COMMUNITY WEDDING IN A COMMUNITY HALL

firstly, apologies for the long post - there are quite a few pictures in this one!

in december, some friends from church got married at galston community hall. with both brendan and charlotte being such valued and loved members of our church community, they wanted to have a wedding that they could invite the whole church to, and the community hall was a venue that was both affordable and big enough. i offered to style the wedding, and these photos show the end result.

the day was captured amazingly by studio eclectic, and i am so thankful for the many many people who helped pull this together. brendan and charlotte were going for a rustic theme, using a deep red and a bit of gold.

the original plan was ceremony in the hall, with the afternoon tea and reception outside, however, due to the weather, all of the above was to take place in the hall. the transformations on the day from ceremony venue to afternoon tea, then to sit down reception for 300 people, then to dancing and dessert were absolutely epic but, as they say, many hands make light work. there is no way i could have executed these transformations without the many hands!!!

these were the invitations...hand drawn fonts...

welcome and directional signs as you approach the hall...

 

the ceremony in front of the rope backdrop. they were 'tying the knot'...

 flowers and jars (so many jars!!!), along with some old wine crates to set the theme...

the transformation for the reception saw metres and metres of garland with a collection of pom poms strung above the bridal table...

with so many people, it was a tight fit, but we got everyone in and seated for the reception. the hall was filled with long banquet tables, and everyone just took a seat (there wasn't much room for standing!!)...

 

 and then there was the dessert table. so much tasty goodness...

and some other details from the day, including afternoon tea drinks labels, guest book table and the gift table...

VIGNETTE STYLING WITH KARA ROSENLUND

a couple of weeks i go i signed up last minute to a vignette styling class at the school with the vignette styling queen herself, kara rosenlund.

i first fell in love with kara when i saw the pictures of her place. it is beautiful! you can check it out on the design files. she is a super talented photographer and stylist, and she is so friendly and so willing to share her thoughts. it is so nice to meet such amazing people who are friendly and who are happy to help you out!

the afternoon started with kara taking us through her five steps to create a successful vignette that catches your eye and makes you stop to look deeper, instead of just skimming over it. she then styled a vignette in front of us. it was so refreshing to hear her think out loud, chop and change things as she went - it made it feel achievable. the outcome was the below vignette, did you notice that you stopped on that image instead of just scrolling straight past? she is so good!!

we then had a sneaky afternoon tea (megan morton is always one for putting on a good snack!) and gave it a go ourselves (no pressure, right?). The below ones are some created by others who were there, and i think they all did a really good job.

and then this one is what i came up with. while i could have gone for all things vintage in neutral and muted tones, i know that all of the stuff i have in my house is not that. i am drawn to strong yellows and oranges and pinks and blues so i thought that, to make the best use of the afternoon, i should get some handy hints on using things that are more similar to what is in my house. i think it came up ok, and i definitely learnt some things. kara and megan assure us we will be able to apply these tricks anywhere. so here goes for all my future photos! what do you think?

A COMFY BEDROOM IN BROOKLYN

i have recently been thinking about bedlinen. i know, it doesn't sound like the most amazing thing to think about but i have a conundrum. a while back i bought a couple of sheet sets, thinking they would only ever be on our bed with the rest of that sheet set. but what happens when half of the sheet set dies for whatever reason? my sheet sets didn't go with each other, so i had mismatching bedlinen that i am struggling to use in a way that i like. so to address this problem, i decided all bedlinen would be white. this works really well practically and you never end up with sheets that don't go together, but it does not look exciting. it does look crisp, but not interesting.

so this dilemma has got me thinking - what bedlinen combination should i have in my cupboard so that i can get a mismatched look that works, can i have pattern and different colours that look good together always. the answer is most definitely yes because i see it on design blogs all the time. anyway, i was looking through design sponge this week (a great source of home inspiration) and came across this bedroom - simple, cosy, and not boring!

image: design sponge

image: design sponge

 
what do you think? i like the playfulness of the dot sheets - they create interest and break up the white, without being crazy busy.

here are some other images that are inspiring me at the moment as i think through my bedlinen choices...trying not to break the bank at the same time.

image: 79 ideas via unembellished thought

image: alvhem makleri via trendenser

image: hannah blackmore via cush & nooks

image: kara rosenlund

i think my conclusion is to have a few neutrals that aren't just white - these can always be mixed and matched to look effective, and stick to a colour scheme, so any embellishments will be co-ordinated. and the neutrals will always go with the colours to make up the bed. also, texture is a must - you can see it in every picture above and gives depth to a look. lets hope my colour taste doesn't revolutionarily change over the next few years!!!

EASTER STYLING & A CHANGE OF SEASON

soooo... i know it has been a while but i am back! and hopefully a little more regularly now! today is my first day of working for myself (really excited and totally freaking out). i am hoping this new change will really give me some decent chunks of time to work on my designs and work through the best method for printing and making. so as of today, wednesday's are 'owl & bridge' work days. hooray!! i will be adding new things up on my blog as they develop as i will be too excited not to share.

anyway, enough of that...on the weekend west elm, pottery barn, pottery barn kids and williams sonoma in sydney had an easter styling event where four different stylists spent half an hour styling an easter table for one of the stores. some of my favourites (sibella court, megan morton) were there, along with a couple of people i hadn't seen the work of before (cameron kimber, marco meneguzzi). here are a couple of iphone snaps i took on the day.

SIBELLA COURT FOR WEST ELM

i really like sibella's mismatch style that is brought together by colour a consistency in colour. also the different textures of timber, ceramic, glass, enamel create an dynamic tablescape and keeps you interested after the first glance. Sibella and her team dyed the eggs themselves using a martha stewart 'how to', but her brief to the team was 'to keep all the ones martha would have rejected'! Also as a must, greenery! Books were a clever trick to change up the heights which can create a flow to the table. she did put a rug on the table as a tablecloth which looked good, but i don't think i would be that game.

Sibella's encouragement was to use the things already in your house. walk around and find a whole lot of things and then pick and edit from that to create your tablescape. you will always have left overs but that is how styling works - you always gather more than you need so you can pick and choose and edit.

MARCO MENEGUZZI FOR POTTERY BARN

i hadn't come across marco's work before, but what i did like about this tablescape was that it wasn't overly spring. so many things around easter are to do with spring, which is totally understandable given that it is spring in the northern hemisphere at this time but we are in the southern hemisphere! i like that this one suits more the autumn climate at the easter time of year - it looks like an autumn table because of the colours without taking away the eggs and chickens etc. which symbolise new life. it is also very american and county in style which is not traditionally my thing, but it works here and is effective in grasping both the climate and the celebration.