Beautiful lights, beautiful people.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee is just around the corner and l'm hosting a party at mine to ring it in.

Good lighting is a must for any shindig (indoors or out). Too bright - the room feels cold and sensorily overwhelming; besides, most people feel self conscious and under a microscope.  Too dark - people can't see a bloody thing, making it a hazard and gloomy.  Just right - and everyone looks beautiful, with a perfect glow to fill the space, making it ooze with romance.

Measure twice, buy once is my motto. How many times did you guesstimate on the length needed for any item and then then ended up ordering twice. 

Just like using lamps and candles in any indoor space, it's a great idea to use multiple ways of lighting the outdoor space, preferably all indirect. 

So l'm going with one of my favourite ways to string lights (pictures below from a past client whom l installed the same concept for). Then a trip up to the flower district to purchase some white birch branches. l'm going to attach these to my fence to form a zig zag across my garden.  Make a slit through the top of the branch to hold the wire in place.  This will be the base to the main lighting of the garden.  Candles dotted around and fairy lights in other spots, get a fire going... and the garden will be dusted with a elegant glow.

For a fantastic selction of lights, check out http://www.partylights.com/Strings-Bulbs/GlobeLightSets/G40-25-Light-Set-White-Satin-w-Green-Cord. l will be using the globe strings for my party. 

Will follow up once the preparations get underway...