July 2014 - WEDDING FLOWERS
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Week 2

Week 2








I'm falling behind. The second week we spent in New York was just as great as the first with the simple exception that I didn't get lost! 



Taylor's training has been intensive and there are a series of tests and quizzes that dominate his time. He has some fun, too. Check out our week's highlights:




I spent several hours on Monday searching for a bridesmaid dress. If you know what
Programming Note: Hiatus Open Post

Programming Note: Hiatus Open Post

The blog is taking a short break for the rest of the week. We'll return on Monday.

Those of you that would like to discuss royal book recommendations, keep scrolling. If you'd like to discuss other topics, feel free to use this post!
Royal Splendor 101: Your Royal Book Recommendations

Royal Splendor 101: Your Royal Book Recommendations

I'm frequently asked to share book recommendations or to offer a place for readers to share their favorite royal books, so today we have a post just for that!

I do have a bookcase full of royal books, but you might be surprised to learn that I don't do a lot of royal reading in my spare time. I'm not a big fan of biographies, generally speaking - it's hard to find really good ones, in my opinion - but I enjoyed Gyles Brandreth's Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage and Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair. Brandreth knows his subjects and their world well, and writing about a couple instead of a single person makes for an interesting take. On a somewhat similar note, Julia Gelardi''s Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria combines five lives in a fascinating read. I'll also give a mention to James Pope-Hennessy's Queen Mary, probably the definitive account of the life of our patron magpie saint.

Unsurprisingly, I do love a good royal jewel book. Having a blog about Queen Elizabeth II's jewels, The Queen's Diamonds by Hugh Roberts (my review here) and The Queen's Jewels by Leslie Field are indispensable to me. Prince Michael of Greece's The Jewels of the Tsars is an excellent starter book if you're interested in the Romanov jewels, with loads of pictures and plenty of background on the characters at play, which is very helpful if you're not already an expert on imperial Russian history. Geoffrey Munn's Tiaras: A History of Splendour is big and lavishly illustrated, giving the history of tiaras in general and covering some royal tiaras (mainly British, but a selection of international pieces too) along the way. It's an essential book for tiara lovers, and no recommendation list of mine would be complete without it.

Those are just a few favorites off the top of my head, but obviously a terribly small sample. Please use the comments to share your favorites and ask for recommendations from others!

(I will ask that the comments on this post stay on the topic of royal books, and any off topic conversations remain on the open post. Thanks!)
Royal Repeat of the Day: July 28

Royal Repeat of the Day: July 28

The King and Queen of Spain visited Santiago de Compostela last week.
A gorgeous dress in the softest of pinks for Letizia last week, a color that I love almost every time because it flatters almost anyone.
And if it looks familiar, that's because this is a repeat from one very notable occasion: the 2011 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I have to say, I have grown to love the fact that when Letizia wears a hat (which is pretty much only at foreign royal occasions, because the hats-n-gloves thing really isn't the way the Spanish royal family operates) she wears a hat - back in 2011, she stuck just about every kind of hat ornament on the thing she could manage. But still, without the matching accessories, I'm able to pay attention to all the little details on this dress, and I'm appreciating it so much more this time around. Well played.

Photos: Carlos Alvarez via Getty Images

Hello Winter


Winter is here.  There is always just a little sadness heading into winter.  I find myself almost grieving  at the turning of the season.  Autumn has its beauty and in Tasmania, I think its possibly the best season.  (So difficult to pick!)  But prior to the solstice, the onset of winter can make me feel a little sad, with no apparent reason.  
And then, like waking from a dream, I remember its charms!  There are misty, foggy days that make you feel like you're the only person on the planet. 


The rain is so refreshing, so life-giving.  The plants drink it up and seem so full of life.  


The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos that live around the Tasman Peninsula are more often about, singing their raucous songs.


Winter has its own beauty.  And I remember that I love it!  I love the short days and warm fires, the crisp morning air,  the moss,  the rain, the mist, and I LOVE the colour!! Although this is my sixth winter at Swallows Nest, I still am surprised by the intensity of the winter colour that our plants produce.  Yellow that seems to trap the sunlight and glow, startling pink and red, lime green, and pale buttery yellow, peach, and white.  


And then there are those euphoric blue-sky days that have such clarity as you look up that you feel as if there is nothing but sunlight between you and the rest of the universe.  


Winter is also a busy time with planting, clearing, pruning and picking.  So forgive the recent lack of blog posts!  In the next few days I will catch you up on the flowers that are making winter so colourful here at the moment.  

What's your favourite thing about winter? ....

Royal Family Outing of the Day: July 25

The Danish royal family posed for their annual photocall at the start of their summer vacation at Gråsten Palace.
Luckily a whole family affair offers us a large selection of potential focal points, including a very sharply dressed Princess Benedikte (my personal best dressed for the day), because I don't know what's happening right here:
This is just...I mean...what?! Does it get better in motion?

Video, above
No. No it does not. Le sigh.

Photos: Billed-Bladet video/Robin Utrecht Photography via Getty Images

Tiara Thursday: The Russian Large Pearl Pendant Tiara

The Russian Large Pearl Pendant Tiara
One of the most imposing pieces in a collection full of imposing pieces, this pearl and diamond tiara was referred to as the Diadem of Ancient Pearls in Russia's imperial family. Made in the early 19th century, it is a complicated structure of Brazilian diamonds and ancient pearls, with a graduated top line and a center row of dangling pearl drops. As originally worn the tiara is shaped tightly and forms a near-complete circle.
Alexandra Feodorovna
The pearl diadem was last worn by the last tsarina, Alexandra Feodorovna. Some have referred to it as her favorite tiara, which I've always found an intriguing statement as she was known for her rejection of the grand court life, a point of contention between the empress and the ladies of the court. Whatever her feelings on this piece, its grand scale was certainly fitting for her place. That same scale would probably make it a very rarely worn tiara if it existed in an active royal family today - but we'll never know, as it was collected with the rest of the imperial jewels by the Bolsheviks when the revolution hit and it's been lost ever since.

Where does this rank on your list of favorite pearl tiaras?

Photos: Fersman/Wikimedia Commons

Royal Birthday of the Week: July 24

Prince George of Cambridge turned 1 this week, and new pictures were released.
No, I didn't forget that Prince George had a birthday. I just like to save up my doses of cuteness for when I really need them, like on a Thursday, when I need one last push to get me to the end of the week. I'm strategic like that.
Just to throw some fashion into the mix: the proud mum wore this cute green Suzannah dress, which we've previously seen her wear under her green Erdem coat.
Photo: John Stillwell/WPA Pool via Getty Images and Suzannah
Weekend Adventures with the boys

Weekend Adventures with the boys

Since Taylor and I got married (8 months ago today!), I seem to be greatly outnumbered by boys. It happens and mostly I'm fine with it EXCEPT when it means that I have to ride all the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the world.

Actually it wasn't all bad. Taylor, Nick, Jon and I went to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and had a 'six flags day'. Because I didn't want to wait alone
New York, New York

New York, New York


We're here. It's finally happening. We've been talking about it and planning for months and now it's here. This is real life.



We just completed Week One of GS training. I don't know what life would have been like if I had stayed behind in Utah like we thought I might. I miss Taylor while he's at work enough already that I don't think we could be alright hundreds of miles away from each other.
Royal Outfit of the Day: July 23

Royal Outfit of the Day: July 23

The King and Queen of Spain visited France yesterday, part of their introductory visits to nearby countries.
I do believe I like this one! It's tremendously blergh - some are saying pink, I see beige - but I'm getting something of a balletic feel here, no? Just me? At any rate, we can definitely add anything that reminds me of ballet to my long list of weaknesses.

Video, above

Photo: Antoine Antoniol via Getty Images

Royal Hat of the National Day: July 22

The Belgian royal family celebrated National Day yesterday. Among other events, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde led the way at the Brussels Te Deum with their four children. The Te Deum was followed by a military parade.
King Albert and Queen Paola stayed away from the first National Day after Albert's abdication, presumably to make sure focus remained on the new faces of the royal family. But, well...
...I think Mathilde had a back up plan to grab that focus, just in case.
(This is a Máxima hat to be sure, and indeed she does have similar models in her closet - though I'm sure she's just as surprised as we are that she wasn't the first to own it in orange. Obviously outfits like this are a long time in planning, but I do suppose some might interpret donning the Dutch national color as a nod to a country in mourning after last week's flight tragedy. Donning it in such an exuberant fashion, however, is all Mathilde.)


Photos: Mark Renders via Getty Images, RTBF video, @MonarchieBe

The Perfect Pink


Hello everyone - I want to tell you about the latest edition to my lipstick collection. It is a YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick in '01 Nude Beige' and it's the most gorgeous girly pink. I have been wanting one of these lipsticks for a while now, not just for the beautiful golden packaging, but for the amazing reviews I've read online about these wonderful things. I've only wore it a few times, since I'm scared of it running out already! Once again... my boyfriend decided to spoil me and bought it pour moi!




This 'Sensual, Radiant and Silky' described lipstick is encased in the most heavenly golden packaging. I can't begin to describe how beautiful it looks sitting on my dressing table; it also has by far the most aesthetically pleasing look compared to any of my other lipsticks. 




I totally agree with the description about it being radiant because the marvellous pigmentation allows the lipstick to be easily built up to your desired colour. Also, it ticks the box of being silky, as it has the most soft, moisturising finish and feel on the lips. The colour is honestly amazing too and I am super happy with the shade it creates on my lips - a girly summer pink, that some people would describe as a pinky-nude. 

Swatch (after one swipe)
I am so so excited to wear this throughout the whole of my summer holidays because I think it is the perfect feminine pink that will go with almost every outfit! As it is rather pricey at £25, which I know for certain not everyone will want to fork out for a single lipstick, so I've heard from a close friend that an almost identical dupe is Mac's Cremecup (£15), which is fairly cheaper. I'm sure you can find a drugstore dupe for this as well so just let me know in the comments below if you know anything similar that is cheaper than £15. 


As an added bonus, my boyfriend managed to find a deal that included two mini samples to arrive with the full sized product. These happened to be a YSL mascara, which looks a decent size for a highend sample. Finally, I got a little tube filled with YSL's manifesto fragrance; it smells amazing! If you ever get the chance or pass by a YSL counter, you have to go and smell this one.


My outro is becoming boringly repetitive but I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a week or so - I will try to be organised as much as I can but I can't promise anything as I'm going on holiday a few times over the Summer. Thank you for those who are sticking around - I love you all...


Goodbye Xxx


Do you own anything from Yves Saint Laurent? What is your summer staple lipstick?
Royal Flashback of the Day: July 18

Royal Flashback of the Day: July 18

I stumbled on this little gem of a documentary on YouTube the other day, and was quite merrily transported back to London, 1960. It's too good not to share (well, I don't think I've shared it before...), so here's your dose of Friday pretty:

A documentary on Princess Margaret's wedding, in color. Part 1 is above; click here for Part 2 and here for Part 3.
I'm making this a bit of a long weekend, so enjoy one of the best royal wedding gowns of all time in action, and I'll see you back here on Tuesday!

Tiara Thursday: Princess Alexia's Diamond Tiara

Princess Alexia's Diamond Tiara
Today's tiara belongs to Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, oldest child of King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie. It is said to have been a gift to Alexia from her parents. The tiara is a densely packed design of varied motifs that form ovals around a center line of round diamonds. The largest diamond in the diadem is a pear-shaped diamond mounted at the very top.
Alexia
In her early years, Princess Alexia borrowed her mother's Antique Corsage Tiara (on at least one occasion), and she followed family tradition as a descendant of Queen Ingrid of Denmark and used the Khedive of Egypt Tiara on her wedding day. But for the most part - exclusively, in years since her wedding - Alexia wears her own tiara. She loaned it for the first time to her younger sister Princess Theodora for Princess Madeleine of Sweden's wedding in 2013 (which Alexia did not attend); at that wedding, their sister-in-law Princess Tatiana was also present, wearing the Antique Corsage Tiara that Theodora usually borrows.
Theodora
I've always thought this was a great medium-sized tiara for someone that only uses one (and wouldn't we all love to have just one...). The design is, as I said, densely packed, so that from afar it blends together and creates rather solid looking piece; yet when the light catches the tiara just right, the design takes on a delicate lacy feel. Despite the fact that the Greek royals were deposed long ago and hold no tiara events of their own, they have close ties to other monarchies and so their tiara collection still gets a lot of use (particularly in Denmark, as Queen Anne-Marie is one of Queen Margrethe's sisters). And it's always a treat to see Alexia give this one a show.

How do you rate this tiara?

Photos: AOP, Dominique Charriau/WireImage and Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images
Royal Visit of the Day: July 16

Royal Visit of the Day: July 16

This week, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia have been on an official trip to Morocco, visiting King Mohammed VI and Princess Lalla Salma. On day 2, the ladies visited a cancer research center.
They were a study in contrasts on day one - Letizia sleek and cool in her gray arrival suit and button-down shirt with fancy skirt for the dinner, Lalla Salma exuberant in her pink trousers followed by a majestic turn in her caftan and jewels - but they were a perfectly matched pair the next day as they took on Rabat in their monochrome outfits. Hilariously well-matched, actually, each with their own little retro flair. They're like two-thirds of a time-traveling royal Charlie's Angels remake waiting to happen. (Someone needs to make that happen.)

Photo: Chris Jackson via Getty Images

Royal Birthday of the Week: July 15

Crown Princess Victoria turned 37 yesterday and was joined by the rest of the Swedish royal family for their traditional celebrations at Solliden Palace, Öland.
Happy birthday Victoria! Accompanied by the King and Queen, Prince Daniel, and Princess Estelle, the birthday girl started out by greeting crowds dressed elegantly in white with a cardigan, but the fashion "news" belonged to WEE ESTELLE and her WEE PONYTAIL:
That's right, they did it again - another family dress pulled out and given a new life. Love it.

Later, the crew (minus Estelle) was joined by Prince Carl Philip, Sofia Hellqvist, Princess Madeleine, and Chris O'Neill for the annual Victoriadagen concert. As always, Victoria and Queen Silvia wore traditional dress (and they are the only two that do, for this event).
And they promptly got drenched. The concert's been rained on in the past, so everyone comes prepared to model the finest in plastic rain gear. You'd think they could ask for a canopy or something if they really wanted to, but nope - they just embrace the opportunity to laugh at each other as they get trapped inside their ponchos. (And I kinda love that about them. Right?!)

For the concert and some video from earlier, click here.

Photos: Luca Teuchmann/WireImage via Getty Images, and SVT video

Royal Outfit of the Day: July 14

Make that Princely...er...Casiraghi Outfit of the Day, I suppose.
Charlotte Casiraghi attended the Vogue Foundation Gala in Paris last week.
Well, I do believe Ms. Casiraghi has found the absolute perfect gown to match her nonchalant couture-wearing image - a gown every bit as sleek and cool as she seems to be. Absolutely perfect, no?
Charlotte's gown is from Gucci Resort 2015. She has a long-standing relationship with the label; Gucci designs her equestrian wear and she is the face of Gucci Cosmetics.
Photos: Richard Bord/WireImage via Getty Images, and Gucci

Potential Royal Couture of the Day: July 11

The Fall 2014 Couture shows happened this week in Paris. Let's do what we do and gaze at some prettiness while making our wish lists for what we hope to see on our favorite royal ladies, shall we? (Click the designer names to see the whole collection.)

Wouldn't be a couture week without Elie Saab doing what he does best. Ornamentation galore combined with lots of ombré effect gowns (as though Elie Saab alone isn't enough of a weakness for me, I have a peculiar fondness for anything ombré, so I'm all over this). As always, the Luxembourg ladies are our best bet to see this in action, and if we cross our fingers maybe a Swedish princess will dip into the pool too.

Valentino put out a very romantic, Pre-Raphaelite-inspired collection. Keep an eye out for Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Madeleine, Princess Marie-Chantal, Queen Máxima, Sheikha Mozah, and more.


Chanel delivered a typically artistic collection with inspiration from Karl Lagerfeld as intriguing as ever ("brutalist and baroque"). I include the video above for one purpose only: the very last look. I wouldn't be mad at all one of the ladies of Monaco wanted to don that fabulous train, wouldn't be mad at all. Pick any occasion, opening a yacht club, I don't even care. That is amazing.

Giambattista Valli's been rather popular with Crown Princess Mette-Marit of late, and Charlotte Casiraghi's been a fan in the past. I wouldn't mind this collection spreading to some other royal ladies too, with its bright florals and affection for full skirts and capes. You can look no further than the styling to see that it's practically screaming for some attention from Sheikha Mozah (head wraps and sunglasses, hello!).

This is just a selection from some of the designers already in the royal mix. Others to consider:
  • Christian Dior has dressed Queen Mathilde a couple times this year (for her French introductory visit and for the D-Day commemoration - both events in France, a perfect marriage since the French label is currently designed by a Belgian, Raf Simons). What we've seen on Mathilde so far has been totally bespoke and not from the runway, but others like Sheikha Mozah and Princess Haya are runway fans.
  • Armani Privé has been a go-to in the past for some of our royal ladies (Queen Mathilde and Queen Paola for special occasions, for example), though again, it's often totally custom work.
  • I'm still waiting for Ralph & Russo (a British label from two Australians) to make an appearance on our British royals, but Sheikha Mozah's already a fan.
What's on your royal wish list?

Photos: Style.com

    The Best Trip to London


    On Saturday the 5th of July, my boyfriend and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary of being together. As a small present, I baked some cake pops for him and planned to buy him something nice out in London, if he saw anything out in the shops. Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan and we didn't end up finding much so I owe him a lot because he bought us tickets to see The Lion King in the West End. It was soooo good (more about that later!).


    We travelled by train, in the early morning, so that we could spend a long lovely day together in London...

    To begin, we made our way towards Covent Garden, as it wasn't far from where we were going to have lunch. We strolled along all the handmade art stalls and Aidan's mum ended up treating me to this cute pair of earrings. They are so beautiful and went perfectly with my dress, so I decided to put them in straight away! Surrounding the stalls, were high end brands like: Burberry, Chanel, Dior etc. Aidan and I went into them so that I could have a sneak peek at the makeup. In Dior, I ended up getting sprayed with their latest release - Dior Addict. The scent was absolutely gorgeous and it is another perfume that has nicely been added to my fragrance wishlist.





    Whilst heading off to get our lunch, as we booked a table for 12 o'clock, myself and Aidan's mum got drawn into the Bodyshop. This was because we had seen a sign near the entrance saying 'Body Butters WERE £13 each, NOW £15 for 5'. We thought this deal was insane, as these were full sized 200ml body butters and the smaller ones cost £5 each! We had to take advantage and buy 5; Aidan's mother insisted I had three and she have the two. I got the Passion Fruit, Papaya and Blueberry scented ones and they smell gorgeous. I cannot wait to use them on my body!


    It was now time for lunch, and we booked a table for Prezzo. I absolutely love Prezzo, their thin crust pizzas taste delicious! For my starter, I had cibatta bread with olive oil, my main meal was a margherita pizza topped with seasoned chicken and for dessert I had the most gorgeous chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice  cream. Despite Prezzo being quite expensive, it is definitely worth it and a lovely treat for yourself or if you wish to take someone out.





    Now for my favourite part - The Lion King. I was completely amazed by the cast's performance. They did all the songs justice and the voices of everyone on stage were incredible. I wish I was up there with them *sad face*. I love all the songs in the Lion King - Circle of Life and Can you feel the love tonight are my faves! I loved the setting of the stage and the costumes were so detailed and made so well. It is definitely the best thing I have ever seen performed in my whole life and would do anything to go and see it again in the future. Although I haven't seen many West End productions, I would definitely recommend watching this immediately if you ever get the opportunity to do so. It really made my day and I love Aidan so much for buying me the tickets and he really knew how much it would mean to me and how much I wanted to see it. Oh, and we also had the best seats - front row of the the grand circle. The theatre was enormous too!






    After enduring an amazing musical experience, Aidan and I went to find his mum. She very kindly bought us these gorgeous chocolate covered strawberries from a shop called Godiva. They were ridiculously priced at £10 each, but nonetheless, they tasted amazing. I also ended up having a sneaky look in mac and purchased 'REBEL' which I have had my eye on for such time now. I will be doing a review on this soon so watch out for it (I wore it at school this week and ended up getting at least 20 compliments, no exaggeration). I can't wait to share what I think about it with you.




    We had a little snoop around the shops for a bit to see if I could find anything for Aidan. I ended up buying him some boxers from Jack Wills but unfortunately didn't find anything else so I owe him big time!! Anyway, as we were busy shopping, Aidan's parents decided to buy us some tickets for a play called Ghost Stories. I was so scared but overall I thought it was amazing how such a small cast of people could make an audience feel so tense and gripped. The plot was very clever and it had a really unexpected twist too.




    To end the most incredible day, we went for a lovely night walk by the River Thames. I love seeing London at night time because of all the pretty lights. Aidan and I got some really nice photos and we got one together with the London Eye in the background. It happens to be my favourite photo from our day out. 





    I want to say a massive thank you to Aidan and his family for making this day so special for me. I also want to say sorry if this post wasn't very interesting for you, but I wanted to make a post about this day so that I can look back at it as a memory for myself. Thank you all for reading to this point and hope you are all looking forward for my next post, which should be up in a couple of days.

    Goodbye Xx


     Have you ever watched a show in London? Have you ever bought anything from the Bodyshop? Requests for future posts?

    Tiara Thursday: The Norwegian Gold Bandeau

    During this year's state visit from Germany to Norway, Princess Astrid of Norway wore a tiara that I would say is one of the most unusual tiaras currently in use in a European royal house. Let's give it some attention for an off-the-wall Thursday treat, shall we?
    The Norwegian Gold Bandeau
    In low bandeau form, this tiara is primarily gold. The gold is studded with a variety of stones in different shapes and colors: green, red, white. It looks petite, but is a complete circlet when viewed from the side, and it's part of a parure with a set of earrings and a brooch. Astrid is said to have inherited this set from her maternal grandmother, Princess Ingeborg of Sweden (1878-1958, a princess of Denmark who married into the Swedish royal family).
    Princess Astrid, with close ups on the brooch and earrings
    Jewels from Ingeborg can be found in several countries these days, as her descendants reign in Norway, Belgium, and Luxembourg. But I can't help but think that this particular set is lucky that it was passed to Princess Astrid. It doesn't really fit in with current tiara trends, if you will, and I have to imagine that many would leave this one in the vault. Not Astrid, though; she possesses one of the most eclectic collections around, and she wears even the wackiest pieces with regularity. She has exactly the right spirit for it, and I find it hard to imagine a piece like this on anyone else.

    How do you rate this unusual bandeau?

    Photos: NTB Scanpix/Kongehuset

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