A Variation on the Classic 50's Wedding Bouquet

Damien and Krista were such a pleasure to work with! She knew that she wanted soft, summery colors of pinks, creams, purples, and blues...blue being her primary color (check out the gorgeous navy blue sapphire wedding ring), but after that, she really didn't know what else to add. We settled on a classic 50's tea flower theme that she'd seen on my website, with roses, freesia, princess lilies (aspadistra) and the deep blue delphiniums that tied in her signature color. 

The twist to Krista's event was that she wanted to marry in lovely Missoula, Montana, the town where she grew up, and there really weren't any flower options for a destination wedding florist in the area. Road trip it is! We ordered the flowers in Utah and drove the 8 hours to the site in Montana, flowers cooling in the trunk.

The gorgeous Gibson Mansion was home to the event, and the owners could not have been more kind or accommodating. We were able to distribute flowers quickly and easily. They even ended up pinning several of the party members while exterior centerpieces were being placed. (expert pinning too!)

 The beautiful dining room made for easy layout of the bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages so that everyone could see their names easily and grab what was theirs.

The entire event took place in the gardens at the Gibson, which added dappled shade, more garden flowers, and a summery atmosphere that lasted all afternoon and into the evening.

Buying the flowers in Utah and packing them in ice in the trunk of my car for the long drive up to Montana was quite the adventure! Building centerpieces and bouquets in the limited space of a Super 8 was worth a lot of laughs too! It was all worth it though when such wonderful people enjoy what I do and we are able to create loveliness together...no matter where we need to go! Having a beautiful wedding is possible when everyone is willing to work together and think outside the box. Thanks again, Damien and Krista for the amazing Montana fun!

Feel free to visit my Florilista website for more examples of my work.

Summer's Dyed Daisy Delights

Summer had some very simple requests for her flowers: daisies...ONLY daisies...but her specifics were very specific: Sky blue, chocolate brown, polka dots, curly willow, wrapped stems, white blooms for certain wedding party members, blue for others, brown ribbon for one, blue ribbon for another, polka dot ribbon for her, exact numbers of flowers for each centerpiece and more! It may sound like a lot, but it actually makes my work very simple and clear! I had my list of names and a flower color next to each name and a ribbon color next to each flower for that person. Boom! Everyone knew exactly what was theirs and it made distribution and pinning very clean.

The blue daisies did have to be dip dyed very lightly and carefully the night before the wedding, but once they were dry the construction was pretty straightforward. The theme carried through the entire event with polka dots all over every table, picture, and decoration with daisies and curly willow...blue and brown were a lovely presence in every corner.

What a great way to bring sweet young touches like dots and daisies into a sophisticated theme of blue and brown!

Thanks so much to Steve and Summer for including me in their awesome, detail-oriented aweseomeness!


For more flower fun visit my Florilista website!

Get Well Soon

I had a call recently from a sweet return client, Maddie, who had an ailing friend that she wanted to make feel better. A get better soon arrangement? All Maddie could say is that I should make it happy, and possibly include the color purple. Sunflowers, pink/purple daisies and kagaroo paws made for a very cheerful concoction that I hear brought great smiles to everyone. Thanks, Maddie for such a pleasant occupation!

Bowls, Magnets, and Barongs!

     I hate hot June days when delicate flowers are involved. I do. I admit it. I take it personally when the flowers succumb to the heat and lack of moisture (desert area of Utah). Camille smiled sweetly at her bouquet for her formal session a month before her wedding and said it was just fine. We had talked and emailed and finally narrowed things down to everyone's satisfaction. Her wedding flowers in July were truly going to shine and be something to get excited over, but a formal photo session where the focus was the dress?...flowers weren't so budget worthy. We ended up agreeing to a simple clutch of hydrangea, but spray painted in a dark purple to bring in some of her color choices. Hydrangea. Such a great option, but trouble. Hydrangea is truly temperamental even on their own, but to add paint and heat? It was admittedly not my best work, though I did the best I could with what we had. She still looks beautiful, doesn't she?

     Flash forward a month to the day before the wedding in July, and imagine the happy grin on my face when I walked out of my wholesaler with indestructible orchids, ripping roses, lovely lilies and some happy healthy hydrangea...no pain this time. Both the bride and the groom being part Filipino, wanted to bring in vibrant colors and tropical sensibilities to their flowers...deep maroon purple and acid green being the most prominent choices.

     Their entire event was one of fun and family. After the initial ceremony where the men were in suits and ties, the reception toned things down and all the boys came out in traditional Filipino barongs...a light, cotton and silk shirt embroidered with a little shimmer. 

     The trouble with a thin regular shirt that has no lapel like a suit jacket? Where do you put the boutonniere? How do you pin it to the shirt?

Can you see a pin?

     Nope! No pins! One of my favorite new things for cases such as this are magnetic boutonniere inserts. They work when there are young children in the wedding party who don't want to get poked and for ladies with pretty dresses too, keeping pin holes out of your gowns.

     Such lovely easy placement too! You don't have to be good with the pin worrying that you're going to pop off a rose head, snap out the stems, or make the groom bleed. Place it and let the magnet pull itself into place. Good stuff.

     The rest of the event was just as beautiful with floating dendrobium orchids over striking damask table cloths, a gorgeous cake that needed very little floral embellishment, and pretty though simple bouquets for the bridesmaids and for the tossing portion of the evening.

     It came together so beautifully! I'm so honored that Camille wasn't worried when her first bouquet didn't live up to its potential....we'd worked together and she knew the wedding day would be worth the wait!

And it was!

 Thanks so much again, Andrew and Camille for all the amazing fun of your gorgeous day!!!

For more flower fun visit my Florilista website!

Must-have Monochromatics

I've mentioned Jeff Leatham before...he's an innovative florist with millions of dollars to spend every year on displays for the George V Hotel in Paris. He travels the world to create amazing floral installations or to decorate for Hollywood parties, Celebrity weddings, and he's a staple for rock-n-roll lounges and fashion launches.

His biggest signature is the off-set balancing of bouquets as you can see here. Angles that make the flowers float or even just balanced atop a vase instead of IN it...if you see these kinds of looks, they're happily copying the best floral designer in the world right now. Kudos.

Another of his signature designs is being a minimalist in one aspect or another. He understands the three elements of design so well! Flower type, Color, and Size. Every arrangement is created by choices in these three areas, and most people think that they need large amounts of all three to have their wedding look rich and lush. Jeff proves that SO wrong. By pairing things down to only three, two, or even ONE single flower, you can play with the other elements and still have a gorgeous event. You can bring that single flower togther in all it's color options (roses may have been done to death, but imagine thousands of roses in every color of the rainbow!), or you can make gigantic arrangements of that single bloom and it speaks volumes. You can also choose a wide variety of flowers, but by making them all the same color, you can unify the entire look and create quite a statement...Don't you think it says that you are rich or important when you can get all of your flowers in just the same shade of pink? Jeff rarely ever does anything small, but if you make the other two statements you really don't have to make huge arrangements. Still it says something too when you make a gigantic centerpiece out of the cheapest possible flower.

After doing a wedding in all baby's breath, I smiled really big to see this all white event using only baby's breath, hydrangea, and orchids. Fabulous, as always, Jeff! Monochromatic was never so bold, sexy, and simply stunning!

Yellow Rose of Texas?

You would think that the state flower would be the Yellow Rose, right? At least, they should make it the yellow rose after the fame of the song, but no. The State Flower of Texas is actually the Bluebell! Who knew? Well, I'm headed to Texas tomorrow for a wedding over the weekend and thought I'd post some recent work in honor of the Lone Star State.

Brian and Amy decided to use the colors of the college where they met and fell in love...bright sunny yellow and deep navy blue. Amy was so fun to accomodate with requests like, Daisies, but not Gerber daisies, and even with a math degree she wanted it messy without being too messy...not uniform and straight but not droopy either. She had the specific color requests and if the blue wasn't a real honest deep navy blue we needed to try something else, but otherwise, she was so willing to hear ideas for alternate flowers and arrangements. The blue Delphiniums that we used are a cousin to the Texas Bluebell, and ironically enough, there are yellow roses there too! with the greenery and a couple of spots of white to add interest, it was a lovely collection of flowers.

The fun part came when the groom offered some assistance. The groom?? Yes, the groom! Brian had been an avid lover of Oragami for years and wanted to include at least one blue paper flower for his bride. The idea sparked and we all loved it! In the end, Brian made more than 20 flowers for us to use in ALL the arrangements, and they were a huge hit!

What a bright, beautiful, cheerful collection of fun! Thanks, Brian and Amy for allowing me to bring such loveliness to light!

Simplicity On Location

Erin and Nick planned and planned their Minnesota wedding for months, wanting it to be enjoyable for a wide variety of family and friends while keeping things intimate. Once they had hammered out all the details, they sprung their date on the family with a quick trip request for everyone. Amazingly, it worked out perfectly! They had family fly in from Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho. And between horseback riding excursions for the women, driving a tank for the men (yes, a real army tank) and babysitting coverage for those with children, The four day destination event was a well-oiled machine. And, even when a couple of small things went awry, everyone was calm and willing to shift. (I think celebratory vacations have that affect on people.)

In an effort to simplify her life, and keep her budget reasonable, Erin chose flowers for only herself, Nick, both mothers, and the tables...and all of them out of Baby's breath! The orders were placed, the wholesaler visited, and the construction began.

At the last minute, and while grocery shopping for the entire crew, Erin stumbled upon some tulips and princess lilies (alstromeria) at Costco and couldn't resist. Her bouquet was swapped, and the pinks played beautifully against her vintage tea length 50's find.

Erin chose a few sprigs of baby's breath for her hair and the rest graced the candlelit tables for dinner.

Erin and Nick had some fun in their formal shoot embracing the traditional mansion where the wedding was held and played at 'house' from the turn of the century...very Norman Rockwell!

It was such a great event to be a part of and I'm so glad to have more good vendors in far away places that make destination weddings possible, even for a florist!

Congratulations to Erin and Nick...Play on!

Funeral Flowers With An Eye To The Future

I love flowers and the sentiment that they convey, so even when I'm asked to create an arrangement for a funeral instead of a wedding, I take a lot of thought and effort to make something that will be loved and useful and reusable. A recent request ended with this creation of soft spring colors in a sturdy basket. The Peonies in the back are also a potted plant that can be placed in the garden of those family members mourning the loss of a loved one. The rebirth of those flowers every year can then serve as a beautiful reminder of the loved one gone away. Deepest sympathies, and memories reborn.

A Bouquet of Blue Skies and Yellow Gold

With lovely spring days all around, I wanted to revisit a fantastically fun wedding from the ever amazing HMC...now HMCC. Luckily, she married the man of her dreams, who just happened to have a name with the same initial. No need to change the monogram!

HMC and I met on Facebook of all places, a friendship recommended by a mutual friend. What a great recommendation! HMC was funny, insightful, and delightful. We'd never met, but I smiled every time I saw her name come up with a new post. Over time, she got to know some of my work as well, and then when she wed, she needing some flowers that I was more than happy to provide. We did finally meet to talk blooms, colors, and composition, and then again on the day of her wedding where I handed off the flowers, which she said were a surprise. She was so caught up in the pomp and ceremony of the day that when she saw her bouquet she nearly cried. She said that as wonderful as everything had already been, she loved that she got to have beautiful flowers on this day too! He he he.

HMC was so happy, it was a joy to bring her these beautiful flowers made up of spring. The blue hydrangea and hyacinths brought out the sky, and the large sunny yellow lilies were just like her bright smile.

Here's to bright beautiful spring wedding days!