Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Support a Starving Florist!

I have found a new hobby to fill my time & help keep my heat on this winter! :) Inspired by my friend who is due to have her first baby any day now, I have begun creating what I call "Couture" Baby Wipe cases. These are the travel size cases that can be refilled with any baby wipes. They are covered with different fabrics, ribbons, rhinestones, or whatever else I come up with! Here are a few samples I have created already.





These can be custom made with any color, style, decoration that you choose. The pricing schedule I have come up with is: Basic $15, Decorated (excluding rhinestones) $20, Rhinestones $25. These make perfect Christmas or Baby Shower gifts! I will be making them throughout the winter. If you would like to place an order, email me at florence727@sbcglobal.net

November24th: Reed/Barry Wedding

Finally, another wedding! Winter is very slow for a florist, so posts are going to be few & far between for a while! The bride carried a bouquet of gorgeous white amaryllis blooms accented with brown millet & folded aspidistra leaves. This was the first time I had used amaryllis in a wedding, but I loved it!
The bridesmaid carried a botanical assortment of berries, foliages, & grasses accented by white rannuculus blooms.The cake was 4-tiers talls with space between the tiers that I filled with hydrangea, rannuculus, & berries. Sandy Danner was the creator of this masterpiece!
The reception was held at Loose Mansion which was decorated beautifully for the holidays! We did centerpieces on all of the tables using cube vases that were provided by the mansion. Each table had individual flower types to achieve a clean, simple, yet elegant look. Flower types used were tulips, hydrangea, rannuculus, amaryllis, hypericum berries, kermit poms, & bells of Ireland.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Samples for Shana




November 3rd: Maria & Brian



Maria & Brian's event was held at Club 1000. The bride chose a palette of reds for her wedding flowers. Her bouquet was composed of roses, gerber daisies, dahlias, mini callas, & rosehips. She inserted a rhinestone monogram to represent her soon-to-be last name.The bridesmaids each carried a single flower variety from the bride's bouquet. I actually received a call during the middle of the day from one of the bridesmaids wondering if I had any left over flowers. It seems one of the bouquets was dropped in water & irretrievable during their photo session. Never fear, I was able to whip up another bouquet & have it delivered, but I sure would like to hear that story!
We did two different centerpiece styles for the reception tables. Pictured are my signature curly willow branches accented with fresh flower blooms & placed in a tall, sleek, cylinder vase. These were uplit from the bottom with disc lights for the event.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

November 3rd: Erin & Jeff

Another dream event for Bella Design Studio! I loved everything about this wedding! I met with Kris, aka MOB, this summer. She was visiting from Knoxville, TN to help her daughter with planning the big event. We clicked instantly! I knew right away, this was going to be a big weekend for me, but was looking forward to it from that moment on!

The bride wanted to carry a simple, yet modern bouquet. She loved to look of cream & ivory roses, but wanted to add some accents of deep fall tones. Her dress was gorgeous & the bouquet was the perfect match! I used a combination of Sahara & Champagne roses with accents of berzilla berry, chocolate cosmos, millet, & magnolia. The stems were wrapped with pieces of fabric from both of her grandmothers' wedding gowns. One piece was a sleeve with fabric covered buttons that I was able to use on the stems & position the buttons to provide the finished, button-down look. The bridesmaids wore floor-length, chocolate brown gowns. We wanted the flowers to "pop" against deep color. Therefore, I chose to use Black Magic & Tropical Amazon roses, Flame callas, rannuculus, chocolate cosmos, & millet. I wrapped the stems with chocolate brown, satin ribbon & accented with an overlay of copper wire.
Entering the reception site was somewhat like entering a fall event straight out of an edition of Martha Stewart Weddings! The site was Mildale Farm & everything about it was gorgeous, perfect, exquisite, & about a million other words I could use to describe it! I wish my pictures would of turned out better, but I am crossing my fingers that the photographer will have some excellent shots.



I actually began construction on this event on Sunday, and yes, I mean construction! Two of the main elements of the floral design were composed of curly willow & bittersweet, so I could start early! I even had to resort to the rental of a U-Haul to get the first load of decorations out the the farm!
The first project was a custom built, tabletop "tree". These would serve as the centerpieces on 10 tables at the reception. I began with pouring concrete bases that held a 3 foot tall metal pole. The pole was topped with horizontal bars to create a sturdy frame that could have just about anything wrapped, hung, strung, or strapped to it! I created the trees out of curly willow & bittersweet & wrapped the bases with an iridescent chocolate/caramel taffeta. The horizontal bars were camouflaged with green hanging amaranthus & fabric covered votive holders were hung by copper wire from the tops. The votives actually housed battery operated lights rather than votives. The lights illuminated the branches to provide a really cool look when the lights were dimmed for the party.
The hallway that connected the main room to the buffet was my second huge project after the trees were complete. We created somewhat of a wooded walkway with floor to ceiling curly willow & bittersweet branches. Battery operated votives were suspended from the overhead branches to provide a soft glow that drew your eye from the entry, through the reception room, into the buffet wing. I contracted a couple of friends to assist in this project & we began working on Thursday evening. Four hours later, we had it complete! I couldn't of done it without the help, so thanks a lot!
The buffets were extravagant & beautiful! Classic Catering did an excellent job! The main buffet was located on the west end of the barn & I created a huge arrangement to serve as the centerpiece for the room. I filled a large, footed, glass urn with Fuji apples, topped with a wreath of hydrangeas, roses, chinese lanterns, etc & finished the looks with fabulous Pottery Barn fall branches. It measured over 5 foot tall, but in the large barn, it was perfect! You could see it from the entrance on the east end of the building! My second centerpiece style was a rustic lantern with a full wreath of fall florals around the base. I used antique hydrangeas, roses, sunflowers, pumpkin vine, chili peppers, etc to create the lush display.
The traditional wedding cake was replaced with an amazing display of over 250 cupcakes from Baby Cakes! These were amazing! I have never seen their work before, so was very excited when they arrived. I helped put the cakes out because there were so many & time was limited...guests were already arriving to the farm! It was very hard to resist grabbing one on my way out the door! They smelled & looked awesome! I would definitely recommend them to anyone considering cupcakes! One more look at the reception room! This was an event to remember for a lifetime! I worked very hard but seeing the outcome was so worth it! Nothing compares to being able to create a mood/feel for an event & see it through to the end, making sure every detail ties together. Thanks to Erin, Jeff, Kris, & Tom for believing in me & giving me such a wonderful opportunity!