A Bold Colourful Mediterranean Inspiration

Patience is a virtue and I have lots of it thank goodness.

My family might disagree with me when I cannot find things as this is my pet hate and my patience usually goes flying out the window at a very fast rate if I cannot find something, I hold my hands up, it is a red flag to a bull!

However I love nothing better and more therapeutic than designing and planning our weddings and events, quietly watching fashion trends and bringing new and fresh styles to my business.  I love a challenge and could not bear to be turning out the same well versed styles time and time again.

I approach each wedding as a new challenging, creative project and love playing around with ideas and thinking out of the box styling for our weddings with suggestions our clients have not thought about.  I prefer to be a leader rather than led and always have which is why I have worked in the design industry now for nearly 30 years, quite an achievement :)

I was thrilled last week, having finally managed to hit the shops, how the Ikat tribal prints were everywhere.  

Having foreseen this way back and blogged that this was a new fashion and we would see this in the 2013 and 2014 wedding trends, it was lovely to see that my predictions were spot on and tribal fabrics, bright colours and the ethnic style is now everywhere in the fashion industry which will of course filter into the interior and wedding trends.  

Now back to patience, I am patiently waiting for our summer to heat up, we have had a strange year with an unusually chilly May and June and strong winds, not my favourite weather. 

I am also now waiting patiently to see images of our fabulous weddings we have created over the past month to share with you. 

Patience required again as we are re-branding the business to move it forward, we have reshuffled and I have some fabulous designers now working with me along with enthusiastic fresh talent in the events industry, if I could wave my famous magic wand faster I would but all good things come to those that wait!

So in the meantime as I design and create and inspire myself I thought it would be lovely to share these warm Mediterranean colours with you of a shoot featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs.

We love the warm sunshine colours, the gorgeous tropical florals and the Spanish influences from the use of the crockery to the cute door knobs, which I seem to buy in abundance here from Zara home. I have a drawer full of pretty door knobs and handles, perhaps my other obsession as well as cushions and candles :)!

To see more of this fabulous Mediterranean photo shoot and the talented vendors involved do pop over to Elizabeth Anne Designs.

Can you overdecorate a wedding?

Taste and style are commodoties that people desire and certainly when it comes to decorating your wedding day this is important, so are some weddings overdecorated?

We recently had this experience with one of our clients which we would like to share.

Our client had booked her stunning wedding, set in beautiful grounds with a fabulous pool, very Moorish styling, a gorgeous marquee and yet she wanted the marquee dressed with white tissue paper pom poms?

We have seen the craze of tissue pom poms and they are lovely for a baby shower and look fabulous in our local cake shop but for a super stylish wedding, sorry no!

I had to get bossy and take charge at this point and steer our client to much more tasteful styling of her wedding which thank goodness she agreed with instantly which of course is why she hired us.

She ended up with a beautifully styled evening using lots of candles, white chill out areas and it was all very tastefully decorated.

I was so relieved she had accepted my advice as I did have a sleepless night wondering how best to approach this subject!

I am sure our clients were relieved too, as the decorations I suggested were not appropriate to her wedding style were almost another 1000 euros which I immediately wiped off their quote, but I could not bear the thought of cheap wedding decorations in such a stylish setting!

I am not knocking this pom pom craze, last year at one of our weddings we used them but it suited the venue as it was a funky, fun wedding with lots of bright colours so we were able to use them and it worked.

However, we have seen a few weddings posted this year and it looks more like a children´s playground with an In the Night Garden feel to it. I think the pom poms are now on their way out unless they are super stylish silver or gold ones but not the cheap tissue paper ones unless you wish to use them for a baby shower or a cake shop decoration.

Less is more is what I tell all my clients, concentrate on the lovely details, the personal touches, thanking your guests for coming, the stationery, how things are set out on the day from the cocktail sticks to the tablescapes.

Make your wedding personal and stamp your style on it, don´t try to overdress your venue.

Unless you have a super large budget keep it elegant and simple otherwise you will spoil what could be a very beautiful wedding into a cheap decoration showground, if you don´t like it don´t use it.

You should have seen my face earlier this year when I was presented with different bags of foil confetti for each table, I had gold top hats for one table, purple hearts for another, silver stars the list was endless, I nearly died!

Don´t do it unless you really have to! If it is not stylish or tasteful then leave it out.

Creating a wedding here in Spain is all about being outside, Mamma Mia twinkling lights always spring to mind for me and keep it simple and elegant as you are in such beautiful surroudings.

A Sevillian Orange Theme for Weddings

I love Sunday mornings and this morning is no exception as I get some quiet time to spend designing our weddings for next year.

Blues surged in popularity as a wedding colour this year and will be a trend colour again for 2012 along with orange which of course reflects the wonderful Sevillian orange theme for weddings in Spain.

I am currently designing a tablescape for one of our weddings and loved this styled photo shoot I found on Elizabeth Anne Designs.

We are designing a long U shaped table for an early May wedding and tulips are in season here which will keep the floral costs down quite dramatically, which is great as we can use an eclectic mix of glass jars and blue water bottles filled with tulips and white hydrangeas along with all sorts of different height candles and tealights and finish the dressing of this tablescape with small oranges and foliage. We are planning to use succulents as well in small pots to place the guests names in and tie blue napkins with raffia and a button detail :)

I am on a mission now to find orange crates and start washing and collecting jars!

As we create and design our weddings we will share our ideas and inspirations with you and of course we still have many beautiful weddings of our own to post over the coming months.

Mediterranean Wedding Colours at Hacienda San Jose in Mijas

Louise and Adam contacted us last year to help them organise their wedding here in Spain.



After our first meeting with Louise and her parents, we were hired and Louise fell in love with the gorgeous Hacienda San Jose for her wedding venue.



Louise looked stunning and we personally were completely smitten with the lovely little bridesmaids :) They were all beautifully behaved and loved being part of this intimate family wedding. It was a hugely fun and relaxed day for all involved.



I personally love the photo of Louise´s parents, it sums up for me the emotions at weddings which are always lovely and make people connect in a way they would never do at another event.



The colour scheme for this wedding was chosen by Louise with a stunning combination of bright pinks and turquoise and being a very hands on bride, had raided Ikea to create the centrepieces, we are still wondering what she did with all those candles!



Our thanks to Heather and her wonderful team at Fiestasol for the fantastic catering, I have to mention I went to the food tasting and it was divine, and to Jennifer Jane Photography for allowing us to share these images with you.



Here is our lovely testimonial from Louise



Dear Carla and Laura



My apologies for not getting in touch sooner to thank you for making our wedding day so special.



I really appreciate the hard work that goes into organising such an event.



The venue looked stunning and certainly impressed all our guests.



It was an amazing day that I will cherish forever and thanks to you guys for making my dreams come true. Carla having you there on the day was such a relief knowing you had everything under control, you are a true professional.



It has been a real pleasure knowing you and working with you both this past year. Good luck with all your future endeavours, you are both amazing at what you do.



Lou xxx

A Vintage Spanish Style Wedding Inspiration

OK I am on a roll again and this is thanks to one of my brides booked for next August whom, it is emerging, is hugely creative and has got my brain ticking!

Sarah sent me her Save the Dates today and they are to die for :) I won´t publish them until she lets me, but honestly they really are fabulous, with a wonderful vintage spanish theme.

If I said vintage and postcards were out yesterday, Sarah has changed my mind :)!

With this wedding now in my thought process, I have been scouring the internet and have found this fantastic Spanish themed photoshoot on Green Wedding Shoes.

I just love all the details, the only thing I am not sure about is the succulents on the tables, they are different but perhaps not weddingy enough for me, given it is a Cinco de Mayo, Mexican style shoot though I can see the logic and the style behind it, but have fallen head over heels with the Dulce bags (next candy bar in mind now!), the papel picado flags and bunting that we have yet to use at a wedding here surprisingly, along with the Margarita cupcakes (Fi and Mark I hope you are reading this!) Unfortunately for me, I am completely allergic to anything tequila based, something I learnt many years ago twice!

You must head over to Green Wedding Shoes to see the talents behind this fantastic inspiration.