Saris amaze and delight me.  Their colors and patterns are endless yet all express unfettered happiness.  Most Indian women, even the very poorest working in the fields, wear them .  No drab khakis or blue jeans for laboring but instead sunshine yellow, cheery pinks and fuchsia, vibrant reds, turquoise blues and teal greens.  Most of these beautiful creations have incredible detail woven into the fabric.  Some are shot through with metallic thread and some have elaborate embroidery.

I have recently been helping some friends open their Indian store in Santa Barbara and have had the tremendous pleasure of playing with all their gorgeous merchandise.  I am continually struck by how beautiful even the most simple items are.  Everything is embellished and most everything is created in a riot of colors.  Every little thing seems to celebrate life!  The senses are under a constant barrage of beauty, whether it’s your eyes delighting in all the color and patterns or your nose taking in the aroma of pungent incense and spices that your taste buds are also savoring.  Even the music has an incessant celebratory beat.

I have a couple of books that express well the vibrant sights and art that is India.

“Rajasthan” by Pauline van Lynden

Above: An Indian wedding                   The women wear stacks and stacks of bangles!

Sari detail

Always the clothes are a mixture of beautiful colors,

no mater what they are doing.

Another great book “India in word and Image” by Eric Meola

Beautiful architectural detail!                           An entirely blue city!   Jodhpur

Working in a sari

I never tire of looking through these books, they are wonderful!

I also know I will never tire of beautiful saris…  I hope my friends need my help at their store often.

There is something so beautiful about the joining together of two souls in marriage.

What is equally beautiful is the community of people that come together to support this  union…

My husband and I are privileged to live on a magical ranch that has been a part of California forever.  The ranch had a lovely broken down old barn that was some how too special for the owners to tear down but still too costly to repair.  One day a very  dear young woman came to this ranch searching for a place to hold her wedding.  She and her husband-to-be were looking for a place that was magical, full of love and beauty but was also humble and unassuming.  She and her love had dedicated their lives to helping the less fortunate and so were looking for a place that was not ostentatious yet still special.  She fell in love with the barn and assured us that is  would be perfect with only a bit of repair needed.  She wrote us a check right then, which went to buy the lumber to start the rebuilding process.  We only had three  months to make everything ready, but she had perfect faith in us so we had to have perfect faith our ability to be ready.  Everyone on the ranch came together and under the guidance of my husband got to work restoring this wonderful old barn. When the wedding day came the bride and her groom declared it perfect and with tears in their eyes (and in ours as well) proceeded to have a most wonderful celebration under its’ roof.  This couple was so happy and secure in their love for each other and in the gift that is their life that not even when the sky opened up and the rain came down was it looked on as anything other than a beautiful blessing.  I can’t help but think that their experiences helping the less fortunate have made them truly able to appreciate all that they have.  All weddings are special but I really feel that this one, what with the unusually precious couple and their families, the barn with all its history as well as all the love that went into restoring it made for a particularly magical wedding. http

The bride and groom brought the amazingly talented Braedon Flynn to record in pictures their special day.  He is one of the most unassuming and wonderful artists I have had the privilege of working with.  Fun, humble, flexible and truly extremely good at his work!  He also has a great blog site, braedonsSee for yourself…

The lighting effects were so beautiful…  Geoff Mognus with Ambient Event Lighting created the magic for us!  He and his wife are another wonderful couple to work with!

The barn wood Chuppa

The guests names and table assignments were written on shipping tags then hung on an antique wine bottle rack.

Details of the tables, mostly vintage items

The bride said make it look like Anthropology…

The desert spread…

All the goodies were from Amber of Enjoy Cupcakes.  There were a few tidbits left over which as far as my husband and I were concerned was not enough…  they were sooooo good, and she is such a sweetie herself!

The bride and all her maids wore wraps from Anthropology

Who would have thought a black umbrella could look so good!

Like I said…  it RAINED!!

A kind and supportive friend of mine Brian Charrette of BB photography took these gorgeous pictures of the décor for us., he and his wife are amazing artists who I have had the pleasure of working with on lots of weddings.

Another wonderful friend, Joel Serrato of Joel Serrato Films, out of the kindness and generosity of his heart documented the barn rebuilding process.  He is an amazing film maker and usually captures weddings for very lucky couples.  I feel so privileged to have this lovely video of our barn.  Have a look at his site if you like to cry at beautiful and sentimental weddings complete with such touching music.  The beautiful song is by Ted Wagner, another generous supporter.

Barn Wedding video

And they are living happily ever after…

Photograph by Elizabeth Messina

The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply that they have perfect faith, for faith is necessary to have wings

James M Barrie

Photograph by Elizabeth Messina

Hello and welcome to my musings on all things beautiful, magical and precious.

Not that many years ago I had no idea what a blog even was let alone imagining myself creating one.  When I discovered that they were not just a technological computer thing to be puzzled by but a magical creative forum for like-minded souls I had to have one of my very own.

So please join me on this creative sojourn, pack your vintage suitcase or your carpet bag, wear your best hat and climb through your magic portal and board my Gypsy wagon for a fun journey I know not where.  I only know it will be at times beautiful, inspirational, educational, and all the more magical if you join me.

Lets have fun!