{Event Styling by Preston Bailey}

What a delightful and enchanting man! At Modern Wedding we have always admired his breathtaking creativity and drooled over his decadent coffee-table books of fantasy weddings. His weddings are completely magical, opulent and theatrical and his floral design in particular is second-to-none in the entire world. To give you more of an idea of his reputation, Preston's high profile clients include Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Jennifer Hudson and Joan Rivers.

{Modern Wedding Editor In Chief Victoria Black with Preston Bailey}

Here are our top 10 wedding tips gleaned from our interview (the full interview will be published in the next edition of Luxury Weddings Yearbook in June)...

1. Preston's favourite wedding theme is timeless and elegant and he is loving 'all white' colour themes at the moment, that is, delicate shades of white and cream throughout the wedding.
2. Preston is quick to advise brides not to be concerned with the latest trends in weddings. It is wonderful to be able to look back at a wedding in 10 years time and it is still beautiful and classical.
3. The vintage theme which is so popular at the moment is definitely not his favourite look. He much prefers sophisticated elegance, which is less likely to date.
4. He loves a bride in a classical white or ivory gown and believes lace gowns will always be beautiful for a bride - sophisticated and timeless.
5. Preston recommends the groom wears a traditional, elegant tuxedo.
6. Preston's preferred colours for wedding flowers are soft whites and creams. The recent trend towards bold-coloured bouquets he believes takes away from the impact of the gown.
7. He loves a bit of bling! Preston often adds sparkles and crystals to his wedding designs to add magic.
8. Candles are always beautiful and everyone looks great by candlelight however he warns brides to be careful not to overdo the candles. "People forget that candles generate a lot of heat and can make the wedding very uncomfortable for the guests."
9. For brides on an average budget his advice is to remember "you can't have it all". Choose one element that is important to you, like your dress or the flowers and make one big statement.
10. Have a surprise factor.

Preston married his long term partner in a lavish ceremony last Valentine's Day at the top of the Empire State Building! Joan Rivers officiated and you can just imagine how amazing the decor was! We asked him how he would like to renew his vows one day and his answer was that he would love a destination wedding on a tropical island like Bali. We look forward to seeing how amazing that will be and hopefully we can feature his renewal in our Bali magazine!

Victoria xx