Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Amy, Australia can't wait to meet you

There is so much excitement in the baking, caking and events industry right now after hearing of a prospective visit to Australia by the super sweet stylist who can be credited with starting the world’s obsession with dessert tables.

None other than Amy Atlas of Amy Atlas Events has hinted at a potential visit Down Under.

I have been so very fortunate and humbled (not to mention out-of-this-world excited!) to have had two of my dessert tables featured on Amy’s Blog Sweet Designs, here and here.

The thought of actually maybe being able to meet Amy herself has prompted many Aussie ‘styling mums’ to share their ‘how I found Amy’ stories. I love that everyone has their own story to share. I love reading them all. I know the exact same feeling that every one of them describes when they saw their first Amy Atlas dessert table. So I am jumping on the bandwagon and sharing my story too.

While I was on maternity leave with my first daughter back in 2009 I began doing a lot of reading online about women in business, small business and work at home mums. I came across one particular post – which to cut a long story short – led me to discover a blog by Australian graphic designer Sarah Thompson of Style Me Gorgeous. Listed among her favourite links was Amy Atlas Events. I had not heard of this site before so thought I would click on the link … well, it was destiny!

Ever since 2001 (when I was working as a newspaper sub-editor and Amy Atlas was probably still practicing law), I had carried around a picture of an all-white dessert table which had featured in the very first Martha Stewart Weddings magazine I bought when I became engaged.

It was a dessert table at the kitchen tea for Martha Stewart Weddings editor Darcy Miller. It was just so beautiful. I had never seen anything like it.

I loved looking at it. And there was even another feature article on the dessert table at the wedding. I would never loan that particular magazine to any of my other engaged girlfriends for fear of it being lost.

I didn’t know why I was so attached to that photo of the all-white dessert table. And it wasn’t until some eight years later when I saw Amy Atlas’ website and there was a photo of Amy behind an immaculate all-white desert table, that it all made sense.


There was nothing like it in Melbourne or maybe even Australia. Or if there was, it was yet to gain the popularity it now experiences. I spent every spare second of my day pouring over the amazing images on Amy’s website and blog. Every single item, every detail was immaculately presented and colour-coordinated! This was someone after my own heart.

Every ribbon, every piece of paper, every cake stand, every label, all the hand-crafted touches, the miniature sweets – everything matched! It was a total feast of eye candy.

I can’t be certain but I wouldn’t be surprised if that same all-white dessert table in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine inspired Amy Atlas along the way, so I guess things came full circle when she was invited to create a dessert table to mark the 15th anniversary of Martha Stewart Weddings magazine last year.

There is something just so impossibly beautiful and deeply personal about each and every one of her dessert tables. Each is a labour of love.

Among my favourites are:





The chance to hear her words of wisdom, her inspiration and to talk to someone else who loves crafting, colour and cake as much as I do, sounds almost too good to be true.

Amy, Australia can't wait to meet you!

2 comments:

  1. loved reading your story! thank you for sharing, i am so equally excited!!! cannot wait xx

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  2. Great to read your story! Funny how you had been carrying around that pic all that time but only later discovered Amy Atlas! :)
    You can read my story over at my blog: www.lifeslittlecelebrations.org
    Tanya

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