A Sophisticated Wedding at La Cabane, Los Monteros, Marbella

The stunning setting at La Cabane Beach Club in Los Monteros hotel is one of our favourite venues here in Marbella, it never fails to have that wow factor.

We were delighted when Lauren contacted us to help her plan, design and create her wedding for early September.

Lauren wanted a midsummer garden theme but kept very elegant and fresh, without any rustic influences, she is a huge fan of less is more and wanted everything beautifully dressed from the chairs to the tables.

As Lauren lives here in Marbella, we started at the beginning, creating Save the Dates, followed by mailing out the invitations, designed and crafted by Anoulka.

We kept the wedding design simple and elegant using white and silver styling with a touch of blues, sage greens and a dash of crystal.

The chairs were dressed in our loose style white satin covers finished off with silver satin sashes. We included some beach elements into the day including a charming sand ceremony and the stunning wedding cake with silver shells and starfish designed by Fi.

Lauren´s bridal flowers were kept to whites with a touch of crystal and we used stunning silver candelabras for the tables dressed with blue hydrangeas, white roses and orchids.

Adding in our famous twinkle with pool candles, lanterns and fairy lights, the final effect was stunning and complimented the beach club perfectly.

Our thanks to all our wonderful suppliers that helped us create such a perfect day, including Andreas Holms for these stunning photographs, to Fi, the wonderful cake designer, to Carla for organising such a fabulous wedding and to us for our lovely decorations!

The Wedding Mist!

The wedding mist descended upon us at the end of May and we have created some fabulous weddings over the past few weeks, dotted of course around the World Cup.

Many photos to come soon as the photographers we have worked with send over images to us which will of course involve lots of nagging!

We are also creating some fabulous parties this year as well, perhaps to do with football, so watch this space!

Unique Loft in Long Island City

Dating from 1909, the Metropolitan Building was first an electrical parts factory. Seventy years later it was long vacant and in a sad state of disrepair. In 1980, Eleanor Ambos, who had a successful antique furniture rental business in Manhattan, undertook a daunting restoration project, and today the Metropolitan Building is one cool venue: for parties, weddings, and film and photography shoots. Up to 300 people can be invited for an elegant dinner, and plenty more for a party. There are antique couches, cozy armchairs and some pin lighting. Think shabby, shabby chic. Special features of the Metropolitan Building are its huge windows with wrap-around views, exposed brick walls, wood floors, and prop rental services.

Last weekend I spent time coordinating an event there and fell in love with Queens. Oh, did I mention it's in Long Island City? Anyway, this might not be the place for you if you're not an artist, director, writer, bohemian or if you're not terribly outre.

The warehouse elevator doors open to the space. Prop furniture from the floor below.
There's even a grand piano.

I giant copper tub filled with Peroni, I've seen it filled with water and rose petals for a slightly different look.

Wedding Librarians Roey and Mariane setting placecards on an antique sideboard.

The simplest of dining banquet tables looked so right.

The stickly quince was quite sculptural, don't you think?

Lots of furniture got moved, but not this lady.

Bird cages from the prop house became impromptu decor.

Crystal Wedding theme

I have put this board together for the Marbella Club based on a brief for a crystal and white wedding theme so thought I would share it with you!

Moroccan Blues

My good friend Naiara sent me a fabulous slideshow of a town in Morocco called
Chefchaouen, everything in this amazing town is painted with wonderful shades of blue. This is my inspiration for this board to create a wedding design for this awesome venue. I would imagine even the dogs and cats were painted blue if they were still long enough, a must place now on my list to visit.

Great Brunch Spots: From the Archives

I ran across this article I wrote for New York Magazine, Weddings last year and reminded myself of these great brunch spots. If these don't work, try the hotel where most of your guests are staying. It's convenient, most likely reasonable and should be easier than your other options.

1 New Leaf Café: “After your formal wedding, this restaurant in Fort Tryon Park (at the Cloisters) is the perfect casual retreat. With the park’s view of the Hudson, it’s a great way to get a little of the outdoors into your cosmopolitan wedding. It’s a beautiful stone building that’s fully restored and was designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park.”

2 Pastis: “There’s no better place to nurse a hangover than this French bistro in the meatpacking district. Hipsters and parents alike will love the food, patina, and the Bloody Marys.”

3 Rainbow Room: “This gem of a space also has a gem of a view. Old-school and old-world, the Rainbow Room is surprisingly cozy and offers Cipriani service, food, and great Bellinis.”

4 Top of the Rock: “An amazing outdoor brunch or a view from on top of the world: you can wow your guests two ways at this newly opened venue. They’re definitely going to be the talk of the town soon.”

5 Madison Room at the Palace: “With food from either Gilt or the Palace banquet kitchen, this gorgeous landmarked room overlooks both Madison Avenue and the Palace courtyard. It’s like a secret, amazing jewel box that’s so perfect and pristine, and you’d never know it was there.” (Pictured in the photo above).

Saudi Royal Family Party Al Riyad Palace Marbella August 2008

Our most prestigious event of this year was to design and decorate a family party for the Saudi Royal family at the Al Riyad Palace here in Marbella. We were commissioned by Puente Romano to provide the decorations for this event as they were supplying the catering which was amazing

I had a few sleepless nights and have never rushed around so much to get this party ready in time.

The theme for this party was a peppermint green colour and we used lots of crystal candles, crystals, swarovski table crystals couried in by USP on an overnight delivery!

Cream Moroccan lamps, lanterns, organza table cloths in peppermint and whites and it was certainly the night of candles and lanterns I have never seen so many

The princess was charming when she came down to see us and check over the progress, she changed a few things and instantly the party was a much more pared down low key family event and her taste was perfect and the result was beautiful.

It was an amazing day and such a fabulous venue to work at, the palace is exquisitely decorated, unfortunately it has made my little townhouse here in Marbella look rather drab!

I am hoping I might get some better images, if I do I will post some more as these photos do not really do justice to the setting and the grand scale of the event.

Spanish Andalucian Patio Party Puente Romano

The brief for this party at the Patio Sur in Puente Romano was green, red and white.

To stop it looking Christmassy we again created the lime green with a tropical feel which looked lovely in such a beautiful Andalucian setting. This is such a popular colour this year for weddings and for parties, it is a fresh, vibrant colour that works so well with the bright colours of the Mediterranean