Hitting Back!

I have read an interesting article today posted by a photographer from the Huffington Post about wedding details and do they matter.  It appears NOT and according to this article we are all to ditch Pinterest, close the pages of bridal magazines and god forbid under any circumstance google anything wedding detail related.  

Forget looking for that dream dress as a sack will do and you can of course get married in your favorite sneakers as pretty shoes are a no go and a frozen cheesecake from the local store will be perfect for your wedding cake.  Your guests will be more than happy with sausage rolls and coleslaw served on plastic plates and will have fun regardless of the fact you have made no effort at all to pay any attention to any details as it is your love on the day that counts :)    Erh I think not but correct me of course if I am wrong.

Just the fact you are in love and have your family and close friends with you apparently is enough to have some gorgeous photos and memories of your special day.  This is fine if you are not hosting a celebratory occasion and of course the love on that day is wonderful but this article has underestimated the very basic principles of hosting a wedding or indeed any special occasion. 

It is looking at a wedding from one suppliers point of view, yes you have guessed it the photographer, so thought it was time for a bit of retaliation from the detail freak stylist who loves nothing more than a bit of glitter, sparkle and fun :)

Putting together this post got me thinking quite seriously about this subject particularly as this is one of our business strengths and what we sell to our clients.  

Photography is there to tell a story, an account of a fabulous day shared with family and friends and let me be the first to say that the details have no significance in comparison to the commitment being made on the day, but details DO matter which is why we go out of our way to have them.

Details are not narcissistic, they are telling a story of the couple, their origins, their style and the fun things they enjoy together.  

Details are also about ensuring the guests are comfortable from providing shade or heating to good food and entertainment.  Details are bringing in the surroundings and cultures from either the country you are hosting your wedding or where you have come from.  Whilst it is a love story, it is also a couple sharing their truly special day with their family and friends and hosting one of the biggest events of their lives.

Let´s take Christmas as a good example, we have all spent the past month and probably a considerable amount of money, thought, time and effort into decorating our homes and making sure we have plenty of food and drinks in order to have a good time.  

Perhaps we have also been entertaining family and friends so why would a wedding not be any different?   It is a celebratory occasion, it is to celebrate love between a couple who are declaring their commitment to each other but it is also a social affair and a party.  It is no different from any other celebration.

We do all like the cute flower girl photo sitting under the table covered in wedding cake but without that glorious cake and cute dress this photo would not happen.  

Yes it is nice to have a photo of granny that may indeed depart us within the year, enjoying herself but we do also love the to die for dress, shoes, jewellery and gorgeous florals.   We love the pretty flowers tied with ribbons decorating pew ends and the personalised candle dedicated to loved ones for the ceremony.  

We heart confetti and cry over personal, meaningful words and poems written on pretty cards for our gorgeous couples by close family and friends.

Who does not enjoy sitting at a beautifully presented table with sparkling glassware, polished cutlery, and twinkling candles.  There is nothing nicer than well presented food and sharing good wines with friends, this is why we go out to restaurants and hotels or host dinner parties at home, this is what an occasion is about.

When I see the photographers overlook these lovely details, it is a shame as it is the details and personalisation of their day that has made that occasion special to the bride and groom and their families.   

Much money, time and effort goes into planning a wedding that is truly unique to that couple, from the original invitations sent out in the post to the cutting of a gorgeous cake, chinking of glassware with fine champagnes followed by serious dance moves hours later. 

Whilst is it lovely to see the photos of granny and the cute flower girl that is now grown up and married but it is also lovely to look back at the gorgeous bouquet you carried, your cute cake topper you ordered that looked exactly like you and that fabulous photo with you being rained on by confetti clutching those lovely balloons.

Details are what matter, grab the magazines, pour over Google and head over to Pinterest. It is planning the day you have dreamed of to share with your family and friends and if you want some sparkle go for it!  I am sure Granny and the cute flower girl will enjoy it to.

Party in a Box From West Elm

Now I have my orange tree in my garden covered in fairy lights it looks like the Singing Ringing Tree, an East German fairytale that scared the life out of me when I was a child, but we are now looking very festive and sparkly!  Is it only me or does anyone else remember this short film?!

The trees they decorate at Picasso restaurant in Puerto Banus also remind me of this old fairytale particularly with the red apples and fairy lights!  I often sit there and expect them to start moving, shaking and ringing!

It is so lovely this time of year to have time to spend time with my youngest daughter. 

Today we went to a birthday party and it was magical to watch her having such a fun evening with her little friends.  They had their beautiful faces painted and ran around for hours squeaking with each other in their high pitched Spanish voices whilst enjoying a birthday tea party and lots of fun games.

Sometimes there are things thrown at you that are so completely out the box it is hard to comprehend, even when you have already had some fairly testing experiences which they call life, somewhere deep within the human resources as you are faced with even greater challenges it makes you focus and draw upon what is important, to try not be frightened by what you see and to continue to do what you love.

To make sure you take time to enjoy simple precious moments whether it be family, friends, focus on enjoying them and everything that makes you happy.  I did this today at the party, it is normally something I would dread but enjoyed every moment of the noisy mayhem today!

Whilst I know many people are now deep in the midst of Christmas parties I am personally preferring to have quieter times in my own beautiful home and enjoying taking time to refresh the brain, find new trends and look at beautiful things, gathering fresh ideas and getting inspired.  

This is what makes me happy and feel at peace and I am grateful that my design skills are able to transport me to a beautiful world and to look at things that make me smile and enable me to switch off and relax.

I really wish I had more time during the year to visit these fabulous websites as I am sure all my Christmas shopping would now be done instead of planning the next week frantically dashing around La Canada!  I have kind of put everything off this year, not sure why as it will still arrive but perhaps have not been in the mood as I face different challenges.

Anyone that knows me knows I love sparkle and any excuse for a party or to throw myself into festivities armed with my hugely organised check list, Santa list and everything is perfectly turned out for Christmas list, this year I have kind of waned I think to try to put the not so nice things off too but of course that won´t happen and I now have less than two weeks to get off my butt and get organised.

However tonight I am relaxing, looking for lovely things to inspire me and I am swooning over West Elm and love the idea of a Party in a Box.  Gorgeous entertaining essentials and aren´t they just such a fabulous idea to quickly bring some glamour into perhaps a New Year´s Eve soiree.

Whilst I love the muted silver blush collection, which is a hugely popular colour scheme for our 2014 weddings, the jewel collection is so much more me with the gold sequins!

Just loved these so had to share and be warned you could spend hours on this website :)   

There is a fabulous range of mercury glassware which sadly is not shipped to Europe and I also have my eye on some lamp bases and the snow globes, which I seem to have started collecting, are beautiful.

I hope sharing my finds sprinkles some sparkle into your festivities and brings a smile and a bit of glamour and hopefully some festive inspiration.

Sparkly Autumnal Inspirations

I love October, partly because it is my birthday month and I have a good excuse to eat cakes and also because I take great delight in glitter and October is the month I have a good excuse to start decorating my house for the winter.

I have just had my house repainted this week, my walls and house are all super white, clean and ready for the festive season so I am looking for some inspirations for winter decorations.

With Halloween just around the corner, I am not a huge fan of the ghoulish, macabre look with green hair, blood and gore, but do love a bit of sparkle. 

My spooky efforts are pumpkin fairy lights hung over my mirrors along with some cute Halloween snow/gitter shakers and some rather lovely ceramic candle holders in the form of pumpkins and ghosts, from Whittards, which I have had now for years :)

On my quest for pretty yet spooky things, I had to share these gold gilded pumpkins with you, aren´t they just gorgeous, I love them and they would be fabulous for an October wedding.  

I would love to take this home to use as a decoration in my own home if I was presented with this at a wedding or party.

To see the DIY tutorial as to how to make these do pop over to Cupcakes and Cashmere.  A new Facebook page I found today and well worth having a look over for some wonderful crafty, creative ideas :)

A Bold Colourful Mediterranean Inspiration

Patience is a virtue and I have lots of it thank goodness.

My family might disagree with me when I cannot find things as this is my pet hate and my patience usually goes flying out the window at a very fast rate if I cannot find something, I hold my hands up, it is a red flag to a bull!

However I love nothing better and more therapeutic than designing and planning our weddings and events, quietly watching fashion trends and bringing new and fresh styles to my business.  I love a challenge and could not bear to be turning out the same well versed styles time and time again.

I approach each wedding as a new challenging, creative project and love playing around with ideas and thinking out of the box styling for our weddings with suggestions our clients have not thought about.  I prefer to be a leader rather than led and always have which is why I have worked in the design industry now for nearly 30 years, quite an achievement :)

I was thrilled last week, having finally managed to hit the shops, how the Ikat tribal prints were everywhere.  

Having foreseen this way back and blogged that this was a new fashion and we would see this in the 2013 and 2014 wedding trends, it was lovely to see that my predictions were spot on and tribal fabrics, bright colours and the ethnic style is now everywhere in the fashion industry which will of course filter into the interior and wedding trends.  

Now back to patience, I am patiently waiting for our summer to heat up, we have had a strange year with an unusually chilly May and June and strong winds, not my favourite weather. 

I am also now waiting patiently to see images of our fabulous weddings we have created over the past month to share with you. 

Patience required again as we are re-branding the business to move it forward, we have reshuffled and I have some fabulous designers now working with me along with enthusiastic fresh talent in the events industry, if I could wave my famous magic wand faster I would but all good things come to those that wait!

So in the meantime as I design and create and inspire myself I thought it would be lovely to share these warm Mediterranean colours with you of a shoot featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs.

We love the warm sunshine colours, the gorgeous tropical florals and the Spanish influences from the use of the crockery to the cute door knobs, which I seem to buy in abundance here from Zara home. I have a drawer full of pretty door knobs and handles, perhaps my other obsession as well as cushions and candles :)!

To see more of this fabulous Mediterranean photo shoot and the talented vendors involved do pop over to Elizabeth Anne Designs.

Guess where we are featured! In Style Me Pretty Little Black Book

Many moons ago when I started Reviva Weddings I spent hours scouring the websites for inspiration and fabulous ideas, I fell upon many beautifully created websites sharing love for all things weddings and styling.

One of the first websites, I recall, was the Knot followed closely by Martha Stewart Weddings.   

Snippet and Ink had some beautiful inspiration boards and as I worked on my own business I often browsed the internet looking for the latest wedding trends and fashion.  

I soon recognised some of the Wedding World Web leaders as being Junebug Weddings and Style Me Pretty and never in a million years did I think I would ever achieve being accepted and featured on both these amazing websites as one of their recommended Destination Wedding Planners and Designers.

My love of all things Spain, combined with my professional design and styling skills, I am fortunate to have created an amazing business whilst bringing up my smallest daughter and juggling two teenage daughters, which I am hugely proud of, delivering beautiful weddings to our wonderful clients time and time again.

So after many years of hard work, I am known for burning the midnight oil, I am thrilled to have achieved so much and absolutely love what I do.

Plus I am also known for scoffing wedding cake samples, trying to steal cupcakes, standing on my soapbox about commissions in wedding world, earned the honorary title of the Fairy Godmother of the Costa Del Sol who waves her magic wand hence my magic sparkles on our Blog that follow the cursor, surviving on less sleep than Maggie Thatcher and drinking coffee until it comes out my ears :)

I am now delighted to have Reviva recognised as one of the most creative and innovative Wedding Designers and Planners in Spain.

We are squeaking with excitement to be featured in Style Me Pretty´s family on their Little Black Book as recommended Wedding Planners and Stylists here in Spain.

I would also like to thank our team who have supported me and helped me to get where we are today, including Carla, Isabel, Loraine and Anoulka, an amazing array of hugely talented girls who are all passionate as I am about weddings, along with the fabulous suppliers, venues and photographers we have the pleasure of working with, without whom we could not create our weddings and showcase our hard work.

 And last but of course the most important, all the beautiful brides and their handsome grooms and lovely families who have trusted us to create their magical days.

I sound like I am standing on the stage for an Oscar, but we are proud of our achievements however will not cry or waffle on about our families!

The images on this post are a sneak peek from a beautiful wedding we planned and styled at the iconic Marbella Club two weeks ago, more to come on this wedding and our thanks to Agata Jensen Photography for a sneak peek of this beautiful wedding :)

A Secret Garden Wedding Inspiration

As a young girl my magical world was provided by reading books and I was transported by my imagination into different worlds. I loved books and the wonderful places they would take me to that filled my dreams as I slept.   

Sometimes I wonder if it is this that made me want to create magical spaces as I became an adult.

Enid Blyton´s Faraway Tree,The Wishing Chair, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell and the Famous Five are all some of many books I was fortunate enough to read as a small child and absolutely loved and I am so lucky my mother encouraged our reading of these enchanting stories.  

One of my favourite novels was The Secret Garden by Frances Hogdson Burnett, I so loved the mysterious wonder of this book and what the Secret Garden held within it´s walls as it was unlocked and discovered.

A Secret Garden wedding for me having read this book would be difficult to achieve with everything my imagination conjures up but I adore this photo shoot created by Hannah Gooch and Sarah Gawler featured on Love My Dress, it has that lovely mysterious quality about it that is so evocative of how I imagine a Secret Garden wedding.

I love the combination of nature and the glamour of the dress.  The styling details are beautifully done so I had to share this gorgeous and magical secret garden inspiration with you :)  If you have any beautiful childhood memories you would like to incorporate into your wedding day, we would love to hear about them.

Designing and Inspiration Boards

Design is creating a space, a product or a function with harmony, balance and style.

Whether you are designing your home, a wedding, a work space or a product there are basic principles applied to make it work plus of course an eye for balance and style.

One thing I find always works is to gather various collected elements together to create an inspiration board and tonight I created this with some photos I have pinned on my interiors file on Pinterest.  

Working on a design project is always exciting whether it be a re-decoration of a room or the design of your wedding, party or event.

It is always a good idea to gather the colours, images and swatches together and you will quickly see a cohesive look and colours leaping out at you.

This time of year I am updating my own living spaces and as an interior designer and stylist I apply my own principles to my own home and thought it would be interesting to gather the images I have collected over the past few months, of interior spaces, together on one board.

It appears now I have to go out and buy lots of mint green and soft turquoise paints!

With storms predicted here in southern Spain tomorrow this actually sounds like a good plan.

New Fairy Godmother of the Costa Del Sol

January is not one of my favourite months, it is coldish, all the sparkly things have been put away, we are all supposed to stop eating chocolate, embark on diets and everyone seems to be wearing tracksuits and trainers :)!   

All of us super women should by now have completely reorganised our storage in every cupboard, have a spotlessly clean house, be attending the gym twice a day, creating super, culinary, lean, healthy meals, given up the coveted glass of well earned wine and still of course be working and looking after our children.

We are also embarking on our newly prepared household spreadsheets, managing to budget and balance the books, finding cheaper utility suppliers (which in Spain do not exist!) and generally tidying everything up and preparing for another year which will descend into the usual chaos around Easter when we can eat chocolate again :)!  Better still Valentines Day which is now only 21 sleeps away!!

I also find if something can go wrong it will in January, so can you imagine my horror the other night when my dearly not so beloved emptied a glass of wine over my computer, he has not given up the wine or embarked on a diet and is very accident prone.  My heart and computer died and not so beloved partner escaped a near death.

But along came a Fairy Godmother in the tiny shape of Fay at My Destination Marbella.  

Fay recently, and very romantically, became engaged to a wonderful man called Mark and I was supposed to be meeting Fay for a pre wedding chat but I knew I had to get my computer and work sorted out asap. 

I was in a state when I sent Fay an email in the morning.  My state is usually a very calm quiet moment with lots of swear words ringing around my head of which there were quite a few followed by some louder swear words on this occasion :)

I have to hand over my Fairy Godmother of the Costa Del Sol title now to Fay, I think we could start something here!  

As soon as Fay heard about my predicament she efficiently starting waving her magic wand for me and her fabulous team of techies, including her H2B, at My Destination Marbella had rescued my computer and all it´s contents within 12 hours.  Never have I been so impressed and grateful.

My Destination is a global travel resource that is powered by a diverse community of hundreds of local experts. Passionate about providing the best value for money, they work closely with the global partners whilst supporting local businesses. As a result, they make travel experiences inspired, more enriched, and quite simply, better.

Their local experts are on the ground and personally experience what each of their destinations has to offer. Armed with this unrivalled local knowledge their local experts produce comprehensive information in the form of travel articles, local tips, guides, reviews, videos and panoramic virtual tours. 

They began in 2006, picked up numerous awards along the way, and today count over one hundred destination offices worldwide.   If you want any up to date information about Marbella and the surrounding areas, My Destination Marbella has it covered.

Reviva Weddings are featured on there as well in their services section, it is well worth popping over to have a look as there is so much information about Marbella.

So now added to my already long January list is to make sure I am even more super efficient and back up my computer every night!  I have been told :)  

I am also hugely excited about Fay and Mark´s wedding which will be held on one of our fabulous beaches here in Marbella, so watch this space!  It will be my turn to wave my magic wand again!

Wishing you a Glittery Christmas

 

As the Christmas weekend approaches, we are sharing some last minute glittery images with you.  This approach to design is so up my street and I am horrified I did not find these gorgeous images beforehand!

 

 I am in love with the wonderful eclectic array of colours and styles, and this is so my house, style and colours, olive greens combined with hot pinks, reds and turquoise and cooled down with whites, greys, silvers and golds, I am in heaven and needless to say if there are glittery cushions, completely sold :)

 

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our past clients and friends and our future clients, who we are looking forward to working with in 2013 and 2014, a peaceful and wonderfully sparkly Christmas :)

 

Laura x