A Lonny Editor’s Party-Perfect Wedding Registry

The article below was originally published on Lonny.com. Written by Sarah Jean Shelton Photographed by Bridget Kenny. Sarah Storms works with newcomer Zola to create her ideal entertaining arsenal

Sarah Storms has a lot to celebrate these days. That's if she can slow down to enjoy it all. Still riding high from a summer engagement and an interborough move, the "planning" has been seemingly non-stop for Lonny's itinerant style editor. Organizing a wedding while decorating a new home and helping manage the constant buzz of production for the magazine, Storms's to-do lists of late run the gamut from guest counts and venue scouting to paint chips and furniture arrangements to staff meetings and celebrity photo shoots. “When Greg asked me to marry him, I was over the moon—and then immediately went into producer mode,” she laughingly admits.

So it was a fortuitous event—and perfect timing—when newly minted registry site Zola came knocking, reminding Storms of one of the more fun checkpoints of wedding planning. The year-old site, which stocks product from some favorite Lonny vendors such as Canvas Home, Areaware, and Coyuchi, has the wedding industry rethinking gifting. Couples create a customizable homepage with their photographs and tailored messages, then compile their curated wish list into one sleek collection (from diverse offerings that include elegant Mauviel copper pots, sumptuous Matouk bedding, and honeymoon-ready Victorinox luggage). The site then auto-populates a spreadsheet to keep track of those you owe thank you notes and schedules the arrival of packages according to your preferences. Behold the tool that every over-scheduled bride has been dreaming of.

To those who know her, it comes as no surprise that Zola tapped Storms to select and curate an entertaining-themed tastemaker collection to inspire other brides-to-be. She’s had a hand in some of the most memorable tabletop and interiors stories in Lonny and is known to her fellow editors as a consummate hostess. To play off the breezily elegant interiors of her new Brooklyn home and highlight her entertaining style of choice, Storms’s selection centers around the concept of an impromptu cocktail party. “The move from a modern, minimalist studio in Manhattan to the second floor of a circa-1851 townhouse has been an education,” Storms explains. “From the sloping floors to the crumbling mantels, there is plenty of “charm,” but our favorite feature is the abundance of space—meaning the more friends who stop by for dinner or a drink, the merrier!”

So it was with pleasure that Storms opened her home to Zola to test-run her covetable product selects. Set on the various tables and sideboards of her living room, the carefully-chosen tableware shone in a real-life setting, adding color and interest to an apartment full of quirky antiques and subdued, mossy-hued furniture. There’s no doubt that when she added Kate Spade’s navy striped dessert plates to her dream registry, Storms was thinking of how they would complement the cool blues of her color-blocked linen drapes, or that the matte brass flatware she selected from Canvas Home might add a touch of warmth to the cool Carrara swirls of the coffee table—a piece Storms and her engineer fiancé designed together. Rounding out the display, soft bundles of purple acacia and clematis arranged by Liza Lubell are tucked into stoneware pitchers and hobnail vases. And the cocktails themselves—which incorporate rosemary, gin, and champagne and look pristine in hand-blown glass goblets—are the clincher for a festive atmosphere. What could be more necessary for a girl with plenty to toast?

Shapely ferns, ranunculus, and indigo buds—arranged by Liza Lubell of Peartree Flowers—cascade from a blush pink Canvas Home vase (one of many items from Storms's Zola tastemaker collection) perched next to a painting by Julia Contacessi.