I walked by the magazine aisle this week and I noticed that there was yet another edition of Martha Stewart Weddings and it reminded me all over again of the love/hate sentiment I have with Martha Stewart.
You might wonder why the strong feeling considering I have been buying her magazines since the beginning (when I thought the ideas were truly elegant and timeless) and when they were published only twice a year as opposed to the quarterly and special edition issues that are available now.
Martha Stewart has become synonymous with personal, pretty and visually memorable weddings. She (or rather her stylists) can make an all white wedding look ethereal and a fall wedding feel earthy and soulful.
But from the perspective of a florist, her ideas have become the source of more “Sorry, that flower is not readily available commercially or that table design just the way it looks is $1000 dollars” than any other place that I know.
Whether it’s lily of the valley in a rare shade of pink, or table setting designed from top to bottom with chivari chairs, silk organza linens, napkins and antique porcelain vessels holding the loveliest and most delicate of garden grown blooms, it’s generally a lot of having to break bad news and then go about the work of coming up with great substitutes.
Her magazine is a great source of inspiration and her approach to weddings has changed forever how everyone looks at weddings. Not just as something to be enjoyed in the moment, but to be able to look back in time and feel that it was the most beautiful and personal of all days.
Not bad for the work of one person and something I with my weddings always strive to accomplish.