The Peninsula New York Turned 25 and We Got to Go!

This week, I got to go to accompany our wedding music client Michael Taylor, CEO of Star Talent Inc., to The Peninsula New York’s  25th Anniversary Celebration. This was one heck of a party – with caviar, champagne, 5 different bands, a dance performance over a pool and a slew of celebrities to spot! And since The Peninsula is one of New York’s premier 5-star wedding venues, I got to meet several prominent wedding vendors as well.

The Peninsula New York

As I arrived, I was greeted by this Chinese dragon that immediately put me in the mood to party – after all, The Peninsula is a Chinese company that was first founded in Hong Kong more than 80 years ago:

25th Anniversary Celebration at The Peninsula NY

25th Anniversary Celebration at Peninsula NY

The party began in the hotel lobby, which was converted into a bar. And to showcase the newly opened restaurant, Clement, they had the Chef de Cuisine Brandon Kida’s regionally inspired seasonal dishes and desserts.

Of course, given that I’m Russian, I went straight for the Petrossian caviar bar… Yum!!

Caviar at the 25th Anniversary of the Peninsula NY

 

While one party raged in the hotel lobby, another two were simultaneously taking place on the hotel’s rooftop terrace. Salon de Ning, which is normally an open terrace, was tented to create an intimate retro lounge with Asian specialties including sushi and dim sum and featuring Prohibition-era music and dancing.

Entertainment at the 25th Anniversary of The Peninsula NY

Meanwhile, The Sun Terrance, a wrap-around balcony with amazing views that can accommodate smaller weddings, featured Latin music with a lively Cuban-inspired cocktail bar. The Peninsula even transformed its pool on the 21st floor by covering it and turning it into a dance floor! Since the hotel doesn’t have a ballroom, I think they should keep the dance floor as an option for weddings in the future.

Speaking of weddings… I met some amazing wedding vendors at the party, including prominent New York wedding photographer David Hechler, Annie Lee, a great wedding designer with Daughter of Design and David Beahm who created this amazing flower obelisk:

David Beahm Design flower obelisk at The Peninsula New York

In addition to the beautiful décor and delicious treats, I spotted a few celebs: fashion icon Oscar De La Renta, tennis player John McEnroe and the gorgeous Naomi Campbell. I even rode the elevator with Greyton Carter, the publisher of Vanity Fair!

I certainly couldn’t complain. Especially when upon exiting I was greeted with this dessert display:

Food at the 25th Anniversary of The Peninsula NY

 

The Peninsula New York sure knows how to throw one heck of a party. And I’m one lucky girl who gets to go.

Blogger’s gorgeous wedding leads to multiple press features

 

When Amanda, the founder of popular wedding blog 100 Layer Cake, contacted me about her upcoming nuptials, I knew that several of I Do PR clients would be more than happy to help make her dream wedding come true.

Amanda & Tim’s wedding, which took place in Southern California in 2012, was featured not only on 100 Layer Cake, but also in the Real Weddings issue of Martha Stewart Weddings magazine that came out this month. So it’s with double pleasure that we’re sharing the photos from this stunning wedding featuring several of our clients.

Martha Stewart Weddings features Amanda's real wedding

Weddington Way provided the adorable flower girl dress to Amanda’s little helper, seen walking down the aisle in the photo above.

The bride looked gorgeous in the big morganite and rose gold sparkler from the Lyra Collection by Yael Designs:

locket on bouquet | 100 Layer Cake

Amanda celebrated with her besties, dresses in different patterns of white and black, including a striped Lucy by Kirribilla.

black and white bridesmaids dresses | 100 Layer Cake

For the reception, beautifully decorated with a black, white and gold theme, Amanda changed into the sequin number and donned diamond drop earrings by Yael Designs:

Amanda and Tim's wedding | 100 Layer Cake

For more photos from the wedding of Amanda & Tim, check out 100 Layer Cake or Martha Stewart Weddings blog.

Celebrity Wedding News Provide PR Opportunity

When someone like Britney Spears gets engaged, all bridal media is a-buzz with news and photos of her engagement ring. Ring styles and carat sizes get dissected with every major celebrity engagement. The same goes for wedding dresses, cakes and other aspects of wedding planning that consume celebrities, and thus the ever-hungry wedding media.

In PR, we look at this as an opportunity to provide great content to editors who’re writing stories about celeb wedding news.

Getting back to Britney Spears’ recent engagement, our jewelry client Yael Designs had the perfect engagement ring with a similar look, but smaller carat size and thus more affordable. The jewelry editor of Brides.com featured the Yael Designs engagement ring in her story “Get the Look: Britney Spears’ Engagement Ring“:

Yael Designs at the Golden Globes


We’re really excited to see that San Francisco jewelry designer Yael Designs has been getting a lot of press coverage in recent weeks for a whole littany of its rings, earrings and pendants.  

Here is Yael Designs appearing at the Golden Globes 2011 awards where Inside Edition anchor Deborah Norville paired a red David Meister dress with rubylite and morganite Yael Designs earrings. Here’s Deborah interviewing nominee Jennifer Lawrence:

Nominee and producer of “How to Train Your Dragon” Bonnie Arnold wore Yael Designs tanzanite earrings!

Celebrity placement

Hollywood may as well be a medieval castle – if you’re on the inside you know all the dirty laundry, but if you’re on the outside breaking in takes a lot of courage, strategy and desire.

But while it’s not the easiest place to break into, Hollywood celebrity representation can make a huge difference in brand awareness for fashion brands like Yael Designs.

Celebrity placement involves stylist coordination, insurance, deadline shipping, buying stock photos and praying that the photos come out nice.

One tip: big, easily recognizable pieces work best. See the difference in these two pics of actress Melora Hardin (The Office) wearing Yael Designs jewelry at two different pre-award show parties:

         The 2010 Entertainment Weekly and Women In Film Pre-Emmy Party Sponsored by L'Oreal Paris                              Vanity Fair And Brioni Host Artists For Peace And Justice

Size matters: Can you see the jewelry here?                          Now, what about here?