Our spring color issue and our Real Weddings issue both come alive on the Spring Weddings Spectacular airing today on the Martha Stewart Show. The audience was filled entirely with engaged couples (some of whom walked out with amazing giveaways), and I showed off our colorful wedding ideas like foil-wrapped chocolates from Economy Candy, Glassybaby votives, and paper lanterns from Luna Bazaar. If you're planning your own big day, you can take inspiration from our real bride's amazing stationery suites and our favorite Good Things from Real Weddings.
The talented Bryan Rafanelli of Rafanelli Events came by and revealed a beautiful table awash in color, and Martha baked decadent thousand-layer chocolate chip cookies with Sarah Copeland, chef and author of "The Newlywed Cookbook." Later on the show, my friend Randy Fenoli, host of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress,” shares how he helped one bride search for the perfect dress.
Be sure to tune in and take a closer look at it all in the gallery below.
Photos by Rob Tannenbaum for The Martha Stewart Show.
1 Martha holds up the adorable envelope from Cheree Berry's wedding (www.chereeberry.com).
2 Martha, me, Bryan Rafanelli of (www.rafanellievents.com) and Randy Fenoli of Kleinfeld Bridal (www.kleinfeldbridal.com).
3 Kellee Khalil of Lover.ly, Leila Khalil of Be Inspired PR (www.beinspiredpr.com), me, Carissa Jones of JL Designs (www.jldesignsandevents.com), and Cathy Schroeckenstein of Wedding Bee (www.weddingbee.com).
4 Save the date and invitation designed by Cheree Berry for her wedding to Jeff York in the fall of 2008. See more of their wedding here: http://ow.ly/aLY5O
5 A sugared lemon centerpiece inspired by the one from Rebecca Thuss and Patrick Farrell’s fall 1999 wedding.
6 Notebook favors inspired by Melinda Meinke and Jesse Johnson’s winter 2006 wedding. The center notebook is a cute journal from our Martha Home Office with Avery collection (www.staples.com/Journals-Journals-Notebooks/cat_CL166425), and the others are Moleskine “Volant” notebooks from Barnes & Noble (www.barnesandnoble.com).
7 Chocolate bar favors inspired by the ones from Michele Cosentino and Ari Greenman’s spring 2006 wedding. These are from Economy Candy (www.economycandy.com).
8 What better way to celebrate our color issue than with a rainbow of ideas?
9 Inexpensive paper lanterns from Luna Bazaar (www.lunabazaar.com) come in a wide spectrum of colors and make a big impact when grouped en masse.
10 Economy Candy foil-wrapped chocolates (www.economycandy.com) and Glassybaby candle holders (www.glassybaby.com).
11 Invitation suite from Marnie Hanel and Jamie Bordley’s New Year’s Eve 2011 wedding from Cheree Berry Paper (www.chereeberry.com).
12 Cari Wolfert and Jason Rubin’s fall 2011 wedding table numbers with photos of numbers found all over New York City. See more of their wedding here: http://ow.ly/aM8wI
13 An orange-themed save the date from Ceci New York (www.CeciNewYork.com).
14 To celebrate our first Big Day Beauty Awards, we gave away some of the top-rated products by brides including: Dior Diorshow Waterproof Mascara (www.dior.com), Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder (www.lauramercier.com), Laura Geller Spackle Under Make-Up Primer (www.laurageller.com), Ren Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask (www.renskincare.com), and Aveda Men Pure-Formance Grooming Clay from (www.aveda.com).
15 Audience members received bottles of The Big Pony Collection for Women (www.ralphlauren.com).
16 The lucky grooms won a BLACK by Vera Wang at Men’s Wearhouse Tux Rental (www.menswearhouse.com/verawang).
17 Martha and Bryan Rafanelli with the gorgeous table that he designed.
18 Bryan's own take on color for our set including a pretty ombré tablecloth and lots of bright flowers and candles.
19 Bryan walked us through some of the other ideas for his colorful fête.
20 A beautiful wreath of paper flowers by The Green Vase (http://thegreenvase.com).
21 Pinch Food Design (http://pinchfooddesign.com) created this lovely (and addictive) tartlet tier.
22 The lovely flowers on the table were from Winston Flowers (http://www.winstonflowers.com).
23 Bryan's seating card idea with paint can lids.
From: Caroline Dingli | 5/8/12 at 4:30 pm
I am so distraught that I could not be present at the filming of this episode. Since I was nineteen, it has been my dream to take my bridesmaids to view the filming of the wedding episode of the Martha Stewart Show in the year of my wedding as part of my bachelorette party. I now live in the UK, so booking a flight to NY was out of my budget as my fiance and I are planning our wedding in Malta on 9th June 2012. You're such an inspiration, thank you, Martha! I still remember pouring over the pictures in your first cookbook, "Entertaining" with my mother (it was published in the year of my birth, 1982, although I didn't pry open its cover until quite a few years later). I plan to bake and decorate my own wedding cake - wish me luck!