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Springtime

Lisa from Bella Rose Photography asked us to create a pink bouquet for her recent photoshoot. Thanks for supplying us with the beautiful photos, Lisa!

ART OF THE TABLE

The Bellamy Mansion hosts a wonderful event every year where designers, florists, and artisans are invited to design a table or mantle. Lots of local artists come out in support of the mansion and put together a design based on their chosen theme or concept. This year I was given one of the mantles in the upstairs room and decided to pay homage to Mary Cassatt. The following was the description that accompanied the mantle:

For women, it seems that the struggle between a domestic life and an artistic one has been ever present—that giving fully to one is to sacrifice, in part, the other. Mary Cassatt chose the artistic, never marrying or having children of her own. But her work focused on the home and family, and she painted them with the gentlest of hands. Mary gave voice to very life from which she refrained, and in doing so transformed the domestic into the artistic.

It seems fitting then that her work be displayed in such a way, over the hearth—the heart of the home. The fireplace, here, has become the intersection of these two spheres; a representation of the domestic and also an exhibition for the artistic. Perhaps in Mary’s work, we can witness not only the artistry of the domestic life, but also begin to view art itself as a medium for domestic expression.

The right side of the mantle was dedicated to the artistic.

And the left side to the domestic.

The centerpiece of the mantle was on old printing press drawer filled with domestic and artistic items.
















I borrowed most of my props for the mantle from two wonderful friends who just happen to be highly artistic women and amazing mothers. I did not realize the connection until I had finished and saw that the mantle was as much about them now, living those roles, as it was about Mary Cassatt.

ENGAGEMENT PARTY

We love weddings at Salt Harbor, but it is great to get to design a party now and then, and Mary and Chris definitely know how to throw a party. They chose Eagle Point as their venue and picked an amazing band, Party on the Moon. Millie photographed the party and will be photographing the wedding this June. We are working hard to design the wedding, which will be a Hampton-style event at Airlie Gardens.

Bald Head Wedding

Mary Catherine and Phil were married last October on Bald Head Island. They wanted a really organic event that captured the essence of the island, and so we incorporated driftwood, grasses and rocks to create the feel of the natural environment of Bald Head. Lisa from Bella Rose Photography expertly captured all of the details!

BALCONY'S OPEN HOUSE

Jill, the coordinator at The Balcony on Dock, recently asked me to design the Roudabush Room for their open house. She wanted the space to be set as though it were hosting an actual wedding reception, incorporating a buffet, bar, seated tables, guestbook, favors, escort cards, and wedding cake. We decided on an antique, earthy approach using browns, greens, and purples (a color that seems to be HUGE this season). Millie Holloman not only set up a fun photo booth in the space, but also captured all the details of the day!

We hung custom escort cards from a tree, tied with twine menu cards to the napkins with a sprig of lavender, placed table numbers in old clock cases, and used post cards used as the guest book.

South n' France provided yummy bon bons as favors. We displayed them in apothecary jars to create a twist on the traditional candy bar. We also created little personalized bags in which guests could take them home.

Nicki McRae created this great custom cake, which we placed on a tree stump cake stand. Nicki is wonderful at creating really interesting cakes that capture the feel of an event!

Lighting can do wonders for a space. We created a bar back out of wooden cubes and lit it from behind, which created this neat effect against the brick wall.

Featured in Southern Wedding Magazine

Southern Weddings Magazine, created by the same folks who established the Southern Weddings Blog, just came out, and it is full of inspiring details from fabulous southern weddings! Two of ours are feature in the publication--Kinsey and Corey's wedding shot by Millie Holloman Photography and Kevin and Abby's wedding taken by Whitebox Weddings.