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!