beach wedding

Tuscaloosa Magazine's Beach issue hit the web today and featured the story of a beloved home on Ono Island where we did a wedding last summer. (Happy anniversary to Harris and Cheri!) We couldn't help ourselves not to flip through all the wedding photography. It's still up on photographers Meg and Charles Baisden's site (here). Unfortunate for us, we don't have any Gulf Coast weddings on the books this summer...it sure would be lovely to plant in the sand and dip in the ocean after a long weekend of hard work!

Photo - Meg and Charles Baisden

market thursdays

There's a good thing going on every Thursday afternoon this summer and the best part is that it's a few skips away from MCD. Homegrown Alabama, the brainchild of some sharp UA students, sets up a farmer's market at Canterbury Episcopal from 3-6 every summer Thursday. Their farmers come out offering the gamut of Alabama produce (summer squash, strawberries, radishes, carrots, onions, garlic, fresh herbs), locally-raised beef, handmade soaps, pottery, live music, ice cream, fresh tea, jams and more. We guess this means we'll have to stop using impromptu beach trips as an excuse to pick up Chilton County peaches. If you missed it this week, mark your calendar to stop by next time, we'll be there.

cherry blossom

Some flowering branches from around town...Spring is ringing!

required reading

We have a fantastic little book with fun ideas for flower arranging called Flowers: Chic and Cheap by Elle Decor editor Carlos Mota (whose followers include Ms. Tory Burch). Clearly, he's as big of a fan as we are of flowering branches - from azaleas to cherry blossoms to viburnum, Mota nestles them throughout. All this Tuscaloosa sunshine is encouraging some of the branches to pop around town. Rest assured, we'll have our snips handy when they do.

snow day

We don't get to take a snow day today, but have had a pleasant morning enjoying Tuscaloosa in whiteout. The weather has our flowers for the weekend held up in Memphis, but isn't it beautiful?

We started our day with coffee, Krispy Kreme and Karis (our go-to girl at Special Events). She's moving and shaking this new and elegant branch of Game Day Tents event rental empire. Without a doubt, their team is our first choice in Ttown for tents, tables, chairs, heaters, fans and the like.

In the meantime, we've been taking VDAY flower orders...it's not too late! Call us today 205 464 0488.

did ya see?

The Arts 'n Autism Home for the Holidays tour is on Sunday! We've been up to our ears in cedar and glitter decking halls and trimming trees. Check out the article in today's paper for more info. The image above is of the Tucker home, compliments of Tuscaloosa News photographer Dusty Compton.

a glam fete

Today, the Matt Clinton Designs team spent the morning staging a New Year's Eve fete for Tuscaloosa Magazine. Inspired by the Black and White Ball, we accented our palette with gilded accessories, bubbly libations and sugary confections. Many thanks to everyone that helped us pull the "event" together...keep an eye out for the piece in Tuscaloosa Magazine's Holiday issue!

black and white ball

We love this shot of Candice Bergen at Truman Capote's Black and White Ball in 1966. These images from the evening (compliments of Habitually Chic) have inspired a glamorous entertaining concept we're designing for a Tuscaloosa Mag shoot tomorrow. Details to follow!

dorm room delight

Over the summer, we teamed up with Tuscaloosa Magazine to pull together the quintessential Matt Clinton Designs dorm room. Over the summer, girls flocked to the shop for dorm decorating tips and ideas, so it was an honor to work with the magazine to design our ideal one-room collegiate living space. Although many people in this town gravitate towards crimson and hounds tooth, we decided to take a new direction with a fresh, bold color palette. We have the look styled in our windows and we must say, it's been a hit, even among those who bleed crimson and white.

The magazine is on stands now and here's a link to the article online.

summertime blues

Sunday was designated as an official day of prayer for the Gulf Coast and since our recent trip down there to work a wedding, our thoughts constantly turn to the devastation from the oil spill. The oil arrived on the Orange Beach coastline the day we left and luckily, the bride and groom kept a positive attitude throughout their wedding weekend. Selflessly, they weren't concerned whether or not the oil would affect their celebration and we all quietly mourned the changes and challenges our culture is experiencing.

MCD cannot express our heartbreak in words – it is impossible to fathom the uncertainty we face in the weeks, months and years to come. We stayed down in Orange Beach to work with Tuscaloosa Magazine on next year's Beach Issue and did our best to help stimulate the local economy for a few extra days. Matt is also helping with the relief efforts and has made plans to visit 4th of July weekend and volunteer with wildlife clean-up.

We're pleased to share that we've spoken with a few folks from T-town that also have plans to vacation on the coast for the 4th. In the spirit, we wanted to share a picture we snapped during the wedding weekend from the bay at Ono Island.

without a hitch: stitch witchery

After A long jaunt on the coast for a wedding and photo shoot, were back in the studio. There's much to share about our adventures in destination wedding world, but for now, we wanted to take a break from plugging our floral designs and give a little DIY lesson on how to make your own table runners.

We used these for a Bridesmaid Luncheon at Cosmo's restaurant in Orange Beach, AL. Check out an this article on the establishment from Tuscaloosa Mag. We came across the fabric at Old Time Pottery (the infamous craft/home accessory store on steroids – it can be a little overwhelming, but you never leave without a good find). You'll need about four yards of fabric, Stitch Witchery, an iron and a pair of scissors.

Start by cutting the length of fabric in half to give yourself two two-yard pieces. Then, cut the width of each piece of fabric in half. Following the directions on the Stitch Witchery package, create a two inch seam along the underside of the fabric edge and fuse it together by ironing over a length of fabric tape in the fold of the seam. Repeat along the two long lengths and one short width of the fabric. Along the other short width, create an even-angled point. To do this, fold the corners of the width down over the back of the fabric to meet each other. Seal the seam with Stitch Witchery. Voila!

Props to the Bride for this lovely image.

magnolia

Pardon the iPhone image, but we had to share this shot of a freshly harvested magnolia. They are about to burst into bloom across Alabama, so keep your eyes peeled and your snips ready!

alabama eye candy

We've been redecorating the store the past few days and have been a bit too overwhelmed to post the updates. For the time being, we thought we'd share a refreshingly Southern Spring photo, compliments Ms. Dabbs Anderson. Most of the azaleas in Tuscaloosa are past their prime by now, but this is how we'll always remember them.Also, the sale is still going on, with many gift items added this week. Stop in soon if you're looking for a wedding gift - they're going fast!

inspiration from the park

Right about now, New York is probably getting the storms we weathered in Alabama this past weekend. And while showers typically rule in April in Manhattan, there are always a few lucky days of spring-like tolerable weather. This picture of the Plaza Hotel was taken on one of those days (exactly two years ago today) during a visit to the city. The greens against the natural stone and steel tones with the little pops of pink and red inspired one of the flower deliveries we sent out today. We used one of our last few stone containers with lots of young, vibrant green hydrangea and a couple of stargazer lilies - very fresh and pretty with a bit of an industrial edge. There's nothing quite like Central Park in Spring to bud inspiration...except, of course, Tuscaloosa in Spring.

good friday

The image above (and many others on our blog) are compliments of our artist in residence, Ms. Dabbs Anderson. More on Dabbs later...

We received an early morning delivery of flowers for a few arrangements we're sending out for Easter. After processing the lilies and roses, we locked up and headed over to Christ Episcopal Church downtown for the Good Friday service, then lunch at one of our favorite spots, Hooligan's (mmmmm mint tea, gyros, and fries – oh my). We knocked out the Easter arrangements, delivered them and called it a day around 4 p.m. A friend was in town from NY for the weekend, so we spent the late afternoon on her loggia with wine from Spirits (right now we're hooked on Independent Cellars Chardonnay) and cheese (Belle Chevre with Hewett's Farm Honey). What a way to jump start outdoor entertaining! Happy Easter Weekend!

biz lunch

We met with the team behind Game Day Tents at Cypress Inn to brainstorm on some ideas for the fall and wedding season. To our delight, we learned that they are expanding their event rental inventory and have tents, seating, staging, bar tables, industrial fans (for the summer soirées), space heaters (for those few chilly evenings in Alabama), and much much more. They also shared that they are working with Cypress Inn on a tented outdoor entertainment space that you can rent for parties and weddings (it will be located on the left side of the image above, next to the restaurant). There are lots more details to come, but it's an awesome resource for a few weddings and events we have on the horizon.

*As a side note, we love to work with local vendors , because more times than not, they have a level of personable sensitivity that you just don't get from big chains – especially when it comes to rental companies!