New York's Sweet Booths is having a contest giveaway! - more than a photo booth its video too! Fun for weddings

I LOVE Sweet Booths! Located in New York, they are not just a photo booth for your wedding or event they also have video. A bride can share her special message to her groom or her guests can share their well wishes to the happy couple and take fun picts too! Makes a great favor as well!

And now Sweet Booths are having a contest and want to include The Lela New York readers, that's you!
They want to hear your LOVE story of how you met, how sweet right?
***Don't forget to tell them Lela New York sent you***
Some contest details are below but for the full details go to Sweet Booths.

Good Luck!

Ovando floral boutique - A New location in New York's Upper East Side & special interview with Lela

Ovando, Manhattan’s premiere floral boutique known for its distinctive arrangements and window displays, has opened a second retail location on the Upper East Side at 19 East 65th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues. The space is triple the size of its West Village shop, 1000 sq. feet to be exact.

Ovando's clients range from retail, wedding, corporate and real estate to the hotel and food service industries; they provide high-end weekly and monthly installations and custom design environments for corporate and social events as well as make deliveries to individuals ordered for special occasions.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sandra de Ovando, the creative force behind Ovando, and here is how it went:

1. What inspires you to create your beautiful designs?
Natural forms of color and structure, almost anything in it’s pure and natural state of being.

2. What services do you provide?
Ovando is a full service floral business providing in-store purchases, daily deliveries, weekly installations and maintenance for residences, corporations, fashion houses, and boutique hotels. Ovando also specializes in events, parties, and weddings- overseeing every detail from flowers, lighting, and linens to table settings.

3. What makes Ovando unique?
Being simple not simplistic.
Our belief that colors, shapes, and texture of flowers and plants are truly where beauty lies. So our designs and compositions are meant to accentuate these basic but one of kind properties. This design philosophy makes Ovando unique and sets us apart from the rest.

4. Could you please explain your process?
Ovando’s design principles are rooted in modern Mexican architecture. Artistic values are always considered when arranging the freshest and boldest flowers, unusual plants, striking cacti and carefully chosen accessories.  Keeping in touch with these principles assures the integrity and consistency of our work.

5. What can you advice brides and couples to be aware of or avoid when choosing their floral
Designer?
Choose a florist that you trust because that allows your floral designer do what they do best when it comes to creating a custom look for you.
Pay attention to seasonal flowers as they are the largest and the most beautiful in their time of year.
Be aware of how to plan your budget wisely. Allocate dollars to where your guests spend the most time such as the centerpiece during dinner.

6. Could you share with us your favorite floral design that you created?
The window box

7. What are the latest trends in floral design?
Using traditional flowers such as carnations, lilies and roses presented in a more interesting yet sophisticated and modern design.

Thank you Sandra for the wonderful interview!

xo

Amazing Real New York Wedding at The St. Regis shared by New York Photographer Robert Wagner

I'm in love with this amazing wedding at Manhattan's St Regis that was photographed by New York wedding photographer, Robert Wagner. It is just dreamy!

I love how Alyssa, the bride, changed her dress to a fun and short little white dress to dance the night away! The beautiful Cake is from the amazing Sylvia Weinstock. And the fab wedding shoes are from Manolo Blahnik.

Enjoy!

Beautiful Crystal Handbags from Swarovski for your wedding!

Love everything crystals and with the beautiful ruffled soft wedding dresses that are out now, it's nice to be able to compliment them with a little bling, ok, a lot of bling. Check out these gorgeous crystal handbags from Swarovski, just stunning!!! And they are also perfect for all those holiday parties coming up.

Enjoy!

Save-the-Date for the 57 Grand Bridesmaid Dress Sample Sale

Save the Date for the 57 Grand Sample sale featuring their beautiful bridesmaid dresses.

Enjoy!

Anatomy of The Modern Invite by New York Luxury Wedding Invitation designer Lela New York

With wedding invitations containing enclosures, reception cards, outer envelopes, inner envelopes, accommodation cards, and so much more, what should a bride choose for her modern invitation sets? Well here is Lela New York Invitation and Stationery Studio to the rescue with your guide to help you choose what is right for you. All Luxury Invitations shown are designed by Lela New York.


The Invite: This is the formal invitation to your big day! It should include the host the bride and groom, location, date, time and dress attire.

Belly Band: This is the paper detail that wraps around your invitation and other enclosures and holds everything neatly in place.

The Outer Envelope & Inner Envelope: This envelope holds your invitation and other enclosures. It has the bride's or host's return address printed on the flap. You now, may also have a more modern mailer box as well. Now a days, most brides do not use an inner envelope. Instead they choose a more modern approach and choose a decorative envelope, fabric book, box or other fabric envelope to hold their invitations.

The Reception Card: Use this card when your ceremony location is different than your reception. This card invites your guests to your reception.

Response Card or RSVP: This is the card your guests will send back with their reply. RSVP is a french abbreviation for Répondez si'l vous plaît. Which means, Please Reply.

The Response Card Envelope: This envelope has the bride or host's printed address in the front. It is where your guest's place the RSVP to mail back to you with their reply.

Other enclosures: Direction Cards, Accommodation Cards, Maps, and Itinerary Cards. These cards depend on your wedding situation. Are you having a destination wedding? If yes, it is highly recommended to use an accommodation card where you list your local hotels where your guests can stay.

Calligraphy: This is your guest's addresses. They are printed on the front of the outer envelope or in some cases your outer mailer box.

Lovely NY Wedding Photographer Karen Wise shares her engagement Story with us

Karen Wise, an amazing photographer here in New York City, recently got engaged this past summer in beautiful Hawaii! So of course I  wanted to know all about it! Below is her touching engagement story that Karen so kindly shares with us.

"While Chandler and I were in Hawaii for Nikki & Dave's wedding we stayed in a beautiful cottage, on a former ginger plantation, built by an architect and his wife.

We had the cutest Barbados Blackbelly Sheep as our neighbors. They lived in the pasture in front of our porch next to fields of pineapples, eucalyptus and lime trees. You could see the ocean in the distance and hear a nearby waterfall while eating breakfast.
We arrived at night after having spent 4 days on the West Coast near Kona. We had a lovely time on the West Coast at a B&B called the Luana Inn. We relaxed on Hapuna beach (northwest), and visited some black sand beaches (south) on our way to see the Kilauea volcano. We drove around the Big Island to the East Coast that night to get to the cottage we had rented, but didn't see the paradise we had arrived in until morning...

The first thing I did that morning were some sun salutations (yoga) in front of a row of Eucalyptus trees. We said hi to our neighbors (the owners) and to their baaing sheep (Buddy and Snickers). Chandler and I were invited to explore the farm, so we decided to take our cameras and head towards the sounds of rushing water. On our way out, Chandler said he needed to grab something from upstairs. I noticed what I thought was an iphone in his pocket...

Chandler went down the path to the waterfall first. I held his hand, and my Contax 645 in the other as I descended. At the bottom of the trail, I took a couple of shots, leaning forward over the cliff to try to see more water falling... Chandler held my belt loop as I took some more precarious steps. When I turned around he was on one knee with a little box in his hand.

Moments later we were engaged : )"

In these pictures: 
Akaka Falls, our cottage in Pepeekeo, Luana Inn our wonderful B&B near Kona, kids playing at Hapuna Beach near Kona, our neighbors the sheep in Pepeekeo, Black Sands beach, Boiling Pots Falls in Hilo, the Kilauea crater within a crater spewing sulfur dioxide, and the Mauna Kea volcano at 13800 feet which we drove up to photograph.
Most of these images I shot on film with the Contax 645.
The color Holga pictures and pictures of Karen were taken by Chandler Kauffman

Congratulation Karen and Chandler, thanks for sharing! Much LOVE!

Do you want to share your lovely engagement story with us?
We would love to hear it. Please send your submissions to blog@lelanewyork.com to be considered for a feature on The Lela New York Wedding Blog. Thank You!

xo

Hello Beautiful! Love all these FAB Designer Shoes by designer Casadei

Hello Beautiful! Yes, I like to talk to shoes when they are this glamorous! These designer shoes by Casadei would make amazing wedding shoes and would make any bride feel amazing on her wedding day.

Now this is how you walk down the aisle in glam from head to TOE!

Enjoy!

Can't Forget the Fab bag!