I love, love muscari, and this variety in white is so feminine and delicate. Here, I styled them in my old pointe shoes…

Of course, they also look pretty good in an old golf trophy I picked up an antique store. I like the idea of a table design of different trophies filled with simple blooms, what do you think?

You can never go wrong with a pair of pink Manolo Blahniks shoes with a bit of bling.

You guys know how much I love a short wedding dress, and this dress is quite simply adorable.

Paired with a cute bob and head band (how sweet is that!) and the prettiest shoes, I would say this is one look I would steal in a heartbeat.

So last week we made a headdress with the gorgeous clematis flower. This week I’m making a matching bouquet inspired by some fun plaid ribbon I found at a fabric store. You will need:

Flowers:

-2 bunches of light pink sweet pea

-1 bunch of liliac

-1 bunch hot pink ranunculus

-1 bunch cappuncino ranunuclus

-1 bunch geranium

Tools:

-flower tape

- floral pick or wire

-ribbon (2 yards of each, mine are from Michael Levine)

-pearl headed pins

Begin by cleaning your flowers and taking off leaves. Trim you flowers and let them hydrate and open for a day. Use pruning shears to cut a trim the lilac and cut a slit in the bottom to allow for water uptake. Once your ready to arrange wire the ranunuclus as needed (the heads tend to be floppy and sometimes need additional support).

Start by gathering a handful of flowers, rotating as you add stems and place flowers at different heights for texture. Its helpful to use a mirror to ensure your bouquet looks good from all sides. Use floral tape to hold your bouquet together. Then over the tape, use your colorful ribbon and wind it around the bouquet. Finish by pinning the ribbon to the bouquet. Here, I added two additional trailing pieces of hand-died silk ribbon for additional color.

Cut your ribbon, and keep it long if you like that trailing look. Put on your clematis headdress and you’ve got a very colorful, and slightly bohemian, wedding day look.

I’m super excited to share this beautiful editorial produced by our newest sponsor here at Santa Barbara Chic… Merryl Brown Events. Photographed by the super talented Elizabeth Messina this royal wedding editorial is a feast for the eyes.

The bride’s long flowing hair is accented with a long ethereal veil over her Claire Pettibone dress, and topped with a gorgeous crown. The groom wears a classic and elegant tuxedo.

Cut crystal, a diamond necklace and a beaded dress… simply gorgeous.

The table is set with fine china and flatware from Small Masterpiece. A mixture of crystal candle holders and fine silver vessels hold blooms in a delicate palatte of creams and soft pinks by Camilla Svensson Burns. Trailing jasmine adds a hint of garden romance.

Seriously, how beautiful is the china? I could stare at it all day long.

The elegant invitations were designed by Lazaro Press and were presented in a gorgeous wood box.

To finish the event, an elegant cake by The Cakery features swagged gold and elegant piped details. Thank you Merryl Brown & Elizabeth Messina for sharing this stunning editorial!

I’m a big fan of travel photography, especially of places not usually visited by Americans. Here, Jose Villa‘s beautiful photographs capture the soft colors of Cuba and the city that seems trapped in time…

The texture of the walls…

How beautiful are these doors? The chippy paint and the scale of the doors is perfection.

The vintage cars are so beautiful…

Jose said that while most Cubans have very little, they are a very happy, warm people…

And now for the most stunning film by Joel Serrato of Havana, be prepared to be completely swept away…

Ready for your own Cuban escape?! Here are the best places to sleep/eat/see:

Sleep: Hotel Saratoga…located in the heart of Havana, this 96 room 5 star hotel is as much modern and eclectic as it is classic, and has some of the best views of Havana from it’s rooftop terrace (perfect for those warm Havana rights!). Lucky for you, the hotel also has some of the best food/drinks/spa services around. Located on one of the busiest streets in central Havana, Hotel Saratoga offers the perfect combination of luxury and convenience.

Eat: Floridita…opening in 1817, this Havana landmark is known as much for it’s authentic Cuban inspired seafood dishes as it’s famous cocktails. Once named one of the 7 most popular bars in the world  (as noted by Esquire Magazine in the 50′s), Floridita offers visitors to Havana a flash back to Cuba’s former glory days.  Fun fact: Ernest Hemingway was a regular at Floridita back in the day, and is even said to have written his first draft of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” here. Looking to channel Hemingway’s literary genius? Be sure to order a daiquiri, his favorite drink!

See: Often called “The Soul of Havana” by locals, no trip would be complete without a walk along El Malecón. This 4+ mile seafront promenade is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. You’ll find yourself wandering past local Cuban children swimming, taking in the gorgeous ocean views on one side while gazing back across the walkway upon now dilapidated luxury villas from Cuba’s heyday. It’s a truly romantic juxtaposition. Two other visitor must sees? The Havana Capital Building (otherwise known as El Capital) and the Partagas Cigar Factory.

My favorite part of my job is collecting old objects for prop styling or weddings. There’s something so cool about owning a little piece of history… These guys I bought in England and are turn of the century or before. The shape was cast in a mold and then they were hand etched and plated with silver.

I’m particularly enamored with tarnished silver at the moment (which you can find by the boat load at many antique stores). They speak of the way people used to use to live… I mean who really uses a proper silver tea set anymore? Its something about the romance of the time that does it for me…

This pink milk glass perfume bottle with its dainty flowers is so delicate and pretty… I wonder who it belonged to, would they wear it only for special occasions or everyday? So, do you find objects as facsinating as I do? I’m sure all the art historians out there do…

I’m  so excited to introduce a new column, floral chic with photographer Nancy Neil. Today, I’m going to show you how to make a floral head wreath using gorgeous clematis. You will need: 6-7 stems of clematis, 20 gauge floral wire and pliers.

Start by measuring the circumfrence of your head and twist two pieces of the wire together to make a circle. Take your first piece of clematis and a small piece of wire (about 2″). Using your pliers, wrap the small piece of wire near the head of the flower to secure it to your circle. Since clematis is a vine, you can take the stem and wind it around the circle to cover your wire base. Secure with additional 2″ pieces of wire where you need to.

If you’re making this ahead of time, you can put the stems in floral water tubes to keep the flowers hydrated. Once you’re ready to wear, take the stems out the tubes and clip any extra stem length off. Next week, I’ll be making a coloful bouquet to match our headdress.

I love the light in Italy and its never been so perfectly captured as through Elizabeth Messina’s lens. Here, the boats of Venice, the grand canal, and the famous tower of San Marcos plaza.

But what I love most about Italy is the art… I did my thesis on 14th century art and it has a special place in my heart. Above, one of my favorite artists of the period Simone Martini…

And on a special note, Elizabeth‘s book, The Luminous Portrait came out yesterday, you can get it right here.

About a month ago, Elizabeth called me and asked me if I wanted to do flowers for the Wedding Chicks product/fashion shoot. It took me about zero seconds to say yes!

I did a small table setup with Found Vintage Rentals pieces (Jeni was our fabulous stylist for the shoot) and used a color palette of peaches, pinks, and burgundies for the flowers.

Tricia Fountaine was kind enough to lend me her vintage china and silverware. The glassware I picked up the weekend before at an antique store. At each setting I placed a vintage ink well with a ranunculus. I have about 12 ink wells from around 1870 that were bought here and in England (they are dirt cheap over seas!).

Here are some of the adorable products by the wedding chicks that were photographed. I love the vintage style hankies and the adorable totes perfect for  a welcome bag. You can see more on Elizabeth’s blog here and on Wedding Chicks right here. And you can shop these adorable products right here.