New York! New York!

Of course she did.

Look at them together.

Brilliant.

Meet Sherry and Radu, an oh-so-fun couple from the NOLA BASH family who have graciously allowed me to share with you their absolutely stunning engagement session in New York City. 

The couple live and love in Manhattan, but hold in highest esteem our beloved NOLA, and will say their vows and celebrate their love by making merry with a BASH at the Board of Trade later this year.

 They joined Lev Kuperman Photography at the very site where Radu proposed to Sherry the Autumn before. The
globe-trotting sensational photographer let the streets, skyline and blissful chemistry of his subjects guide him to capture the love and admiration so evident between this pair.

Please, feast your eyes on this simply delectable montage of still shots of this Big Apple couple simply brimming with Big Easy flair.

From our bride:

Radu and I met back in 2005 during our senior year at Northwestern

University.  When Radu moved to New Orleans in 2007 for medical school,

we started our four year long-distance journey as a couple. Although most

people would describe us as having very different personalities, I

think we were able to make it through the long distance because we

relate to each other so well, and it's so easy for us to just have fun

together. 

Sherry: One of my favorite moments of the past couple of years was

when I was down in New Orleans for "match day." This is when the med

students found out where they "matched" for their residencies.  When

Radu opened his envelope and we realized he would be at NYU, we were

so excited that we would be in the same city again, and we would

finally be able to start our lives together!

Sherry: Taking our engagement photos in Manhattan was the perfect way to

celebrate the city we love to live in! When we were thinking of

locations for the photo shoot, we naturally gravitated towards the

High Line Park, a public park built on an old freight rail line

elevated above the streets running through Chelsea, the Meatpacking

district and Hell's Kitchen.  This is where Radu proposed last

November.  He gathered family and friends to surprise me, and it was

definitely the best surprise I could ever ask for!

Sherry: When we first came across Lev Kuperman's blog, we were really drawn in

by the way he captures the genuine emotions of love and playfulness of

his couples through his photography.  He also has a talent of viewing

the surroundings in a way that the naked eye doesn't always pick up on

- like the seemingly limitless lines running across the High Line

steps or catching a shadow that frames the photo in a unique way. We

were looking for photos that were unconventional but timeless, and

we're happy that we were able to achieve that!

From the photographer:

My job was very simple - the emotions were all there and we got lucky with the weather so all I really had to do was place them where I wanted them, and document what was happening in front of me.

It's always a pleasure to work with couples who can get to that place in front of the camera where they don't notice it anymore and just focus on each other. I'm lucky to get to be the one to capture that stuff.

Lev Kuperman recently shot an engagement session in NOLA and fancies himself in love, or at least in lust, with our darling city. With such a good head on his shoulders, and such obvious talent to work with, we'd be happy to welcome him down South anytime. See the NYC-based destination photographer's work at levkuperman.com.

Cheers!

Melissa

engagement: ERIKA + KEITH

The newest addition to the NOLA BASH family comes to us in the form of Erika + Keith {quite possibly the most adorable couple you've ever seen}. They had an engagement session at the Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts, and I was so inspired by the results that I had to share!
There's something inherently romantic {and certainly uber Americana} about the fair. Don't argue with that statement, there is! I envision first dates, tunnels of love, brawny gents securing the hearts of their ladies with giant stuffed bears, and the sharing of opposite ends of corndogs until lips meet in the middle {ok- maybe I got that last bit wrong}. However, if you still doubt the romance aspect, you'll quickly convert to my side once you view the photos below. There's nothing more romantic than a couple so obviously in love.

Laura of Ruby Shoes Photography is a childhood friend of the groom and also the couple's wedding photographer. She very sweetly gave Erika + Keith this super fun engagement session as a wedding gift.
Without further ado, I present, in Laura's words, "Love amidst funnel cake + ponies!"

Erika: Keith and I met in Boston through match.com. I was in my first year of law school (Boston College Law School), and Keith was well into his PhD at that point (PhD in microbiology at Harvard). We just kind of clicked from the start, and we started dating seriously soon after our first meeting. We are both very active, so we bonded that first summer over training and competing in triathlons together. We were pretty much inseparable from the start. It was not long after our first year together that we began to make plans. Law school is only three years, and Keith was nearing the end of his PhD, so we began to talk about the future. We both wanted to spend our lives together. In July of 2010, Keith proposed to me during a weekend away in western Massachusetts. Now, I am finishing up my last year in law school, and Keith is currently writing his thesis for his PhD.

 Erika: I wish we had some romantic story to explain the engagement photo shoot at the fair, but it really was just a fun opportunity for photos. Laura suggested the location, and we immediately agreed that it would be a fun time. Keith and I both love cider donuts, funnel cake, and caramel apples, and who doesn't love a petting zoo? So, to the Topsfield Fair we went.

 Laura {photographer} and Erika {bride-to-be} share some deets about the couple and the shoot:

Laura: I thought it would be a fun place photographically (I haven't seen many sessions at a fair, especially at night), and I also knew it would pair so well with the fun-loving nature of Keith + Erika (they also love funnel cake, haha!). They are so laid back and easy to be around, and they just ooze love for each other. It's so sweet. The fair reflects their youthful personalities. And I like quirky, unusual or unexpected, so why not ring toss with Tweety Bird? I bet no one saw that one coming! And you can't help but smile at the fair, which doesn't hurt for photo opps.

Erika: I really liked just goofing around with Keith and Laura. They have been friends since middle school, so it was really nice to get to know her personally and her photography style. I think my favorite aspect of the photo shoot is that it didn't feel like a photo shoot or very contrived. She was just able to capture moments of us being us.

My favorite moment of the day was feeding the camel with Keith. I had never fed a camel before -- it was kind of gross -- but it was just a fun, memorable moment.

Erika + Keith will have a Jackson Square ceremony to celebrate their love on April 6, 2013, followed by a BASH at the Napolean House in the FQ.

I hope y'all enjoyed seeing these photos as much as I loved sharing them {and this beautiful couple} with you.

Cheers!

Melissa

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

I’m a reader, a bit of a writer, a huge travel junkie and I like to think of myself as a free spirit. I’m certainly a day-dreamer and a fanatical romantic to my very core (wedding planning was quite possibly designed specifically for moi.) This impromptu personal profile does actually have a point. Here it is:

I want to design and execute a funky, bohemian, GYPSY- inspired wedding. I don’t mean an actual Gypsy/Traveler wedding a la TLC…

>>Though, do not get me wrong, I’d LOVE to participate in one of those too. Just to say I did. I also have mad respect for their, and ANY, culture. <<

…But a celebration based on romanticized visions of gypsy caravans of old. The kind I’ve read about in my books. The kind that do not, and probably never did, exist. Sure, this style has been done, but I want to do it again. So shoot me.

It may just come from my intense love of Moulin Rouge and its "Bohemian Revolution." Or just my intense love of Ewan McGregor (NAME DROP--- I saw him perform live {in the flesh} while I lived in London. He was a splendid Iago in the West End production of Othello. I was literally like 10 feet away from him. DROOL.) Who knows? Maybe I just have a gypsy soul.

In conclusion, I dare {make that a triple dog dare} someone to step forward and let me have my way with their gypsy/bohemian/romantic soiree.

Use this as inspiration: (From the film Moulin Rouge)

 Christian: I can't write for the Moulin Rouge.
Toulouse-Lautrec: But why not?
Christian: I'm not even sure I am a real bohemian revolutionary!
Toulouse-Lautrec: What? Don't you believe in freedom?
Christian: Well, of course I do...
Toulouse-Lautrec: Beauty?
Christian: Yes.
Toulouse-Lautrec: Truth?
Christian:: Yes.
Toulouse-Lautrec: Love?
Christian: Love? Above all things I believe in love! Love is like oxygen. Love is a many-splendored thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love!
Toulouse-Lautrec: See? You can't fool us! We're The Children of the Revolution, we can't be fooled!

 And here is MY inspiration.

My Big Bohemian Gypsy Wedding

1. Dreamy Swing
2. Cozy Caravan Interior
3. Gypsy dress
4. Just Pretty
5. Wedding Gown
6. Gypsy Shawl
7. Wicked Headpiece
8. Wispy Streamers
9. Inviting

Cheers!

Melissa

DIY Ombre Napkins

First DIY post of the… EVER! NOLA BASH designed a Greek Island inspired table-scape for the upcoming spring issue of New Orleans Weddings Magazine. And it was SO MUCH FUN. Checkhere for a peek.

I cannot reveal much about the shoot, for obvious reasons, and because I am as eager to see the whole spread as every reader should be, but I can share with you a little décor project that I completed to complement the Greek “look.”

Ombre napkins! I hope y’all are as excited as I am about these…

When we chose the Greek Islands for our theme, the very first inspiration that came to my mind was the movie Troy. It’s one of my absolute favs and triggered design ideas not just because Brad Pitt is pure shirtless H-E-A-V-E-N for the whole 163 minutes, but because I swear by all that’s holy that one of the women in the movie wears a dip-dyed dress. I can’t for the life of me remember who it was or offer you proof- but either in my mind or in reality, Diane Kruger donned a dip-dyed dress. At any rate, I made ombre napkins, and here they are:

And here's how I made 'em:

I actually used solid white bandanas from the craft store, as I could not find actual napkins with the texture I wanted. So their functionality is questionable, but they looked simply divine! On to the process. I washed and line dried the bandanas like so: (please excuse the dead garden in this and any other photographs to follow.)

An artsier shot of a drying bandana: (thanks Instagram)

I mixed up some Rit dye in Royal blue and teal with hot water:

In picke jars:

Kept adding dye until I got the colors I wanted (tested my chemistry with paper towels):

Folded the clean, dry napkins (in the manner they would be displayed on the table) and dipped them first in to the lighter teal color:

Then in to the darker blue, allowing the dye to reach just below the line of the teal:

Back to the clothesline for drying:

A close up so you can see the color variation and how the dye wicks up the fabric:

And aside from one minor chip, my freshly-Butter Cheeky Chops-painted nails suffered little damage and there was nary a blue-dyed finger in sight:

The End.

The whole process (after the initial washing and drying) took only about 20 minutes. It was super easy and the results were impressive, if I do say so myself. I can't wait to unveil the entire table-scape in due time. I apologize for there not being super detailed photos of each and every step, as are evident in most DIY blogs. However, in my defense, this is my very first DIY post and I'm sure to improve with time. I hope y'all try it out and have as much fun with it as I did!

Cheers.

Melissa

Bienvenue.Benvenuto.Bienvenida.Willkommen.

Welcome one and all to the newest member of our NOLA BASH family—this little blog. I wanted to get this up before the New Year or very soon after, as one of my resolutions (both professionally and personally) is to blog more, but 2012 has gone off with a bang and has kept booming. Busy is an understatement. At any rate, here she is and here she’ll stay. Hopefully, this Web print stream of consciousness will help you get to know us and what we do.

I plan on sharing about all things event-related, no matter how obscure that relationship may be. Beware, I tend to be rather sporadic and so will be this blog. I also want to post glimpses of our completed events, DIY projects that go in to much of our décor, and simply the life and times of NOLA BASH.

Make yourself comfortable here. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Add us to your reader, if you don’t mind, and invite your friends to do the same. And, as always, thank you so very much. Thank you for reading this and for supporting us!
Cheers.

Melissa

The "us" "we" and "our" I will constantly refer to.

The heart and soul of NOLA BASH.

Danielle and Melissa.