The Floral Coalition

I know these two really amazing women, who just happen to be two really amazing florists; Lotte, of Lotte and Bloom in Glasgow and Miss Pickering of Miss Pickering (rumour has it she has a first name, but I could neither confirm nor deny such gossip) in Lincolnshire. And they just happen to know each other and well, they got together to form The Floral Coalition and to host a class at Miss P's shop in the Shires. 

When I heard that they were hosting a class I immediately knew I wanted to go, partly because I like flowers but mostly because Lotte and Miss P make me laugh. In the midst of deliberating over whether or not I could afford to pay them to make me laugh I remembered something brilliant; I can take photos. And they might need photos. I could probably get in on this action without paying anything at all. And so I offered to photograph their Flower School in exchange for lunch and the time of day from The Hound. 

They took me up on my offer and so on Monday I spent the day in Stamford, photographing The Masters impart their wisdom. It was a lovely way to spend a day, a brief lull in the sadness and noise of life. Miss P's shop is a cool, dark, quiet cave. Scented with masses of roses and peonies (natch), it's easy on all of the senses. And yes, Miss P and Lotte made me laugh. Which was nice. The Hound wasn't exactly generous with his affections but he let me pat him on the head, which I'll take. 

It was really amazing to watch these ladies work. They are both absolute artists so it was like magic seeing them weave flowers effortlessly into bouquets and arrangements and buttonholes while simultaneously chatting about methods and making cups of tea and fielding customers and giving the dog a pigs' ear, all while retaining a mysterious air of calm. Then the students were set free in a shop filled to bursting with the most beautiful flowers imaginable to create their own arrangements. There was also tea, coffee, diet coke and biscuits on tap; florist fuel. I loved it. 

If you're interested in learning more about floristry I can't recommend their next class (date tbc) highly enough. Sign up for the mailing list here. Probably best to get in there while they're still charging pennies, before they realise how stupidly good at this they are. 

Aside; I'm hoping to branch out into more lifestyle-ish photography, artists and craftsmen and designers at work. So let me know if you know anyone who is after that (this) sort of thing. Ideally I'd like to aim towards getting paid in real money for my work, but I'm also fond of biscuits and a nice red wine. 

a home I like....

As always I'm a little behind in discovering The Selby. The Cool People have known about it forever I'm sure. Once there was a time when even if I wasn't A Cool Person I at least tried to be, fantasised about being and occasionally deluded myself that I might be, if you squinted a little.

I'm not cool. I'm not on top of the trends before they happen, in fact I'm not even aware of the trends until they're taking their last painful gasp of breath and The Cool People are declaring them over. I've stopped caring though. Much like in school when we had to race around the football pitch in gym class, I have grown to take pleasure in coming last.

While everyone else is trying to catch their breath for the next go, I'm still at the furthest goalpost, wondering if that seagull over there is eating a cold chip or a bit of sandwich. Sure I tried running when everyone else started but I soon got bored (ahem, a little hyperventilatey) and realised that torturing myself with something I hated (I do not like competitive exercise, not one little bit) was a waste of time when there were seagulls to watch and sea air to breath and like minded friends to take a leisurely stroll with. I still felt a sense of satisfaction when I got the the finishing line, but I could breath and I wasn't sweaty and those annoying types who wait and expect you to arrive and judge you by how long it took you had gotten bored and wondered off.

Which is what keeping up with trends and blogs and bands and fashion and those obscure films that everyone has been talking about for months and which you finally saw last week but thought was a bit shit reminds me of. And when I come across those things and think 'wow! Isn't that brilliant!', then I realise that everyone else has seen it and heard about it and blogged the pictures I feel a little like that 13 year old who finally wondered across the finish line, felt proud, looked around a bit and realised that everyone else was already back in the changing rooms getting dressed.

Which is how I felt when I found The Selby. A website where beautifully taken photos of impossibly cool people's impossibly fabulous homes in impossibly cool cities like London, Paris, LA and New York are displayed for us slovenly types who always come last in the race to feel depressed over.

I love Abigail and Philip's house in London. My taste in interior design changes monthly, some months I'm a minimalist, some months I love knick knacks, some months I want a country cottage and others an empty loft with lots of windows.

This house is closest to my natural style though; white walls and floors, perfect to show off pretty and colourful and interesting things in a slightly messy, slightly thrown together, very relaxed, very 'it doesn't matter if the banjo's leaning against the fireplace or the bed and no, the glittery Colosseum doens't have a permanent home, just put it wherever.'

(And I won't insult your intelligence by pretending that the bunny didn't win me over. Just a little. It's impossible to be too cool when you've got a bunny.)

All images by and courtesy of The Selby.

Your head when you wed....

Check out A Practical Wedding today to see me go all encyclopaedic when it comes to wedding head wear. Hats, feathers, tulle, froth, sparkle, plastic.... there's a little of everything. Except porcupine quills, I don't know how I missed those.

Picture by Jessica Claire, of a couple with the most gorgeous wedding headwear I've ever seen.

An East Side Wedding....

I just wanted to wish a world of love, luck and happiness to Nomi, who is getting married today in British Columbia....

...it seems like no time at all since I was six months ahead of our wedding, just starting a blog and I found another engaged girl who was getting married six days before, who had started a blog the same week and was full of style and sass.

This time tomorrow that girl will be a Mrs!

Congratulations girlie, may you and H Town have a riotous day of love, sunshine and cocktails.

A letter to the bride....

....From 2000 Dollar Wedding bride, Sara....

Dearest Bride-to-Be:
The 12-18 months of wedding planning will pass in a matter of hours or days. When it’s all said and done, the photos will be the primary artifact remaining.

My wish for you—when you look back at those photos—is for you to think:

Look at how relaxed I was. Fully present in the moment. Basking in it. Soaking it in. I was not saturated in stress.

My shoes and dress were comfortable enough for dancing. My beauty radiated out of me; it was not applied to me.

I got to spend quality time with my friends and family. I was myself, not a show. In fact, I was my fullest expression of self.

I do not remember whether the invitations were letterpress or whether the flowers at the ceremony were the same ones at the reception.

The wedding favors or the fanciness of the food did not make memories. The sincerity did. The connection did. The time together did.

It did not matter whether every last detail conformed to the signature colors. Instead of saying, “What a beautiful bouquet,” the guests said, “What a beautiful love.”

This is my wish to you, dear brides, as you pore over wedding magazines and read daily blogs. Some of it matters. Most of it does not. Casting your net in the wrong direction will most surely mean you miss the things you most dearly want to catch.

May your wedding be just one sincere, authentic, happiest day in a long line of many.

This is my wish to you.

All my best,

Sara

What words of wisdom.

Breath, and relax.... (a note to self.)

I'm a Practical Bride because....

-

....Meg says so.

Inspired by Modern Bride magazine's recent advertising campaign ("I'm a modern bride because my wedding costs the GDP of an African nation" ... "I'm a modern Bride because I'm wearing six different dresses"...) Meg of A Practical Wedding ran a contest - I'm a Practical Bride because.... with her two wedding bibles as prizes - Miss Manners on Painfully Proper Weddings and One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding.

Meg had 114 entrants and a whole world of answers. But little old me, along with Dearsay and Broke-Ass Bride won!


I loved Dearsay's explanation of why she is a Practical Bride; her wedding to Lauren won't be legally recognised in DC and her answer was a perfect blend of humour and social and political commentary....

I'm a practical bride because I bought a power of attorney before I bought my shoes.
I can't believe that gay marriages aren't legal in all parts of the United States. There is so much that we take for granted in the UK.



Broke-ass Bride's answer cracked me up. So sweet yet hilarious....

I'm a practical bride because I believe the day is only 'perfect' if we end up married. To each other.


As for me...

I'm a practical bride because I really and truly hope that our wedding won't be the happiest day of our lives.


It might seem strange to some; we are brought up to believe that a wedding day is The Goal, that your wedding should be magical, perfect, everything you've ever dreamed of. And that's fine, it's fine to want a perfect day (what scares me is how people define perfect. Does the word unattainable mean anything to you?). It's fine to want your wedding day to be what you dreamed it would be. But seriously, it's a party. You really want a party to be the happiest day of your life? You don't dream of bigger, better, more meaningful days? You don't have goals beyond 'get married, have wedding, wear nice dress'?

We do. There are things The Boy and I want so much more than a wedding, things that we may or may not achieve, things that we yearn for with all of our hearts and if those dreams come true then that may or may not be the happiest day of our lives. But even then, I'm not willing to draw a line under our happiness and say nothing's going to beat this day, it's all down hill from here on. How sad that would be. I plan to live for quite some time, I plan to live with The Boy for quite some time and I hope with all my heart that there are bigger things on our horizons than a wedding day.

Here's to a lifetime of happy days my love.

Little Doodles

I found these gorgeous prints through Dooce, a lady with exceptional taste. Although I only read her for the dog pictures.

They are by Little Doodles on Etsy and they're adorable.

Tea Bird

Choccie Birds

"they had staked their claims...Bab, the coffee creme, Elsa the chewy toffee"


Sweetie


Jam Bird



Quiff Bird

(This is my favourite, I love the watercolour rose in the corner, it's so very beautiful.)

Dreams of Custard Creams



Clara Love a Fruity Fragrance


The combination of watercolour and line drawing is something I really love. The soft muted background, the clean sharp lines and the little splashes of subtle colour are delicious.


All images from Little Doodles' Etsy shop.