a whirlwind of a time

I got to thinking lately that the last few months have been a whirlwind. In a matter of months (5 to be exact) I got married, went to South America for 6 weeks, welcomed a puppy into our home and got pregnant!  Whew.

Starting to slightly panic thinking about all the things that we need to do before baby arrives next April!  Before that though, it was just champagne and frocks...

colour & light: one gorgeous wedding

I'm back this week to share photos of a gorgeous wedding we went to yesterday. The table settings, flowers and candles were absolutely beautiful. Set in an old barn with paper lanterns - it was magical. See for yourself...

My gorgeous friend B (the bride) arranged the flowers and collected all of the jars herself. It was an explosion of purples (her favourite colour), white, cream, red, pink, yellow and lilac. Together with the candles it looked amazing!

I love this type of floral table arrangements at weddings. I had only ever seen this done in magazines or blogs at American weddings. It's not cookie-cutter but shows real thought has gone into it - the picking of the flowers, the many months spent sourcing jars and the time spent arranging the flowers.

We were lucky enough to take some jars and flowers home. I'm now inspired to do this at home or for a fancy-pants dinner party.

p.s These photos were taken with my iphone using the Hipstamatic app!

fake it till you bake it

The lovely girls at Wedding Style Guide (my absolute style bible when I was planning my wedding) are sending me a can of Fake Bake - ooh la la! I used to have spray tans for special occasions but I'm not keen on inhaling chemicals (well, you know, at least not for the next 6 months!). The can looks so glam, it looks too nice to use.

p.s Thanks for all your well wishes on my news. Now you know why I haven't painted that Bentwood yet...did someone say donuts though?!

Image - Wedding Style Guide

much ado about nothing!

I have had an odd week - started off badly (there were tears - it will make sense soon!), I had a sick day off work and today I had a job interview, of which I only found out about yesterday! It has meant a fairly quiet week in the blogosphere. Along with all of that, I missed our 6 month wedding anniversary on 24 October! What a terrible wifey I am.

But I have given him the best anniversary present of all - will share soon! In the meantime, I wanted to share with you where we got married..... oh how I'd do anything to be back there now...

Lotus House on Magnetic Island, Far North Queensland. Heaven on earth!

The lush pool at Lotus House - where the wedding was held and where L & I stayed whilst on the Island. My Dad jumped into the pool at our reception - it was one of the highlights of our wedding! Everyone still talks about it!

We had our reception here on the lawn area with a marquee (forecast was rain and gee, did it rain!)

Absolutely stunning (and the smokers thought so too!)

We had our ceremony here on the decking instead of on the beach front due to the rain.

It was such a tropical, lush and unforgettable setting!

And I would do it all over again! Have a lovely weekend x

Images - Lotus on Magnetic (c/o Best of Magnetic Island)

i'm loving...

cuff links! This etsy seller makes very cool custom made cuff links so you could get them to make something unique and individual. Like this first set here...I gifted these to L to wear on our wedding day. We got married on Magnetic Island in Far North Queensland and Sherry found vintage maps for me showing the island. Clever huh!

Great for a bike lover or just a lover...

Cuff links with different locations would be a great gift idea for people that come from different countries/cities etc...

Images - Sherry Truitt Studios

Have a lovely weekend everyone! The weather is slowly warming up here and I'm meeting two of my best friends for brunch on Sunday, perfect. I hope yours is too x

mellow yellow

Around the corner from our house is this gorgeous 'golden wattle' tree, which I pass most mornings when I catch the bus (if I'm not walking as we are 1 mile from the city). Apparently this is Australia's national flower, but I love it because of the intense but lush yellow colour. It reminds me of another yellow flower called the 'billy button'...

I fell in love with the billy button and styled most of my wedding around the colour of this flower. We ordered them for my bouquet, the buttonholes and table centrepieces. But having a 'destination wedding' on Magnetic Island in Queensland, and organising a wedding in general, taught me that nothing ever really goes to plan! The day before our wedding I found out they weren't delivered because they weren't available (despite being told the opposite!). It didn't matter in the end as flowers is not what a fabulous wedding makes. Still, with such a cute name I can't help but love the billy button and it's colour which is slowly trying to creep its way into my home...

Images 3 & 4 (I think) - Once Wed

Melangerie NYC

Image courtesy Melangerie Inc

I love the work of Melangerie NYC. I first came across Melangerie when planning my wedding in April this year. Their work is so original and so hip - in that way only New York is capable of! I am totally biased as New York is one of my favourite cities in the world. Their genealogy charts and 'to have and to hold' totes are my favourite. Check them out at their etsy shop here, and also here and here.

Image courtesy Melangerie Inc

Melangerie have also been nominated as a "Best of New York" wedding vendor by bridepop.com in the Invitation, Favor and Gift Category. Support them by voting for them via the following link: http://bridepop.com/contest/wedding-vendors-in-new-york (scroll down to the bottom "New York Wedding Invitations, Favors and Gifts" category).

My vote is in - good luck Melangerie Ladies!

honey, i'm home...

Image courtesy reflexio

I'm finally here (thanks Julie!) and by *here* I mean to a place that gives me a creative outlet for my (often frustrated, always looking for escape) creative soul!

How did I get here? I got married in April 2010 (that's my dress!) and for inspiration I turned to blogs (thanks to my lovely friend P who introduced me to this whole new world). An obsession was born – admittedly a little late compared to other bloggers. Planning a wedding can be a crazy ride but I found it ignited my dormant creative side. Updating (and soon to be – renovating) an inner city 1920s semi has also fuelled that passion for anything art, design and er – shopping!

So why ‘Cocoon & Chic’? Cocoon, because my home is my cocoon and I suspect others feel the same about their homes too. Chic, because everyone needs a little chic in their lives – food, fashion and anything fabulous!

I'm new to blogging (so bear with me) but I hope you can join me for the journey...