Snippet and Ink

Is it me or are Kathryn at Snippet and Ink's boards getting better and better?  I *die* (Rachel Zoe moment) over the last four boards.  I think she is really hitting her 10,000 hours of inspiration board making since she was one of the first (if not the original) inspiration board blogger, and it shows.

 These two are so punchy, fresh and summery.  Anyone who has seen my first studio apartment (bragging moment: Apartment Therapy smallest coolest contest 2008) knows that I love a good Navy/White/Orange combo and I think the subtle touches of soft french blue give it a sophisticated twist.  Oh and did I mention that for my birthday on Sunday we had a crab feast in Baltimore?  Love!

And the green and white wide stripes featured in this board feel so *now* to me.  Aren't the little tea sandwiches and the fruit in the arrangement divine?  We all know I love a good apple green.

And there are these two, which are the polar opposite but also equally beautiful.  Soft sand and sea glass is exactly what I would do if I were having a destination wedding at the beach.  So chic.  I could live in this board.  It's also interesting because I can't tell you how many clients have a love of old maps that they want to incorporate into their wedding, but it can be really tough if you're not going with a soft, neutral palette like this one.

And this one is so subtle and sophisticated for a Southern girl.  You can tell Kathryn spent some time in Mississippi and really picked up on that gorgeous Dixie style.

Keep up the good work Kathryn, I'll be watching!

Moroccan Wedding Blankets

Taking great inspiration today from Moroccan Wedding Blankets.  I love their story and their sparkly, neutral texture.  What a wonderful wedding present or even something that could be incorporated into your wedding decor.


From Apartment Therapy:
"Known as Moroccan wedding blankets, handira are woven out of sheep's wool, cotton and linen by Berber women in the Middle Atlas mountains of Northern Morocco...

Berber wedding blankets are woven in anticipation of, you guessed it, a wedding, by the bride's female relatives. It can take many hours — even weeks — of work to attach those hundreds of mirrored sequins once the weaving is complete; it is thought that during this collaborative task, the bride's relatives teach her all about the birds and the bees, among other marital duties and expectations. After the wedding ceremony, the bride wears the blanket tied around her neck as a kind of cape. It might be associated with her trip to her new marital home, which could be a chilly ride.

For Berbers, objects and visual motifs contain myriad meanings and purposes. The process of hand-weaving, itself, when undertaken mindfully, is thought to endow the textile with baraka, or blessings. When complete, the wedding blanket serves not only as warmth and decoration for the bride, but also to ward off evil and to bestow fertility and good luck upon the newlyweds."

Wedding this Weekend, Hollywood Chic

Fabulous wedding this upcoming weekend for my favorite Russians.  Inspired by the restaurants Sur and Villa Blanca in Los Angeles, the design for this wedding will be the epitome of Hollywood Chic.  Lots of white draping, pink peonies, lush green ferns, sleek white lounge furniture, and of course, a red carpet entrance. Can't wait to share the photos!

Photoshop me!

Not sure if you notice anything changed with last week's post which originally featured this picture (above) and not sports this one (below).  The photographer, Sasha Gulish, e-mailed me the new shot.  The outlets were just bugging her and she wanted to make it perfect.  Isn't that amazing?  Such a little thing but attention to detail is so important when you're choosing a photographer and isn't photoshop just an incredible little tool?  Vast improvement, thanks Sasha!

Farmstead Rehearsal Dinner

Shoshana and Jeremy had their casual, laid-back rehearsal dinner at Farmstead Restaurant in St. Helena. What can I say, this was such an incredible evening.  Sheamus Feeley, head chef at Farmstead prepared an amazing menu including ham and biscuits; deviled eggs and hash-brown appetizers.  Smoked steak; tuna and porchetta with fresh asparagus and beets for dinner.  Finished off by an assortment of desserts served in mini mason jars; chocolate pudding; lemon custard and more.  There was an incredible blues band and lots of thoughtful toasts.  A great lead-in to the couple's wedding the next night at Durham Ranch (for which I posted the inspiration photos here!).  All photos by Sasha Gulish.

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Head Chef, Sheamus Feeley

Me with the Flower Girl

Featured on Style Me Pretty: Allison & Ian

Allison and Ian's Holman Ranch wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty Friday.  You remember all her lovely inspiration for her wedding day that I posted about here?  And Allison's super cute blog, Engaged and Inspired?  I'm so excited to see it all come to life exactly as we planned.  

The funny thing about the day is that it rained and hailed all afternoon and evening except for about 40 minutes when it let up so we could have the ceremony outside.  We had to move the entire party inside the barn and I'm so glad we did because I think it turned out really romantic and rustic, exactly like Allison wanted.  Also, a lot of these portraits were shot in the rain and you can't tell in the slightest!  Ah, the magic of photography.  

Oh and a fun fact, Allison made almost all of the decor elements HERSELF! We came up with the idea of keeping the palette neutral and having pops of color.  Allison and her father completely concepted the entire wardrobe escort card display and did a fabulous job with it.  Allison and I debated a lot about the table linens.  We came up with the idea of a white table cloth, lace runner and stained book pages on top.  Allison spent months collecting old books, tea-staining them and cooking them in the oven to get that lovely antiqued effect and then she taped them all together in long runners.  

The biggest challenge in pulling all of this together was that, having her amazing blog, Allison had LOADS of inspiration and lots of style.  My job was to try to help her pair it down into a cohesive look and I really think we achieved just that.  What a beautiful day, I'm so happy I got to help her bring everything to life!