OH and BTW I got married...

A few of you all have been begging me for pictures from my wedding last weekend. I have to say it was, without a doubt, the best day of our lives and even though it rained (buckets), we had the most incredible and unforgettable time. These pictures are from the rehearsal dinner, which I designed, and my mother executed.

It was held in a boathouse, at a nearby boys prep school, so everything was very nautical. Plus I love nautical decor so I had so much fun designing it. The boathouse looked out onto one of the lakes in our town and was a beautiful view.

The fabric that we bought was from Fabric.com. My mom (sewing genius) sewed all the table cloths and napkins.

The napkin rings were nautical knot bracelets made by this super cute couple in Mystic CT available at Mystic Knotworks.

I scoured the internet for tons of milk glass vases, bowls, cake stands, and a pitcher for the tables. The flowers were from my mother's garden and were the perfect pop of orange, pink and red against all the blue and white.

Since we have so many of them, I'm probably going to sell off a few of them--stay tuned for that!

This was the bunting banner that I made! I had extra fabric from the tablecloths and some ikat fabric from some pillows that I made for a client and crafted them into this fab nautical preppy banner! More on that later...

The night was a total success and the toasts that everyone made for us were super special and meant so much to us. It was the perfect night before the perfect day!!

I'll work on some wedding photos for you in the next few days. What did you think of the rehearsal dinner? We had an amazing time and it was a great time for both of our families to get acquainted before the actual wedding. I can't believe we've been married for one week!


Mrs. Alicia B.

Nautical Living

From Country living Mag, this refurbished beach house in NC uses lots of browns and blues in the living room. I love the storage chest used as a coffee table here.

Okay, so I guess I rallied and got it together to do a blog even though my life is consumed with packing slash moving slash painting. I don't know if you can tell but I've become obsessed by this water/yacht theme of late. Every now and then I see houses with many nautical motifs and I just love them! I think some of them are over-done and in bad taste but I love the theme and find it charming, nonetheless.

The banister here may be slightly over the top but a creative idea by designer Suzanne Kasler, anyway. The mirrors on the wall are really what drew me to this room, all round and chunky.

I found this adorable old world nautical map wallpaper from Stark. This would be so cute in a powder room or a small cozy den.

By Savoie Architects, this kid's bedroom looks like bunk beds on a ship. As my friend, Sarah, who basically grew up on a boat said to me, in terms of space and storage, there is not one place on a boat that is not used. You need to use the space efficiently and as you can see here, it definitely is: bunk beds, and storage underneath is those cute baskets.

In the same house, Savoie takes the nautical theme into the master bedroom; but in a different direction. Clearly inspired by the idea of sea glass, the color palette is centered around the sea glass mural behind the bed, then taken to the lamps, shades, and pillows on the bed. How beautiful is that? LOVE IT.

Photographer, Matt Albiani designed his entire city apartment around this nautical theme. The wall paper is actually old maps. I love the case on the dresser with a rope handle. His entire place is in Domino mag HERE. His style is a little more DIY than your typical beach house with lots of space, which I appreciate.

Boston based designer Gary McBournie designed this house on Nantucket. I love the chest flanked by the two antique chairs, but the ship's wheel over the bench (with a storage drawer!) is a little too obvious for me. Sorry. I still love you though Gary McBournie!

I SUPER love this kitchen! I love the white cupboards with holes and the unfinished ceiling is KILLING me. Nice touch with the patriotic American flag, too. Ahhh.

One of my favorite things about going to the shore is the shells. The starfish and coral in this bedroom are so cute!

This house on Cape Cod designed by Foley and Cox is also very beautiful, and perhaps that dog is what made me choose this one. Anyway, as a lighting lover, I couldn't look away from those two ship's lanterns above the sofa.

Which was your favorite? I like elements of each one; the glass balls in the knots above, the coral, the colors of blue, white, and mahogany, etc . It might be a few days before I post again so enjoy this one; savor it. I'll be really busy and stressed SO BACK OFF. Just kidding, love me!


Alicia B.