themes and places

my friend megan tells me every wedding has a theme these days. she had a creative, fitting theme in mind for her commitment ceremony. secretly, i thought themes were silly. just another outlet for women to expend obsessive energy. but then we were talking about our wedding last night, and considering adding some sort of asian theme to it. not like tacky chinese food takeout containers and all that. something elegant. anyway, i remembered a lovely shop in paris with a chinoiserie theme, Laduree.

unfortunately i could not find any pictures of the interior, but will post when i do (also they have great mail order items and the most amazing macaroons i've ever had).
i think the theme, with bits of bamboo and celadon green, will go great with the venue i am hoping for, the gamble mansion in boston:
what makes the chinoiserie style so interesting is, it's not really quite "chinese" despite how the word is translated. really it's about old europe's perception of all things asian; a romanticization and a misinterpretation. it's how i thought asia looked before i got here. still, despite it's controversial roots, it's a beautiful design theme.