Vertical Lush

There’s just something about green for me. A  few of our brides are really drawn to blues, which we can be a real bear for design when it comes to finding great linens, nailing a hue, etc. Still more of our clients love green, which is effortless . . . no one has to debate celery vs. celadon, or kelly vs. emerald- it’s all good!

Nature produces so much green as well, which makes our floral design a walk in the (proverbial) park. I love asking our favorite floral designer to garner everything from maidenhair fern to magnolia leaves to succulents for our looks.

Check out these stunning vertical gardens below. I’ve always wanted to design one as a band backdrop or ceremony pièce de résistance.

Don’t you want to stay here? It’s in the Hotel Pershing Hall in Paris . . .

Edina Todoki’s vertical grass wall

If there were more than 24 hours in a day, I’d spend them ogling this stuff. This vertical garden is at Greenpacks.org

I think Patrick Blanc knows what he’s doing with vertical gardens, no?

Via LaQuaintrelle . . . another gorgeous vertical garden wall.

This bold red vertical garden wall is by Gaetano Pesce . . . fab!

Chantilly Lace + a Purty Face

I was born and raised among bins of fine antique lace- the kind that is worthy of being framed and catalogued in a museum exhibit. My mother is an amazing seamstress and does such lovely things with lace, you can only imagine.

Thanks to her, I could go on and on about veils. I know some brides eschew them these days in favor of a fresh flower or to let their elaborate and beautiful gowns stand alone. I’m here to tell you, though- you never get to wear one again, and- they are SO elegant and fun.

Try a few on- from birdcage to cathedral length . . . treat them like gowns, shop around and figure out what you love. Mine was an heirloom veil from Brugges that my mother bought waaaaay back before I was born, just on the off chance that a.) I’d be born and b.) I’d be a girl and c.) I’d be a lace freak. Mother’s instinct! I can’ t wait for my best friend to borrow it for her own wedding in a few weeks’ time.

Below are just a few beautiful veil samplings and sources for you to peruse.

from Maria Niforos

from Antique Lace Veils

from Kristina Eaton

from Jennifer Leigh

from Designs by Kristen

from Christina Garcia

Chantilly? Alencon? Belgian? So much lace, so little time. Fingertip? Chapel length? Cathedral length? Tough call. Click here for a great synopsis on veils.

Now, for a real life sneak peek at some of my gorgeous past clients:

Eliza Hamnett wore a stunningly simple chapel-length veil with a border of the sweetest Alencon lace flowers, which meshed perfectly with her tiny column of a Vera Wang.

Lesley Wienke wore an heirloom chapel-length veil with a heavy Alencon border, which complemented her Vera very very well.

Lucy Doswell wore her chapel-length Alencon lace veil mantilla-style, again with a stunning Vera Wang! I see there’s a trend among my girls, hmm!

Callie Solomon selected a fantastic ruched trumpeted gown, so she opted for a simple veil of silk tulle in lieu of heavy lace- don’t you love the drama?

Tina Staz wore a jaunty little birdcage veil- putting a retro spin on her ensemble as only a stylish bride can do.

{Real bride veil credits, top to bottom: Tracy Turpen Photography, David Edwards Photography, Christopher Record Photography, Tina Rowden Photography, A Bryan Photo}

Which veil will you choose for your big day?

Hot or Not: A Jaunt thru SkyMall

It’s been a summer of travel, which means I’ve been rifling through the pages of SkyMall Magazine, stifling mad chiggles (the church giggles) and trying to maintain some semblance of maturity while flying. It’s like the HSN of the Air, on steroids.

It totally blows my mind that people have the excess cash (or not) to blow on stuff as seen below. In review:

What’s hot:

A Sno Cone Maker to replace the Snoopy one we all wore to bits.

What’s not:

A life-sized tailgating chair? While it would be hilarious to watch someone struggling with the setup and scaling the side of it to settle in, it’s possibly atrociously heavy, which may make you the laughingstock of the parking lot. Also, it’s called the Brobdingnagian Chair. Someone, please translate.

What’s hot:

Cotton candy is so de rigeur. Okay, maybe not, but at least it’s county-fair-inspired and this tabletop version would be way fun for kids.

What’s not:

You are destined for tooldom. I’ll pay for your lunchtime “lift” if you’ll vow not to be this girl. The best part? It’s manufactured by “no!no!”. I’m not even kidding.

What’s hot:

If you, like me, are a mama to a wee one who is onto your old school Hammacher Schlemmer Original Sleepsound antics, snuggle up to the Sleep Sound Lamb. You’re so sly.

What’s not:

Not sly. No one’s going to wander why the scent of poo is wafting from your planter.

What’s hot:

Making a total scene at the local park with what is seemingly a 150 lb. volleyball? Totally dig the attitude of it all.  It’s like this monster sprouted a baby.

What’s not:

You might as well just channel your inner agoraphobe: get thee indoors and don’t come out. I am embarrassed that this man even MODELED for this ad. This is worse than my parents’ predilection toward matching windsuits. Does it have its own coordinating 40′ carrying case, nay, its own zip code?

What’s hot:

This guy, minus the fake contacts and the thing on his head. Since he’s obvi devoid of human contact with others, (thus validating his purchase of a large mechanical contraption to hammer his head into shape), perhaps he should also buy one of these (how CREEPY is the one I found?!). Though while on topic, this thang is totally acceptable – you must try one out.

What’s not:

Yard art (“yart”) is bad enough . . . but ghoulish yard art that took someone painstaking hours to mold is reprehensible. I can just see the factory line of ladies somewhere in the belly of China meticulously carving each facial wrinkle and laughing inwardly at the idiocy of consumerism. Wow- that was faux-ly deep.