vintage rental sneak peek

We have eagerly been waiting for spring to arrive here in Virginia and it looks like it finally has come.  Not only for the much appreciated warmer weather to turn our grey landscape green, but so that we can put together images to showcase some of the vintage and antique pieces we are offering as rentals.  We look forward to having our inventory up online soon.  This will be a great resource, not only for event planners looking to stage the perfect party, but also photographers looking for hard to find, unique props to stylize shoots.

Flowers, Always in Fashion

Flowers are timeless beauties.  They come in all shapes and forms, and are each beautiful in their own unique way.  They can be complicated or simple, or mixed together to create intricate effects.  No two are ever alike.  These attributes have long inspired artists, whether it be poets, painters or fashion designers.

Spring fever, is running high around here.  Even with the 6 inches of snow on St. Patrick's day we can feel Spring is just around the corner.  Floral inspirations were everywhere this past month on the fashion runways.  And thank goodness they were.  It has been a long winter and on days like today, checking out these trends, as well as some timeless throw backs, have us thinking about Spring and warmer weather.  Some of our favorite floral inspirations came by way of designers using flowers as their muse. Check out these beautiful, intricate works of art.  

And remember wedding and garden party season is just around the corner.  Brides, don't be shy about straying away from traditional gowns.  Have fun and do what you want.  Try out one of these looks for your big day or for one of the fabulous parties leading up to it.  With these ultra feminine, floral inspired dresses you can't go wrong.  But if you feel it is too much a departure from the norm feel free to put your bridesmaids in these show stoppers instead.

Naeem Khan Spring 2014Source: IMAXTREE

Naeem Khan Spring 2014

Source: IMAXTREE

Naeem Khan Spring 2014Source: IMAXTREE

Naeem Khan Spring 2014

Source: IMAXTREE

LondonJohn Rocha Fall 2014

London

John Rocha Fall 2014

Elli Sabb Spring Summer 2014Source: Style.com/Photo: Yannnis Vlamos/Indigitalimages.Com

Elli Sabb Spring Summer 2014

Source: Style.com/

Photo: Yannnis Vlamos/Indigitalimages.Com

Zuhair Murad Spring 2014Source: Chiffon et Ribbons

Zuhair Murad Spring 2014

Source: Chiffon et Ribbons

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2014 Ready-To-WearSource: Style.ComPhoto: Marcus Tondo / indigitalimages.com

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2014 Ready-To-Wear

Source: Style.Com

Photo: Marcus Tondo / indigitalimages.com


03.01.14

A big congratulations goes out to this weekend's couple who were married on Saturday morning.  The bride and her mother were a joy to work with, bringing beautiful ideas about color and flowers to the table.  One afternoon, we even delved into decorating ideas for my dining room as we shared a cozy cup of afternoon tea!  Here we were, ready to talk about ribbons for the Bride's bouquet, and instead they talked me through making a decision on wall color.  (Preppy it is! I chose a blue somewhere in between midnight and navy over the much debated more modern, charcoal grey I had originally picked.)

They introduced me to a new variety of flower that was requested by the Bride's mother, Tweedia.  This beautiful light blue flower grown in Japan was the perfect compliment to the golden tones used elsewhere in the flower arrangements.  The flower is seemingly delicate, although the stems were quite hardy and needed to be cauterized to keep the milky white latex in their stems from making the other flowers wilt. I do this by lighting a candle and holding the tip of each stem in the flame for roughly 15 seconds.  This cauterization keeps latex from leaking into the water and clogging the stems of other flowers in the vase. The key is to do this once you have determined what length you want the stem to be, and not re-cut it again.  If you must re-cut the stem, then you have to sear the tip all over again.    Although this process makes it a little more time consuming to work with, Tweedia is so pretty that I will be sure to use it again soon!  

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Brides Bouquet

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Brides Bouquet

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Brides Bouquet

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Brides Bouquet

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC,  Image of Bridesmaids' Bouquets

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC,  Image of Bridesmaids' Bouquets

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Bridesmaids'  Bouquets

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Bridesmaids'  Bouquets

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Silver Tray with Pin-On Corsages and Boutonnieres

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Silver Tray with Pin-On Corsages and Boutonnieres

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Church Arrangement

Photo by Catherine G. Damwood LLC, Image of Church Arrangement