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A couple of months ago I designed and styled a Royal Wedding inspired shoot for Seattle Met Bride & Groom. You might remember the sneak peek I posted here. My copy just arrived in the mail and it is so fun to see the final product.

Seattle Metropolitan Bride and Groom Royal Wedding

I designed the flowers with a modern princess in mind. Two different bouquets – one more formal in faded pastels and one more loose, organic and playful made up of Amnesia and Quicksand roses, hellebore, anemones, pink jasmine and ranunculus in royal shades of burgundy, purple and faded pink. I wrapped the bridal bouquet with antique seed pearl beading and incorporated vintage silk velvet leaves in the boutonniere.

Seattle Metropolitan Bride and Groom Royal Wedding

I have shared some additional pictures with Notes on a Wedding (the newest Northwest focused wedding blog) so hop on over there to check them out. Also, check back tomorrow for some exclusive behind the scenes shots of how a big fashion shoot comes together…

All pictures courtesy of the brilliant Ryan McVay for Studio Lucile

Behind the Scenes: Westminster Abbey

It’s hard to even imagine the amount of work that goes into a wedding of this size but Clarence House kindly posted behind the scenes pictures of the flowers and foliage used to decorate Westminster Abbey on Friday. You can check them out here and all the other behind the scenes details by following @clarencehouse on twitter.

Royal Wedding Flowers Westminster AbbeyIn the meantime, I am off to set up and get ready for a Royal Wedding viewing party with Seattle Met Bride & Groom. Time to dust off that fascinator…

 

Royal Wedding Countdown

For my birthday last week, my grandmother sent me a thick packet of clippings about the fast approaching Royal Wedding. The British press has (per usual) whipped itself up into a frenzy over the day and I think my grandmother assumes we are starved for information about William and Kate on this side of the pond when in truth, the entire world seems to be equally fascinated. So now I have the Daily Mail’s recipe for Will and Kate’s Chocolate Biscuit Cake (sounds delish actually), a string of reports on the Princess-to-be’s proclivity for high street brands and pages of speculation from various Royal watchers about the details of the big day.

While I’m sure the biggest attraction of the wedding to the majority of the British public is the extra four day Bank holiday weekend (closely following their four days holiday for Easter this weekend – tough hmmm?), there is a mounting excitement to see what kind of show the Royal family will put on and I am quite keen to see the details myself. I’ve noticed an increasing number of Royal Wedding inspiration shoots around the blogosphere and in honor of the big day and as a nod to my British passport, I’m going to post my favorites over the next week.

Let Them Eat Cake!

The Caketress (as Lori Hutchinson is known in Toronto) has to be one of the most talented bakers EVER. Seriously. Check out this cake she designed for Wed Luxe magazine before William and Kate announced their engagement.

Royal Wedding Cake Gold and Sapphire BlueAnd then here are a few more examples of her work that would most definitely be fit for a princess…

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figs, plums and honeysuckle

Laura and Majid

yellow, purple, mood board, edgewaterPalette: plum, marigold, blush and pewter
Theme: vintage, elegant, chic
Location: Edgewater Hotel, Seattle
Date: May, 2011

Faded Glory

I saw these pictures of a vintage garden inspired South African wedding in the most recent copy of Wedding Flowers, a British wedding magazine, and just had to share. I absolutely adore the faded look to these bouquets and the interesting mix of texture and color.

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Inspiration Board: Corporate Holiday Party


Palette: Champagne, gold and white with natural brown elements
Theme: Natural, chic, elegant
Location: Benaroya Hall, Seattle
Date: December, 2010

2nd Saturdayz

I have been meaning to attend a 2nd Saturdayz for some time and now that wedding season is winding down, I finally got to check it out. A must for vintage loving brides and designers, 2nd Saturdayz is held every month on, you guessed it, the second Saturday over at Magnusen Park in Sandpoint.

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Perhaps the poster gives it away, but this is no ordinary flea market. This is a market where every booth is styled and decorated to be worthy of a magazine shoot. The ladies who run the show, known as The Junk Tribe, are passionate about vintage shabby chic and picky about which vendors they let in the door. I scored some fabulous new props for next summer’s weddings (library card catalog as seating chart -anyone?), a $20 vintage Christmas tree and some gorgeous holiday trees made from recycled wool sweaters.
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There was plenty of inspiration for holiday decorating and winter weddings too.

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The next one will be held on December 11. See you there!

SMP: Vintage Romance

I just had to share this post from Style Me Pretty today. Absolutely gorgeous styled shoot from Sonoma and I just love the soft colors and textures juxtaposed with the “bling” in the jewelry and bouquet. Also a great example of using patterned linens without making the table look fussy or dated.

From jewelry designer NoakiThe shoot took place at Petaluma’s Gypsy Acres, a charming estate in Sonoma County, California’s lush wine country. Our theme was vintage country and Spring birth . We used lots of fresh new-growth greens and lemon yellows along with touches of vintage robin’s egg blue and pale pinks. Here and there we incorporated bits of vintage recycled materials and re-purposed items to carry the overall romantic mood, such as vintage table cloths, mix-and-match china and chairs and — even a vintage bathtub!
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Heirloom Bouquet
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Jewelry & Accessories by Noaki Jewelry
Photography by Claire and Sam Photographers
You can see all these beauties and SO much more on Noaki’s website and Etsy Shop!
Don’t see exactly what you’re looking for? Noaki creates custom designs, too! Give her a holler ~ info@noakijewelry.com

Jewelry, Hairpieces and Celedon and White Heirloom Jeweled Bouquet: Noaki Jewelry
Photography: Claire Dobson
Invites, Place cards, Menus : Paperwhite
Table Linens, China, Glassware, Silverware : I leoni
Dresses: Amy Kuschel
Florist: Silver Tape Floral Design
Venue: Gypsy Acres
Hair and Makeup: Sara Martin
Styling: ILeoni & Paperwhite

For those of you who have been following the blog for the last few months, you will remember that Chelsea guest blogged about her experiences planning her August wedding on Orcas Island. Here are all the details and pictures from the big day!

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Chelsea grew up on an apple farm in Wenatchee, WA (the epicenter of Washington state’s apple growing region) and in her senior year of high school she was nominated Apple Blossom Queen (an honor that meant she had to bring her tiara and gown to college with her so that she could be ready to attend a parade at a moment’s notice).

On a weekend trip to Lake Chelan right after Chelsea and Jamie got engaged, Chelsea and I found a pile of vintage apple label postcards in a roadside antique store and inspiration hit. We would design her upcoming Orcas Island wedding to have a country, organic theme based around vintage apple posters.
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Chelsea was a very hands-on bride. After I put together a mood board to help with the design direction, she immediately started scouring the blogs for ideas to make their wedding day special on a budget. She made the burlap table runners herself, spent a weekend sewing pennant flags, collected crates and crates of coveted blue mason jars and vintage bottles and glued lace cutout blue paper onto recycled cans for centerpieces.

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We even assembled the glass cake plates ourselves from platters, ashtrays and sundae glasses we purchased for pennies at Goodwill.

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Then Chelsea’s sister Erica had a *brilliant* idea. She had been to an event for the WA wine commission and seen apples “tattooed” with logos for a sponsor company. We had been tossing the idea around of using apples grown by Chelsea’s father as place card holders but this took things to a whole new level. Erica found a small indie sticker company in Seattle and commissioned them to design a small black heart shaped sticker with a C & J cutout in the middle. Two weeks before the apples were to be picked, Chelsea’s dad and stepmother stuck the stickers onto the apples while they were still green. Apples turn red right before they need to be picked so the sticker blocked out the sunlight leaving a stencil in green on the red apple. They turned out perfectly!

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We added small paper leaves to each one and we had the perfect escort card display.

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{all * pictures courtesy of Jonathan Steinberg, others by me}