People
The Wedding Editor: Anne Chertoff on Gift Ideas
People May 21st, 2013
Anne Chertoff has earned her reputation as a wedding authority over the course of her 12 years in the bridal industry. She has worked as an editor at Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides.com, and currently writes wedding planning, etiquette, and style content for Four Seasons Weddings, Huffington Post Weddings, WeddingWire, and Vera Wang’s weekly newsletter, XO, Vera. She is also the author of The Wedding Organizer published by russell+hazel. Here, Anne tells us how the bride and groom can give meanigful gifts to the people who have made their big day possible!
I’ve selected some of my favorite gift ideas on Taigan that couples can gift to any member of the wedding’s bridal party, including their parents and thoughtful gifts to give each other on their wedding day. Remember that with any thank-you gift you hand out, attach a personal note thanking the person for their love and support and let them know how much you appreciate them.
-Anne Chertoff
Groomsmen, Groom and Dad:
The Scarborough Longboard Skateboard: Definitely not for everyone, but the hipster groom and groomsmen will love skating around town on this one-of-a-kind, handmade board. And the anchor image makes this gift the perfect vehicle for cruising around any beach town.
Custom Round Monogram Cufflinks: Always a great gift for the bride to gift her groom, or the groom to gift his best man and groomsmen, customized cufflinks are a classic personalized gift that anyone would appreciate. It’s a great gift for the dads too!
BERTI Italian Cigar cutter with wood base: A cigar aficionado will be thrilled when he receives this Italian cigar cutter as a thank-you gift. Throw in a box of his favorite cigars and light them up at the wedding’s after party.
Whiskey Stones: You can almost never go wrong with an alcohol-related gift for the guys. These soapstone ice rocks will chill a drink without diluting it with melted water. Why not toast your new bride the night before the wedding or the day-of by including a bottle of your favorite, or his, single malt scotch.
Bridesmaids:
Anemoi Coral Red Python Clutch or Beauty Case: Whether you’re having a destination wedding or not, bridesmaids will love this coral clutch they can use to store travel essentials or as an evening bag. Brides can also slip in a few fun items to make it more of a welcome bag with travel-size toiletries and a small scented candle.
Custom Silhouette Notepad: I’m a paper fanatic and these customized silhouette notepads are quite fabulous! This chic pad is something any bridesmaid will not just love to have but love to use too!
Candle – Jason Wu – Orchid Rain: In addition to the wonderful scent, the holder for the signature candle by Jason Wu is quite chic.
For the Bride:
Classic Flavor Ice Cream Sandwich- 8 Pack: For the girl who really has everything, a groom can gift his bride a sweet treat that he knows she’ll enjoy – and one that they can enjoy together. It might not be the best day-of gift but something to treat her with the week before the big day or after your honeymoon.
Glass Turquoise Drop Earring: These Siman Tu glass turquoise earrings with crystals would be a something blue gift from the groom to his bride. If she can’t wear them on her wedding day she’s sure to wear them on her honeymoon and in the years to come.
Mom:
Mom Handkerchief- Blue: Make sure mom has a special handkerchief with her at the ceremony in case she sheds a tear or two. This gift can be her ‘something blue’ on your big day and your siblings’, as well as a family keepsake to pass down to you to have at your own children’s weddings.
Heavenly White Hydrangeas: Have someone deliver these faux blooms by Diane James Home to mom as she’s getting ready. They’ll last for years and every time she looks at them she’ll be reminded of one of the happiest days of her life, her daughter’s wedding day.
Velvet Travel Set: Ensure that on mom’s next trip she’s traveling in style with the ultimate travel set. A stylish travel clutch contains a boudoir pillow with cover, eyemask and throw so she can relax in comfort on a long flight.
Misc:
White Guinea Leather Cuff: If your pet is part of the bridal party make sure he looks his best with a new leather color with polished stainless steel hardware.
iPad Case in Coral Red Python: Your wedding planner has been your best friend through the entire planning process, so send her a thank-you gift with a note telling her how much you appreciated her help. This red python iPad case is something she’ll enjoy carrying around while meeting with future clients.
Lion MIBO Ruck Sack: Kids will LOVE receiving one of these animal ruck sack backpacks chock full of all sorts of goodies! Include some snacks – cookies, chocolates – a drawing pad or coloring book with crayons or colored pencils, and some small toys and have it waiting for them when they arrive for the wedding weekend or give it to them at the rehearsal dinner.
Style Icon: Julia Reed
People April 30th, 2013
Our beloved Julia Reed has a new book out appropriately subtitled “Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry”. Check out her picks that will aid you in those endeavors.
She Cooks to Conquer: I collect vintage cookbooks and I can’t wait to dig into this one from Nick Harvill. The title is perfect—we all “Cook to Conquer” whether we admit it or not.
Sterling Julep Cup: My mother was lucky enough to get more than a dozen sterling julep cups as wedding presents. (Those, apparently, were the days!) Since I did not, I’m starting my own collection with these beaded versions from Wakefield-Scearce at Corzine &Co. Nothing is more elegant. And nothing keeps your cocktail colder. After all, it’s hot where I live.
Photographs 1961-1967: I’ve been in love with Dennis Hopper since I saw “Kid Blue” at 13. At the time I had no idea that he was also the coolest photographer around.
Claw Candlesticks: I am obsessed with all things bird and these candlesticks might as well have made for me. I’m determined to have an entire—very chic—aviary walking up and down my dining table, or at least two or three to place on top of a stack of books.
Faux Bamboo Flatware: These bamboo place settings scream summer and outdoor entertaining and would look equally swell with the finest china or simple pottery or enamel plates. I will use them with my blue on blue toile tablecloths with antique Blue Willow china and big bowls of hyacinths or daffodils or hydrangeas in the center.
Blood Orange Rosemary Sea Salt Scrub: I am a scrub junkie and Napa Valley Bath Co’s Blood Orange Sea Salt Scrub not only turns your skin to silk, the subtle scent is heavenly—and thoroughly restorative.
Elizabeth Showers Malachite Earrings: I love everything on offer at Amanda Pinson, but she’s really got me with these malachite drops. The perfect size, color, and texture, they can go night or day with almost anything I’m wearing.
Leopard Needlepoint Mules: Every time I wear the loafer version of these leopard-print slides, people always ask me were I got them. The mules are even more covetable.
William Yeoward Water Pitcher: I don’t have a thing to do with my publisher’s design team, but I have to say this William Yeoward pitcher looks an awful lot like the one holding the sangria on the cover of my new book, “But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria, Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry.” I think I have to have it!
Southern Cocktails: My friend the great Liz Smith first alerted me to this book on Southern Cocktails by Denise Gee and now it is one of my go-to hostess gifts. For someone you really love, pair it with an actual sterling julep cup—or a very nice plate or pewter version from Corzine & Co.
Artisan Glass Pitcher: I am still on the fence about whether a martini should be shaken or stirred, but either way, everyone needs a classic glass like this one for mixing all sorts of cocktails. It can also do double duty as a handsome water or iced tea pitcher or vase for a mass of Casablanca lilies.
Luxo Banho Soaps: One of my best friends refers to me as the “soap fairy” because it is my favorite gift to both give and receive. This trio from Banho has divine scents as well as pretty packaging, which makes it a fairy favorite.
Small Glasses: I used these same three sizes of thin (but amazingly indestructible) glassware from And George as vases down the endlessly long banquet tables at my rehearsal dinner. Since then I’ve used them for highballs, juice, more flowers and as wine and water glasses on the table. Everyone should own several sets of each size.
At Home In Italy: The blue and green cover had me at first glance but the gorgeous scenes (and great ideas) inside are equally tantalizing.
Straw Hat: Now that I’ve spent the last decade paying (the very cruel) piper for not protecting my skin, I try to remember to wear hats in the sun. I would have started earlier had I found one so insouciantly good looking as this raffia version from And George.
Wine Cup: I love Daniel Bellow’s pottery pieces—especially their gorgeous colors. These cups are prefect for tea or wine and add beauty and intimacy to any ritual.
Rattan Pagoda: There is scarcely a single thing at Revival I don’t want, but this hand lacquered Rattan Pagoda especially caught my eye. Put it in the middle of a hall table instead of a vase of flowers or on a console table in place of an urn. Whatever—this is exactly the kind of tactile , textured, gorgeous, and unexpected objet I love.
For more of Julia’s picks and to purchase her new book “But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria” visit Taigan.com.
Style Icon: Haskell Harris
People March 19th, 2013
Photo credit: Charlotte Elizabeth Photo
A Virginia native, Haskell Harris earned a degree in English from the University of Virginia in 2003 and went to work as a magazine editor—first for Southern Living and Cottage Living magazines and most recently for Garden & Gun magazine as founding Style Editor. In 2012, Haskell launched an eponymous interiors firm in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, where she is still active as a freelance journalist and contributing editor. Here she shops Taigan for some of her favorite finds from Southern shops.
Peter Nappi has mastered the art of the heirloom bag. I love the pale hue of this particular bag for summer in the South.
Classic motifs such as chinoserie-inspired toiles feel suddenly fresh in the design world again, and that’s exactly why I fell for these sofa-perfect throw pillows in clementine orange.
In general, I’m a fan of jewelry that’s either actual vintage or has some sort of vintage influence. This particular necklace would be fun with something peach and chiffon and dressy or a basic white tee and jeans.
I love mixing in organic, casual textures such as these handcrafted bone spreaders at the table to keep things from looking too fussy and formal.
The colors in these earrings at Haven in Franklin, Tennessee make me incredibly happy.
I am a huge advocate for Southern craftsmen and the idea that this amazingly chic table is made by hand in Virginia proves (yet again) how many talented artisans live and work in this region.
Candlelight filtered through violet glass hurricanes? Yes, please.
I grew up with interior designer Mom who taught me to appreciate the craftsmanship in Herend china from the time that I could talk (seriously). And even though the look has gone in and out of vogue over the years, I’m a fan, especially of the rust colorway.
In a perfect world, I would own many, many suites of letterpress stationery. And in a perfect world, the team at the Lettered Olive in Charleston would be in charge of the design on all of it.
Maybe it’s because I live on the coast, but I’m drawn to faux tortoise motifs and this serving platter is stunning.
Santa Maria Novella fragrances are timeless and beautifully packaged. Absolution in Nashville carries the scent in the line that I’m partial to: Ginestra.
When I was little, I loved digging for quartz fragments when I was playing in the Virginia woods with my older brother and younger sister. So when I see any sort of geode or rock-influenced anything in the design world now, I think of all those tomboy afternoons!
There is a certain shade of cerulean that I associate with Haint Blue, and the color of this cuff is very, very close.
If you haven’t had a gin and tonic made with Jack Rudy tonic you haven’t had a gin and tonic. Period.
As a designer, I feel strongly that every room needs something a little bit tough and rough around the edges to balance softer elements. This quartz lamp from Found in Houston will definitely do the trick.
Since dark chocolate and pecans are supposed to be good for you, I consider these beautifully packaged sweets from Georgia health food.
These stunners are the most glamorous (and sweet-tea-appropriate) glasses I’ve seen.
I’ve seen A LOT of chairs in my days editing product for magazines so I don’t normally jump up and down about the subject in general, but I am obsessed with the clean, restrained lines of this particular design. Absolutely beautiful.
I spent a lot of time in Louisiana when I worked as an editor for Time Inc. and I’m fascinated by Creole architecture. There is nothing quite like it in the country.
Beach weather is right around the corner in Charleston, and I’m thrilled that retro caftans, such as this beaut from C.J. Lang are back in a big way.
Callie’s Biscuits are the quintessential tailgating food, hands down.
I think of Sucre in New Orleans as a sort of modern Laduree. Everything they make is delicious and the soda-shop-modern interior is a must-see if you’re ever in the Big Easy.
Ann Koerner Antiques is an institution in New Orleans and these marbelized Astier de Villate plates are like art for the dinner table.
These thin, absorbent Fouta towels from Scents and Feel in Miami are easy to pack for the pool or the beach and very, very easy on the eyes.
This photograph by Richard Sexton of Belle Helene plantation is very famous, and I love the lost-to-time decay and imperfection in it.
Veranda’s Easter Table
People March 14th, 2013
Easter has always been my favorite holiday—it’s a harbinger of spring and a relaxed occasion with none of the pressures of Christmas or Thanksgiving. Nothing makes me happier than coloring eggs with my kids or setting the Easter table. They are both wonderful vehicles of self-expression and so utterly satisfying. Browsing the tabletop accessories on taigan.com has really got my creative juices flowing. I think this year my Easter table will be the best one ever!
-Dara Caponigro
I’m crazy about this classic Chinese Bouquet china pattern from Herend. Blue and white always feels fresh.
If you want to something more casual, these Astier de Villatte plates are as charming as can be.
Scalloped edges on Julia B.’s Calais napkins are feminine, but white-on-white embroidery keeps them from getting too frilly.
This Astier de Villatte flatware will fit in perfectly on my table—it strikes just the right note between casual and formal.
I’d put potted grass in this gorgeous Arte Italica footed bowl and use it as my centerpiece.
Three or five (an odd number for some reason feels best) of these sweet Herend bunnies surrounding the centerpiece would be absolutely adorable.
This William Yeoward fern jug feels so appropriate for a springtime celebration.
This tall Astier de Villatte vase is perfect for flowering branches—I can already see it filled with cherry blossoms, forsythia, or dogwood.
A pair of these Vieuxtemps porcelain lilies of the valley would be an unexpected and sumptuous surprise—and you’ll have them forever!
What could be prettier than this lovely William Yeoward honey pot to serve with tea?
How beautiful is this And George silver basket? I’d fill it with chocolate Easter eggs.
I love that Simon Pearce glassware is still made in America. These goblets have a wonderful weight and still manage to look exceptionally elegant.
The etched flowers on this gorgeous William Yeoward wine glass evoke “spring.” It has a simple, delicate spirit that will balance the rest of my table setting.
This rough-hewn Iris & Co. wooden tray will provide another rustic touch. I’d use it for rolls or a cheese course.
When I was a child, I always had a special Easter dress. I love that this 100% Capri version isn’t in an expected pastel shade, but it is still totally charming.
I always had an Easter hat, too. Virginia Dunn’s knit hat is a cute-but-not-twee contemporary option.
To shop Dara’s picks visit Taigan.com
All About Orli
People March 12th, 2013
Orli Ben-Dor is a Market Editor with the Hearst Design Group (Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Veranda). She’s been an editor at Hearst for almost seven years, previously working focusing on House Beautiful magazine. She grew up in Connecticut and Arizona and dreams of both the New England shoreline and open desert landscape often. Currently, she lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and enjoys people-watching, music-listening, and restaurant-going in her neighborhood. She is a cellist in the Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra, and occasionally performs comedy around NYC. Here Orli shops Taigan.com and picks a few of her favorite handmade finds!
Colorato Collection Dinner Plate
Love the simple, geometric shape in these dreamy colors. With plates like these you don’t need to fuss over much else on the table.
Nothing beats the feeling of leather, so with this it’s an extra treat when I finally find my keys at the bottom of my bag. I’m sure it will only get better as it gets more worn, too.
I wear a lot of city (read: black) clothes, so I love bringing something natural into an outfit. It’s like using a sisal rug in a formal living room, it just brings things back down to earth a little.
Anything celestial, I’m in! I find the night sky so poetic and intriguing, this ring has those qualities, too.
Just gorgeous. Not much else to say!
I’m a fan of the Lance Woven pillows: I love when a hearty material is treated delicately–here, beautifully woven and in the softest blue that goes great in my living room!
I’m a Leo…so I’m a sucker for lions!
It has the spirit of a found textile–that treasure from the bazaar.
Imagine serving soup in these–would it even matter how it tasted?? This star-shaped bowl is just the thing to shake up a table setting.
We’re featuring these in the April issue of House Beautiful. Old tradition, modern colors. Bring a little fun to a big, tall glass of water–they’re actually quite generous in size.
I’m as paperless as it gets, but I still love a good desk accessory like this modern paperweight.
To see more of Orli’s picks visit Taigan.com
Elusive Find: Blushing Bride
