Planning a Garden Wedding Reception

So, my darling goddaughter got married on the beach in Hawai'i on January 2, 2012. He's wonderful; she's wonderful. The perfect couple!

She asked me to help her with the planning of her reception this summer. I'm so excited!

I'll keep you posted on what we are considering, what we've chosen and all the ways we've saved money.

She came over on Sunday and the planning began. First the budget. As Linsi said, "We want to buy a house and have babies someday. We need to be frugal." She said they were planning to have an outdoor reception in August in a lovely field in Seattle. She wants it to be casual, romantic, friendly and colourful.

I showed her what I have here. 125 darling white cake plates with gold trim, a red band with gold fleur-de-lis, several dozen wine glasses, several dozen (maybe close to 100) champagne flutes, some market umbrellas (we designers are supply rich). All these I have, so we can just fill in what what needs to be rented.

Then I told her about the fantastic reception I attended several years ago that had as a centerpiece the most fantastic tent on earth. I sent an email to the rep and we are awaiting sizes, pricing and availability. I'll let you know.

 
 

    

Then we chatted about flowers. They really can cost the earth. And, since they don't last very long, this may be the place to spend less money by doing something different. One of the prettiest reception I ever attended (bar none) had a corridor of planted pots billowing to overflowing with perennials and annuals. Utterly heavenly. Maybe I'll take a page out of their book without taking a page out of their check book and I'll hie myself to Craigslist to see what they have:

Oooh, I found a pair of cool ones.  $40 for the pair (practically free.) 24" tall. Kindah great! Handsome. Wrought iron. Weathered. Traditional. Generously sized. Fill with moss and peat and start the plants in May. They would be enormous by August. Could be good. Yes, I like this idea. Mmmm, I'll send Linsi the link and see what she says.

And, I'll keep you posted.

http://www.rajtents.com/index.asp

Day 14 Everyday Grateful ~ another gorgeous bright
Seattle morning. Perfect for a visiting guest.
The mother of my foreign exchange
student from China is arriving for a visit.
How fun is that!

Spring in Seattle

What a lovely morning. I'm getting ready to go my friend, Barb's house for Easter brunch, but I just had to take a walk in the garden again this morning.

Last fall, when I bought forty pounds (or, was it eighty? I forget. Anyway, it was a lot!) of King Alfred daffodils, I imagined how wonderful the pots would look in the spring. As I've said before, planting bulbs shows faith in the future.

Now, we are seeing the results of that crazy idea. It's a daffodil riot outside. And, best of all they are just starting to open their heads. I love the way they respond to the sigh of the wind as it moves through the garden. 

Atmospheric. Transcendent. Hopeful. Beautiful.

My friend, Karen's husband Ron came by yesterday. He's the pressure washing king. He got all the Seattle winter moss and slime off the back deck. We are now ready for breakfast and dinner over looking the back yard.












I love this time of year. Each day, we are gathering light. The ground is warming. The energy of returning life is everywhere.

This next week, let's chat about garden art.

Happy Easter

Day 4 Everyday Grateful ~ a long, laugh-filled phone call

from The Bear.

Oh dear! My new home is completely Dead White wallboard!

A while ago, a client of mine moved up to Redmond to be near her children. She brought with her a life-time of wonderful antiques. To her horror, the new downsized home was all the "builder's special-Dead White" painted wallboard. Quelle horreur!

 And, the fireplace? Scary bad.

Rather than repaint the whole place, we decided to concentrate on the fireplace. She wanted a more Old World feel rather than the "Just Out of college" fireplace supplied by the builder. For tile that I turned to Architerra NW for a beautiful solution. Using a combination of their field tile and wonderful trim pieces, we turned to fireplace from "factory ordinary" into a beautiful focal point for her living room.

Often, when we see a lovely old tile job, what we are really responding to is the exquisite trim pieces ~ the crown molding, the ogee edges, the base, the v-cap, the corner moulding. In handmade tile designed by the tile genius at Architerra NW, you get the depth of detail not found in the big box stores and the type of detail that sets the finished project miles above the ordinary.

 

After the tile was installed over the existing fireplace, the change was dramatic. It was a fireplace that suited her French antiques. It made her new place feel like "home."