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!

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!

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!

Ever wonder what I do when no one is looking?

As a florist...a WEDDING florist no less...most of my daily work is actually figuring out what brides want. I coordinate designs according to their wishes...even drawing out ideas sometimes to make sure that we are all on the same page and so that the flowers I deliver on the big day are exactly what every bride has asked for. (Or more than what she asked for if I can help it.)

Once in a while though, for gifts, personal events, and for trade shows, I get to play and create entirely out of my own brain. I've even been lucky enough to have clients give me a couple of small instructions and then let me have free reign and a great time doing what I wanted to do as a surprise to them.

If you're prepared to enter my brain for a moment, here are some fun examples of projects I have done when no one is instructing me!



For more flower fun visit my Florilista website!