Wedding Season Approaches!

There has been a whole lot of wedding preparation going on around here!

Pulling and organizing props for upcoming weddings, sorting milk glass for floral arrangements,

Scavenging the last few needed items at yard sales and antique shops, polishing vintage silver for centerpieces,

Ordering ribbon for dessert bar curtains, sewing custom pillows for cocktail hour lounge areas,

Painting shutters for place card displays, faux painting votive candle holders with mercury glass spray paint,

Ordering candles, plotting, scheming, designing, dreaming...Now if I could only get caught up with the laundry, the dishes and buildup of "piles"...You know, the piles that have no home, that you dread sorting, the buildup of things coming out of the car, needing to be taken to the garage, put in storage, toys no longer age appropriate, the mail....the encroachment of piles is certainly a never ending battle here. I would just rather be doing more creative things than putting "piles" away. So if you happen to stop by, please disregard my piles and let me show you all the fun things I have been doing!

Blue Jay Nests in Blooming Wisteria

I can say I have never seen a blue jay nest, not near my house anyway. I can also say that in the 11 years I have owned my Wisteria plant, it has only bloomed a few times. Not enough blooms to even anticipate more the following spring, And some years? No blooms at all...

Yesterday, while serving breakfast to my two and half year old daughter, she asks, "Mama? Why is there a blue jay dancing on the wisssereea?"

Hmm. Dancing? And so I glance out of the kitchen window, and there before my weary eyes was not only three (!) giant Wisteria blossoms, but also, yes a blue jay. Not dancing, but MAKING A NEST in the Wisteria!!

I think I was told, "pull yourself together mama" about 3 times before I calmed down enough to talk about the extraordinary occurrence we were about to witness in the following weeks.

"Do you know how special this is?!?" I hissed. "Out of all the places these 2 birds (a mommy and a daddy) could have chosen to make a nest to have their babies, they chose our Wisteria! Our BLOOMING Wisteria!"

I went on to explain that very soon we would see 4-6 green and brown spotted (maybe) eggs and in 14-21 days after that, there would be baby blue jays eating breakfast with us every morning. That garnered some excitement.

I tried to take a picture of the blue jays in the nest, but I didn't want to scare them. The nest is only about 6 feet off the ground, under the eave of our garage, and right by our kitchen door. I hope we can be calm and quiet enough in the coming weeks for them to stay.

Can you see the nest to the right of the Wisteria blossom, a little cup shaped pile of sticks just over the green leaves in the middle of the picture?

It has been so fun to watch them come and go all day with sticks and grass in their beaks. They even chose a piece of ribbon that Ava and I left out on the patio from a project, to weave in!

Stay tuned, if I can get any pictures without disturbing this new little family, I will certainly share!

Brimfiled Antiques Show Pilgrimage

For years now I have been lucky enough to attend the Brimfield Antiques Show in Brimfield, Massachusetts. Usually I go with my husband and once we became parents, we even took out 6 month old daughter. But this isn't really a trip for a toddler, not for us and not for them! This is the mother ship of flea markets in my corner of the world. This year I went for 2 (10 hour days!!) days and a night. For those of you who know-it is like Disney World for grown ups. Like a Himalayan excursion, like climbing to Machu Picchu, like Heaven on Earth.

This year my friend and fellow wedding professional, Judy Bourgeois of Flora Fauna Weddings and Events came for her maiden voyage to the show. We left Maine at 5 am on Friday and didn't return until 10:30 Saturday night, a whirlwind!

There are treasures and trinkets aplenty, gadgets and widgets galore, ahh....Vintage french linen...

Judy was a seasoned pro, keeping up the pace, stocking our backpacks with snacks and water, scouting out the good items and filling her arms and our scavenged rolling cart with treasures for our homes, our clients, our businesses and our children. What a weekend! Oh how I needed a ladies only trip away!

Judy almost perished of fits in some of the vintage trim and ribbon booths, she uses these hard to find and gorgeous trims on bouquets and boutonnieres for weddings-I have to admit, my heart rate was elevated too!

(The pretty pictures in this post were taken by Judy, the others were taken by me on my iPhone)

I was tempted by all of the milk glass, chenille vintage bedspreads and jewelry...I was on a mission though, I had a list. I went in search of tea cups for one of my clients' weddings and several interesting and unexpected containers for another client's wedding raw bar display.

Having my list kept me focused and left some of the cash in my pocket...cash is king at the show, and bring lots of small bills, most booths have negotiable prices. I am always shy about asking for a dealer's "best price" but Judy showed me that it works-she haggled for $75 off the antique Swedish/Hungarian (I can't recall the origin, I was in a panic to load it in the cart!!) baby bathtub with metal stand for one of our clients-we just had to have it!

Oh and the cart!! Not only is this little baby so cute and vintage, but it was only $10 and it essentially made the Suburban full of purchases possible this past weekend. Many a trip to the car with that full cart to unload were made-thank goodness for running sneakers. This show is no place for pretty shoes.

Yes, that is a human skeleton in the background!

Oddities are all part of the experience...this place is not for the faint of heart.

The show is miles long and fields deep on each side of the road, a gypsy like encampment of tents, makeshift booths and shelters, filled to the brim with every imaginable item in the world. What fun, what treasures, what laughing and sweating and many hand wipes used to wash hands...Next show is in September!

Inspire.Collaborate.Succeed.

There is an exciting workshop happening on May 12, 2010, here in Maine.  Inspire.Collaborate.Succeed has been created by Brea McDonald and Dawn Kelly, a photographer and floral designer who I have had the privilege of working with.  Oh yes, and yours truly will be a guest speaker at the workshop!  Hope to see you there!

Here are  some of the details, and please visit the link above to learn more specifics about the agenda:

• Home
• About Us
• Agenda for the Day

Inspire Collaborate Achieve

Are you new to the wedding
business?  Been in the business 
and want to be published?  
Need to get your creative 
juices flowing?  Then this 
seminar is for you.  
Come learn how to 
stage your own photo shoot, 
the action steps after you 
are done, how to submit 
your work, and how to 
network with your 
‘dream vendors’.


The Details
When:  May 12, 2010
Where:  York Harbor Inn 
- York, ME
Time: 10am to 4pm
Investment: $250.00 
($200 for ea additional 
member in your business)


There will be a informal question 
and answer hour after 
the seminar from 4pm-5pm.
We have worked out 
special rates at the Inn 
for anyone who may be 
traveling. 
 Rates are as follows:
Standard Queen – $99.00
Deluxe Queen or King – $149.00
Luxury Queen or King – $209.00
Email us at 
brea@breamcdonald.com or dkelly@soireefloral.com to sign up.