Beautiful Baubles

I'm head over heels for these little repurposed beauties from Alona Freeman.  Wedding-perfect, but maybe just right for spring too!

Real Weddings: Olivia + Mike (aka Fairy Tale Beginnings)

Posting Mari and Tim's wedding earlier this week reminded me that I had stashed another beauty from Carol Harrold.  Olivia and Mike were married at De Lille Cellars, a gorgeous winery just outside of Seattle (though you'd swear you are in France when you're there).  O and M might have been the most loving, sweet couple I've worked with to date.  Their path to the alter had had a few twists and turns, and they were truly thrilled to be starting the rest of their lives--together. 

At our first meeting, Olivia hilariously described her style as "Goth Chic". I had a such a good time coming up with flowers that would fit that description.  Dark callas, burgundy cymbidium orchids, scabiosa and love-in-a-mist pods, hypericum berries, and "Black Bacarra" roses comprised her bouquet. 

De Lille's ceremony area is in a beautiful clearing, surrounded by tall trees and fields of fluffy white sheep.  We left the decor simple, but framed the entrance to the clearing with two huge foresty masses of foliage and burgundy flowers hanging from wrought iron shepherd hooks.  We echoed the design down the aisle with hanging vases of textured arrangements.

Fairy Tale Beginnings.  They're real.

Real Weddings: Mari + Tim

I'm so glad to be looking at these pictures today, in the middle of winter.  I don't know if it is Carol Harrold's amazing photography, Inglewood's beautiful grounds, the pretty colors in the summery bouquets, all the lace on my new chuppah, or Mari's gorgeous and infectious smile, but this wedding just feels like SUMMER!  And it is the only thing that feels like summer around here right now, so I'm appreciating it that much more.  Enjoy!

Let's catch up a little

For some reason, silos (as in those grain storage devices) are a big joke around my husband's office. I haven't even bothered to ask why, for fear of the long had-to-be-there story that would ensue.  I guess they all forward each other pictures of silos all the time though, and Steve realized I would love one of the most recent ones.  Check this out!   A trio of silos that were turned into a house.  I love a beautiful house, but I really love a quirky beautiful house.









In other news, Wuthering Heights.  I somehow missed this in high school and college, so thought I'd give it a try now.  It is SO good.  So fantastically gothic, atmospheric, suspenseful.  You might want to add it to your 2012 reading list if you missed it as well.

The other day my fave mascara was sold out, so I took a great big fat risk and tried a new L'oreal one.  Oh, I guess I should back up and state that I had a short fling with falsies--eyelashes that is--this fall, until the Mr. said they creeped him out.  Anyway, this new mascara claims to create falsies out of what you're naturally blessed with.  AND IT DOES.  Works so well, I can't wear it for everyday because of the Mr. problem.  TRY IT.  It's crazy good stuff.




Spotted!  A gorgeous and affordable ($49.95!) bridesmaid-perfect dress at H&M.  Comes in bright orange and smoky charcoal gray.



And finally, super beautiful photos from Carol Harrold tomorrow, of the summeriest summer wedding ever.

Macaron-a-palooza

A great video about macaron production at Laduree.  It's in French, but you can totally get the gist of it.  Serious assembly line large-batch macarons going on there, and great fun to see if you are a macaron stalker like me.



And last weekend I made lemon with lemon frosting, and ginger with lemon too.  I'm not doing very well on the whole putting-away-the-mixer-and-getting-back-to-work-thing.





And have I told you before?  The best ones in Seattle (and I've tasted them all--it was a community service thing so that I could recommend the best ones to everyone) are at Honore.

Best wedding photography 2011

The always fantastic Junebug peeps have just posted the 50 photos they chose as the best of the year.  A few of my faves, but do check out the rest for some serious inspiration and beauty.  (Click on each picture to go to the photographer's website).

Real Weddings: Jennifer + Brandon

New Year's Resolution: stop baking and get back to work! So I'm starting the year off with something that gets me all jazzed up about weddings again--a look back at one of my very favorite 2011 couples. I adored every minute of working with Jennifer and Brandon; they were down to earth, sweet, excited, warm and welcoming. An added bonus was that I got to work with my favorite guys at the same time! 

The wedding was at Jennifer's beautiful family home, which had been lovingly and meticulously landscaped for the big day. The rain stopped just long enough for the outdoor ceremony they had dreamed of, in that magical way that happens for special people.

Enjoy the beautiful video by Mitch at Cabfare Productions. He did a fantastic job of capturing the joy and love that was flowing that day.  And here's to a happy new year of beautiful weddings for special people!


Jennifer + Brandon: from cabfare productions on Vimeo.