To happy, beautiful brides......

To our beautiful bride Bryn......thank you for being so delightful to work with !!!

Weddings can be pretty stressful events. Even when you're marrying the man of your dreams, planning such a festive occasion can take its' toll. And no wonder. You've basically decided to celebrate and share something extremely intimate and special with maybe 50, 100, 200 or, as in our wedding today with 350 guests. Many of whom, especially beyond 200 guests, you really don't know, if at all ! The details (and believe me they are endless) can overwhelm.

The bottom line is you want your party be a roaring success. You want people to leave your reception and say "what a wonderful evening and by the way, didn't the Bride look beautiful" (sorry Grooms, it really is about the bride).

So, when I meet with couples to talk about their wedding I always remind them of the following:

You've decided to throw a party. Enjoy the planning. Glitches will and do happen. But most are manageable and easily corrected.

Be confident that you have chosen the best vendors for your wedding. Yes, have ongoing dialogue and communication with them, but in the end you must trust them to do their job. That's why you hired them. Right ?

Smile, smile and smile some more.......have fun !! It's one day. Relish all of it because it goes by pretty quickly.

I WANT IT TO BE PERFECT...is wayyyyy too much pressure to put on yourself and everyone else. I saw famous wedding planner Colin Cowie on Oprah. Oprah asked him what can a bride expect from him. He replied "I will do the best job I can and work very, very hard to achieve the look and feeling you want but......I don't do perfect. It's impossible". Ladies, Mr. Cowie does weddings costing millions of dollars !

Most importantly, remember that your guests are following your cue. If that six tier wedding cake suddenly collapses on one side resembling a small landslide (BTW that did happen at one of our weddings) and you fall apart crying, your guests will cry. If you laugh, your guests will laugh. That's the difference between a wonderful wedding and a bad wedding. Make your guests feel great. Because they want to see you have a wonderful time and have a fabulous party. They want to celebrate your future life together !

You decided to throw a party. Go with it !

I so loved her dress. And doesn't she have the greatest smile ?

Robin, one of our fabulous designers created Bryn's bouquet. It's filled with the most fragrant garden roses, the softest pink dahlias and yes, the palest pink ranunculus.

Her veil is simple and pretty. Perfect for her dress and style.

I loved her nude toned shoes. How fashionable !

Some overview shots of the table florals. I'll post more shots of the tables in another post with closer shots. But I must go to sleep for a few hours as we have to go back and tear down later tonight (read 2 am).

This was going to be a great party. The band was rehearsing and they sounded like a lot of fun !!

Bryn and Sasha are on their way to Morrocco tomorrow for their honeymoon. Have a great trip! Then back to NYC where they are living.

All the photographs were taken by my wonderful partner David. It's not always easy for us to get pictures of our beautiful brides on the day but in this instance we were lucky. Thank you David. They are fantabulous !!!

Grey......you are my sunshine

Well of course I LOVE the sunshine (sans humidity). That's a given. Waking up to a sunshiney morning with birdsong and the prospect of the entire day ahead of me fills me with joy.

But ya know sometimes a gal likes some broodiness. Perhaps a little coolness and dull atmosphere to face. So rather than making you get up and go, darker days make you consider, reconsider or take time out, go slow (you know the days you just want to cosy up in bed), go for long romantic walks on abandoned beaches, be serene, be contemplative.

And the colour that most speaks to me and gives me that sense of quiet, romance and contemplation is GREY. Pale greys, muddy greys, French greys, gloomy greys, deep, dark black greys. Yummy.

I should also mention I love it as a gorgeous colour/neutral for interiors. Here are some of my favourites........

The inspiration.........

An abandoned train station on the estate of Corrour Shooting Lodge in the highlands of Scotland.

The view over Loch Ossian (Corrour Estate)

The grey background frames this already gorgeous bouquet beautifully.

An antique vase adorned with the loveliest green fruit spilling out and over. Arranged by the fabulous Christian Tortu.

Old champion winner cups showing their age.

Persephone book covers.

Though I believe they no longer publish their books in this pale soft grey and cream (sigh...)

BTW...I loved this story.

Oooh, this is what I love about fall and winter.

The interiors:

I think this is beautifully styled. Suzy Hoodless designed the interior to the Corrour Shooting Lodge.

I would love to have this fire/oven in my kitchen. Wouldn't you ?

Love the shades of grey in both of the above photos. Cool and contemporary.

Elegant contemporary interior...another Suzy Hoodless.

And one of my favourite photographs by Cecil Beaton. Model in a Balmain dress with Gladiolas nearby.

The Domestic Goddess returns.....

Nigella Lawson has a new cookbook coming out this September: Kitchen Recipes from the Heart of the Home.

I love cookbooks and in particular I am a huge fan of women who cook. Their books always feel more authentic to me - honest, approachable and doable. So in my kitchen (almost finished btw) you'll find Marcella Hazan, Alice Waters, The River Cafe gals, Julia Child, Anne Willan and Ina Garten. Yes, ok I also have Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater and Anthony Bourdain all of whom I also absolutely adore.

But for some reason I never got into Nigella. I think I just kind of thought she was all fluff and played on her attractiveness and perhaps didn't venture beyond cupcakes and spaghetti.

Then a couple of years ago I happened to read an interview with her that took place on a train ride from London to Brighton. First Class of course. The interviewer was commenting on how striking she looked and that several, rather well dressed businessmen were giving her admiring glances to which she was apparently completely oblivious.

The interviewer asked her a question and doggone it I can't remember what the question was but it had something to do with how she looked. However, I do remember her response and have held it close ever since. It's not a direct quote but it was something like:

"I only look in the mirror once a day. In the morning I'll fix my hair and makeup and that's it. Because I know I'm never, ever going to look as good as I feel".

Is this not true ladies ? It's so true. Ever since, Nigella rocks. So I'll be checking out her new book which by the way is getting some decent reviews.