Our May meeting took place at the hip new W Hotel in downtown Boston. (By the way, I have heard amazing things about the Jean Georges restaurant on the ground floor- definitely worth checking out.) For our meeting we started in the prefunction lobby and then entered the great room. I love the feel of the lobby; it has floor to ceiling windows with fun funky views of the theater district.

Plus the entrance is decked out with stone textured walls and light art, which bring you into a grand space with drapey lights.

We can’t help but eat well at an event by and for catering executives.

Mingling fun.

The floral design was created by Tangerine Creations. I loved the varied shapes and colors- deep pinks were a great match for the grays of the hotel.

CORT Event Furnishings brought along some fabulous furniture, including a purple lit table and leather couches. Felt like we had entered a swank nightclub.

The program for the evening was a guest panel of some very talented event industry pros.

Joe Toto of Groove Entertainment lead the discusion.

Kupah James of Klass Universal Entertainment shared his story and thoughts on getting the party going. We saw him in action at Heather and Christian‘s wedding; I can’t speak highly enough about him. He was amazing!

Amy Kimball of Amy Kimball Events spoke about how each client inspires her to bring something new to the table when designing an event. I absolutely connected with her on this; her words reflected how I feel about the uniqueness of our clients. How could we get bored or stale when each person we photograph brings us something new and fresh to consider?

John LaRoche of Blue Guava shared how he invites his clients to think outside the box when creating their floral design, offering them flower ideas they may not have considered. He even told us about a Living Table he created for one wedding at Boston’s InterContinental Hotel. Sounded out of this world!

Many thanks to the speakers for sharing their thoughts on our industry and to all of the sponsors who offered their services for this event.

Videography: Generations Cinemastories
Floral Design: Tangerine Creations
Rental furniture: CORT
Furniture sign design: MB Graphics
Music and Entertainment: DJ Raffi
Linens: Table Toppers
Food and event space: Amy Kern from The W Hotel

Recently, we had a bit of a holiday celebration, complete with holidays songs, gingerbread house building and decorating, cookie decorating, and games. The sugar highs were fun and the kids were at their silly and serious best. So here’s a few pix from our party!

And I had to put up a special PicFlick of my favorite girls!

Dave captured this at the Westchester Ritz Bridal Show while photographing for David Tutera, who was speaking and displaying his work.

Check out more from the show here.

Dave captured this at the Westchester Ritz Bridal Show while photographing for David Tutera, who was speaking and displaying his work.

Check out more from the show here.

Dave captured this at the Westchester Ritz Bridal Show while photographing for David Tutera, who was speaking and displaying his work.

Check out more from the show here.

I love his use of water, glass, and candles along with the fresh colors of pink, white and green for this summer collection.

Note the varied containers here that bring out the same colors as the larger arrangement.

For spring, David emphasized the lush growth that bursts out at that time of year. He highlighted the greens with pink, purple, and ivory flowers.

Winter always offers an opportunity for elegance. I appreciated his use of crystals with white tulips and calla lilies.

The green, orange, and burgundy of autumn are accentuated perfectly with gold candelabras and chargers.

The willow branches add a rustic touch to these elegant centerpieces.

David was also asked to speak to the brides and their guests about wedding planning and design.

I also want to give a huge thank you to Ashley and Nora from David’s team for all of the hard work and their help at the Ritz.Great work all around!

The Rockin’ Artists:

Jo Kaplan Lee, Tina Parsadanov, Mary Marantz, Krystal Prue, Val McCormick, Nikki Nicole Rinaldi, Carla Ten Eyck, Jane Shauck, Jacklyn Greenberg.

The show continues through Jan. 4. You can check it out most weekends between 11 and 3. The MAC 650 Artspace Gallery is at 650 Main Street, Middletown, CT (about 15 minutes from Hartford).

I had so much fun; I definitely want to do this again. And Dave has been bitten by the bug as well. We hope to put on a show in our Boston studio soon. We will definitely share the details when we figure them out.

I am super excited to announce the gallery show I am taking part in. The theme for our work is love. The show came about from a desire to explore love in new context. All of the photographers in the show are women who primarily shoot weddings. You can check out some of their wedding work on their sites: Jacklyn Greenberg, Tina Parsadanov, Val McCormick, Mary Marantz, Jane Shauck, Krystal Prue, Carla Ten Eyck, and Nikki Nicole Rinaldi. I am honored to be among these women, who are not only fabulous photographers, but extraordinary individuals.

If you are free on Friday evening, we hope you will join us at our Gallery Opening Party (7-10pm) to meet the artists and enjoy refreshments. Or come by any weekend through Jan. 4 to check out the work. The MAC 650 Artspace Gallery is at 650 Main Street, Middletown, CT (about 15 minutes from Hartford).

Last night, we hung everyone’s images and they look amazing. So here’s a couple pix of the crew…

Huge thank you’s to Paul and Justin for helping with the hanging!

I want to keep the images themselves a surprise. More to follow after the show.

Hope to see you on Friday!