Orcas Island Wedding Style

Oh My How Things Have Changed

Nothing like a before and after to see how much work has been put into a place when being decorated or renovated. Nothing like a before and after of some of the locations we have dressed for Wedding Receptions. When the magazines starts off with the landscape as dump site and shows the fantastic Victory Style garden as the after, it is just fabulous and fun to look at.  

Well  Snippet and Ink is posting a really spot on  series Snapshot of a Marriage offering advice from those who have been married to those who are looking to get married.  Emily Westbrooks a delightful American living in Dublin writer interviewed John and me. We had a really lovely chat. Memories abounded. Advice flowed easily.  Photos were requested of our wedding and of us now. We dutifully submitted. 

When you look at the pictures you can see alot of changes in our faces. I don't always like them but I have come to be really proud of them.  Lucky woman that I am. 

Next post: What I learned about Wedding Photography in looking for a picture to send. 

Done!

So very excited about the new website. So very grateful to everyone who helped in large ways and small ways.  It just feels better to have a contemporary site that can fit in with the pantheon of other beautiful wedding sites out there.

We are very excited to see what Snippet and Ink has in store. John and I were interviewed for a great series they are doing on giving any advice  to those about to get married. As a long married couple, 28 years this February, they wanted to know if we had a secret.  Respect and magic were the two words that kept popping out of our mouths. What do we mean? Well, hopefully the article will explain.

The San Juan Islands will be hosting a wedding show on Saturday March 9th in Friday Harbor and on Orcas Island. Isle Be Wed created by the super talent Felicity Milne of Cakes By Felicitations. As time goes on we will try to post more about what to expect. But I can for sure say this, if you are even noodling on the idea of getting married in the San Juan Islands, you just have to come.  You will meet some incredibly talented vendors who can make the day perfect. 

As always, thanks for stopping by. See you soon. 

Are we there yet?

The website is almost  ready. It has been a bit like 

making decisions, choosing photos, designing pages, offering ideas; which way do we go.

But we are almost there. And we will let you know.  Then it's time for the Blog to be put through the same process. So greatful to all those who have helped make this possible. Annie Sparks-Dempster of Annie Sparks-Dempster fame rules and Dan Burke is wizard infront of the curtain, Thanks guys. Oh and Affinity Photography gave me this fabulous and illustrative photo of our most wonderful Orcas Island. 

CHANGE in 2013

Hello out there from the mysterious hidden wonder in the fog that is Orcas Island.

When I started this blog I made the mistake of not being consistent in my posting and when I did post I went musing on all sorts of things that were fun or interesting to me but were not necessarily pertinent to why you dropped by to read me. 

Further musing on my part, insights from my extraordinary team of designers, and planners, Annie and Stella,A Magical Place to Stay Patty and Sarah , Kimaya Cloud Nine and Janet McCarty a superlative Fine Artist  have spurred me on.   Receiving  sound advice and inspiring ideas from a Creative Director who I think is a remarkably gifted artist Dan Self  has made it possible. 

It is time for a renewal.  We are redoing our site, we are redoing the blog, we are expanding the staff, we are moving outwards and upwards. New designs, fresh ideas about Orcas Island Weddings and the style you want to see.  

Meanwhile as we all know there is so much beautiful work out there. So much heart. Annie sent me a great one today and I think it should be shared:  Saipua  beautiful work. 

Meanwhile, I am going out to the salt mines to do some digging and will be back to you with something fresh and lively and lovely very soon. 

 

I found a photo

I found a photo today that is helping me set an emotional goal. I figure if you can have weight loss goals and health goals and money goals and every other kind why can't we have an emotional goal. Here is mine. Pretty simple. 

Susan Slapin shared Quan Yin's photo on Facebook and made my day. 

My Ankles Are Weak

It is true. 

During my Zumba workout today my ankles turned a simple ball change step into an act of folly.  I forget. I deny. I fall down. Today I had to face it on the floor. I have week ankles. 

Weak ankles are a peculiar malady. I have friends with a bad knee or hip or both and they schedule a procedure to get a new one. Like buying new tires.  Chipped a tooth? Get a crown made of gold or porcelain -elegant elements. Squinting at the large print? A new pair of fantastically chic edgy glasses are waiting for you.

    (I always need new glasses but not because my eyes get worse). 

My Ankles are weak and what solutions are offered to me?  No, not beautiful Christian Louboutin high heels  to improve posture, strength and appearance of fabulousness nor fantastic chunky Steve Madden motorcycle boots that offer support and the appearance of "don't mess with me". Oh no. Nothing so wonderful. No, I get to write the alphabet. Uh huh!

Lesson: Lift a bare foot and point your toe. Now while focusing on the big toe, move your foot in the air and write the alphabet from A-Z both feet 2x.

I tried it. Fortunately I was alone. It was like when I was learing to juggle or flip an omelete. I felt a bit ridiculous and very uncoordinated. And not a little stupid.  But then,I mean, have you every tried to write a capital S in the air with your toe?  Now try doing it with your non dominant foot? You have to really concentrate- let me tell you, you can't text or talk while doing it!

There are alternatives I see on the internet. I could lift weights with my feet but then there is a belt involved or some stretchy rubber thing and you need proper positioning and if you knew me you'd know that just seems risky.  So I write in the air with my toe. Maybe with practice I could write an air poem...a sonnet to an ankle?

Well I may not get new shoes nor have fabulous new specs to update my image nor less craginess in my teeth to cause my floss to break. But I do have a source of silly amusement to bring a smile on a grey day 2x a day. Hey at least they aren't fat!

Handfasting

 Handfasting was the original way in Medieval Britain that couples joined in what we know as matrimony. By handfasting (actually placing of the couples palms in a way to signify the infinity sign) a couple was joined for a year and 1 day whereafter they could renew the handfast or not as they chose. Since access to clergy was not all that easy this made a great deal of sense. 

Today handfasting is used symbolically as a portion of a wedding ceremony. It is a lovely ancient (some say Celtic) tradition being kept alive.

I am glad I came across the term today.  It is fun learning where things come from and why. 

 

 

Hunting Hippos

Hunting Hippopatumi in Paris. 

Chocolate. A very dangerous medium. Not to be taken on lightly.

 

Yum.

A Bit of City

I was feeling a bit stale from a long winter and from staring out at all this natural beauty. Seriously, sometimes you really can't see the forest for the trees.

So my husband and I packed up and went on a trip from which we have just returned.

We struggled at first to decide where this much needed break would be, friends in the Caribbean, friends in Bali all tempted us but we realised pretty quickly it was a big dose of City that was needed.

My first post (in forever I know!)is about why that was a good choice, going city that is. I needed visual feeding.  

Coming up with unusual inspiration for Wedding decor that goes beyond bark and moss or can be ferreted out from the two dimensional world of my MAC is at times a challenge.

So it seemed to make sense to go to Paris. 

Isn't this just fantastic!

I know I can't bring the Musee des Moyan Age here (though I wish I could work there) nor can I time travel the ancient stone masons of France for my next project but I can certainly let them inpsire me....  how about for the next time I have a tent ceiling to decorate?

Ah, the jet lag siren song calls and I must answer. More soon dear friends. au bientôt.

Doing It Yourself

DIY is the watchword trend for this years weddings. I am seeing some fantastic results out of the efforts some of my clients are making. Really fantastic ideas. There is also a trend towards the vignette centerpiece such as this one.
Vignettes tell a visual story about the couple. Vignettes can create moods of joy, inspire fantasy, express ideas whether lofty or not. 

There are some fantastic blogs out there that inspire and inform vignette design? This is a new favorite.  This is an old favorite both of these blog spots  have provided me and many of my clients with great inspiration and hours of pleasure.

My DIY clients, my "please do it for me clients"   and my design associates  have universally benefitted from this blog spot. It transforms limited thinking and makes even the most colour shy person brave -The Color Collective. Really.

Though obvious it bears repeating: Color is key. By way of example I remember when my college roomate and I wanted to take a trip together during our summer break. I had a friend in Arizona and she had a friend in Colorado. We were both having a hard time deciding which way to go. She left up to me. No pressure there. When I really thought about it, when I closed my eyes to imagine myself in these places,  I realised I wanted to go to places  that were filled with Blues , Whites and Greens and not Reds, Oranges and Yellows. It was a visceral decision reached through somewhat unusual means and was very satisfying when I came to my decision. I ended up in Red Yellow and Orange but that is a whole other story.

Now a brief word to those Brides getting married in 2012 who feel their talents lay out side the demands of creative wedding decor - If doing it yourself stresses you out, don't do it.    You are not a bridal failure.

By my way of thinking and those who read my postings have seen my write any number of times:  your only obligation to your wedding- the singular thing that you must DO it YOURSELF -is to be present in the moment, witnessing from your heart.  Live it don't watch it.

Teal or taupe, paper flowers or real, buffet or homestyle in the end all fade from memory. It is your heart that goes on - (oh you know I just had to write that ! Celine).