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.

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!

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.

Midway Madness

Nearly a year ago, I found myself two days away from the due date of my second child in the midst of the largest wedding of my career to that point! Liz had exquisite taste and I was thrilled to get to work with her...despite the timing! With my large belly, I delivered the flowers for bride, groom, and their attendants to the ceremony site at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, and then lead a caravan of cars up to the lovely Inn on the Creek in Midway, Utah.

My fantastic husband hefted boxes of supplies and bucket after bucket of flowers. He then ushered our three year old daughter around the property and snapped photos of my work for my portfolio while my amazing assistant, Melissa and I put together the 9 table arrangements, laid out the boutonnieres and corsages for the parents, and organized the flowers for the cake. The stellar staff of the Inn helped us coordinate decorating when the other vendors finished their work, and then we had such a tasty break for lunch at Granny's before a lovely drive home through the bright summer day.

It was a very long July 31st...but I think everything turned out so well! I was able to breathe a sigh of resignation when I experienced some contractions during lunch, but then our sweet Olivia waited until Monday during a planned inducement to arrive. (Thanks, sweetheart!) Liz was such a dream to work with and she had such faith in my promises that I would be able to deliver the vision she had for her gorgeous deep purple and sage green wedding. I learned so much about preparations for a wedding on location, organized timeframes, and planning communication with my staff. Add such beautiful supplies and flowers, and I was so honored to be able to create this work. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!



For more flower fun visit my Florilista website!

Mostly Happy, Sometimes Sad

I am the first to admit that I have a great job. Working so often with such beautiful things as flowers, ribbon, and accessories is such a great way to spend some time. Don't get me wrong...There is stress for deadlines, coordinating contracts, and availability issues, but mostly, the joy of the flowers, the colors, the smells, all the beauty wrapped together makes for a great time.

Very rarely though, I'm asked to do flowers for an event that is decidedly not happy. The recent death of the grandfather of some dear friends was just such an event. Grandpa had been out-doorsy, and loved the fall. I was given a budget and asked to include a ribbon, but otherwise I was given carte blanche to create as beautiful and memorable a piece as I could for such a loved family member. Woodsy grandpa got fall colored roses, peace lilies, alstromeria, daisies, and boxwood leaves...and a lot of them.


Grandpa will be sorely missed, but was well remembered and greatly loved. I was honored to be part of his funeral.

Dave and Lori's College Class

When Dave and Lori came to me with a fairly simple flower request, orange roses, white freesia and carnations with silver accents, I thought it was going to be a pretty easy gig. The fun came when Dave called me back and asked me to turn the carnations a good deep blue as a suprise for his fiance! He he he. The color combo had to do with their school history, and he assured me that it was going to be something that Lori would LOVE, and since he was paying for it, I went along with the present. Apparently, she hadn't thought that the blue was even possible, and she had settled on the idea of only getting orange and white flowers for her wedding. Dave wanted to show her that blue flowers were possible, and I had a blast dip-dying the carnations into a lovely navy color. The combination of colors turned out to be really fun, and Lori was thrilled when I delivered what she hadn't known could be created.



After delivering the flowers, some drama came up when the cake didn't show. I happened to still be around when the baker finally came along (following some stern phone calls from the bride's sister) and they asked me to take a few of the extra blooms and help the cake when it wasn't quite what had been ordered. At the end of the night, the lights, colors, and suprises made for a great event. Thanks again to Dave and Lori for including me in their fun.

For more flower fun visit my Florilista website!

Lavender Love

Jordan works as a regional rep for the Young Lavender Living Farm in Mona, Utah, and chose to hold her wedding on their beautiful grounds. Unseasonably awful torrential downpours added some crazy coordinating of umbrellas, and the patio luncheon was moved inside, but the skies lifted now and then and made for some fantastic pictures. I also loved that they gave me permission to cross the road to the fields and harvest a few bushels of fresh lavender to add to the centerpieces! What a beautiful event!



Thanks again to Jordan and Zac for the awesome fun of such a beautiful wedding!

For more flower fun visit my Florilista website!

Where are your flowers from, and when are they cut?

Have you ever stopped to think about the timeline that your wedding flowers face before they end up in your manicured hands on your wedding day? It’s really quite an interesting ride!...and it might explain why so many florists do business the way that they do. Care to take a ride?


Whether you choose roses grown in Mexico, tulips out of Amsterdam, daisies from Washington, or lilies from the coast of California, all your flowers follow a certain route. Growers use regular growing seasons as well as greenhouses to harvest flowers at their best. Most growers at this point are so familiar with their flowers that they’ve cheated Mother Nature and can grow their stock in waves that can be had no matter what time of year you want them. Those flowers are the readily available, standard flowers that you see everywhere…as mentioned…roses, lilies, daisies and more. More unique flowers that may not be used as often, such as lily of the valley, peonies, amaryllis, and hyacinth, don’t have the same year-round schedule. If the flowers you want are rare, you’ll be subject to their regular growing seasons as well as higher prices for their rarity.


Once a flower is cut on the farm, it is taken to the processing plant, gets inspected, is bunched, and is packaged for shipping. Shipping can take a few days depending on the buyers who paid the most to get that wave of flowers…prices at the grower varies too depending on how many wholesalers are buying big numbers of product before it dies in the fields. Delivery also depends on schedules, distances, and truck availability.


Once they arrive at their destination city, the flowers are hauled in to wholesale locations. I personally use two wholesalers local to Salt Lake City, but also know of half a dozen more just in the valley. All of these locations have standing orders of regular flowers that are sold to retail locations and florists on a pretty predictable schedule. The flowers are bought in bulk to keep their prices low and margins high. Some wholesalers also sell to the public, and so have to stock extra flowers for walk-in traffic…the generic as well as some more rare varieties. A good percentage of these products wilt while waiting, hiking prices.


Once the flowers are received in bulk bunches at the retail locations, designers create arrangements that will optimize their use of the flowers they’ve received. Creating about three or four arrangements over and over again also cuts down on work time…which is why you see so many repeats on their shelves. Faster, cheaper, and easier…with a good margin? Now you know how retailers stay in business when they have to pay for coolers, store space, and advertising!


Interesting, right? It's quite a road between the place where they sprout and the bouquet you sniff lovingly on your wedding day. Flowers travel the world, and I love being a step in the voyage.

For more flower fun visit my Florilista website!

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!