A Family Affair

After working on so many Winter themed weddings it's refreshing to be revisiting Spring and Fall ideas this week. It's so nice to have a respite from the storm to pull from recently acquired collections of vessels and embark on design directions for '12 weddings. The one above is for my nephew Chase's fiancee who is a real fall gal. She wants deep saturated oranges and reds subdued by paler cremes, whites and grays. Of course Oct will offer completely different goodies but I'm simply pulling together the look and feel and color palette for her to get a visual of what I have in mind.

My sister (Chase's mom) has been amazing gathering all the vintage goblets and copper plating old vintage chalices at Palm Beach Plating. She's also collected vintage fairy lights(not seen here) which will add a cast of warm light to the whole table-scape. Altering tables will have tall fluted copper vases with loose gestural Fall branches, bittersweet and kiwi vine. It's all taking place in a venue in Central Florida so we'll be adding touches of spanish moss to tie in with the St John's River area where guests will be staying. The taller tables will also have some of the collected elements of the lower centerpieces. It's going to be so romantic and gorgeous!!! This is not the first and I'm sure it won't be the last post about Tori and Chase's big day. Our little sweethearts!

Garden Served on a Platter

I rushed this lovely story over to NY Magazine this morning as they were shooting their Spring/Summer Weddings issue. Since everything has to have a theme these days I chose to serve a garden on a platter including Peonies, Icelandic Poppies, Blush Ranunculus, White Ranunculus, Stock, Snowdrops, Tweedia, Geranium, Helioborous, Lilac, Majolica Spray Roses, Sweet Peas, Begonias, Spirea, Hyacinth bulbs, Serena Roses, Seeded Eucalyptus, Gloden clover, Dusty Miller, Clump Moss, Riendeer Moss, Slate stone, Grape Ivy, broken mossed clay pot and vintage silver trays. These silver trays and doodads are part of a collection I have been assembling for some time. I particularly love the vintage trays with the cut out borders. I've thrown around treatments for them in my head but never actually put them to use. Now that I have I may spend some hours on variations later in the week. Stay posted friends.

Prospect Park New Year's Eve

Happy New Years to you all! I brought 2012 in watching fireworks behind the Prospect Park Boathouse during the final hour of one of my favorite weddings of 2012 :) I guess I can say the New Year started on a good foot. This wedding had a snowy wintry theme with snowflakes and crystallized branches creating a whimsical and magical setting. Danielle from Curtain Up Events provided the wedding party with hand held candles which they lit during the procession as the flower girls tossed snowflakes as they descended the staircase. The bride and groom took their vows under an arch composed of crystallized branches with suspended candles. At midnight the guests exited the boathouse to the promenade and carried sparklers as the Brooklyn NY's Eve fireworks display exploded overhead reflecting on the pond. It was truly a perfect climactic ending to a very special evening.

Above are details of the flowers and venue decor which incorporated pale blush tones, ceyladon and creme with lots of candlelight, fruit still-lives,mercury glass, snow and laser cut details provided by the couple.

Merry... Be Merry!

Here is a gorgeous home which I was asked to decorate for the holidays. Picture perfect would not begin to describe it. It's an alarming contrast to my own little hovel of an apt that I left behind in NY. I have to admit that my face hurts from grinning at the light shows that the peeps down here display in their front yards. I'd go so far as to say Floridians make even a bigger deal of the holidays than North Easterners because of their lack of snow and everything Ho-Ho-Ho.

The day I was scheduled to fly out I felt like the holidays were just a pain in the ass! I was seriously grinching out loud to my favorite local barristas at Daisy Bakery when another customer in line looked at me with disapproval and said, "It should be a kinder holiday".

OH MIND YOUR OWN F%$&*(# BUSINESS AND SHOVE IT! I thought.

Of course, his criticism remained engraved in my psyche like a bad pop song all day and night until the plane reached it's final descent and I looked out the window and saw all the little houses with their masses of twinkling string lights and blow up snowmen on the rooftops. I thought of the effort each occupant had made to bring some spirit to their block and was glad to be home with my family, as dysfunctional as they are, coming together and celebrating another year of our South Florida tradition and family loving.

Scent of Juniper

The last few weeks have seen the studio filled with evergreens and all sorts of white and red flowers. These images are from a wedding we did last weekend. Unfortunately I am limited with my computer which doesn't have photoshop to allow me to correct lighting on other images so you can get a better look at the overall wedding. Hopefully this will be resolved soon and adequate representations will be uploaded. Until then please bear with the photos which make the cut. With the holidays upon us we have been enlisted to decorate homes and weddings representing the season. It's the time of year when Louie and his army at Major are in full swing making wreaths and garlands for all the designers who simple pine bows just won't do. I've seen some beautiful recipes which inspire like variegated holly and dried mountain laurel branches. I ordered Juniper mixed with brunia, and Cedar and was delighted with outcome - both elegant and fragrant. Next post will visit a home we dressed with all the trimmings.

Happy Holiday folks!

Prospect Park

Yesterday I had a walk-through at the Audubon Boathouse in Prospect Park and was completely intoxicated by the light and remnants of fall as I made my way through the park. It was as if the most saturated leaves had hung on till the end. Everywhere I looked there was a brightness and intensity of hue against a backdrop of earthen dried foliage making their way into a natural compost for the winter months. My nature hike was brief but long enough to lose myself for a few minutes in nature and the final high notes of autumn.

Winter Whites and Sparkles

Above is a sample centerpiece made for a wedding at Prospect Boathouse on New Year's Eve.

The ingredients include Amaryllis, Anemones, Ranunculus different variety of white, ivory and blush roses, Dusty Miller, Brunia, Eschevaria, Stock, and Veronica in antique silver pedestal vases and mercury glass vessels. Accents of crystalize twigs lend it a sparkle and a nod to the holiday season.

Non Traditional Thanksgiving

Yesterday close friends gathered together to make delicious dishes all day. Instead of a turkey we made a giant pot of Paella. Stuffing was replaced by roasted vegetables like beets sprinkled with Cabrales cheese, cauliflower with Asiago, fingerling potatoes with rosemary, and butternut squash with balsamic vinegar. Our greens were satisfied by a kale sesame salad with shitake mushrooms in a rice vinegar, sesame oil dressing and sweets remained true to the holiday with pumpkin pie from Daisy Bakery, pumpkin cheese cake from whole foods and giant assorted pastries from a Greek bakery in Queens. I fear counting the total number of calories that passed over my fork thinking of all the places on earth where one quarter of those calories could save a life. We are a very lucky crowd to be able to celebrate our lives in such an abundant way. I am thankful for having the opportunities I have had, for the good health of my family and friends and for living a creative life filled with beauty and celebration!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Seafood Paella

• Broth:
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
• Herb Blend:
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• Paella:
• 1 pound monkfish or other firm white fish fillets
• 16 unpeeled jumbo shrimp (about 1 pound)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups finely chopped onion
• 1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups uncooked Arborio rice or other short-grain rice
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 16 littleneck clams
• 1 (7-ounce) jar sliced pimento, drained
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• To prepare broth, combine the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.
• To prepare herb blend, combine parsley and next 4 ingredients (parsley through 2 garlic cloves); set aside.
• To prepare paella, trim connective tissue from monkfish; cut into 1-inch pieces. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large paella pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish and shrimp; saute 1 minute (the seafood mixture will not be cooked through).
• Remove seafood mixture from pan, and keep warm. Add onion and bell pepper to pan, and saute 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, paprika, crushed red pepper, and 3 garlic cloves; cook 5 minutes. Add rice, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth, herb blend, and peas. Bring to a low boil, and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add clams to pan, nestling them into rice mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until shells open; discard any unopened shells. Stir in the seafood mixture, and arrange shrimp, heads down, in rice mixture. Arrange pimento slices spokelike on top of rice mixture; cook 5 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Remove from heat; cover with a towel and let stand 10 minutes.

Merry ABCs and Thankfully Happy Ones!

This week I had a spell cast upon me by the visual display at ABC carpets. I put the metal to the petal on my holiday cheer and completely surrendered myself to crystal fawns and glass unicorn snow globes. Opalescent vases and "snow" flaked poinsettia leaves lifted my fairy wings right into a crystal encrusted frenzy back at the studio. The floor is now covered in glitter and glass crystals. When will this end! Dec 31st hopefully, when our last winter wonderland wedding goes off as splendidly as ABC's holiday display has! But before then we have that thankful day to honor so off to spin class to get the metabolism in high gear for all the approaching calories!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Lovers of Life!!!

Leaves FALL

Leaves are covering the ground as the explosion of color makes way for hard silhouettes of branches preparing us mentally for the winter ahead. This week has been warm and sunny and I savor every minute. Above is one of the last fall arrangements coming from this studio. Winter wonderland weddings are taking over. It's a week filled with crystals and branches. Production for the base materials for many December weddings is filling my time and space. Think Dr Zhivago meets a true life ice storm. More about this soon.