Prop Closet

Tangerine Wedding Candy Table

I recently styled a tangerine-themed candy table for a photo shoot for two lovely people, Carrie and Ajay who are launching a gorgeous collection of bridesmaids dresses called Indira who you will certainly hear about soon. I can't say much, but they gave me the nicest compliment putting my name and David Tutera's in the same sentence.  How sweet is that?Photo by Terry Doyle

Photo by Terry Doyle.
Ten pounds of orange jelly beans.

 Me with my girls.
 

Also in the flattery department is this write up from blogger Stephanie who came to the Ceci Paper Art Party in August  and wrote this on her blog Kitschy:

"When it comes to killer parties and shindigs, atmosphere is everything. While I certainly love going to parties, I’m not sure if I’m creative enough to come up with all the tiny, intricate details that make a tablescape or room pop. Needless to say, Ceci New York’s Paper Art Party piqued my interest and lately I’ve been paying attention to those subtle details that make all the difference.

It didn’t take much, but I fell in love with the tablescapes designed by Robin Zachary. From laser cut place settings to complex fans and birdcages, finding your seat at the dinner table could be a fun, mini-adventure. Crystal napkin rings, paper pink peonies and other flowers, leaves, gold trim - the stage was set for a party thrown by a psychedelic forest fairy."

Thank you Stephanie! It's nice to get feedback like this. It's what keeps me going in this crazy business of styling. And thanks to all who are reading this. I appreciate all the nice emails I get each week. 

Bridal Market, Here I Come!

Fall Bridal Market mania is in full swing! Been going through loads of invitations and working on my excel spreadsheet, the only way to keep track of so many appointments over so many days. October Bridal Market has been a routine for the past 10 years. It's that time of year when the most talented and fashionable bridal design luminaries put on their runway shows to an adoring cast of bridal editors and bloggers. As Creative Director of Bridal Guide I hardly ever attended the whole week—I just dropped in to see a handful of my favorite designers. But in the past few years I've covered the entire market for Newsday and now this is my second season representing the gorgeous magazine The Bride and Bloom. I'm excited to see what's new and how many trends will carry over from last season. I'm in love with the bridal fashion scene! From Pier 94 to The Essex House to Kleinfeld Bridal to EZ Studios to Cedar Lake we'll be criss-crossing town, up and down and back again. There's a lot to get in order. Comfortable, yet stylish shoes—check. Dresses dry cleaned—check. Notebook, camera, business cards, a small collapsible umbrella...I'll have the survival kit ready. Can't wait to catch up and connect with friends both old and new, especially Holli Ehrlich of Wedding Podcast Network, Susan Schneider aka The Wedding Writer, and Diane Forden of Bridal Guide. See ya at the shows! Bouquet photo above is from the Oscar de la Renta April 2011 runway show. Photo by Robin Zachary.

Prop Styling for Wine Spectator Magazine Photo Shoot

The September issue of Wine Spectator has hit the newsstand! Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this shoot by photographer Jennifer Lévy at her stunning Brooklyn home. Photo editor Alex De Toth allowed me some freedom with the color palette. She wanted it to look Fall appropriate yet modern and clean. She indicated she liked some of the handmade ceramics I used in another shoot. Lately I had been exploring palettes of grays, blues and white with a pop of tangerine so that is what I went with. Not classically "Fall", but I like a twist on stereotypical seasonal colors. First I selected a wooden tabletop surface from Surface Archive. Todd has a great selection and I couldn't decide! I chose the one pictured in the front but really liked the hue of the one in the back so I planned on using that shade in the linens.

Here are some of the props I rented from Good Light Props.

Here's some vintage flatware and props I rented from Prophaus.

Some props waiting to be used on the side of the set.

A pulled back shot of one of the sets. See how the final shot was taken and used in the actual story shown above.

And my favorite prop of the day, a little tiny vintage spoon paired with a tiny glass bowl for salt.

Here's the final story from Wine Spectator.The shoot ended up sans orange, and as things often go, you think on your feet and new ideas emerge on the set. The food itself had orange tones, so all contrasted nicely off the blues, grays and white. The wine was fantastic and when we wrapped we had a toast to a successful shoot! Editorial photos by Jennifer Lévy, food styling by Jamie King, prop styling by Robin Zachary. All behind the scenes photos by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

A Great Assistant is Hard to Find - My 5 Tips

Someone must have been looking down on me from above when I needed assistance in producing Ceci's Paper Art Party tablescapes earlier this month. They sent me Fiona Osborne, a photography student from the UK who had just landed in NYC for a 5 week "experience" vacation. She had contacted me weeks before, looking to assist me and the timing was just right. My favorite assistant, Anna was going to be away and I was stressing over who was going to help me style 4 fully dressed tables each with a different theme. It's hard to find the right person who is going to be the perfect right hand and really follow instructions, be polite around clients and just be all around upbeat and do whatever is needed, like Anna. Fiona was just that person. Kind, friendly and helpful in every way—from hiking around a city she's never been to looking for chopsticks and rice, (luckily she was living in Chinatown!)—to packing and unpacking tons of glass and ceramic pieces with care. She's also a super photographer and you can see her amazing photos of the event in my posts and on her blog, Looking is Not Seeing. Thanks again Fiona!

Now let me talk about Anna. She's the best. So crafty and fun, just the right mix of ready-for-anything attitude and confident yet humble. She always has my back. She was in my FIT styling class last spring. Here she is. 

She painstakingly looked through 20 or so varieties of fake butterflies with me, looking for just the right wing shape for my Divine Damask tablescape for the Ceci Art Party. She has that kind of attention span. Love her!
Here are my 5 tips on how to be a great stylist's assistant, in case you are thinking of doing it.

1) Be very detail oriented. Keep track of where everything came from so you can ensure it gets returned to the proper place. I once spent several days fielding calls from prop houses that said something returned was not theirs. This was due to carelessness on the part of the assistant.

2) Wear clothing to the shoot that shows you are here to work. Don't show up in a party dress and heels. Look to your boss to set the tone of what is appropriate to wear. If she wears jeans, jeans are ok. If a shoot takes place in a formal environment a more dressed up look might be necessary.

3) Take directions well even if you think you have a better way to accomplish something. No one likes to have their methods challenged!

4) Don't promote yourself to your boss's clients while you are on a job. Or after the job for that matter. Trying to talk to and poach clients is crossing the line and a big no no!

5) Always remain upbeat even if the task seems mundane. Unpacking and repacking 50 glasses can be tedious!

Sounds easy enough, but believe it or not many do not work out. Thank goodness for my two gems!

Birdcage Tablescape

I'm in love with this table because it reflects a side of my personality that connects with my mother, grandmother and aunt, 3 beautiful women that are all gone. My grandmother had a collection of tea cups and saucers, each one different and more beautiful than the next. I imagined her having an afternoon tea with her table set with mix and match patterns of delicate china. Keeping in the spirit of Grandma, my philosophy is that one should make a table fun to look at by filling it with surprises, props like little birds and non-matching glasses and flatware. The color story here is pink and ivory with a pop of green, tarnished silver and glass. This table has a girly, modern-day vintage vibe and would be perfect for a bridal shower brunch. The items I used here: pink dinnerware from MUD Australia, mix and match glassware and vintage flatware all available at ABC Home. The pearl metallic linen tablecloth and the textured floral napkins are from Nuage Designs. Denise Fasanello filled the white bird cage with gorgeous Clematis and garden roses. Laser cut place mats and place cards are from Ceci New York. Look at the original inspiration photo behind this design in my previous post here and see how the idea has evolved! 

Table designed and styled by Robin Zachary for the Ceci New York Paper Art Party on August 4th. Photos by Fiona Osborne.

 

My Tabletop Designs Featured in CeciStyle Today!

It all started with a little bird and a laser cut placemat months ago. I met Ceci, the luxury invitation designer and was immediately taken by her Vivre collection of paper tabletop items for Ceci New York. I was shooting a tabletop story for Bridal Guide and created a shot with photographer David Lazarus for Susan Schneider's editor's picks page. See it here. A few months ago Ceci asked me to style more photos along the same lines using her other tabletop pieces. They are featured today on the online magazine, CeciStyle. The shots above and below are  for the Wildflower and Bird Watching stories using Ceci's pink peony placemat and bird cage table card. The background is a patchwork of vintage floral book prints.

To create a vintage style table I selected these gorgeous textured table linens from Nuage Designs and the pink dinnerware and glassware from ABC Carpet & Home. I like to leave little surprises at each place setting like the little orange bird you see here. I also like using glassware in varying heights to draw the eye upward.
The above photo shows the Caribbean Palm theme with Ceci's Seashell place card placed in a bowl of sand. A rolled napkin of layered organza sits beside.

The final image, shown below is the Divine Damask theme which juxtaposes vintage metals with modern tableware and a pop of orange in the napkin.

A laid back but fun photo session with photographer William Brinson (and wife Susan of House of Brinson making jam) impressed Ceci so much that a huge paper art party idea was born. As I am writing this, I am transposing these small vignettes of fantasy tables into real live table designs for a party at Ceci's 23rd St. studio and showroom. All the little props and details you see here are items I have as single pieces. I've spent the last 2 weeks shopping and sourcing everything in multiples to bring these tables to life. I'm also collaborating with two super talented floral designers, Jessy from Fleurs NYC and Denise Fasanello in addition to Nuage, ABC Carpet & Home, Donna Karan Lenox, kate spade new york and Juliska. By the time you read this post, the event will be over, the photos published on CeciStyle and well, I'll be relaxing seaside in Cape May, NJ. Party pix will be here when I return. In the meantime, hope you enjoy! All photos by William Brinson, Styling by Robin Zachary for Ceci New York.

Jacob Announces for the Mets

This was our proudest moment. Jacob won the SNY Kidcaster Contest and called a Jose Reyes home run from the booth receiving local and national media attention. Here he is with the announcing team of Ron Darling, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez. It doesn't get any better than this!

Styling a Tabletop Cover with Kohl's for Bridal Guide

The September/October issue of Bridal Guide is out! Everything pictured on this flip cover* is part of a great sweepstakes prize, so run out and buy your copy of Bridal Guide and get your entries in! I loved working directly with Kohl's coordinating the merchandise and selecting colors to style a great looking cover. Equally fun was the road trip to the Red Hook Ikea and fabricating this kitchen with Mary Cate, Bridal Guide's Art Director and David Lazarus, Photographer. You would never know it, but there were lots of saw horses, c-stands, gaffer tape and clamps involved in putting it together. Sorry I didn't photograph it for you, but don't try this at home!

In the casual faux kitchen we needed space to show off lots of appliances and tableware. We created an island and countertop to provide two surfaces with enough depth to fit the cover layout. I used a bright summery tangerine color paint from Benjamin Moore for the backdrop to pick up one of the colors of the Fiestaware. I found some pretty variety of tulip that matched perfectly. Everything fit in nicely and all involved were pleased with the results. Photography by David Lazarus, styling by Robin Zachary for Bridal Guide.

*flip cover is magazine lingo for the back cover, turned upside down to open up a new section of the magazine, in this case the "Your Home" section.

Upcoming Event with Ceci New York

I've been a busy bee prop shopping for on a very special event for next week at the studio of the lovely Ceci Johnson of Ceci New York. Can't wait to share the details but it has to do with the table setting seen in this post here and collaborations with some very talented floral designers. Stay tuned!

Featured today on 6 Bittersweets!

I'm so honored to be featured on the blog 6 Bittersweets today. It has been a pleasure getting to know Xiaolu, a lovely blogger, foodie and photographer during the last few months. Xiaolu's love of food, especially baking is infectious with 6 Bittersweets having so many avid followers. Being a teacher, I'm always happy to share my styling tips those who crave creative expression. Great to meet and share with all of you today. Thanks Xiaolu!