Celebrity Styles Cruise: June 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Words of wisdom from a past Bride

It is another beautiful day here in Italy and this morning a recieved an lovely e-mail from one of our brides guiding me to the following post:

Wedding in Tuscany

Hi everyone, we have just returned from our weddingmoon in Italy! WOW I can not say enough to describe how totally awesome it was!! I want to pass on some words of wisdom:

1. Defiantly don’t try and do it alone. Get a good wedding planner that will guide you all the way. We used Kelly Hayes from The Italian Wedding planner (http://www.theitalianweddingplanner.com/ ) she is so professional and friendly you just know you are in capable hands.

2. You have to remember Italy is about 50 years behind the states when it comes to weddings. However I think they have it right, keep it simple, timeless and romantic!

3. You are not going to get answers from suppliers within a week. As frustrating as this is when we are planning a destination wedding and being so used to the faster pace of life in the US it was not until we arrived in Italy and met with Kelly and was taken to meet the florist as well as other suppliers did we finally grasp how totally different the Italians are from us and how laid back they are about everything! We felt so bad about the final few weeks before our arrival and phoning Kelly with our concerns to be told that she is hounding the supplier. Honestly as soon as we arrived it was an eye opener to the Italians way of life and we were delighted that we were not the ones dealing with them and that Kelly had taken on that stress for us. Kelly with her Irish humour and bright smile was our buffer and we can not thank her enough!

4. The wedding day and all the events around the day were beyond our expectations. We had scheduled lots of activities for our guests, as they were flying all the way over to Europe we wanted to make sure they got to see and experience as much as possible! Although Kelly made sure we gave people time to relax by the pool and recover with their hangovers the next day!

5. Your guests will shock you as ours did by the amount of hand holding they will need! Print out a schedule of events and if you agree with Kelly and her team in advance they will take care of all the RSVP’S and guest concerns in the run up and during the event.

6. Select what is important to you. For us it was the food, music and photographer! Then trust your planner to select the best for you!

7. Relax and enjoy and you will have the most amazing time. All of our guests are still raving about it and we could not have been happier with everything from the moment we touched down till the moment we arrived home. Now we have all our photos to look forward to!

Sam Petterson

LA, CA USA 06/28/2010

As posts on Rick Steves graffiti wall!

Thank you Sam!

A mouse in the kitchen

Time for something silly!

My husband is being so sweet and generous with the Mini that I thought I would feature him on my blog today.

It's not often that he gets the opportunity to be creative. But when he puts his mind to it, he's a star. Look at this: a work of art, wouldn't you agree?

A round of applause for him, please!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

THE DESTINATION GUEST

Information packs for your wedding in Italy

Your wedding guests are the most important people in your life. They will be there to witness one of the most memorable moments of your lives and celebrate with you afterward. For couples celebrating their marriage in Italy and have invite guests from all over the globe will have “Destination Guests”. It is not a common term, but that is precisely what they are. Why not make the experience even more exceptional for those that travel the distance to be part of your special day?

Welcome cocktail party in the heart of Florence

There are many unique touches that let your guests know how much they mean to you. Prior to your wedding, it might be a good idea to create a wedding website that they can go to for specific information about what to expect:

Give as much detail as you can to minimize the amount of research they need to do to plan their trip.
List a few guest hotels in different price ranges so they can choose which one will be the best fit. Remember you will be paying for their transport back to this hotel on the day so keep it close to your venue.
List local airports, shuttle services and rental cars.
Add a downloadable map on the site so they can visually see where they need to go prior to their arrival.
Invite them to other events (wine tasting, pizza party or a vespa tour!) let them know if there is any expence involved so they can decide if they want to take part.

Tell your guests about your website on an enclosure card that is sent with your invitation. They will be sure to visit it when they know most of the work has been done for them.

Welcome bag full of goodies!

Welcome bags are a pleasant greeting for weary travelers.

Make sure your guests tell you where they are staying so you can drop the bags off at the front desk to be delivered prior to their arrival (along with tip money) and they will be delighted to know that you thought of them. If you plan on a welcome event, you can give them out there instead. Fun things to include would be area guides that show places they can go and things they can do, a wedding celebration itinerary, bottled water, local foods, sun block, flip flops, fresh fruit, chapstick or any other item that reflects your destination or theme.

Another thoughtful idea is to have an on-site babysitting service available for guests that traveled with their family. That way, the adults can enjoy your wedding and the children will have fun too!

http://www.chattybrides.com/index.cfm?postID=1587

Flip flops

What a great way for you to treat your guests to a little TLC at your reception. More and more brides are supplying a basket or two of flip flops for their guests to kick off their heels and head to the dance floor.

A basket of pashminas to snuggle up in as the sun goes down.

Recently we have been placing these on the backs of guests chairs, but I love the help yourself basket!

Be certain to make personal contact with each guest that traveled to your wedding at the reception or even welcome them as a group prior to the toasts. Mention your gratitude for their travels in their Thank You note as well. Your Destination Guests will always remember the care and attention you gave them long after your wedding.

It's going to be a Mini Cooper S!

I can hardly contain my excitement! We ordered my Mini a few weeks ago and I just find out that it will be arriving in about two weeks! I wasn't expecting it until the end of July / beginning of August so I am happy that the torturous wait will soon be over.

Here is what I am getting.

The Mini Cooper S - 184 hp is a lot for a small car!

As an automatic because it is simply easier in the city. (Forgive me, boys! But I will still be able to shift gears with paddles on the steering wheel - like F1 drivers, sort of! And for the record, I can drive a manual.)

With black leather sport seats! (instead of the white leather/black cloth combination offered with this model. In my first assessment it was either the S or leather seats, hence the big deal.)

It will have a fantastic Harman Kardon hi-fi system.

The colour is an elegant white silver metallic, which is only available for the Camden (a limited edition 50th birthday model). I love the pinstripes on the mirror caps.

For those interested, I have included a list of features for the Camden. Other extras we have ordered include sun protection glass, park distance control, heated seats, adapters for the iPhone / iPod and I'm not sure what else...

This is so amazing for me because I still remember my first car. I was a university student and happy to have a car at all but it only had a cassette player with crap speakers, ugly cloth seats, no power steering and how could I forget what a struggle it was to drive uphill!

What was your first car like?

1,2(my own),3,4,5,6,7,8

Monday, June 28, 2010

Bride ideas and frock ups!

When Amanda Lockhart, Susannah Frieze and the wonderful Sim Canetty-Clarke published their book last year I was delighted. Full of funny stories and stunning photographs!

A must read for any bride to be!

http://www.brideideasandfrockups.com/

Kelly Bensimon Picks Jewelry Over Jellybeans

Jewelry and the New York Housewives go together like pinot grigio and 'turtle time' - so it comes as no surprise that Hamptons hottie, Kelly Bensimon, is adding more trinkets to her celebrity jewelry line.

While Bensimon described her previous jewelry offering as 'Pocahontas goes to the disco' (huh?), her recent bauble collection has a more bodacious provenance:

"One of the most influential icons for me has always been Raquel Welch," Bensimon, 42, tells UsMagazine.com in a statement. "Wrapped in suede and golden-tanned skin, Welch in One Million B.C. epitomized raw beauty."

The creatively named, "Kelly by Kelly Killoren Bensimon" collection mixes metals, leather, feathers and crystals and ranges from $50 to $150 at Intermix stores across the country.

Bensimon also designed a limited number of baubles for charity, with 100% of the proceeds going to Feeding America.

At least she's not dropping a dance tune.

Jenny Packham Brides

A Jenny Packham bride radiant in the Tuscan sunshine...

Many congratulations Peter and Kate who were married last Saturday near Siena....

With friends and family arriving throughout Thursday and Friday we were able to squeeze in a trip to the town hall on the Friday evening to complete the legalities.

Kate is a stunning bride and with the opportunity to wear two wedding dresses, she rose to the challenge!

Arriving at the town hall in a London Taxi!

Her first wedding as the state official at the town hall of Castlefranco di Sopra translated by Kelly Hayes The Italian Wedding Planner

With Peters parents on the balcony

Kate and Peter kept it to a small group of family for today's celebrations before going in to Loro Ciuffenna for dinner and then on to a local bar to watch the world cup!