Extra! Extra! Check us out in In Style!!!!

Keri and Tori are thrilled to announce that we have been included in July's In Style Magazine. We worked with them to help create a Fiesta party for their Staycation Guide!

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Dinner at The Park

Below are some photos I took with my iPhone for a wedding that we did at The Park Restaurant in Chelsea. It was a rainy spring day but we were still able to have that "alfresco feel" thanks to The Park's gorgeous glass enclosed garden.

This was a true budget wedding and in an effort to keep event design costs down we did the flowers ourselves. We used the standard white cotton tablecloths but with some inexpensive, but stunning plates and glasses from Party Rental we were able to really transform the table... or at least I think so!  

Professional Pics from Missy Lamb's Studio are coming soon! 

Sweet Dreams

We covet this oh so much ....

Photo Credit: Melissa Rufty via Desire to Inspire

Real Wedding - Morgan & Josh Part II

Apologies for the delay! We have been busy bees at CKE working on some of our upcoming weddings! Yay!


Here is some more fabulous eye candy from Morgan and Josh's ultra glamorous affair courtesy of Meredith and Michael at Christian Oth!

Hard to see in this picture but Todd from VSF, who did all of the gorgeous flowers, also tied on a "Mr." and "Mrs." signs to the back of the chairs along with some stunning garland.

Photo Credits: Christian Oth Studio

To Top It All Off

While we love a traditional veil for walking down the aisle, they can literally be a bit of a drag during the reception. Why not switch out your veil for a gorgeous hair piece? It's a perfect opportunity to show off your style and add a bit of glamour to your already fabulous dress!

Here are a few of our favs:

The Sienna from Portland based designer Austie. Great price and she will make it for you in any color you choose!

Leah C. Couture Millinery makes us drool every time. First is style B17 and below is "Exotic Nagorie"

Los Angeles design duo Jen and Jamie of ban.do have fabulous and over the top hair pieces for every budget.

The style above are no. 89 and "Shazam!"

Real Wedding - Morgan & Josh Part I

Wow! Baby, it's cold outside. Just when we thought it was safe to hope for spring, Mother Nature hits us with a snow storm of epic proportions. Where was this snow during the holiday season may I ask? I could be upset but at least it's pretty and at least I remembered to wear my wellies today!

Anyway... in the spirit of winter, we bring you Morgan and Josh's absolutely STUNNING winter wedding. It was held this past January in Manhattan. Morgan is from the West Coast and Josh is from the South but they met and fell in love in NYC. Morgan is an event planner herself so she was an absolute dream to work with and had the most beautiful vision for her wedding (more on that in the next posts.) Grab a cup of hot coco, snuggle up and enjoy this gorgeous wedding. All photos are from the lovely and talented Meredith and Michael at Christian Oth Studios.

The Gates outside the New York Palace Hotel (GG fans will know it!).

Morgan's sister and maid of honor Ashley getting Morgan's dress ready.

Josh and his groomsmen walking to the church.

Morgan and Josh

Cocktail hour details.

More to come......

Photo Credits: Christian Oth Studios

Great Colors!

I just LOVE these colors together. I found this on the absolutely delightful website Once Wed. Such a great non-floral design. I think I may use this for my cinco de mayo party. (That I just decided to host now.... hey... who doesn't love a margarita!)

Definitely check out Once Wed, not only is it a place to buy a previously worn dress or sell your dress, its also full of gorgeous design inspiration!

Photo Credit: Frida Table Top on Once Wed

Shine a little light

A different and very inexpensive way to do your escort card table:

We used varying sizes of candelabras along with silver trays for the escort card table at a recent wedding we planned. The result was stunning (if we do say so ourselves)!

More Blog Love!

Another great, big, giant thank you to the ladies at Elizabeth Anne Designs for listing Clavin Kelly Events in their vendor library!

Elizabeth Anne is a great resource for brides-to-be and we especially LOVE their expert advice column on a Wedding Planner vs a Wedding Coordinator vs a Wedding Designer...... SO imporant to know. I kept shouting at my computer while I was reading it, "YES! EXACTLY! Why doesn't everybody know this! NEVER trust the in house coordinator!!!" Ah Hem... I got a little excited but it was very right on.

Blog Love!

A HUGE shout out and a GIANT thanks to Brittnye over at Brown Turtleneck Sweater for featuring the escort "cars" from one of our weddings!!

Check out her blog for some great design inspiration from the windy city!

Photo Credit: Todd Pellowe

A little taste . . . .

While we are waiting for the rest of the images from a recent wedding we planned in NYC, we wanted to give you a sneak peak at some of the GORGEOUS florals done by Todd at VSF.

He included some fabulous salmon colored "feather-ettes" for additional texture.

It is kind of hard to see here, but he used ROCK CANDY in these arrangements as well. He used peach for the smaller ones and clear for the larger ones. Such an amazing idea!

We can't wait to share the rest of the images from this beautiful wedding. Stay tuned!

A Great Cause!

Clavin Kelly Events is honored to be included in this year's Spring Fling. It is the annual fundraiser for Street Project, a non-for-profit organization that connects young professionals with worthy volunteer opportunities in New York.

We are going to help make their venue look fabulous and hopefully get a few other vendors to donate their time. If you are interested in donating an item or service for their silent auction, donating your services for the day of the event, or even just attending, shoot us an email and we will hook you up!

Check out Street Project's website here to learn a little more about this wonderful organization!

i heart peonies

And really... who doesn't?

Wishing I had some on my desk now....

hint, hint....

Photo Credits:

Image 1 Ariella Chezar

Image 2 Ariella Chezar

Image 3 Terry Michael Photography via Artfool via Black Eiffel

Frugal Fruit

For any event, whether it is a small dinner party or a large wedding, flowers often seem to be the most traditional centerpiece idea. And don't get me wrong, I am obsessed with flowers! I had to physically pull myself away from some gorgeous orange tulips I saw at the market yesterday. I buy way too many fresh flowers, but hey, they make me happy and luckily in New York they are not too terribly expensive at your local bodega. That said if I am trying to save some money or doing something a bit different for a dinner party, I often turn to my grocery store for some inspiration.

For my Thanksgiving this year in between springs of dried wheat in bud vases I had mounds of beautiful Satsuma mandarins piled high in big hurricanes. (More for Chinese New Year than Thanksgiving, I still felt they gave a "bountiful thanks" feel.... and sorry.. no pictures... I was too stressed cooking a 28lb turkey to take them!!) I know I am certainly not the first to think of using fruits (and vegetables) as centerpieces, but I do think it is something to keep in mind, particularly when planning a wedding. In these trying economic times with budgets being slashed right and left, it's time to get creative! I used artichokes and sprigs of rosemary on my own wedding tables and they saved me a ton of money, and got a lot more comments than a collection of flowers.

The citrus bowl below adds a gorgeous splash of color and looks so organic and natural.

The yellow lemons with the ribbons still looks very feminine and also somehow classic, but the color is so sunny. It just sings celebration.

I have always adored this shot from Martha Stewart of the apricot place card. Such a gorgeous touch. A very good idea if you are not completely sold on the full on fruit centerpiece. It's a small way to incorporate it.

Another idea if you still want to work with flowers on the table is to have cheese plates on the table adorned with fresh figs. Cut a few open to show off their gorgeous color. I try to buy fresh figs whenever I find them in the market... to eat or to use as decor.

Photo Credits:

Artichokes & Rosemary - Todd Pellowe Weddings

Citrus Bowl - Ariella Chezar via Snippet & Ink

Lemons - Rebecca Thuss for Martha Stewart Weddings

Apricots - Rebecca Thuss for Martha Stewart Weddings

Figs - Martha Stewart

The Website is FINALLY Up!!!

Our website is FINALLY Up!!! Yay!!

Thank you to everyone who offered their help and insight to get it up and running!