Monday Dose of Inspiration: Bonbons and Collaborations In Croatia for a Breathtaking Wedding

There once was a story of a beautiful girl named Natalie, a lovely friend of a lovely friend, who came to me and wanted the perfect wedding. She showed me colors and wishlists and inspiration boards until I felt like I got her and she seemed happy, so we collaborated to create some pieces for her and her bridesmaids for a magical wedding which was to be in a land far far away from Brooklyn, in fact on a little island called Pag, a coastal island off the coast of Croatia on the Adriatic Sea in the month of June, 2010.

I create bridal headpieces and jewelry for very special brides. Brides who are sweet and humble and funny and have magic in them, a lyrical sense that will allow their weddings, after all the planning and exhaustion and decision-making to let the day unwind itself as it may, letting the flowers and setting be a gift to their witnesses and their absolute love for each other be the final crowning touch amongst all the carefully planned details.

And it looks like that's exactly what happened here. I am so moved by these shots, sent yesterday by Natalie in celebration of their first wedding anniversary. It was the first time I had seen their photos and I was floored by the magnificent setting, all the spirit and love present at their first moments as husband and wife and especially by her beauty (enhanced, may I add, by her hot bonbons in which she rocked two bonbon changes throughout the evening!)

Part of the wedding was photographed by Alexa Vachon, one of my favorite old friends and photographers. She has this ability to capture the most incredible moments, cutting through the fluff, in which you really can see how amazingly real this was, never necessarily from each flower in place, not a fairytale, but very much rooted in reality conjured by the who's in who she photographs. She lets the actual romance come from her subjects, their spirit mixed with hers, the tender fragility of their beauty in these moments which she really really sees, which, I think, is a rare quality.

Creating for brides, I like to think, comes from the same place, from their spirit mixed with my sensibility, whatever they bring to the table mixed with whatever I have to offer. It's an incredible feeling to see how it all got put together, my offering one small part in bringing out the natural beauty and happiness and hope. A very real dream. And the happiness that part of the putting together was amongst friends, Lizzy's introduction of bonbons to Natalie, Alexa's photos, and the collaboration of bride and groom, family and guests that makes a wedding real and amazing. And the rest is a story that tells itself.

It's a little food for thought on a Monday.