spring, I force some paper white bulbs and enjoy the sweet fragrance and winter whites. These quieter months allow a clear space for processing and closure as I make room for the new events and tracking forward. I find it deeply gratifying and introspective work that not only feeds my soul but energizes me with a renewed focus. Reflecting on how we performed last year and how I felt about the many parts and the bigger picture is the final piece to my planning puzzle. We learn so much in looking back. And even with new lessons learned and implementation of new processes, there is so much that is a constant and a reinforcement of my good intentions and purposeful planning. Pausing to take in the fullness and richness of these most recent celebrations and those folks we spent time with to get there is so powerful and rewarding. This final viewing feels a bit like a firework show for me. I just love fireworks! With less demands, my focus in January (despite already having already completed our 1st wedding of the year), has been in culling through the many photo galleries for feature picks, updating our website, planning marketing strategies for social and email outreach, debriefing with our team with new goals for 2026, sharing thanks with our vendor teams and last but not least, expressing my deepest gratitude to our 2024 clients who allowed us to shine and successfully complete a year of proud events, which included welcome nights, weddings, after parties, brunches, and a variety of family dinners and corporate events. There is centering pride in knowing that all of these heartfelt efforts resulted in exceptional and life-changing experiences for our clients and that memories were made that will endure on and on. I simply love taking care of our people! My exponential reward is being able to witness these milestone celebrations first hand. Even when our work is done, the effect of our personal and caring work lives on, for our clients, their families and their guests. I'm reminded that what makes the hard work, work for me, is my ability to serve our clients with my heart. My gratitude to our clients is also a constant. To be trusted to take hold of their vision and to bring it to fruition is no small feat. If I think about this responsibility too deeply, it can be intimidating. But I don’t focus my energy there, ever. What I do focus on is knowing myself and knowing that I follow my heart in my work (I can’t do it any other way) and this is what leads to ultimate success. I never get bogged down wrestling with options and decisions, I do what I know is best for my clients and the team. My clients realize this by the time we are done and it confirms that this aspect of my process is my super power. Another constant has been our awards and the many referrals that come from our kind and thoughtful fan club of clientele. We are so proud and grateful to our 2024 couples, parents, clients and vendors who shared their experience in 5-star reviews that awarded us (yet again!) both The Knot Best of Weddings and Wedding Wire Couples’ Choice Awards. This acknowledgement and validation mean so very much to us. Their words of gratitude expressing specifically what stood out for them are a gold seal on my heart and confirm that choosing to run my business WITH heart matters. Thanking each of you for taking time in your busy lives to share so openly and positively. Truly such gifts. As we look onto the next event horizon, I’d love to share a peek at each of the celebrations that filled our 2024 year and our hearts. From January through the end of October, I continue to smile wide as I recall it all. We hope you will too! [ Please click on each title to view the full light box on our website ] Photography: Matthew Sussman Game On Bar Mitzvah | Sasha's Bar Mitzvah Weekend | 1.2024 A joy-filled and proud weekend for our Bar Mitzvah who worked and studied so hard to prepare for "the longest Hebrew reading" of the year. His vision from our very first meeting was clearly focused on fun and games and making sure “his guests could do whatever they wanted to do and were not told what to do”. I loved his clarity and focus on the guest experience as well as how he embraced his celebration with deep appreciation and so fully engaged with his fan club. Photography: Quentin Bacon An Evening in the Garden | Innisfree Benefit Cocktail | 6.2024 A Hudson Valley gem of a setting like no other for this annual benefit that focused this year on Chinese art and culture in the landscape. Every year we feel so blessed to be invited back to create, honoring these gardens, its rich history and the generous donors that support its existence, growth and community programs. Photography: Brian David Photography A Family Treasure | Andrea + Juan’s Wedding Weekend | 5.2024 Hosting their guests for four magical and unique days in Millbrook was an epic and whirlwind celebration, to say the least. Two beautiful families coming together from around the globe to this treasured property filled with so much history and natural beauty, was a feast for all the senses and simply a fairy tale come true for our couple. If you are a disco ball fan, this wedding took the cake. Just see how they spun! Photography: Coral Dove Studio The Dollhouse Wedding | Molly + Matt’s Wedding Weekend | 6.2024 A non-stop weekend that truly rocked and rolled in rhythm with this super hip couple! Fun-filled, love-filled and action-packed in every way. Poetry in fast-forward motion. Beauty abounded with sun-filled blue skies, laughter and dancing that went on and on and on. Fast Fact: The only time Molly and Matt stood still was when they were wrapped in the tallit flanked by their adoring parents (and Rabbi Herman!). I sure wish I had my step counter on that day. Photography: Forged in the North Naturally Elegant | Ari + Peter’s Wedding Day | 7.2024 Nature. Grace. Depth. Each moment so clearly poised, purposeful and refined. Tranquility jarred only by the sunrise kickoff with a super intense HIIT workout. BTW which did not deplete the energy that grew steadily well into the night. I loved the remarkable relaxed undertone to this full-on day. A storm finally ripped through in the early evening but it never damped the spirit or the guests insulated within this classic white masterpiece of a space. A gorgeous celebration! Photography: Quentin Bacon A Perfect Pear Wedding | Michelle + Michael’s Wedding Day | 8.2024 Honoring culture and their foodie-nature, this day was a true reflection of this perfect “pear”. Artistry in all the subtle details. Whimsy in the air and in the tablescapes. A most relaxed and yet high energy night that culminated with an end of night silent DJ, high octane energy with no noise. An epiphany. Photography: Olya Vysotskaya Photography A Wedding Feast | Caroline + Justin’s Wedding Weekend | 9.2024 Soulful warmth and feasting. Honoring their guests with love notes and in the comfort of places near and dear to their hearts. There was a snuggly and heartwarming vib throughout the weekend by nature of how this couple radiated their ease, gratitude and deep love of friends and family. Friend DJ rocked the dance party indoors and out. Truly, oh what a night it was! Photography: Olive + Rye Creative Gather Greene in the Fall | Rima + Romit’s Wedding Weekend | 10.2024 Ceremony, culture, traditions, respect, warmth and so so so much love and beauty. Mindful rituals that added purposeful moments to pause and look deeper within, to honor family members present and those that watched from above. When it was time to fully let loose, our couple performed a choreographed first dance that took our breath away and welcomed on the wild and playfulness of the night. Truly magical. Photography: Calen Rose Photography An Artful Wedding | Rose + Connor’s Wedding Day | 10.2024 Impeccable and gorgeous, this day was crafted with our bride’s artistic eye. Formal yet fun, sprinkled with whimsy. Set in the warm character of the Stissing House, with every nook and cranny filled with gracious guests and to die for florals. A celebration built on details and traditions. Topped off at the end of night by a full-on costume karaoke after party, lots of laughs and letting go. Photography: Jen Steele Photography A Wedding March | Megan + Trevor’s Wedding Day | 10.2024 The wedding was kicked off by a parade through town with guests right up the stairs of the Stissing House to say their ceremony space to say "I do!" Megan and Trevor strolled and rocked through their day with such ease, comfort and highly energic joy. Their beloved dog, Doc and the dearly loved officiant and dance extraordinaire sister, where both bright stars of the day, only outshined by the glow of our couples. Their adoring fan club rocked well into the night and through the next day at their house party without missing a beat. A Love Marathon indeed! Photography: Steph Smith Photography You+Me+Baby Makes 3 | Kathleen + Sean’s Wedding Day | 10.2024 To our delight, a gender reveal wedding cake! This day was filled with so much to celebrate even beyond a marriage day. Intimate and warm, with lovely details and a glowing bride and groom, sharing their blessed news with all that love them so dearly. A day that celebrated two families coming together and a soon addition to their family tree, a precious little girl. We loved ending our season, with a Part 2 in the oven! CONGRATULATIONS & CHEERS Photography: Calen Rose Photography | Venue: The Stissing House To our couples and their first year of firsts! May 2025 be the first of many vibrant and wonderful years for you as husband and wife. • To our families as they embrace now joined families and all the blessings of share cultures and traditions and perhaps even welcoming new little ones into their lives. • To our corporate clients for continued success and growth in all ventures. • To Sascha, our bar mitzvah, as he embarks on his next chapter with high school acceptances and sharing his amazing self with the world. You are a true prince! To our 2025 + 2026 Couples on your engagements! We are so honored and excited to get to know you and get you to your big day! PLEASE FOLLOW US + STAY IN TOUCH
Fortunately for me, every day is an opportunity to embrace nature at its best, right at our doorstep. Shortly after my husband and I were married 33 years ago, we chose to build our life and home on a knoll in the middle of a timothy and alfalfa field in a beautiful valley between Millerton and Pine Plains. An incredible find for two young settlers. We knew it then and in retrospect, we now realize how very timely and fortunate that decision was for us. Surrounded by fields, forests, wildlife, farmwife and very few neighbors, we relish what it feels like to be part of this landscape throughout every season, in both pleasant and extreme weather, from a foot and from above in our tail wheel airplane. My husband—aviator, woodsman and a naturalist from a very young age, landed his dream when he first touched down in this field to see if it was long enough to comfortably land an airplane. Once confirmed, it was our green light. For me, although a Brooklyn girl, I embraced this wild and remote life (with him by my side) in hopes that we could raise a family and create our idyllic homestead filled with animals, gardens and a studio that would allow me to start my own design business and for us to start a family (to included 2 and 4-legged little ones) as he flew around the world and around this property, taking care of it all. I have always preferred the outdoors to the indoors, be it on cement city streets running through the neighborhood or treading lightly through the woods—open air, cold, wet, windy or warm – feeling unleashed, always felt settling. I also love big skies. It's no surprise I married someone who feels the same and spends just as much time in the sky as on the ground. My eyes, even as little girl, sought shapes and patterns in the distance, searching to spot a moving dot, grabbing binoculars to get a closer look and to my surprise seeing a bear on the ridge or a fox popping through tall grass flushing mice or a newly born calf opening its eyes to the sight of it's mother licking it from above. It’s always been a visual scavenger hunt for me, to look for patterns and life in a landscape. Here we have it all and if you're like me, getting up before the sun, gives you the best advantage in watching it all come into focus. My daily meditation before I even understood what meditation was, was to stop, look and listen to whatever was happening in any given moment and simple being with it for a moment. If you know me, it takes a lot to slow me down. Be it my two braying donkeys calling me in a morning song for their breakfast, or the soft sound of geese wings flapping just overhead as the fly in formation in search of a landing place, or the subtle buzzing of a hummingbird hovering within feet inspecting my floral shirt to determine if I am in fact the garden or not. These are the little moments I treasure, in between my intensely busy and demanding days and these are the moments I find become a part of how I look at my work and where I find inspiration. Since landing here on this property, I have worked as an artist, starting my graphic and package design business soon after we signed our mortgage papers and life got serious. Years later, as a mom, a caregiver and anchored in our community and local volunteer efforts, my work expanding to a new found outlet, event planning coupled with design. (Side note: I know I should be painting these landscapes at sunrise or sunset but that is my retirement plan. I’m still too busy enjoying my many spinning plates for such contemplative artistry). As a designer, and one who started creating art long before computers, my childhood prized tool kit consisted of a 64 pack crayon box, PlayDoh, tempera paints, chalk (for sidewalk art, of course) and a poster board from the candy shop on the corner. As I got more serious, my tool kit expanded to a set of Derwent graphic pencils, a box of Cray-pas, upgraded paint brushes and several tubes of gauche, a blank page (layout pads, watercolor blocks and bound books), my coveted Pantone book, a collection of objects that inspired (not Pinterest pins), books, magazine pulls, ribbons, fabric, buttons and also looking out at the surroundings. In fact, I still like to work this way, very hands on, before I delve onto the keyboard with software programs, internet searches and all the advantages of technology. Observing nature is a huge part of how I see and how I visualize creative possibilities. In my opinion, Mother Nature really has color, layout and texture down pat. Even when I’m not working on an event or graphic project, I look and create landscape mood boards in my mind that have endless potential in real design scenarios. Here’s how… Observation...where my eye lands Even in the fast clip of my days, when my head is down and I'm intensely engaged in the mounting uptick of my inbox, there are moments in nature that call to me right from the window above my monitor. Suddenly the sky shifts, or a distant row of shrubs is calling out or a dense flock of birds land in the tree and it no longer looks dormant. What is it in this very moment that stops me in my tracks? That’s when I know I need to slow down and just “see” AND take note. Photography: Elena Wolf Photography | Troutbeck | Amenia, New York The Effect of Light It’s amazing to watch light shift in a split moment as you look into the horizon OR from season to season. Colors can intensify or become quiet because of the light befallen on it or leaving it. In late September after the fall equinox, the depth of the color appears to be so much more dramatic and saturated as dusk settles, the blues in the sky are cobalt approaching back and blue and the landscape so intensely warm and glowing. Even when you grab your phone to capture the drama, it’s not the same as just being witness to how captivating this palette can be before these colors dissipate and the sky goes dark after the last glowing sliver of pigment. In an event space, I am always aware and appreciative of how light will change a space as the outside light shifts. Of course, we light candles before guests are invited into the reception, but those candles continue to change in themselves as well as the glow they cast on the guests well into the night. We call light "magical" for a reason. Understanding and appreciating the constant shift is so important in the process of developing a concept with a lighting vendor and your clients. Photography: Wildly Beloved Photography | The Pines | Pine Plains, New York Color Stories They are everywhere waiting to be discovered! I squint and it seems clearer to my eyes what colors are pronounced and what color are subtly influencing what I am seeing and what I like about what I am seeing. For instance, even in the dead of winter, there is so much color simply in observing the variety of tree bark, standing live or fallen dried to the ground. In the spring, when the trees are budding, that clean, pure intensely citron green always stops me in my tracks. It’s not the leaf budding as it appears in view of the green grass at the foot of the tree. I realize for me, that it’s the spring leaf green juxtaposed with a certain sky blue. That’s the color story that feels like it could be the perfect spring table setting. This snapshot—the napkin laid on a plate and then the linen tablecloth they rest on. And we haven't even introduced flowers yet! Photography: Elena Wolf Photography | Troutbeck | Amenia, New York Texture The layers are so important to creating interest and life. To witness not one but many of one particular object creates a concentration that can be so powerful be it full color or monochromatic. For instance, seeing a massive bed of ornamental grasses with plumes can evoke and inspire how one could apply rattan into a space as a backdrop or a lighting moment. Photography: Golden Hour Studios | Mountain Top Resort | Chittenden, Vermont Photography: Joshua Brown Photography & Videography | Ancramdale, New York Scale Size matters! Nature can be bold or ever-so subtle, each in its own perfect way. So, you must ask, how do I want proportion to call attention to a moment or a setting? Quietly or loudly. Photography: Brian David Photography | Corinth, New York Photography: Golden Hour Studios | Mountain Top Resort | Chittenden, Vermont Contrast Juxtaposition of color or tonal values can influence the way a space or setting feels. Nature at its best can be both soothing and jarring just in how color relates to other colors and tonal values surrounding it. If you look closely at examples in nature, how these environments make you feel is very telling. After a snowstorm ends, walking into whiteness. Sitting in a hot-toned midsummer garden verses a warm-toned fall or cool-toned spring garden. Walking through the canopy of woods in the dormant winter verses the lush overgrown summer. Feeling these contrasts in natural spaces give you insight when it’s time to envision and create moods for event spaces. Photography: Undressed Moments | Cricket Creek Farm | Williamstown, MA As a designer and event planner, aside from the multitude of skills one needs in order to land a successful experience for clients and guests, I feel so fortunate that how I see, feel and cherish natural environments influences how I work and what I hope matters to our clients. I can’t imagine it any other way. In the Hudson Valley there are opportunities galore for event teams to buildout spaces at venues and in both tamed and untamed private properties. It’s exciting work! When I am driving out in this gorgeous countryside to meet clients and vendors, I literally have to pinch myself (and keep my eyes on the road!). I have had a few vendors joke with me about how I work, where I work and how they perceive me but I take it as not only as a complement but as validation that operating from my centering place, even when I need to climb a mountain to see it through, is where I am at my best. “Paula, when on my way to meet you for a site visit, driving down a really bumpy, rocky, steep, narrow road with dust in my rear view mirror, feeling semi-lost, with my GPS no longer working, no cell coverage, asking myself... 'Is this really where we're doing this, where am I?', I know you’ll be standing there at the end, smiling wide with your orange tote bag in hand, ready to show me the perfect level grass clearing where you intend to start our conversation and getting this event off the ground.” I chuckle to myself and think...'Yes, this is what I consider a very good work day and yes, you get me." Here is where the best of adventures begin…nothing set on paper "yet", outside away from all the clamor and availability, most likely without cell coverage so no iPhone ring tones every time it thinks you need an alert and best of all, where my heart and soul feel at ease, peaceful and most comfortable. That is of course, until we start up the generators to get the party started, for another blog.."Powering Through"! Photography: Golden Hour Studios | Mountain Top Resort | Chittenden, Vermont I'd like to thank all the clients who feel as I do and have taken the leap to host parties in the landscapes that they adore (with me alongside) and for the many vendors who have followed my lead into the wilderness even when Mother Nature dealt us a wild hand of weather during setup, run-of-show or breakdown. I feel very blessed in so many ways to be amongst you and look forward to more adventures and opportunities in bringing people together and making lasting memories out and about in these gorgeous parts. Cheers to getting out under the sky (in the dark and in the light), exploring just because, getting comfortably being uncomfortable and happening upon places that you'd never expect to find success, happiness, adventure and inspired work. It's going to get cold "eventually", so get out there! Please Follow Us + Keep in Touch
Reminders of what we hope will not be a repeat performance of the 2023's “Rainy Weekend Syndrome”. Last season was truly a soggy one. Our hope is that what’s to come is not cyclical and that last year was just a strange weather pattern left in our distant memory. But as planners who work in this rural landscape of the Hudson Valley, be it rain or shine and for the greater good, we plan for worst case scenarios which include top our the list.... Robin's Bar Mitzvah | Private Property in Hillsdale, New York Photo Credit: Yannis Malevitis Weather Contingencies When we begin conversations with our clients about their event, this topic is up front and center even as they insist that “their” day will be sunny and bright (and just the right seasonal temperature!). I smile and think about how I will delicately and honestly navigate the next bit of sound advice. And although I’d like to agree with them, I have no magic wand. I politely guide them through a pro-active mindset behind a rain plan “now” while highlighting the increased odds of pulling off success regardless of Mother Nature’s decision on their day. With an action plan, we can truly claim to be unflappable, and their day will be perfect and potentially stress-free, regardless of how the sky behaves. As my personal point of reference, I always call to mind my “fearless-leader-moment”, our first “Hurricane Wedding”. Rachel and Mitch’s wedding at Glynwood with far too many vendor teams to count, an intense week leadup watching every weather report and reaching out to my aviation weather resources and pros as we anticipated the storm’s touchdown spot-on-the timeline of their ceremony. Steadily guiding the vendor team with confidence through strategic email updates that provided facts and substantiated claims that with all certainty, this wedding would not be postponed was a true test of my nerves. My ability to be laser-focused on the “I-think-I-can” mantra, to this day, gives me solid confirmation that contingency pre-planning is the key to turning a potential devastating scenario into a superhero moment. Rachel + Mitch Wedding Weekend | Glynwood Photo Credit: Golden Hour Photography And we did it with so much success! Yes, there were many, many umbrellas in play, lawns saturated beyond absorption, mud that permeated layers upon layers of straw laid down for pathways, tent canopies filling to the brim with pockets of rainwater that needed emptying with a wide broom back on a 15-minute rotational schedule to keep from collapsing the tent and a change from drenched clothing to dry, every 2 hours. I’m not sure if Rachel’s wedding dress ever returned to a true white on the hemline. Her fresh out of the box personalized never-white-again sneakers had no idea what how they'd be broken in within minutes of hitting the ground. This was so extreme a day but with it brought an incredibly attitude of victory for our couple, who’s first test of their marriage allowed them to rise above, embrace the challenges (that they had no power to change) and make the very most out of it. They realized that our plan had allowed their show to go on and that if could be as beautiful as they hoped it would be. Our planning supported them and allowed them to shift and focus on what was truly the most important part of their day, the love, so much love surrounded them. And the icing on the Carvel ice cream cone, was a total bragging point for all the years to come when their wedding day story would rightfully include, “…AND WE SURVIVED a HURRICANE on our wedding day!” In my observation, this couple out of all our couples had THE BEST time of their lives at their wedding, drenched from sideways rains and non-stop dance perspiration… they simply let go and let be. I must believe that this point of reference will always be monumental benchmark when married life tests. I’d like to offer highlights and tips from a planner who prefers to be one step ahead (and who happens to be married to a global international pilot whose sits high in the sky in his mobile office, navigating weather very upfront and personally. Captain Smith has taught me a few tricks of the WX trade over these past 32 years of being his co-pilot. (we are no nonsense when it comes to weather) Sarah + Eddie Wedding Day | Saratoga Private Property Photo Credit: Jessie Casey A Roof Over Your Head... TENTS 1 | Outdoor weddings need a "contingency tent" for any part of the day that you hope to enjoy in open air. 2 | Book contingency tents with your tent rental vendor very early in your planning process, so you are not disappointed when you call, and they have none left in their inventory. Expect to pay 50% of tent rental to hold the tent for your event and to pay the balance of 50% if you end up using it. 3 | Don’t waste your time checking weather months before your wedding. You have more productive things to do in so far as wedding planning. Look at weather one week out. Be prepared to decide on your contingency tent, by early week-of. Your tent rental vendor will provide their cut off day for making this decision. 4 | If you insist that you want to wait and have the tent delivered and installed closer to your day, just in case the weather clears, expect to pay surcharges for a specific delivery window and make sure this will not affect other vendor load in schedules. 5 | If you have the tent delivered and the weather clears the day before your event, don’t expect the rental company can return on the morning of your event to take it down. “If” it is an option to return, there will be a substantial overtime fee AND it will need to be discussed in advance with them, your venue, and other vendors. Day-of is not the ideal day to be adding big movement swings. 6 | If the week is wet, place tent sides down to avoid wet furniture and grass. The only time to rethink this is if the winds or humidity/heat will be high. Often in these conditions, you want partial air to flow even during a storm. Climate Control HEATERS + FANS 1 | Back to contingency planning. Depending on the season, you should plan to add heaters and fans to your rental order if you have a tented event. In New England, with such unpredictable weather patterns and swings, you could need either in the spring and fall seasons. 2 | For hot summer days, hand held fans are an excellent way to keep guests comfortable. Place them on your ceremony seats or have a basket filled to the brim on the reception table for the taking. 3 | Another hot and stylish accessory, parasols! Guest love these and they are so easy to hold along with a cocktail. Such fun for photos. Megan + Keith Wedding Weekend | Private Property in Cold Springs, New York Photo Credit: Brian David Cecilia + Yeab Wedding Weekend | Lion Rock Photo Credit: Cappy Hotchkiss Singing in the Rain UMBRELLAS 1 | Review umbrella options on Amazon Prime to get a feel for what can be ordered to be shipped domestically. Plan to order within the 30-day return window because if they are not needed, you will send back in original packaging for credit. 2 | Some venues have umbrellas left from other events so ask if you can have access to them and how many they have. 3 | Some rental companies or vendors rent them, just ask before purchasing your own. 4 | Types and quantities
Informed Yet Fluid FORECASTS
Moving Out of Harm's Way EVAC PLAN Don’t be shy to discuss a plan of action with your client and vendors ahead of time if a potentially dangerous weather situation is forecasted on the event day. Your role as a planner or host is to have the answers even before you need them. Sound information will avert panic on day-of and ensure that necessary steps can be taken in a moment’s notice to get guests to a safer location until a storm blows over. Protecting Pretty Moments (Aside from the Bride)...DECOR
Kayleigh + Julian Wedding Weekend | Troutbeck Photo Credit: Elena Wolf Photography Pack for Success SUPPLIES
Last but not least, remember... THINK POSITIVELY Rain is good luck for a couple so if it's unavoidable, embrace this good fortune, let go of any unrealistic expectations and have a blast anyway...this day is once in a lifetime, and nothing should dampen that blessing. Excerpt from: Lucky in Love: Traditions, Customs & Rituals to Personalize Your Wedding by Eleni N. Gage R A I N "If you're getting married in a location where wet weather is likely (many gorgeous venues are significantly cheaper in the rainy off-season), embrace the idea of rain as a symbol of washing away the past, showering you with luck, fertility, and blessings from above, and strengthening your union because a wet knot is harder to untie. Adopt the umbrella, a common nuptial image, as your own. In Finland, through much of the twentieth century an escort held ice over the bride's head as she went door to door collecting her dowry, making it a popular motif for Finnish weddings today in Tibet, Buddhist honor the White Umbrella Goddess as a sign of protection: in New Orleans, parasols make a joyous appearance during a second line parade." Wishing couples, planners and event vendors many sunny event days ahead and the where-with-all to think about your Plan B, C & D (now) if the weather has other plans for you. • Warmly — Paula & The Team of Your Event Niketa & Arib Wedding Weekend | Taconic Ridge Farm
Photo Credit: Adam Okimatsu Photography Cheers to all the folks we worked “for and with” throughout 2023! We are so grateful and so proud of what we created and the memories we made.…TOGETHER. | Photo Credit: Cappy Hotchkiss | I especially love this time of the work year. It requires me to hit the pause button, deep dive to cataloging the year’s event and focusing on review and reflection. There is much to learn from the past 12 months, and it urges me to rethink as I move forward with our business vision and with our next-up clients. But the most satisfying and rewarding aspect is in the scrolling through one gorgeous photo gallery after another as I update our website, seeing some moments for the first time and through the many lens of our talented flock of photographers. For the last two plus weeks I’ve been immersed at my computer pondering photo selections that tell the story of each event, respecting privacy while unveiling the love and beauty that each day holds. In this process, I am reliving joy-filled days and feeling intoxicatedly by all the love. It’s only in this time that I can fully appreciate our photographer’s captures from every angle and the true perspective of the celebration. During event days, my focus is on the moment-to-moment management and staying one step ahead of each next happening. Within the landscape of an event, as vibrant and alive as it is, I am not an observer but instead actively participating through my closeup lens at details and everything or everyone that requires my attention. I do catch charmed glimpses that stop me for an instant to pause, smile and often cry a happy tear, but not until now do the endless special connections and relationships amongst our couples and their guests appear to me in full color. A glance, a touch, or a deep embrace…sheer joy, fun and connections that unfold from early getting-ready settings to the late-night glowing fire pits against deep slate night sky. The ability to look at each photographic image without ANY distractions is blissful, no longer forced to work on a side column to-do list or respond to the ping of endless mounting emails in my inbox. This is the very best end of year gift I can give myself. It triggers poignant recollections of my relationship with a couple, mini replays of conversations and decisions that had direct effects on the outcome of the day and it also further enlightens me to who they are and why they are and where they came from. | Photo Credit: Brian David | tThis immersion and closure have the same gratification as holding the last piece to a very large puzzle. Under close inspection you consider every piece as you build, and understand first-hand how it feels, and where it needs to land, step by step. Once this last puzzle piece snaps in, the feeling of completion is just so good, right? In fact, often after a 12 to 18-hour day at this process, I go to bed and re-dream the event as well as our couples and families. These are sweet dreams unlike the ones I have the night before an event when my brain is reckoning with the tasks that await me. The commitment of time it takes to see this end of year process through impacts my soul as an artist and as a people lover. It also is the jet fuel that propels me into the new event year with confidence as we get ready to do it all again. On New Year’s Eve, I finished our last gallery cataloging and that was reason enough to celebrate what an event year we had and what an thrilling event year we have ahead. | Photo Credit: Cappy Hotchkiss | The teams we build for each client are never the same, each one as unique as the vision. This affords so many opportunities to strengthen existing relationships or to build new ones, and in many cases…even new and dear friendships are forged as we lean into the tasks at hand and get to know each other on deeper levels getting “sh*t” done. I am blessed to be flanked with so many dedicated and talented people, who give so much to us when we ask and even when we don’t ask. Thank you thank you…you know who you are. Speaking for myself, my team and all the vendor talent we enlist for an event, it goes without saying that we are well versed in creating inviting and gorgeous festivities filled to the brim with culinary, musical, and aesthetical details (and so much more!). This environment is the platform and our teams, and their energy are the conduit to allowing the magic to happen. As this new year takes hold, we created a reel that focuses not on the impressively staged events in our 5 action-packed event months but on the endless personal connections that were made possible because of the work we do as event creators, heart driven. I am so very proud to share this love with you… | Video Credits: Photographers, Venues and Vendor Teams are highlighted at the end of each website gallery along with our client reviews | If you care to gush on our 2023 galleries and see who was behind the scenes making it happen, please have a peek: Weddings: www.yourevent.us/wedding-lightbox.html Events: www.yourevent.us/events--parties-gallery.html | Photo Credit: Tricia McCormick | In closing, I am so grateful to all of you that touched my life, hands, and heart in 2023. The year started in challenging ways as I watched my dear dad fade and leave me while looking just ahead at the daunting and robust event year that I was navigating. The company I kept with clients and vendors supported me in gentle and caring ways that kept me going and lifted my spirit when I wanted to retract. This work that I find so very gratifying refilled my heart and uplifted me with each moment of joy and happiness that was celebrated together. Love most certainly heals. With all my heart, I thank my personal team, you and your teams and our valued and dear clients that made each event come to life in so many beautiful and memorable ways. To the photographers that I was graced with this year, thank you for being everywhere and more, spotting the nuggets in each moment. You amaze me and your work delights me. My New Year's gift to all… A quote I found along the way in my mindfulness practice, lives pinned to my bulletin boards above “both desks”. A compass point when the seas get rough and the challenges build. I hope it can be appreciated, embraced, and perhaps passed along to another bulletin board or finds it's way on yours. • “May I live with compassion, with grace, with insight, with integrity, with love. May I live each moment at a time, doing the next right thing, whatever that may be.” | Photo Credit: Jessie Casey | My heartfelt wishes to each of you for a new year filled with joy, optimism, positivity, excitement, and anticipation and SO many blessings sprinkled with lots of love. XOXO Paula |
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May 2025
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