Delivery Day

Delivery day at my house is always full of excitement. Unloading boxes of beautiful flowers, prepping them with water and trims, letting them stretch and breathe. Today was no different and I'm buzzing with anticipation for the fun to begin. Aki and Melissa are marrying on Friday with a burgundy theme and a love of lilies.

 

Through discussions and emails we decided to do an Ombre theme....choosing two colors and moving through the color spectrum from one to the other.  I can't wait to dive into these beauties and coordinate bouquets, corsages, and centerpieces. Such a lovely way to spend my day.

A big shout-out to Mayesh Wholesale Flowers. Stunning stems and killer customer service. I can't wait to work with them again.

Spring in an American Garden

I am always so flattered when people see my portfolio and choose their wedding flowers based off of designs that I'm proud of and worked really hard on.  Chelsie was referred to me by a couple of other clients and as we talked, she said that she had enjoyed my 'English Garden" wedding and wanted something similar...but with brighter colors. Her color scheme was a pretty country green, so she wanted to add some springy colors like bright happy yellow, purple, pink, and white, with just a hint of a red tulip as her signature flower. That sounded like a wonderful American garden to me! Bright happy tulips, iris, and daffodils. (Don't they look happy?)

She wanted some natural looking planted pots, so I had some fun in the garden section at my Home Depot picking up pots and plates with ivy plants to re-pot. I used a small vase in each pot and then surrounded it with dirt and ivy roots. The fresh flowers were then added to the vase section and filled it all out beautifully. Arranging it that way also allowed every piece to be taken home and enjoyed for months to come because the wilting flowers could be replaced with fresh flowers, stones, succulents, or any sort of arrangement that the new owner had a feeling towards. The ivy would continue to grow if watered regularly, and the flowers were easy to trade out.

The twist for me was that she wanted topiary! How fun! Difficult to accomplish well, and I stewed long and hard over how to make them work. I finally had a light bulb moment and kept the same posts and plates idea as the smaller arrangements, but bought a bag of quick-dry cement and had quite a day mixing up batches, securing posts in the middle, ensuring that they were perfectly level, but still saving room for the vases and roots of the ivy. Once the day arrived, securing flowers and ivy to the wet foam spheres atop the topiary took quite a bit of work...working in 4-D to make sure every surface is covered and attractive...is difficult but I think it was well worth it. And don't get me started on delivery! I wish I'd gotten a picture of my 5 year old daughter holding two of the posts to either side of her car seat to keep them from tipping over for me.

Thanks again, Chelsie! What lovely fun and it's always entertaining to be asked to do something new!

The Beauty of Birds of Paradise

When Aleasha called, she was a little nervous...she wanted to use birds of paradise and ONLY birds of paradise...and she wasn't sure if it was even possible. She'd seen some pictures but didn't know if they were real, if they were rare, or if they were only possible for the rich and famous. I assured her that I'd used Birds before and could get her the bouquet she wanted. Surprisingly, she wanted a different bouquet for her bridal photo shoot than the bouquet she wanted for her wedding day, but didn't know how she wanted it to be different. We threw ideas back and forth and finally agreed to use fewer birds for the bridals, but add in another flower to add some interest and texture  For the bridals we included some beautiful purple freesia and she loved it! 

For the wedding day itself, she wanted to include some other flowers for the wedding party because no one else but the bride and groom were going to get the Birds of Paradise. She'd liked it so well in her other bouquet that we agreed to use freesia again, as well as some calla lilies, and all the flowers would be in white to set them off against the colored dresses of the bridesmaids and the suits of the groomsmen. She had some small vases for centerpieces, some for tall buds, and some sporting beta fishes in the colors of the birds of paradise and the white lilies. She wanted a floating flower in the vases with the fish and birds and lilies in the bud vases, and I think the fun simple lines made everything come together. All that was left was a smaller simple tossing bouquet that wouldn't poke an eye out, so the freesia came to the rescue once again.

Leasha told me later how much she'd loved seeing her vision come true when she hadn't been sure that even part of it were possible. Those are some of my favorite compliments!...that a bride can tell me the names of her favorite flowers and trusts me to be able to put them together in a way that will be beautiful for her day.

Congratulations, Leasha!

Watching Flowers Grow

Ever wondered how those petals unfold? Check out this beautiful time-lapse of flowers blooming! It's like watching a butterfly emerge from his cocoon.

http://www.slrlounge.com/stunning-time-lapse-of-flowers-growing

5 Things to Know

One of my favorite industry sites has posted a great article about a short list of things to know before choosing your florist. Visit Every Last Detail to see the 5 Things you should have in mind that will help you get the look and flowers that you want for your wedding.

Weddings through the ages...In Utah!

What a fun piece today in the Salt Lake Tribune about weddings through the ages here in our own Utah. It's just a small gallery of actual utah brides from as early as 1830 through the 1930's. Have a look at some of the styles, accessories, traditions, and stern faces...It's hard to hold a smile while the photo takes 2 minutes to process! What a neat look at true Utah Brides!