Over the last week, I have spent many a late night playing with AI image generation on Midjourney with what can only be described as frenzied compulsion. Since my friend Winston showed me that you can set up an account on Discord, join a chatroom called Newbies, and type the phrase /imagine…to have a machine spit out a visual of whatever you imagine in less than a minute…I’ve been amazed, amused, addicted, impressed, and inspired beyond all measure.
Incidentally, the last time I remember feeling this way was exactly a decade ago, when I was sitting in the incredible bookstore Arcana in Los Angeles…and beginning to vaguely form in my mind what is today known as The Letterist. The wave of ideas and possibilities and imaginations of everything I could and would create was intoxicating. I’ve longed for that feeling ever since, and I never imagined something called Artificial Intelligence would turn out to be what did it for me.
inspiration
Turn Panic into Magic; Amsterdam in 27 Photos
When I was going through immigration at Schipol airport, the young woman leafing through my passport looked up at me and asked, what are you in Amsterdam for? My first thought was, isn’t everyone here…to get a little high? Do a little dance…make a little love…you know, get down tonight? I then thought to try and give her the short version of the truth - which is that I live in Belgrade and my future husband lives in Paris and we occasionally like to spend a weekend somewhere where neither one of us has to do the dishes. We’re not married yet, but I’m fairly certain I’ve already figured out that one of the great secrets to a happy marriage is a third person who does the housekeeping.
But what’s the short version? By this point I’m overcome with panic. I’m one of those people who is inclined to believe they’re guilty of something whenever approached by someone in uniform. Quick! Say something, say anything. (Except for tourism. You are actually a tourist, but everyone hates tourists, and you need to be liked by everyone everywhere so you cannot admit to being a tourist.) And so I blurted out the noblest, most concise, and most above-board response I could think of. One word, three letters, I didn’t even bother putting it into a sentence. ART.
A Tuscan Kind of Love
If, as the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words - then these beautiful images could fill an entire tome, and it was no easy feat having to select just a few to share in this post. Beyond honored to have collaborated on this spectacle of a shoot with the uniquely talented photographer Gradisca Portento, event designer and stylist Giulia Lazzarini, floral designer Mary Poppies, and bridal couturier Kaviar Gauche, all set upon the backdrop of a gorgeous villa in Tuscany. Be warned, they may inspire you to get married, move to Italy, buy a villa, and bathe yourself in orchids. Full list of creative credits at the end.
The invitation suite featured is one of our custom pieces, with all of our favorite things - a neutral palette, blind debossing, gold foil stamping, handmade paper, and the obligatory vellum band.
Read MoreFinding Comfort in Nature - Styled Shoot, London 2020
Having followed and greatly admired the work of Anne Ladegast-Chiu of Hilde Stories for years, I was thrilled to finally have the opportunity to collaborate with her on this styled shoot in London last December. What made this even more meaningful, is that it came on the heels of a long and unsettling year of wedding cancellations and postponements that had left us all somewhat weary and creatively unfulfilled.
We may not be able to celebrate at the moment, but what this project showed me, and I hope shows you, is that we can still come together in some small way…to pretend, dream, imagine, and hope. I am forever grateful to everyone on this team…for enabling me to close the unforgettable twenty-twenty on this golden and rather mythical note. A full list of credits is included below. A special thanks to Anne for her inimitable vision, and to Emilie for capturing it all. Love is always, in the air.
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