Friday, April 29, 2011

The Journey: HRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

The day is here and Catherine Middleton is now the Duchess of Cambridge. Read about all the insider details revealed today as Kate and William said “I DO”!

THE DRESS- Kate took a page out of Grace Kelly’s book. She looked breathtaking in her wedding gown by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen. Her look was completed by stunning jewels and accessories fit for a princess. Sister Pippa and bridesmaids looked amazing too! Pippa was also wearing Alexander McQueen.

THE JEWELS- She adorned her long locks with a 1936 Cartier halo tiara lent to her by Queen Elizabeth. This was the Queen’s 18th birthday present. Her earrings where designed by Robinson Pelham and given to her by her parents Michael and Carole Middleton. The leaf design was taken from elements on her tiara.

THE MEN- Prince William and his brother Prince Harry bother were dressed in formal military attire. The 28-year-old prince choose to wear the uniform of Colonel of the Irish Guards with a Forage Cap.

MOMENTS- The new HRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had many touching moments together during the ceremony. They really displayed their true love for each other throughout all of the "Pomp and Circumstance". This also happened to be the song they made the four minute walk through the Abbey and made their debut to the public.

THE EXIT- Kate & William made their special exit on the same 109 year old State Landau carriage the Prince Charles & Princess Diana used in 1982.

SURPRISES- The happy new couple must have consulted with us because they surprised their guests on not one but two occasions. The much anticipated KISS turned into TWO while the crowd outside Buckingham Palace asked for more. Then as William & Kate exited the palace, William drove the happy couple in an Aston Martin decorated with balloons and streamers.

THE HATS- Let's just say I could have watched the hats all day! Some extreme and some demure, but it was definitely a requirement to bring out your most interesting design in the hat department.

Check out People.com for the fashion and the touching moments we all love about weddings!!!

XOXO!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

2 more days!!!! OH EM GEE! Royal Wedding Buzz!





Everyone is jumping on the Royal Wedding bandwagon! 2 more days and all of our questions will be answered! According to a recent article, news stories (as indexed by Bing) are up nearly sevenfold to 7 million per day since the beginning of the month. Blog posts have more than doubled from 46.7 million on April 5 to 102.9 million, according to data obtained from Trendrr. Over 5,000 "royal related" tweets are being generated per hour this week! Literally, EVERYONE is talking about it! Another interesting rumor is that Americans are MORE invested in its coverage, are talking about it more, and capitalizing on it more than Britain. We just LOVE weddings! You Tube has been hit 12.8 MILLION times to catch this spoof of the Royal wedding party entrance. LOVE IT!





Speaking of "crowns".....We wanted to share with you this amazing video provided by Jesse Wallace of Copy and Paste Productions, It is a "room flip" at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Indianapolis. The staff there is AMAZING at handling both ceremonies and receptions, and pulling off this rapid fire room flip while guests enjoyed cocktails on the other side of the curtains. The Crowne Plaza is a great space for your own regal wedding!



20 Second Crowne Plaza Flip from Copy Paste Productions on Vimeo.


Thanks you, Jessie Wallace, for creating this FAB footage, and SO quickly!!! This is from our wedding this weekend! Congratulations Eden and Anthony!!!! We were honored to be a part of the big day!!!! Our own Randi Neukam was the planner for Eden and Anthony's big day and did a tremendous job! She captured these great photos during the day! Enjoy! Thank you to my Circle City Designers team for creating such beautiful flowers for the wedding and reception. We used a bi colored rose called "Roulette" to wish the couple to be "lucky in love!" And the burgundy Black Baccara roses and Stargaiser lilies looked perfect in the Crowne Plaza's Grand Hall!


We LOVED that the couple chose Dave Matthew's songs to play during the ceremony and to honor their special dances at the reception! We wish you the best on your new marriage!








Monday, April 25, 2011

Royal Wedding is now only FIVE days away!!!!


With over 2 BILLION people expected to watch the nuptials, we are all on pins and needles to find out the latest dish! Soooo.....what is the NEW news on Prince William and Kate Middleton's big day?

Well, we now know that despite her denying it earlier, Sophie Cranston has landed the gig of Royal wedding dress designer! Cannot wait to see how it will affect upcoming bridal trends for 2012.

Kate is reportedly doing her OWN makeup! She allegedly received some "lessons" on this subject, and we can't wait to see how it turns out. Tip to our brides: Don't do this :) Use a professional make up artist for a picture perfect look.


She is expected to wear her hair down, long and flowing. Can she puhlease! put a gardenia in her hair? That would make me so happy :)

See the latest news and updates on the official Royal Wedding Website!



Also, PLEASE read this fun little article we wrote that got published in MORE Magazine last week! It's chock full of information for brides to be! Enjoy!
Tell us what you think! Are there some "traditions" you would like to seen tossed out the window?


Friday, April 22, 2011

The Royal Wedding Countdown!





EVERYONE is talking about the Royal Wedding! It's a mere 7 days away and we just CAN'T WAIT to see it! So many unanswered questions still remain...Whose dress will she wear? What flowers will she carry? What food will they serve? What famous people will attend? I'll be watching it live from my laptop on The Royal Channel at 5 AM (EST)!

Being a princess is part of every girl's dream growing up, and now I get to see a real life princess in the making! Waiting 7 more days in anticipation of the wedding industry's BIGGEST event is just going to kill me!



Here's what we know. The world's largest procession begins on April 29th, at 10 am, ending at Westminster Abbey for the ceremony to begin in front of a mere... 2000 guests! The Archbishop of Canterbury will perform the ceremony at approximately 11 am. The big question is, will she include the word "OBEY" in her vows? Following strict British Tradition, the ceremony vows have not changed at all in hundreds of years, save one exception. In 1980, the vow ending, "to love, cherish and obey your husband" was allowed to be changed. Princess Diana omitted the word from her vows, and I presume Kate will do the same.



A 650 guest reception will be hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and a later reception will presumably be hosted by Prince Charles for approximately 300 guests. At Buckingham Palace, guests shouldn't expect a big meal. It is rumored that they will serve 10,000 appetizers and finger foods, champagne, and wedding cake as its only noshes.


Music will play a huge role in the day's events, with 2 choirs, a full orchestra, a league of trumpeters, the Fanfare Team for the Royal Airforce, and the royal harpist performing. Any number of musical performances will occur during the procession, and there is rumor that at an evening reception either James Blunt, Elton John, or Paul McCartney could be making an appearance! Music to my ears!

The dress.... The mystery dress we just can't wait to see!!!!! Did you know that the "tradition" of wearing white first came about after Queen Victoria did it nearly 171 years ago? First, rumors had Sophie Cranston (Libelula) creating it, she then denied it. Then it was Alexander McQueen's house, but alas....denials. It is likely the dress will white or ivory, be adorned with lace or pearls, and will have sleeves and a long train. Queen Elizabeth will likely give Kate a stunning tiara to go with her ensemble. I simply love that it's being kept a secret and I cannot wait to see it!

Supposedly, there are three florists involved in the royal wedding creations. It is tradition to include lily of the valley, gardenias, roses and delphinium in the classic, typically all white designs. The flowers used at the wedding will be left at Westminster Abbey for the public to view after the ceremony!!! Oh, how I wish I lived in England! What a dream to be able to create the future Princess Catherine's bridal bouquet! Goosebumps!



Let them eat cake! American's jaws dropped when we heard the royal couple was serving fruit cake at the wedding. Fiona Carns was selected to create this British tradition and has shared that Kate referred to the "Language of Flowers" when designing her cake. She wanted to include sugar flowers of specific types to reflect certain meanings. For example, Fiona Carns tells us she will be using roses (to represent happiness), oak and acorns (to represent strength and endurance), and lilies of the valley (to represent sweetness and humility) to decorate the cake. As a florist, I just LOVE that Kate was influenced by the symbolic meanings of flowers! Prince William has a sweet tooth of his own, and has requested a chocolate biscuit cake (another British tradition) be created by McVictie Cake Company to be served at the reception.

What do you buy a Prince? It is remarkable the impact Princess Diana had on global outreach and giving. This is a legacy she has left with her sons. Prince William and Kate Middleton have created a Charitable Gift Fund for their wedding honoring 5 different categories of those in need. There are several organizations listed under each category that each have special meaning to the Prince and future Princess, and certainly tug at the heart strings of us all. They encourage you to give to causes that support military and their families stationed all over the world, groups that help children have a voice, end bullying, create education, protect the arts and music, conserve the environment, help save endangered species, and provide support for ailing family members with terminal, critical and mental care needs that cannot be afforded. The list is endless, and the need for Prince William to carry on his mother's tradition far outweighed his desire to register for china :) Information about the couple's charities can be found on the Official Royal Wedding Website along with other information about the big day!





The Duchess of Cornwall will plant a tree at St. Mary's Church in Tetbury (near her home) in honor of the couple's nuptials. It is referred to as the "Wedding Cake" tree because it grows in white "tiers" and will surely grow strong and beautifully, just as the marriage will! Dawww, how sweet! Fun fact!.... Prince William, upon being married, will don a new title, honoring his "Duke-hood"....Queen Elizabeth gets to decide where the Prince will reside, thereby giving him his new title. No one knows where the Duke of "____" will live, but it could be Sussex.

As we all wait to see if Kate will toss the bouquet (rumor has it, she won't), or if Sir Elton John makes an appearance, people will be attending "Royal Wedding Viewing Parties" all across the world. TLC is prepped to host a HUGE shebang in Times Square with live coverage of the royal nuptials. Colbie Caillet will unleash her new single "I Do" right at the heart of the world's most exciting "I Do's" to date!! Can't wait!!!!




Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Life gives you lemons, and we make CENTERPIECES!











There is this cute, adorable, tiny, little brunette that is going to take Indy by storm with her talents! Cambrie Anderson is a fresh face in the world of photography, and let me say....We just LOVE HER! She nabbed this shot of our CCPINK gang, and we wanted you to see it!




We are so blessed to get to work with lots of great photographers, and I am stoked to have had the opportunity to have her shoot some of my work at the JW Marriott a few weeks ago.



We were lucky enough to be able to handle a fabulous event for the Julian Center for our first time being in this magnificent blue building! Thanks to Jennifer McKinney Seet for all your help at the JW, your space is quite wonderful! Thanks also to Molly Barrick, Anne DeLaney, and Sandy Noe from the Julian Center for having Circle City Planners and Designers be a part of this event.
The decor inside screams contemporary, modern-earthy chic. It embraces the perfect marriage of natural, organic elements, with bold colors and clean lines. It's just simply amazing there!



My family's company, EF Marburger Fine Flooring , installed the carpeting that really makes the ballrooms POP. I used bold yellows in the floral designs to really make them stand out against this distinctive backdrop.




Great BIG hugs and thank you's to Cambrie Anderson and her amazing photos on this project! We love you!