artisan wedding cakes from superfine bakery

okay, so when i love something, i can sometimes get a little...obsessed. and my obsession with superfine bakery, an artisan cake shop based out of studio city, california, is no exception.

i've had the pleasure of tasting superfine's creations, which are, quite simply, cakes for foodies. superfine believes that cakes should not only look exceptional, but be made of exceptional quality and extra-mile ingredients like italian butter cream and madagascar vanilla. i agree.

but more than that, i am nuts about their latest cake designs, expertly photographed by andrea bricco, which are equally high-concept and exceptional. i don't know which i like better — the clean mod design with the simple black allium flowers, or the uber chic ocean/orchid creation, with its delicate piped coral and ron ben-israel quality sugar flowers.

what's your favorite?

color splash miami • inspired

as you may have noticed from my recent posts, i am obsessed with the colors and freshness of miami lately. one major obsession is color splash miami on hgtv.

not only are david bromstad's interior design transformations dramatic and vibrant, they are fabulous inspiration for other areas of design .

behold my latest color transformation fave, and the inspiration for a new line of stationery and invitations. sunny lemon yellow, soft white marabou, hot pink silk and hints of moroccan texture? i'm wild about it.

i'll be sure to send my own after pics when the designs are complete. :o)

image of the moment • brilliant studios

photography (like paper artistry) is a core obsession at paper olive, so i am always delighted to discover someone new — especially when their work jumps off the page like this image did.

shot by brilliant studios at a wedding styled by good gracious! events, this image absolutely delights in every way. the trendy lemon yellow pops against hot pink flowers (a color combo i'm mad about), and the over-sized white love lettering is just...i can't even find the words.

i love this love.

beautiful miami blues

with the summer in full swing and an obsession with hgtv's color splash (set in south florida), i've found myself in a miami state of mind.

what makes a perfect miami wedding? beyond beachy elements or tropical mainstays, a modern miami wedding is a little more sophisticated, like the four seasons wedding featured below — all watery cool blues, rich sandy golds, and lots of crisp white.

i not only love the simplicity of this palette, but the various opportunities it allows to play with multiple hues of blue. i just want to dive into a plate of those aqua macaroons, don't you?

design and photo credits

first row — {wedding cake} gimme some sugar via chelsea nicole • {bouquet} martha stewart weddings • {bride on chaise} rodrigo varela photography

second row — {event space & design} the four seasons hotel miami • {cocktail ring} polyvore

third row — {blue shoes} klk photography via project wedding • {macaroons} la prochaine fois

celebrity event designer preston bailey goes back to school

for anyone as in love with the wedding industry as i am, you are surely also in love with the work of world-renowned design icon preston bailey. well, you'll be happy to know that now, you can learn from the expert himself through the wedding planning institute.

bailey has joined forces with lovegevity's wedding planning institute, the industry leader in certification and training for wedding and event professionals. together, they will create and launch the first event design course of its kind, based on bailey's 30-years of experience with celebrities such as donald trump, oprah winfrey, uma thurman, joan rivers, donna karan, liza minnelli, matt lauer, catherine zeta-ones, ivanka trump and others.

preston bailey’s signature wedding & event design course will allow students to experience the step-by-step processes and techniques he pioneered. starting august 15, 2010,the course will be rolling out to nearly 2,000 local academic institutions around the country, including university of texas in arlington, miami-dade college, university of colorado in colorado springs and brooklyn college. it will also be made directly available to students through an online program hosted by the wedding planning institute.

for more details, or for curious prospective students, hop over to the wpi site and enroll. college has never been so cool.