A New Year’s Blessing
Beginnings and endings are difficult for me-- including the beginning and ending of each year. What intensity of emotion, what weight of reflection, and what pressure I feel to begin or end well. I want these closing and dawning moments to unfold with the reverence, beauty, and formality they deserve. I fear that I will somehow fail to live up to the moment, and so feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of beginnings and endings. When I was a little girl, I even felt crippled by the task of writing the first page in a new diary-- felt the burden of expressing myself with a worthy introduction. Not much has changed, hence, this delay in composing Chapel’s first entry of the new year.
Wedding Guest Dresses Inspired by the Victoria Series
The first time I fell in love with the Victoria series, it was with a color—a queenly teal. During the opening credits, Jenna Coleman as Victoria is filmed in various stages of her royal career. Hair down and looking girlish; then hair upswept with a tiara; eyes mischievous and flickering, then set in the most commanding gaze, her growing authority shimmering through her manners. Victoria changes, but her teal background does not. Deeper than peacock and bluer than emerald, it is a jewel tone that doesn’t feel like one. Instantly, I was besotted. *This* was the most ravishing, regal color I could envision; sophisticated, sublime; a color that belonged in the parlors of the great old homes and in the settings of the royal jewel collection. I wanted to live inside this color.
Exotic Summer Wedding Guest Dress Edit, Inspired By The Art of Embroidery
Recently, while scrolling Instagram, I discovered the work of a group of (mostly) French textile and embroidery artists. Instantly, I was absorbed. What world was this? A world, as it turned out, full of color, fabric, artistry, and stories told through stitches. I discovered tapestries woven with intricate scenes, and dresses embroidered with artwork so beautiful, these pieces looked as though they belonged in a museum—not an ordinary wardrobe. There were also handmade ceramics and fascinating objects: a ceramic dish with a pearl in its center, assiettes hand-painted with flowers, tiles shimmering with patterns from Tunisia. But the textile and fiber art captivated me most, from the lovingly embroidered tapestries to the work of an artist who weaves sculptures on vintage fishing nets.
The Coronation: 5 Ideas for Brides to Adapt the Exquisite Style of Catherine, Princess of Wales
It’s been a week, and still, I find myself dazzled by the poise, stateliness, and serene regality of Catherine, Princess of Wales—and her beautiful family—at the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. For weeks, I wondered what Alexander McQueen might handcraft for the Princess; the exquisitely embroidered, ivory silk crepe gown exceeded all expectations. But it was more than a fashion moment—it was an historical moment. As the Wales family walked to the Abbey—and, in an especially poignant moment, when Catherine looked from the rain-covered window of her carriage—these photos held so much. The Princess exuded a certain settled quality, a wisdom which only deepened her beauty. As one would expect, she seemed changed from her wedding day, but time and experience have given her an air of wisdom and grace. She has so entirely embraced her royal role and life of public service, and her title fits her stitch by stitch, like a hand to a very fine glove.
White as Snow: A New Year’s Prayer
“You can begin again as if nothing had ever gone wrong. White as snow.” -C.S. Lewis. This is the beauty belonging to the new year—this promise of a clean slate, a fresh start, a snow-white hope. This spiritual longing lives in all of us. We long to be forgiven, long to be cleansed, freed from guilt and fear. What we would give for some blessed release-- from the past and from our failings. What we would give to feel a sense of permission and clemency—a sense of clearance and release-- to move forward.
How to Create a Wedding that Feels Wintry and Wondrous: an Interview with Real Bride Logan Dryden Garner
Today, I am honored to interview Logan Dryden Garner, a December 2016 bride, and poised and articulate guide on the discussion of winter weddings. With her trademark grace, Logan shares how brides can create a wedding that feels wondrous and wintry without going the route of traditional Christmas décor. She is the ideal person to turn to, for when I imagine a wedding that captures the essence of winter—that evokes its enchanting beauty-- I think of Logan’s.
Christmas Comes to Chapel Journal: An Enchanting Winter Story, Illustrated by Emily Mayne
High up in the Swiss Alps, winter comes quietly, and all at once. The heart thrills as one awakens to an all-white world. Spring’s flower fields are blanketed in snow, and glittering blue lakes, now frozen, inspire dreams of ice skating. People rise early to watch God make a mountain morning. As the sun creeps behind the horizon, the sky takes on color—timid at first, then lustrous with pink and golden colors. A lark lets cry the clear, brilliant notes of the day’s first song. All of creation seems to respond in awe and wonder to the God who touches the sky and makes the day glow—who touches the heart and gives it new life.
Interview with Artist Emily Mayne of Emily Mayne Studio: Everything Brides Need to Know About Hand-Painted Wedding Invitations & Illustrations
Today, it is my honor to interview Emily Mayne: artist, stationer, and, to my personal delight, a frequent collaborator. Emily is the illustrator of this, my beloved Chapel Journal. The lovely pink chapel, beautiful botanicals, and characters that grace Chapel’s pages all are Emily’s (read about our Chapel Journal collaboration here). But to speak merely of Emily’s work in relation to my personal connection to it would be to vastly underrepresent her. For Emily creates fine art wedding illustrations and invitations with an elegance, restraint, and lightness of touch that’s seldom experienced. She is not only one of the most talented stationers today; I believe she is among the most talented artists in the wedding industry at large.
Chapel Journal: Behind the Name
If I were to choose an image that symbolizes perfect peace, it would be a little chapel nestled high in the mountains, surrounded by wildflowers. When I am feeling stressed or afraid, I often imagine this dream place. My chapel is sweet, gentle, charming, and graceful. I imagine walking up a meadow path, catching first a glimpse of its steeple, then its stained-glass windows, and at last the whole miracle of it: the chapel glowing in morning light.