a mother’s day morning tea

With the crazy life I have been leading lately I have probably been neglecting a lot of people in my life, including my dear Mum!  I haven’t meant to, but there just doesn’t seem to be the time lately to spend a day wandering the shops and having coffee together like there used to be.  I know that things will get better eventually and I know that my Mum understands this (don’t you Mum??) but I miss my time with her.  What probably makes it worse is that I’m not one for talking on the phone.  I hate it, no matter who I’m talking to.  I need to see a face.  I think it’s my love of silence.  I like those pauses in conversations when you are just with someone and don’t need to say anything.  So I don’t even call my Mum as often as I should, even though I think about her every day.

Another person I’ve neglected is my Gran.  Having grown up with my grandparents living with us we are really close and I have a special bond with my Gran.  I see so much of her in myself and I know that I owe my love of literature and correcting people’s grammar to her!  I think of her every day too but again I don’t call as much as I should.

So this year Mothers Day felt extra special for me – a chance to be with my Mum and my Gran and the rest of the family for a few hours.  One thing about being insanely busy is that you learn to appreciate the simple things – a coffee break with a friend, a movie with your husband, a dinner with the family, a weekend away.  It all becomes so much more precious.

It’s difficult these days for my Gran to go out so we had a simple morning tea at my Mum’s house but I couldn’t help myself, I had to make it look just a little bit pretty.  I would have loved to go all out and style it properly but wanted to spend some quality time with my family rather than running around so I kept it simple.  It’s nice to be able to use some of the pieces I’ve collected along the way and to see people who I love appreciate them.

If you are after a styled morning or afternoon tea at home for a special occasion we would love to help!

a weekend away for work and play

Southwest Western Australia is an area that is very special to me.  It’s where I spent my family holidays as a child and where I’ve shared many long weekends with my husband since we met.

My favourite time to visit is definitely winter. It’s quieter and greener, and there is nothing nicer than sitting out in the winter sun or in front of a warm fire with a nice glass of red wine!

This past long weekend my husband and I travelled down to Yallingup as I had to attend a few meetings for my clients who are getting married there in February next year and we thought we might as well take the opportunity to have a weekend away.  Because it was a long weekend it was a bit too busy for my liking, but it was still lovely to be down there.

As usual we spent most of our weekend eating and drinking!  We finally visited Studio Bistro for dinner, after hearing so many positive things about it, and it did not disappoint!  Amazing food and excellent service in unique surroundings.  We also had dinner at Lamont’s at Smiths Beach which was a bit of a let down, especially after our experience at Studio Bistro the night before.  The food at Lamont’s was just okay, the service was below standard and there just wasn’t any atmosphere despite the restaurant being full.  We did however enjoy the supper club afterwards at the next door bar which featured a live jazz band – the same band in fact that played at our wedding!

One of our favourite things to do on weekends and holidays is go out for breakfast.  On Saturday we ate at Bunkers Beach Cafe which was, as usual, excellent.  On Sunday we discovered a new breakfast option thanks to Urban Spoon – Goanna Cafe & Gallery.  It’s basically a gallery/shop filled with objects that belong in your nanna’s house but the food and coffee were great.  My husband loves what he calls a “normal” breakfast – he isn’t into all the fancy stuff, just wants his bacon and eggs – and this place did that really well.

We also tasted wines and spent an afternoon sitting out in the sunshine at Hayshed Hill.  It was lovely, but they were clearly under-staffed for what was a really busy day.  The staff that were there did a great job and were apologetic for the lack of service and the waiting time but were obviously under a lot of pressure.  We enjoyed our afternoon anyway as we weren’t in a hurry and we discovered a new wine that we both really liked, their Shiraz Tempranillo.

Work-wise I met some lovely people over the weekend.  On Saturday I met with Arlene from Sugar Mummy for a cake tasting.  Her beetroot and chocolate cake – to die for!  And her white chocolate frosting…!  I tasted about six flavours of cake and they were all beautiful.  Then I headed to Wise Winery and met with Brady who is the Functions Manager there.  Such a beautiful place to get married out on the lawn there and Brady was so helpful and accommodating.  On Monday I visited Diane from Cape of Love and had a poke around in her shed which is filled with gorgeous vintage props for hire including china, silverware and furniture.  If you are looking for vintage or shabby chic style props at very reasonable prices then Diane is your lady!  She also has a lovely property which can be used for styled shoots.

It was a very productive but also quite relaxing weekend - one of those that makes me realise how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful state and to be able to escape for weekends like this.

Beautiful moo cows enjoying the green green grass…

All rugged up on the beach near Eagle Bay – glad I bought this nice warm jacket on my recent trip to Melbourne!

Enjoying afternoon tea – my husband has a real sweet tooth and looks a little bit grumpy in this photo because he couldn’t have a Devonshire tea which was what he really wanted!

featured wedding: jacky & vincent

I met Jacky and Vincent just a few weeks before their March wedding.  They had booked their venue and organised some things but, with extremely busy lives, still had many of the big ticket items to tick off and were in need of serious help!

Luckily their wedding was on a Thursday and we were able to find lots of great local vendors who were still available.  So in a matter of weeks we pulled together what turned out to be a beautiful wedding.  I think the thing that made this day so special was the affection and warmth that was clearly present between these two and their families.

With a French groom and an Australian bride with Asian heritage, the wedding was full of significant touches from both of their cultures such as a croquembouche “wedding cake” (which didn’t quite last the night as you will see from the images!), a surprise Chinese lion dance, and a tea ceremony the following day.

Thank you to all the wonderful vendors involved for bringing Jacky and Vincent’s day to life!  The ceremony was held on the Peppermint Lawn at Kings Park and the reception was at Sitella Winery.  Flower Talk provided the beautiful florals, Josh from White Box Studio filmed the day and the always amazing Carly from CJ Williams Photography captured these gorgeous images.

All images by CJ Williams Photography

something {organised} blue

One thing that I find makes a huge difference to a couple’s experience of planning their wedding is how organised they are.

Having worked with couples who are extremely organised and couples who are extremely disorganised, I know that it is the organised ones who are able to relax and enjoy the process and the lead up to their big day.  A lack of organisation can lead to forgetting things, leaving things until the last minute, and missing out on vendors you really want – all of which are likely to result in stress, worry and arguments.

If you want to avoid all of this and be an organised bride, why not make it fun and set yourself up with some special stationery.  I am addicted to stationery and I find that having lovely notebooks, folders and pens is a great incentive to keep on top of things.  How about this super cute pack from kikki-k featuring a notebook, “Today I will” notepad, pencil case, pencils and eraser.

And if pretty stationery is not enough to organise you and you think you might need some professional help, give me a call!

flights of fancy hire items

I am often asked whether we hire out decor or furniture.  Generally we don’t.  Our decision not to become a prop hire business was deliberate – there are some fabulous prop hire businesses around town and we like the freedom of being able to source items from a variety of suppliers so that we aren’t locked into a specific style.

However, we have collected a few little bits and pieces along the way when clients have wanted something specific that we haven’t been able to find elsewhere, or where we’ve come across something we love so much that we just can’t resist buying it!  So we do offer clients who engage our services a small selection of hire items to complement our styling and help to add those special little touches to their day.

Some of the items we have include:

• ceremony backdrops;
• burlap and lace aisle runner;
• vintage silverware;
• cake stands and pedestals;
• platters;
• bunting;
• tablecloths;
• vintage china;
• photo frames;
• wooden letters;
• vintage books;
• plates;
• place card holders;
• doilies.

We can also craft bits and pieces for your day including:

• signage;
• garlands or other paper decorations;
• tags and labels;
• lolly or cake bags; and
• menus.

If you are interested in finding out more about the hire items we have available or having us source specific pieces especially for you please get in touch!

Image 1 by CJ Williams Photography; Image 2 by Samm Blake. 

featured wedding: catherine & bobby

Today I am so excited to share with you a wonderful wedding we helped to style back in December last year.

Catherine was the perfect bride – relaxed but super organised and full of great ideas.  It was so much fun to work with her, building on the bits and pieces she had already organised to bring the day together.

Bobby is from California and many of the wedding guests travelled to WA from California and other overseas destinations, so a world/travel theme was carried through the styling.  We used heart shaped garlands made from pages of an atlas, atlas print cushions, vintage suitcases, a large personalised atlas print for guests to sign, and bespoke stationery featuring a travel theme.

The ceremony was exactly what I picture when I think of an Australian wedding, held on the white sands of Bunker Bay with the clearest of clear blue skies.  Afterwards guests enjoyed an intimate reception at Bunkers Beach Cafe which was the perfect venue, relaxed yet elegant.

Catherine and Bobby’s wedding was everything a wedding should be – a coming together of two families and celebration of a beautiful relationship.  I feel so lucky to have been a part of their day.

Catherine tells the story of how she and Bobby met and how their wedding came together.

“Bobby and I met at a university party back in 2005. He had arrived here from California to further his studies and catch some famous west oz waves, although after meeting me he ended up with much more than that. We spent a number of years dating, learning more about each other and falling in love with each other more everyday (most days!). When we decided to get married just a little over two years ago now it was because we agreed that we both wanted to build our lives further and start a family together.

 

As all of Bobby’s family was travelling from overseas and some of my friends and family (plus we also love to travel) we thought we would play on that a bit. We decided on a small wedding of around 40, as it was the first time Bobby’s family had come over to visit, so in our minds a casual family dinner feel to the night sounded perfect. We really wanted our guest to know that because of everything they had done for us both individually and as a couple that the wedding was just as much their night for us to thank them. Looking back it was so nice being able to go and sit down with each of my guest on the night and have a conversation without the night feeling like a big blur! 

With my trusty Pinterest boards I scoured the internet for everything, including my dress! I soon realised with Kristy’s guidance I had started a bit of a travel theme with a duck egg blue palette, so I ran with it. With the ceremony I was very aware that a beach wedding can look a little randomly placed so I researched hard to find a way to make it look more formal. I eventually came up with the idea of have a babies breath garland hanging behind Bobby and I which I felt gave the ceremony a bit more intimacy for both us and our guests. With the flower garland, rows of chairs, a rustic signing table and the pristine beach behind us it looked absolutely perfect and was exactly what I wanted.

A moment I remember vividly, other than my vows, (because I was actually running a little early) was when I popped my head inside the cafe before heading down to the ceremony. There was Kristy, Bec my florist plus their husbands and all the cafe staff working hard to turn my dream into reality, and although they were not quite finished I was already so impressed with how everything looked and I knew that this was really going to be the best night ever! I loved every minute of planning and looking back on my day I wouldn’t have changed a single thing. I feel so blessed to have had such an amazing day and to now be married to my best friend.”

Congratulations Catherine and Bobby!  And thank you so much to the very talented Hannah Jones of Keeper Creative for sharing these images with us, and Orriss Films for sharing the amazing film trailer.

All images by Hannah Jones of Keeper Creative; Videography by Orriss Films; Styling and planning by Flights of Fancy by Kristy; Florals by Fox & Rabbit; Cake by Edible Art; Furniture and decor hire from Zest Styling and Vintage Dreams.

blog makeover!

Today you might notice the blog has had a little makeover!

When I first started this blog which I named “Flights of Fancy by Kristy” it was a personal blog – a place for me to write about things I loved.  Since then I have turned one of the things I love into a business and the blog has now become more focused on things related to my business.

I didn’t feel that the design of my blog was quite right so I’ve switched to a design that I think more accurately reflects the aesthetic of “Flights of Fancy by Kristy: the business”.

We hope to have our website up and running very soon – I know it’s been a while but between the blog and our Facebook page hopefully you have been able to get all the information you need about what we do!

I hope you like the new look and continue to enjoy the posts.  Thanks so much for reading