Peaches and Pinks

Peaches and pinks...

Loving this combo at the moment and have been working on a few stationery sets in this colour-way over the last few months. It's ultra feminine, fun and summery. Brighten it up with tones of coral and honeysuckle or tone is down with some creams and ivory.

Would be a great inspiration for a bridal shower or high tea too!

We're off to the Wairarapa Wedding Expo this weekend - looking forward to meeting lots of new brides to be and all the fabulous suppliers. Will be sure to post some pics!

Peony, Dress, Cake stand, Coconut ice, Flowers, Parasoul, Bridesmaids, Cocoa Berry Invitation

Chuan Spa - Langham Hotel, Auckland

Well, I didn't get to Venice or Thailand for that matter... but I did however have a wonderfully relaxing day at the Chuan Spa in the Langham Hotel (a wonderful gift I'd been saving).

If you haven't been already, I highly recommend it. They build on the oriental traditions that seek both spiritual and physical harmony by balancing the 5 elements of metal, wood, fire, earth and water.

I swam in the heated rooftop pool surrounded by blue sky and potentially caught some colour (crazy at this time of year I know) then relaxed in the hot spa pool with uber fierce jets. For a while, I actually thought I was in a foreign country...

They have exclusive treatment facilities like a herbal steamroom, sauna, snail showers and the 'ice experience'. Once I finally made it round to the actual treatment I had booked... (the most amazing facial I've ever experienced from a lovely young girl with an equally lovely name, Lucy), I then was told I could use the massage chair for as long as I liked... accompanied by herbal tea and a detox juice. I eventually made it home 4 hours later....

Absolutely D.E.V.I.N.E. Thank you husband x

Where would you like to go this weekend...?

Well, poor old New Zealand has had a lot of unusually cold weather this week - snow has fallen in places that haven't seen snow in 40 years.... including downtown Auckland - yes I said it and I know it's nothing compared to down south, but still... SO, let's just get out of the cold shall we? Where would you like to go this weekend?

Can I interest you in a romantic gondola ride down the Grand Canal in Venice? Walking down the cobblestone streets admiring the beautiful skyline in Santorini, Greece? Perhaps you prefer Paris in the summertime? Or is relaxing on a beach in Thailand more your thing?

I think I'll head off to Venice. See you there?

Fun with Turquoise

Just a little bit of fun with colour today... The oh so scrummy turquoise! It's a powerful colour, very strong and protective. It is the colour of self expression and transformation. There are SO many different shades and so many ways this gorgeous colour can be used. Today, some of the photos are from the specialists in The Boutique Bride. The cupcakes are from Bluebells Cakery, the gorgeous antique glass bottles are from The Vintage Table and invitation is Cocoa Berry Design.

Dress, Table setting

Fun with Tape

Hello!

Have had a recent obsession with Washi Tape - a Japanese masking tape made of rice paper. Finally found some available in NZ, stumbled across some at Boarders of all places. There are a few places you can order it online like here and here - but this particular brand MT has the best colours and patterns. And always a sucker for sweet packaging this stuff sucks me in no end.

Had a play around with it and not only is it a cool bit of eye candy - you can use it for heaps of stuff. DIY cards, finishing touches on envelopes, labels, etc etc. Would be cool to use as address labels for your wedding invites for something a bit different! We could even match your invitation design to the tape. Go Washi!

Bluebells Cakery

Warning. This WILL make you hungry...

The lovely Karla from Bluebells Cakery has recently joined The Boutique Bride and everyone is raving about her wonderful treats! Bluebells offers beautifully hand crafted cupcakes and scrumptious goodies in a variety of mouthwatering flavours...

There are no preservatives, additives or artificial flavourings - always a good thing! They can cater for not just weddings but also hens parties, baby showers, birthdays, tea parties and corporate events too.

I recently went down to see Karla at La Cigale French Market (which is at 69 St Georges Bay Road in Parnell) - she has a stand at the market and is there pretty much there every weekend! If you haven't been down there, it's a must! Mmmmmmm.....

Friday fun - Happy middle child's day ! August 12th

Dear sister, (the other half of Cocoa Berry Design...) Happy middle child's day !!

August 12th is a day that recognises the middle child of the family. Usually, the first born and the baby of the family gets all the attention, but on August 12th all the attention is devoted to middle children! Lucky you! In the same category as Madonna, Julia, SJP and Cindy... xox Love Lucy

Varying shades of gold...

Who doesn't love gold. It's one of the most precious metals in the world... It represents richness and luxury, so no wonder it's often used as a colour theme in weddings.

Gold weddings can be extremely elegant. At Cocoa Berry, we love it when we get the opportunity to work with couples who want to use this colour in their invitations and other stationery.

Using black along side gold can be such a dramatic combination. Couples tend to combine these colours for opulent magnificence. We use the technique of foiling to create that beautiful bold gold colour. We're working with a few couples who are using this technique at the moment. Love it.

Lucy.

Golden BM dresses, Cupcakes, Cocoa Berry invitation, Teacup, Shoes, Bubbles, Eyes

Leaf and Honey

As many of you know, Cocoa Berry is part of a collective of specialists called The Boutique Bride... recently we've been lucky enough to have the oh so wonderful Leaf and Honey join the group! I had the pleasure of meeting Naomi recently and she is clearly very passionate about her work... have a look below at some of the gorgeous arrangements that have been put together by Leaf and Honey. Simply beautiful.

We tend to find that we work in well with florists. Brides will be picking out their colour scheme for flowers and wedding invitations at around about the same time. It's always lovely to see what colours are being used and we can help design a lot of the 'on the day' stationery (name cards, table numbers, menus etc) to fit in with the floral arrangements on the tables...

Lucy.