What I made at Flower School

It goes hand in hand with working in the wedding industry that I absolutely LOVE flowers. I love the amazing things that florists can do with flowers, I love the smell that each stem gives off, basically I am a nut for flowers. But, I also consider myself creationary challenged - I am fantastic at visualizing but conception to creation {when I do it} never turns out the way I envisioned. So, in order to rid myself of this affliction, I went to Flower School last night.

The amazing duo, Bess & Ivie of Celadon & Celery, opened their studio for me to learn from the masters. Besides being so much fun, these ladies run an eco-friendly flower studio ... a rare find in Manhattan. Most all of their materials and flowers are eco-friendly or sustainable, which I just think is brilliant.

Ivie, my flower guru for the evening started off teaching me how to make a boutonniere ... I completely shocked myself with actually being able to follow along and produce one that actually looks pretty attractive!


(Any guesses on which one is mine and which is Ivie's?}

We then moved on to making a floral head wreath ... things got a bit more complicated here, but mine turned out okay. Its a bit disjointed on layout, but the rosemary smells amazing ~ just what you want from a flower girl going down the aisle - a rumbling tummy because the rosemary has got her hungry.



Next up was a bridal bouquet. I totally impressed myself here - I think mine is quite beautiful. Its romantic, asymmetric, loose and natural.




{We did a french braid down the stems with pearl pins on each braid}

Lastly, we made an awesome centerpiece. We started by putting kiwi branches into the bowl for character and then added in hydrangea leaves, millweed, rosemary, gigantic dinner plate dahlias and lastly, persimmons. I think it turned out so well.





I got to bring home my creations and I laid them all out diligently for my husband to see, when he got home he actually thought I had bought them from a florist - not made them myself! {I did have help though!} Perhaps I've been cured from my creationary challenge?!

Thanks Ivie & Bess! I had such a fun time learning!

Re-Moon Trip, Island of Capri

From the Amalfi coast, one can take a quick ferry ride over to Capri, so we hit the high seas to see this beautiful island!

We pulled into Capri Harbor ~ there were tons of large private yacht's about and many a tourist restaurant. We decided to take the Funicular train up to the main "city" and explore from there. The main piazza of Capri was full of of tourists, so the husband and I cruised along some winding "streets" and finally got away from the crowds. We walked for about an hour until we came to a nice vantage point in which to see Italy from. Along the way we passed all these beautiful signs outside private doors, some of which I have posted below. We then hit up a lovely and tourist free restaurant for lunch, then made our way back to the ferry to return to Positano. All in all, Capri is gorgeous!

Re-Moon Trip, Positano, Italy

I will be posting a travel diary of sorts from our "Re-Moon" in Italy, that took place the week after Labor Day this year. My husband surprised me with the trip as my First Anniversary Present! He had planned the entire trip out and did an amazing job of it.

We flew into Roma and then drove south to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. It's honestly one of my most favorite places in the world and I fully intend to spend much more time there in my later years.


{view of Amalfi Coast from car ... never fails to baffle me that towns spring up all over Italy, yet in the US we can't maintain roads ... go figure}

We stayed at Hotel Miramar, which had the most perfect views of not only the Mediterranean Sea, but Positano itself.


{view from our room}


{view of Positano}

Over the course of our few days, we traveled to Ravello to explore as well as to Capri {post on that tomorrow!}. We also just walked up and down Positano {more stairs than my legs care to remember} and ate everything yummy in sight. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed it fully!


{some gardens we stumbled upon in Ravello}




{Another famous hotel and restaurant in Positano, Hotel Buca di Bacco. My parents stayed here on their honeymoon 40 years ago!}


{night view}

Stay Tuned for more Italian Goodness throughout the week!

Weekly Round Up: Wedding Planning Advice

I've come across some amazing reads, tips and general wedding goodness this week and I wanted to talk a moment to share some of it with you.

Firstly: Spencer Lum of 5West Studios has posted some images from a wedding we worked on together back in August. It was a two day affair {small intimate ceremony at their home on Friday evening, big blow out bash on Saturday night} ... once all the images are up, I will do a full post, but in the mean time, check out the slideshow!

Secondly: Take a looksee at Saundra Hadley's blog for awesome advice on working with some of your wedding vendors. She gives it to you straight and its so on the money!

Lastly: Check out this lovely tidbit on writing thank you notes to your vendors after the wedding. The written word means everything to your wedding vendors, so be a love and write them a glowing testimonial if they earned one.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Back in Wedding Planning Action!

After an incredible week of roaming around Southern and Middle Italy {and eating my weight in pasta, mozzarella and vino}, the husband and I are back to reality. No more lazy days of sightseeing, Vespa'ing around and generally living the good Italian life. No worries, I've got LOTS going on at Anderson Green Events to keep me occupied for a lifetime! We have some amazing weddings coming up over the next few weeks, cannot wait to see my fabulous couples walk down the aisle. I'll also be featuring more Real Weddings from the 2009 Season as I receive images. I've also got some fantastic posts coming up on the blog:

Recipes from my collection ~ my secret passion in life is cooking. Have some amazing ones to share

Design ~ I've been putting together some inspiration boards based on how I would do my wedding differently

An awesome coordination giveaway ~ details come out on News Years Day, but I'll be dropping hints here and there along the way

And lastly, I'll be giving a recap from our trip to Italy over the next few days with tons of images

Stay Tuned!

9/9/09 Weddings

While my husband and I were roaming around the Amalfi Coast today, we stumbled upon two couples getting married. Whenever I see a bride and groom on their wedding day outside of the US, I am always interested to see how their day is styled. Today's wedding couples were no different than other weddings I have seen in Italy (having lived here 8 years ago, I've seen a few) - simply dressed, simply flowers, simple affair. The focus seems to be the actual wedding ceremony, not the reception that follows afterward. There is much more emphasis on the importance of marriage and the beginnings of the couples joining together, rather than whether or not the couple have chosen the perfect favor to give their departing guests.

This sparked a debate between my husband and I - which is the better wedding? The simple, full of love way of the Italian Wedding (or any Non US wedding) or the lavish all out affairs in America? While neither is better than the other, its easy to forget that not everyone in the world does weddings like we do. I encourage you during your wedding planning to learn from other cultures and incorporate their traditions into your big day. Perhaps your cultural findings will be what sets your wedding apart. Besides, who doesn't want to be unique?

To those who got married today 9/9/09 ... Congratulations!

Happy Anniversary!

My husband and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary yesterday! He's decided to surprise me with a very planned out and full of surprises trip to Italy! We're off tonight, so I better get to packing.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Hope you have a fantastic, relaxing and fun holiday weekend! Rachel and I will be coordinating a phenomenial wedding at Duck Walk Vineyards on Sunday ~ you can follow me on Twitter with updates and images from the wedding!