Must-have Monochromatics

I've mentioned Jeff Leatham before...he's an innovative florist with millions of dollars to spend every year on displays for the George V Hotel in Paris. He travels the world to create amazing floral installations or to decorate for Hollywood parties, Celebrity weddings, and he's a staple for rock-n-roll lounges and fashion launches.

His biggest signature is the off-set balancing of bouquets as you can see here. Angles that make the flowers float or even just balanced atop a vase instead of IN it...if you see these kinds of looks, they're happily copying the best floral designer in the world right now. Kudos.

Another of his signature designs is being a minimalist in one aspect or another. He understands the three elements of design so well! Flower type, Color, and Size. Every arrangement is created by choices in these three areas, and most people think that they need large amounts of all three to have their wedding look rich and lush. Jeff proves that SO wrong. By pairing things down to only three, two, or even ONE single flower, you can play with the other elements and still have a gorgeous event. You can bring that single flower togther in all it's color options (roses may have been done to death, but imagine thousands of roses in every color of the rainbow!), or you can make gigantic arrangements of that single bloom and it speaks volumes. You can also choose a wide variety of flowers, but by making them all the same color, you can unify the entire look and create quite a statement...Don't you think it says that you are rich or important when you can get all of your flowers in just the same shade of pink? Jeff rarely ever does anything small, but if you make the other two statements you really don't have to make huge arrangements. Still it says something too when you make a gigantic centerpiece out of the cheapest possible flower.

After doing a wedding in all baby's breath, I smiled really big to see this all white event using only baby's breath, hydrangea, and orchids. Fabulous, as always, Jeff! Monochromatic was never so bold, sexy, and simply stunning!

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!

Simplicity On Location

Erin and Nick planned and planned their Minnesota wedding for months, wanting it to be enjoyable for a wide variety of family and friends while keeping things intimate. Once they had hammered out all the details, they sprung their date on the family with a quick trip request for everyone. Amazingly, it worked out perfectly! They had family fly in from Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho. And between horseback riding excursions for the women, driving a tank for the men (yes, a real army tank) and babysitting coverage for those with children, The four day destination event was a well-oiled machine. And, even when a couple of small things went awry, everyone was calm and willing to shift. (I think celebratory vacations have that affect on people.)

In an effort to simplify her life, and keep her budget reasonable, Erin chose flowers for only herself, Nick, both mothers, and the tables...and all of them out of Baby's breath! The orders were placed, the wholesaler visited, and the construction began.

At the last minute, and while grocery shopping for the entire crew, Erin stumbled upon some tulips and princess lilies (alstromeria) at Costco and couldn't resist. Her bouquet was swapped, and the pinks played beautifully against her vintage tea length 50's find.

Erin chose a few sprigs of baby's breath for her hair and the rest graced the candlelit tables for dinner.

Erin and Nick had some fun in their formal shoot embracing the traditional mansion where the wedding was held and played at 'house' from the turn of the century...very Norman Rockwell!

It was such a great event to be a part of and I'm so glad to have more good vendors in far away places that make destination weddings possible, even for a florist!

Congratulations to Erin and Nick...Play on!

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.

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!

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!

5 Things To Know About Flowers

I follow several industry blogs, and have loved the insights from Every Last Detail. The ideas and beauty that Lauren includes in her posts are so inspiring, but she is also good to remind both brides and vendors what is real. In her latest post, it's all about flowers, and the artists that bring them to you. Take a moment to visit the page and see the five bst things to remember when deciding on your wedding blossoms!

For more flower fun visit my Florilista website!

Bright Yellow Loveliness

Spring hasn't quite sprung yet, though the sun is shining, so today I want to put some of my own sunshine on the screen. A lovely bride, Lauryn, chose classic flowers of hydrangeas, dahlias, freesia, ranunculus and Queen Anne's lace in lovely shades of butter yellow and cream, accented with ribbons in grey.

It was a rainy day at the intimate reception hall at the Kaysville ponds area, but yellow brightens any event!


The bouquet was obviously done in advance, as were the toppers to a selection of frosted glass and black iron hurricanes that she used in strategic spots in the room, but the flowers on the cake had to be done on location. It made for a dramatic day of delivery, design and eventual downpour!



Thanks again, Lauryn, for such a wonderful and beautiful collaboration!

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.

Why?

Hello everyone! And welcome back! After having a baby, working through the holidays and moving into a new location while refurbishing the old place for renters, my blogging has fallen to the wayside! So sad! She's a pretty cute excuse though...


However, the silver lining there is that now there is so much to catch up on that I will be hard-pressed to go a week without new posts.

To start us off, as we head into wedding season, here is a great overview of what weddings truly are...to your vendors! One of the great industry blogs I follow explains it all so well, so please visit Every Last Detail and take a moment to see what Lauren has to say after a wedding of her own as well as working in the Wedding industry. Why do weddings cost so much? An honest answer!