My Brother's Backyard Wedding

This past summer both of my brother's got married a month apart from each other and both married girls who they met through my sister and I, which meant that we pretty much got the best sisters-in-law on the planet. It was such a fun summer as every weekend Kyle and I would drive down to Orange County from our LA apartment and stay with the rest of our family in the house my older sister rented out for the summer in Corona Del Mar. There was a lot of swimming, hot tubbing, eating, card playing, laughing, and of course wedding planning going on - all top on my list of favorite things to do. I love helping with weddings of friends and family, but it's especially fun when they have as much style as my new sisters-in-law.

Here are some beautiful shots by Eliza J. Photography of my older brother's backyard wedding. All of the designing and planning was done by the bride, Ali Brinkerhoff (now Stiles), and I took care of the floral design and overall placement and styling of the wedding on the day of (with the help of a whole bunch of other awesome people). Ali is one of the most giving and caring people I know and it was such an honor to help her out on her big day.

Ali & Garrett hand wrote personal notes to each of their 200 guests. Yep, they're pretty awesome.

My Dad is the handiest person I know. He made boxes similar to the ones used at my wedding. Ali wanted them left raw and branded with an "S." 

My sister Melissa is known for her mini lemon bundts. I believe they also made an appearance at her own wedding as favors. 

I loved these table numbers that Ali found at Bhldn. Cakes by Susie Cakes.

All photos taken by Eliza J. Photography and found here.

Corona Del Mar Den

In some lovely twist of fate a writer over at Newport Beach Magazine stumbled across my work and occasionally calls me to see if I have something she can publish. She's been kind enough to publish a dining room, kitchen, and holiday table and decorating tips from me in the past year. I have a lot of unfinished client homes and projects that I've been busy with lately so when Somer called me this time I was scrambling to find something that I could send her. She needed it within a day or two, so I quickly threw together a photoshoot at one of my awesome clients' homes in Corona Del Mar. Throwing together a shoot means grabbing some fresh flowers, renting a wide-angled lens for my camera, and moving around a lot of furniture until you get the right shot. This is all so much easier, and better, with a legitimate photographer, but since it was last minute and I had no budget for that, I decided to go it alone.

The magazine only needed one image so I chose the room that was the closest to being finished, which is their downstairs office/den. Unfortunately this room also had the worst lighting imaginable with only one window facing a shaded outdoor walkway so I had to pull a Tim Gunn and make it work. I chose the photo at the top, but below is another angle of the room that I took while trying to figure out the best angle to use. I really wanted to show that killer multi-color ikat Roman shade, but the desk was eating up most of the photo and I couldn't make it look right.

My favorite thing about this room is the painted wood paneling which used to be white. I also love the mix of textiles that we got to use in this space from the Turkish rug to the Indian inspired linen on the chairs, the ikat on the shade, and the vintage African pillows.

I'm yet to get my hands on the printed version of the magazine that features this room, it's always fun to have something to add to the press page of my website so that people take me seriously.

(A huge thank you shout out to Somer Flaherty for always thinking of me when she needs an interior!)