Parisian Countryside Wedding

This is one of the most fabulous weddings I have ever seen. Maria, at Ritzy Bee, posted this wedding last week and I am still in awe. Not only does it incorporate my favorite color scheme, green and white, (I am planting an all white garden and redecorating several rooms in our home in various shades of greens and whites) but I also adore the juxtaposition of rustic with refined and haute couture with whimsy. I love the use of the birch-bark, cabbage and fuzzy almonds, the elegance of porcelain doves, sweet peas, roses, lamb's ear and fern combined with the silver and crystal pieces that adorned the reception feasting table.

The bride’s stunning bouquet combined butterflies from Deyrolle, grouse feathers, orchids, ferns, mint, and peonies tied with antique ribbons.

The bride wore an amazing white plumed headpiece.

I am seeing feathery inspirations everywhere I look lately...as you can see in three of my last posts!

... and my favorite, the gorgeous calligraphed table cards, placed under glass cloches, by one of my favorite calligraphers, Bernard Maisner.

Go to Veranda to read all the details of this extraordinary wedding.

photos via Veranda

Father's Day Garden Tour

For the last ten years or more, my husband and I have attended the annual Father’s Day Garden Tour, sponsored by Asheville GreenWorks. Having no children of our own and both of our fathers deceased, it has become our tradition. The tour is always spectacular and proceeds support a great cause – plantings and community beautification. This year’s event included ten gardens in Biltmore Forest. Being, literally, in a forest, most of the gardens were shade gardens. Each one we strolled through was breathtaking.

This historic property, above, was one of the first homes built in Biltmore Forest in 1932.

The featured garden was that belonging to actress, Andie MacDowell. Her charming “storybook home” is surrounded by lush rose, vegetable, herb and water gardens.

My favorite was the wisteria canopy that covers a high porch.

These gardens gave me some great ideas to incorporate into my own garden scheme. I have already started hinting, to my husband, for a water garden for my birthday. We’ll see if he takes the bait.

Fabulously Feathery

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." ~ Aesop

While browsing through magazines, for inspiration, for my traditional yet edgy wedding endeavor, I found the most fabulous feathery headpieces featured in Badgley Mischka's ads. While I know this is a little too edgy for this bride, I think they are amazing! I may have to use them as inspiration for a future window display in my shop…afterall; I have been purchasing many feathery things with my latest task!

Inspiration Board: Traditional with a Twist

I have to share with you the wedding project I am currently immersed in. It has been one of the most interesting commissions I have been asked to do. The bride’s style is proper but eccentric, traditional yet edgy, adventurous and relaxed. The pieces I am fashioning for her wedding invitation suite and reception pieces will be a juxtaposition of old-world tradition and a quirky modern twist. She told me to think Marie Antoinette, Great Gatsby, Hollywood Glam mixed with my own vintage style and old-world scripts. The couple loves the roaring twenties and the carefree decadence of the illustrated lifestyle this era depicts. It is the impetus behind the look and feel they want to create for their wedding. These elements will first be introduced in the invitations and carried through to the reception pieces. I will be designing two large art pieces, which will be displayed on easels at the reception. The hand-painted menu I will create will later be a piece of art they can hang in their home to treasure for years to come. The bride loves the aesthetics of the labels used on Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy’s products, in Florence (one of her favorite places), so I am using those as a springboard for my ideas for the border that will encompass the menu. I am also producing a seating chart, which will incorporate a mixture of abstract art with vintage script.

Later in the evening guests will be given masks and fans to liven the party.

After the festivities, the couple will leave in one of the antique cars from her grandfather’s collection.

This project has forced me to think outside the box of the traditional weddings I am accustomed to. I am up for the challenge and can’t wait to see it unfold.

I know it will be an unforgettable event. I hope to be there to capture it on paper. More to come on that later...

 

Photos for the Inspiration Board were provided by the bride, a few of my own

and others via Fanciful Designs , Paris Hotel Boutique and The Paris Apartment .

The last two photos via Coco + Kelley

Happy Birthday!

photo via French Blue

Happy Birthday to my special Mom!

XOXO