oh, which color?

having a keen attention to detail is a good thing, right? of course, the way i do it is sometimes maddening. take my wrapping these bridesmaid/attendant bouquets. i had a hard time deciding between two colors and probably took an unnecessarily long time choosing. this came after the time i took deciding that a satin ribbon was too "heavy" for the more wild, unstructured feel of the bouquets themselves. the picture below shows the two colors i was wavering between...

the more magenta/almost burgundy color brings out the flowers that are closer to that color, but then, the lilac color brought out the flowers that were that color and complemented the purple tones overall.

now look at them individually:

they're both interesting in their own way.

which one would you have chosen?

peonies for jessica

sometimes brides come in and they need help bringing their vision to reality. they may have a vague idea of an overall look or color, or they may like a particular flower, but the details need refining. others, like jessica, know exactly what they want and their enthusiasm just spills over. jessica loved peonies. she also had a lot of do-it-yourself details throughout her day, like tissue paper flowers at each place setting and pompoms going down the aisle at the church. jessica's wedding was also special in that jane worked for the first time with the very talented candice from jubilee events. candice is the type of girl who flies to costa rica and paris for photo shoots and you'd hate her if she wasn't so darned talented and good at what she does (ok, we can still hate her because we want to go to paris...but just a teensy bit). anyhow, candice coordinated jessica's wedding and so it was one of those weddings where you feel like you're cheating because your "work" hardly seems like work at all.

here are some (mostly floral) photos from jessica's wedding. photography by the equally talented carla ten eyck.

my ever changing moods

here is the bride i was yesterday...

and here is the bride i am today...she's even almost smiling...

and i am reminded yet again of what a new day can bring: a whole new outlook.

that is a really pink wall

jane has been giving me great leeway with regards to the (slow!) remodel of our shop. it's happening slowly, but it's happening nonetheless which is exciting. after surprising her with a "while you were gone" style bathroom remodel (i'll blog about that another time), i painted a small wall in the consultation area fushia. we added ledge photo displays to accomodate a rotating gallery of weddings we've done. the final flourish is the blossom branch i just painted...

first dance

at a wedding i attended years ago, the couple choreographed their first dance to an old standard and tap danced. it was so ridiculously sweet my cheeks hurt from smiling. of course, said couple were musical theatre people so it shouldn't have come as much surprise that they would do something creative like that.  my own experiences choosing my and my husband-to-be's first dance led to some "lively discussions". ok, we fought. mostly over peter telling me i always have to lead and my arguing that i wouldn't have to lead if he just would. looking back it was probably good preparation for married life. and to boot, let's just say, i'm not a natural dancer.

back to tap dancing. if you've wanted to something special for your first dance, and maybe have had dreams of learning to tap dance so that you could bust out your moves at your own wedding, now you can using just your iphone. the creator of "tap dance made easy" has created the tap app which features step-by-step instructional pictures, clear videos, and important hints about some of the most well-known tap dance steps out there – all in the palm of your hand.

and just think, with the money you save on dance lessons, you can add those extra flowers you know you want for the reception...

more wraps

                    and trying my own hand at wrapping a bouquet...

bouquet wraps

i appreciate when jane teaches me about all things floral. she has so much experience and talent and i have been---and continue to---learn so much. she doesn't even laugh at my stupid questions, like, "do you put them in warm or cold water?" tonight she gave me a lesson on how to wrap a  bouquet. i love that she is always thinking outside of the box with regards to what kind of material she can use, or how to embellish the wrap and often it's something delightfully unexpected. 

a simple burlap wrap is just the right compliment to the wildflower bouquet. photo by megan la barbera from creative image collections.

jane sewed the buttons by hand. it's a nice contrast between the shiny brown satin and the more earthy buttons.

embellished with a rosary for jessica. very sweet. photo by carla ten eyck.

Polish Wedding

i was thinking about wedding traditions, namely personal family traditions that we do or don't want to incorporate into our weddings. i remember how growing up 1st generation with parents from another country was pretty embarassing to me as a child trying to navigate the suburbs of northern california. i desperately wanted to be normal (i.e. just like everyone else), and my parents with their accents, wierd foods and different customs were anything but. and then there is my name: agna. huh? you do not know how badly i wanted to be named amber or jennifer when for the gazillionth time i'd have the following conversation:

other person: what's your name?
me: agna
other person: excuse me?
me: ag-na
other person: edna?
me: agna
other person: olga?
me: agna
other person: oh...it's, uh, nice to meet you.

it took me a while, but i came to love and embrace my heritage and when it came time to get married i incorporated some traditional polish elements that were really special. taking that same idea one step further i came up with a story board for my "new" polish wedding. the jumping off point was the following picture from a classic polish epic film called "with fire and sword." the actress, izabella scorupco was also a bond girl and is gorgeous. in my head i look just like her in the version of this wedding.

i went with a folk type of feeling. the bouquet was made by jane for la bella bride magazine and is gorgeous. also included is the traditional offering of bread, salt and vodka.  in addition to a cake i would make a tier of stacked paczki (pronounced pahn-ch-key) which is a polish dessert, very similar to a doughnut but not as sugary sweet.  there is also a photo of a richly painted traditional polish wedding chest.         

                       

may 5, 2001

my husband and i just celebrated our 9th anniversary last week. we alternate who plans the anniversary, one year he does it, the following year i do. (we do the same with valentines day) i have to say it's nice having a "year off" and being able to have the planning done and being surprised.


we got married in napa valley, california, and it couldn't have been more perfect. wait, yes it could have. we could have had another photographer since ours was complete crap. she was the worst--captured none of the special moments, nothing spontaneous, scared our adorable nephew who was the ring bearer and managed to piss-off my mother-in-law who looks like she wants to punch somebody in most of the photos. so let this be a lesson to you brides in the throes of planning: GET personal references and actually call them.

the wedding ceremony was at a little chapel nestled between wineries and the reception was at v. sattui winery, with cocktail hour outside in the garden and dinner and dancing in the barrel cellar.

here are some photos from my special day. the photos are not my favorite (see above reference to crap photographer) but that said, it was the best day of my life (outside of the birth of my children).

                             The cover of our wedding invitation.

V. Sattui Winery, St. Helena, California

Peter and I in front of "our" chapel, Rutherford, Napa Valley

If you squint really hard you can see my bouquet which is next to the cake. It was made entirely with stephanotis. 

                                                                    

The courtyard at V. Sattui.

 

The ringbearer and the bagpiper (that sounds like the title of a foreign film). My father was a big fan of the bagpipes and we had one play to honor him.

My mother, brother and I. My brother had just finished his last round of chemo hence the baldness. (Update: 9 years later he's still cancer free and back to being a pain-in-the-rear).

Reception in the barrel cellar.

  

We had Polish dancers perform traditional dances and Polish wedding rituals. One involves my catching apples in the apron they placed around me. The number of apples the bride catches signifies the number of children the couple will have. The look on my face (above right photo) is in reaction to the 7 apples I caught.

let her eat cake

jane's nephew's wife elyssa is about 4 weeks from her due date with her first baby (a boy!). unfortunately, last week she was put on permanent bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy. luckily she does not have long to go, and the doctors say the baby is in good shape, but it still stinks. time has come to slow crawl and she's powerless to do anything....like finish the nursery, wash and put away all of those adorable little clothes from the showers, last minute things to get ready for their new bundle of joy.  so to cheer her up i made these little baby bootie cakes...when all else fails, dessert usually helps, am i right?