What’s hot:

Timeless bouquets with effortless gradation and subtle color . . . from one of our weddings, shot by Gayle Brooker Photography.

What’s not:

Polka dot bouquets that scream more FTD than elegant. No seamless transition from fleur to fleur- how about a little gentle contrast here, people?

What’s hot:

Registering for gorgeous tabletop wares at Gump’s San Francisco, for one.

What’s not:

Displaying a homemade shrine to improving your bottom line. Gift-card-box-slash-eventual-bird-feeder = gawdy. Be-tapestried tasseled life-sized kleenex dispenser is not working, either.

What’s hot:

A dear little homemade wedding cake. Perfect for a modest budget.

What’s not:

Cupcakes-a-plenty, replete with metaphorical figurines depicting proverbial ball and chain marriage.  Eww and yawn. Cupcakes alone, done well, were cute when they were cute, for a millisecond.

What’s hot:

Ivanka Trump’s shoulder-covering Vera Wang is always in style, and absolutely elegant to its core.

What’s not:

A tatt in church. I’m in full cringe mode. Get thee some Dermablend, at least for the day.

We’re in the mountains with our noses in books, occasionally breaking to play Bananagrams.

I’m sitting here . . .

chatting with this boy . . .

and snuggling up on this boy . . .

Happy Labor Day!

While stomping around NYC with some lovely gals from DC (RitzyBee’s Maria Cooke + Kelly Seizert) and Philly (StyledCreative’s Beka Rendell + Kimberly Fink), the topic of Terrain and all its fabulosity came up.

The latest of my cravings is, as always, a leetle scatterbrained and a lot luxe. With the advent of Fall and all its crispness, both my wardrobe and my home need some tweaking. Ok, major tweaking.

Check out these lovely things for the home front, all from Terrain:

Burlap pendant . . .

Faux bois trivet- so hard to find an attractive trivet for the Thanksgiving feast!

Green is my passion, so i love this green garden pushcart . . . could double as an outdoor bar cart or buffet piece? Yesssss.

We’re at the front end of a home renovation, so i’m always on the lookout for a gorgeous antique to serve as an island. This iron and wood butcher block number will do.

Scallops will always have a friend in me. Love this scallop edged rolling end table . . . perfect for resting cocktails between club chairs.

Ok Madame Rendell, you’re right . . . I have to visit and hit up Terrain.

What are you craving lately?

H

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Nature produces so much green as well, which makes our floral design a walk in the (proverbial) park. I love asking our favorite floral designer to garner everything from maidenhair fern to magnolia leaves to succulents for our looks.

Check out these stunning vertical gardens below. I’ve always wanted to design one as a band backdrop or ceremony pièce de résistance.

Don’t you want to stay here? It’s in the Hotel Pershing Hall in Paris . . .

Edina Todoki’s vertical grass wall

If there were more than 24 hours in a day, I’d spend them ogling this stuff. This vertical garden is at Greenpacks.org

I think Patrick Blanc knows what he’s doing with vertical gardens, no?

Via LaQuaintrelle . . . another gorgeous vertical garden wall.

This bold red vertical garden wall is by Gaetano Pesce . . . fab!

Being a wedding designer is really fun for thousands of reasons . . . not the least of which is that I can take any bride’s hand and ask for a look-see at the rock because it’s pretty much expected of me.

My particular affinity for Victorian and Edwardian era pieces matches neatly with the baubles showcased within the pages of Martha Stewart Weddings. I’ve culled a few shots below for your persual – boys, take note!

We use them quite a bit to soften and personalize sign-in tables and centerpieces- especially when you need a little something to banish the sterility of matchy-matchy florals.

Antique tea caddies that rock my world. Mom gave me one that I adore- the inside is still lined with peeling lead and dusty bits of tea.

Sewing and thread boxes . . . love the detail.

Antique glove boxes . . . the mother-of-pearl one ROX.

The first one in all wood looks like it weighs 100 lbs. Fun stuff.

And one more cool box of sorts- the Tantalus. While it may sound like a Greek god, it’s really a sea captain’s decanter holder with lock and key and tiny little boards that pull out for cocktail assemblage.

Lately, we’ve been drooling over food photographers and stylists, whose ability to make the inanimate come to life is uncanny.

Below are a few of my faves – enjoy!

Gorgeousness from Helene Dujardin of Tartelette

She just so happens to be local, which is the first of many props in her court. I could on any given day sit happily in her kitchen (or on her front stoop, like a Dickensian-era orphan) and have a feeding frenzy on the scraps from her photo shoots. Follow her on Twitter (@sweettartelette) because she’s lighthearted and fresh via that medium too.

Honeydew-Mint-Lemon-Thyme Soup? Dreamy- from Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille.

I am one in literally thousands carrying the torch for Aran’s work. I just learned the other day that cannelle is French for cinnamon- some Francophile I am! Her styling is expert, and I love her aerial views of the lovely food she makes. Follow her on Twitter at @cannelle_vanille.

Nicky + Oliver of Deliciousdays make a mean papery-thin pizza, among other things. I adore how their blog is set up; it’s informative, clever, navigable, and rife with a-ha recipes. Follow them on Twitter at @missesdelicious.

Katie Davies of What Katie Ate crushes it on the other side of the world in the Land Down Undah.

Follow her at @WhatKatieAte and revel in the yum.

Question is – are they photog foodies or foodie photogs? Hmmm . . .

Like ziss . . .

Homemade grahams in cinnamon and chocolate, reese’s cups, fresh raspberries, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, homemade marshmallows, assorted chocolates (white!), sliced bananas, and chopped Twix . . . and I’m just getting started.