We couldn’t agree more!  This Spring, our Floral and Fine Gift retail boutique, Evantine at The Rittenhouse, is showcasing a variety of new products made by skilled artisans from around the world.   It’s our pleasure to introduce the award-winning and eco-friendly, Beatriz Ball Collection of Fine Metalware from Mexico City, Mexico.

Founded in 1991, the Beatriz Ball Collection is comprised of elegant bowls, platters and service vessels that are handmade, one at a time, using the ancient art of sand casting.  Each innovative design is made using 100% recycled aluminum that, in its molten state, is poured into sand molds and then polished over and over again until nothing but a high shine remains.  In fact, each creation will be touched by up to twelve different artists before the piece is finished and ready for purchase.  Shown above, the new ANTIK Collection breathes new life into the timeless form of antiquity. Using the wavy lines and decorative patterns found in Latin cultural fabrics and hand painted pottery, sand molds were made to offer a textural statement for the modern table.  

Selected by many brides and grooms for its contemporary styling, Beatriz Ball metalware is also celebrated for its heirloom qualities and durability. Not only do these stunning pieces look sensational on the table but they are also functional!  They will not tarnish or lose their shine and can be used to heat, chill and safely serve food.  The perfect gift for Spring bridal showers, weddings and Mother’s Day celebrations.

This month, the Opera Company of Philadelphia opens their imaginative interpretation of Romeo and Juliet at the Academy of Music.  But this production is seen from a new, fresh perspective that both opera lovers and fashion forward patrons will appreciate.  The Capulets and The Montagues are shown as major fashion houses in a modern 21st Century world of models, paparazzi and haute couture.  To bring this vision to life, the Opera Company partnered with three of the premier design schools in the region – Moore College of Art and Design; Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and Philadelphia University – to create cutting-edge costume design.  What an incredible vehicle to cast the spotlight on all the amazing young design talent that exists here in Philadelphia!  Bravo!  

Students at the three local design colleges were asked by costume director Richard St. Clair to create haute couture, vibrantly-colored designs that gave a nod to both Renaissance fashion and modern glitzy red-carpet silhouettes.   Sixteen winning designs were chosen from each of the three participating schools to be sewn and featured in a runway fashion show within the opera production itself.   The students’ designs will be previewed for the very first time at the L’Amour & Couture Gala this Saturday night at the Loews Hotel Philadelphia.   The gala celebrates the production of Romeo & Juliet but also the future of fashion and the power of nurturing young talent!  The Gala’s guests of honor and leading actors are talented vocal artists, soprano Ailyn Perez and tenor Stephen Costello.  Married in 2008, both honorees trained at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts and have gone on to thrilling international acclaim.

We’re honored to be involved in Saturday’s Gala and have loved collaborating on the event design with the creative planning team at the Opera.   Congratulations to Gala co-chairs Eliana Papadakis and Maria Papadakis, and event chair Ellen Berman Lee on an incredible evening celebrating art in Philadelphia! 

Performances of Romeo & Juliet are scheduled for February 11, 13, 16, 18, and 20 at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.  Go to www.operaphila.org for tickets and more information.

Celebrating the season in the Hamilton Rooftop Garden at the Kimmel Center, with its dynamic glass dome ceiling and sparkling city views, is a true show-stopping experience.

 [Photos courtesy of Paul Loftland]

Having designed countless events and parties at the Kimmel Center over the years, including the grand opening, we’ve certainly grown to love its modern splendor and fondly regard it as one of the most sensational venues in Philadelphia.  So much so, that when a local law firm asked for an “amazing location” with “architectural presence” for their holiday dinner, well, truth be told, we could only think of one.   The Hamilton Rooftop Garden located on top of the Perelman Theater located INSIDE of the Kimmel Center.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The genius of the Kimmel Center is that there is a collection of individual theaters, spaces, rooms and halls placed under a giant glittering glass bell.  Almost as if you’d walked into a modern snow globe!  A fascinating architectural concept that one must see in person, perhaps at a party, to fully appreciate.

As guests arrived to the Garden, they were greeted by waiters holding trays of prosecco and pomegranate seeds.  The entire holiday menu, including artisanal cheese carts and a decadent chocolate dessert bar, was provided by Wolfgang Puck.   A two-sided bar was placed between the tall trees to be accessed all evening from one side or the other but always with a view across the expansive building interior. 

The subtle sparkle of silver sequins and crystal snowflakes added seasonal shimmer to aubergine and burgundy flowers.  Whole pomegranates, grapes and apples were nestled amongst gilded ornaments and fragrant holiday greens.  Simple silver beaded charges, burgundy beaded tassels and silver rimmed stemware added traditional shine to the table settings.

Why mess with a good thing?  We balanced the contemporary angular space with classic round dinner tables placed in a circle around a large display of polished chrome lanterns and votives.  In addition to the warm uplighting on the existing trees and planters, the lanterns and candles added that little bit of extra sparkle and reflection craved during the holiday season.  Throughout the evening different vocalists and musicians used this central floor area for performances.

The colorful, electric view of the bustling city streets below is just one of several reasons the Hamilton Rooftop Garden is on our hot list for holiday entertaining.

They certainly know how to celebrate in style!

Like many of today’s brides and grooms, Wendy and Danny chose to sit at a “table for two, please.”  Or, as they say in some places, particularly the East Coast, a “Sweetheart Table.”  For some couples, a Sweetheart can be a warm fire in a cold room, allowing them to work around the various politcial issues that arise in a sudden world of Merged Families.  Other couples simply want a stylish spot to take center stage!  For our sexy couple, we gave them an intimate-but-glamorous table a deux complete with an ornate tufted white loveseat, velvet pillows and a table dressed in pearl taffeta and mirror.  Formal silver candelabra and square crystal hurricanes flanked vases filled with the couple’s favorite flower – phalaenopsis orchids!   A silver champagne bucket was perched just so next to Danny’s setting, making it just that easy to refill their champagne glasses all evening long with bubbly!

WHITE, WHITE and more WHITE.  Beautiful, creamy white flowers were combined with crystals, silver, and sublte accents of black to create the overall room design.  White Casablanca Lilies, Orchids, Hydrangea, Amaryllis and Roses were used throughout the space with elegant glass and crystal vases.  The stars aligned perfectly in the heavens that week as our dear friend at the Dutch flower market was able to snag 500 snowy white Peonies for us (yes, in NOVEMBER!).  Yet another favorite flower of the bride.  How blessed we are at times!  Between the peonies and the lilies – you could SMELL “wedding” before  you could SEE it.  Fantastic.

We had the distinct pleasure of planning Wendy and Danny’s wedding with them and particularly enjoyed collaborating on the menu with Rebecca Cheadle at The Ritz-Carlton.  Attending the tasting with the client was a hardship, to be sure, but someone had to do it. (wink, wink).   But we quickly learned it wouldn’t be easy to make final selections because everything tasted incredible!   

Thank goodness for Rebecca!  She steered us through the tasting with expert hands, explained how the food would be served and ensured that everything was cooked to perfection the day of the wedding.  

The first course was an open ravioli with fresh ricotta and wild mushrooms (delicate and perfect to tease the palette).  Followed by a light salad of organic mixed greens served with a pistachio-crusted goat cheese, rosemary-infused crouton and herbed vinaigrette (an outstanding presentation of color and balance).  The main course was a tableside selection of either pan-seared sea bass or Chinese five-spice rubbed beef tenderloin served with mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus. 

Later in the evening, as a surprise for the guests, the curtains in the room were opened to reveal a fabulous Fantasy Chocolate Dessert Bar!  It was one culinary treat after another, all night long!

It was very important to the couple to allow their guests, their dearest friends and immediate family, to converse easily over an elegant dinner.  We placed white leather wingback chairs, loveseats, and banquettes around rectangular upholstered tables.   The floral arrangements were kept either above or below the eye so as to avoid blocking anyone’s view across the table.  

The wedding cake was a simple stunner of stacked round tiers, pearlized fondant, single Swiss dots and black ribbon borders.  The Ritz-Carlton’s pastry chef made sure it not only fulfilled Wendy’s vision, but ensured it tasted fabulous as well!   How could you not love a delicious white lemon cake with lemon curd buttercream and raspberry preserves?   Classic.

Wendy and Danny’s son couldn’t sit idly by during the formal wedding cake cutting!  All three of them held the knife and tasted it together - as a family.

“In the White Room…”  We draped the entire ballroom in floor-to-ceiling white fabric, but all was not as it seemed.  Since the guest list was smaller than the space allowed, we created false walls to bring in the party area and private rooms which were kept hidden until the time was ripe.  One room held the surprise Fantasy Chocolate Dessert Bar.  The other room held a private photo salon where guests could ham it up for the photographer.  Let us tell you, these photos have provided Wendy and Dan with some of the most memorable and hilarious images taken of their wedding!  Including, might we add, candid photos of the couple themselves (and the bride in her stunning seafoam Marquesa party frock!). 

The day was elegant, magical, sophisticated, personal, emotional and FUN!!!

Thank you AGAIN Mr. Dave Ashby for the generous use of your photography!

The “Green Gallery” feature on pages 64-70 is a must-see, for the fascinating story about a local private residence in Villanova, and also for the fabulous photos by Rob Cardillo. The article is about an 1880′s grand, formal estate home with equally grand, formal gardens that have been thoughtfully and deliberately redesigned to showcase modern, contemporary sculptures. The renowned landscape designers, Charlie and Chuck Gale of Gale Nurseries, were hired to redesign the traditional gardens into what they coined as outdoor “rooms” or “galleries” holding works designed by Richard Long, Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa, Richard Serra, and Ellsworth Kelly.

We’ve had the privilege many times of working at homes that the Gales have landscaped; each more beautiful and personal than the last.  (The Gales are true kindreds in their design approach).  But this project was clearly a labor of love by all involved.  The homeowners even made sure to highlight the living sculptures that already existed on the grounds, such as leaning fruit trees, reflecting pools and symmetrical boxwood hedges.

The design appears to be a true extension of their heart and home.  (Now wouldn’t a party be just PERFECT on the lower lawn? jk)  See below for more of the article and additional photos of the exceptional art.