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!

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.

CODE GREEN!!!

What a fun weekend! My husband had a wedding to photograph in Manti, Utah on Friday, and I was so pleased to get to go along for the ride. I thought it was going to be a work-free event for me, but as we were pulling out of the driveway, the bride, Betsy, called me with a flower emergency. Betsy and Garrett are from out of state, and had this first event in Manti on Friday and another event in Mapleton on Saturday. There had been some apparent miscommunications, and although the Mapleton event would have some lovely flowers ready to go through a local florist chosen by her mom, the Manti event had been forgotten! Betsy wanted flowers for her grand exit from the beautiful Manti Temple, and she wondered if I could help in any way. I grabbed a handful of fake flower bouquets that I have created over the last year for just such emergencies, but we also took a few minutes to stop at my wholesaler on the way out of town. I knew she wanted cream, pale pinks and sage greens, and I was able to find some roses, lilies, snap dragons, and freesia that fit the bill nicely. For the first hour of the drive, I arranged her bouquet. There were a handful of flowers left over though, so for the second hour I made a groom's boutonniere, two mother's corsages, and even a tossing bouquet.



Needless to say, she chose the fresh flowers over the stock bouquets I offered. Betsy and Garrett are also having a reception in Virginia, which we will be photographing in two weeks, and I smiled when Garrett's mother asked if I was going to be in town early enough to do those flowers as well. He he he. I'd love it!