The Designer Wedding Show!

One thing I miss about being back in the UK is the fabulous wedding shows......usually a great day out and full of inspirational ideas!  Never mind I can get booking my tickets for next year and it gives me an excuse to get up to London and catch up with some old friends!

I just love the guys Javier and Tony from By Appointment Only Design they have a fabulous boutique in Chiltern Street, Marylbone.....another place on MY MUST VISIT list when I'm back in London!  The boys organise weddings and produce absolutely stunning bridal and event flowers.....I'm told that they don't actually use any foliage in their designs at all.  I'm a huge fan of their work so it was great to see pictures of their stand at The Designer Wedding Show in Battersea Park over the weekend....take a peek at the beautiful stand at the show by the BAOD boys!

 Just lovin the table draping and the rose petals!

 Very soft pastel colours in the flowers beautifully executed in their design

Just perfect!

Photography credit......By Appointment Only Design

Going vintage glam with stunning birdcages!

What better way to bring the Zucchini season to a perfect ending.....marrying some very good friends!  Angie was the first member of staff we employed ten years ago even before Zucchini became a wedding venue.  How ironic that almost decade later we would marry her in the gazebo just before we leave to go back to the UK!!!!!!!   

But the pleasure was all ours and on Sunday 9 October 2011 we married Angela Christie and Karl Gregory in a non denomination ceremony in the Zucchini gazebo......it was lovely!  Angie hadn't been at all fussy in the run up to the wedding....the usual hunt for the dress.....not easy in Cyprus (a post for a later date).  Trying to choose a colour scheme and we did go through quite a few until Angie saw some ribbon I had found in a shop in Limassol....she was hooked and it really changed the theme and colour scheme for the whole day.

We don't have the luxury of great shopping here in Cyprus and invariably when you are looking for something specific we have to trust finding it on the internet.....however I managed to find what I can only describe as a fabulous haberdashery shop full of beautiful double sided, floppy satin ribbon in the most stunning colours......all the vintage sludggies in greys, greens, dusky pinks and Angies mulberry colour.... pink hurrah!

So shabby chic....bordering vintage glam it was.......on a budget of course!  We chose cream birdcages for the tables and I had several white birdcages in various styles and sizes that we decorated the rest of the room with.....these are going to feature in my very first window display at Flora and Grace!  Angie and Karl had hired some pretty wooden signs.......BRIDE, GROOM, WEDDING THIS WAY, CANDY BAR and a very large pair of angel wings....that Alex took far too much of a liking to!  The flowers were very pale pink with eucalyptus, I added some ivory and a dash of tiny hot pink rosebuds for that romantic look.

Angie's bridal flowers were very simple but very pretty in Sweet Avalanche......and as a present from me I decorated the stems with antique lace and a diamante brooch.......stunning!  Also as a gift from Zucchini I made a very pretty birdcage table plan (which will also be available to hire from Flora and Grace as from January).  Sometimes I have to produce decoration for weddings that really isn't my style at all.....granted I can't do just everything that I like NOW can I.....but with this wedding it was very much my style of decoration which will be evident in Flora and Grace when we open the doors in January!

The whole day was extra special in so many ways.....good luck to this fabulous couple......Angie and Karl may you both live happily ever after in complete wedded bliss Xxxxx.

Pretty Decoration

Soft greens and ivory one of my favourite colour combinations this year!  Described by Kiera as 'Spring Green' I think it's exactly that....very fresh!

 Pretty ivory birdcages with Sweet Avalanche roses finish off Laura's tables perfectly!

Red isn't a colour that I work with too often when I do it reminds me of how striking the deep red really is....very classic with a hint of glamour just what Vicky wanted to achieve!

Working with artificial and real flowers was a great challenge.....I had no idea how or even if this would work but it did.....VOILA!

Soft pinks and ivory with pearls another favourite look for 2011! 

Ian and Elaine chose bright orange for their colour scheme I added a touch of lime green to break the orange up.....very colourful!

Back on track at last!

Welcome back to Flora and Grace!  These last 3 weeks have certainly been life changing in many ways......put the kettle on, sit yourself down and join me on my rollercoaster ride of these last weeks.

I'm definately greyer than before.....I feel lie I've aged at least ten years, I'm still in disbelief and I'm sure you couldn't have written this episode in my life!  As you may or may not know my plans have been to return to the UK after ten years away......easier said than done and when you have two businesses it takes some strategic planning....you can't just upsticks and leave.  Zucchini has been mega busy....14 weddings in 21 days takes some doing so why would you need added stress in between....well you wouldn't now would you?

I have been negotiating a sale of a business I have not far from Zucchini.....found a fabulous couple in May this year who visited the island, liked the business (not Zucchini by the way) gave us a very substantial deposit......fabulous....or so I thought! I.....in the meantime found the perfect apartment just where I wanted to be in the UK and made an offer which was accepted.  Unfortunately for me they had put a very tight time scale on paying the deposit on this flat due to many timewasters in the past and the vendor wanted some commitment to see the purchase through to the end.  Decision was made by us to proceed and pay the deposit....after all we had this quite large some of money deposited for the business so all was hunky dory....or was it??????

Nooooooooo this couple arrived in September at the start of our very busy wedding season to take over the business and pay the final amount to complete the purchase. They arrived the day before completion, took over the business on the morning with a view to paying the final amount after seeing their lawyer on the afternoon.....we never set eyes on them again......no completion, no money just a text at 3.20am in the early hours of Saturday morning to say that they had flown back to the UK to consider their options agggghhhhhhh!

A nightmare had begun.....3 weeks until the completion of my flat, no sale on the business.....if I didn't complete I would lose the flat, my rather large deposit and no way was I moving back to the UK.......gutted all my plans ruined....family back in the UK disappointed, ruined plans all round.

I think the only thing that finally pulled me through these agonising few weeks as we continued to try and sell the business was prayers....what else could I do.....I needed a miracle and that did happen my prayers were well and truly answered.  I found a buyer who we had spoken to prior to speaking to the horrors who let us down and in less than 3 weeks we did the deal......close to the knife edge as we could get.....the sales agreement was completed at 9.30pm this Thursday evening.....I was due to complete on the flat on the Friday morning.....fingers crossed.  Money was transferred by telephone straight to my lawyer at 9.45pm which arrived at ten am the next morning.....I told you it was by the skin of my teeth......COMPLETION was at midday on Friday....hurrrrrrah the property was mine.....nothing lost but hours of sleep, weight and piece of mind but we got their in the end.

Never again....the stress was JUST TOO MUCH its taken us both from Friday until today to finally digest that the flat is our's and we are going home.  This situation could have gone against me....it didn't and I am eternally grateful to be able to tell the tale.  As for the COUPLE of plums who almost ruined our plans....well we shall see...........????????????????

This has been fairly life changing.....I am a very trusting person and do take people at face value....never, ever again.  With life back on track and everybody happy we continue to proceed with Flora and Grace.  The shop will be secured on Monday and my plans will resume.  We should open the doors in January 2012....can't wait!

I am eternally grateful to a handful of people who helped us through this ordeal.....you know who you are....I can't thank you enough....I only hope one day I can be there for you if you need me.

Happy endings are always the best....I feel like the luckiest person on earth today! Xxx