Tuesday, February 26, 2008

2008 Dates - UPDATED 2/26/08!!!

Happy New Year! As you can see, there hasn't been a whole lot going on in the world of wedding flowers for me lately! I have been very busy meeting with prospective brides though! Dates are booking quickly! For the brides out there that think they have plenty of time to book vendors, think again! May, June, & October are the most popular months for weddings & I have already closed several dates during those months. I will not be taking any more weddings for the following dates:

April 4 - 7
May 9 - 11
May 16 - 18
May 23 - 25
May 30 - 31
June 1
June 6 - 8
June 20 - 22
July 25 - 27
August 29 - 31
September 12 - 14
September 26 - 28
October 3 - 5
October 17 - 19
October 24 - 26

I have only one spot remaining for the following dates:

May 2 - 4
June 13 - 15
June 27 - 29
October 10 - 12

If your wedding date falls on one of those weekends & you are interested in having Bella Design Studio provide your flowers, you better act fast! They won't be around long!

For those interested in scheduling a consultation, I am currently meeting brides at my home in Olathe on Fridays & Saturdays. January is full, but I will start booking February appointments anytime! Hope to hear from you soon!

Michelle

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The Studio!!!

For those of you who don't know...


When I began Bella Design Studio, I was a one-person, one-cooler operation working in a room in the basement of my home. I quickly outgrew that setup, so in September of last year, I began leasing space in Shawnee. I have since added a second cooler (a nice, big, walk-in box!) & tons of inventory from vases & votives to lights & trees! I also have an awesome delivery assistant, Kathy, & hopefully this year Beth, a fabulous co-designer capable of creating the gorgeous flowers you are used to seeing from Bella!


It is isn't very appealing to the eye, just a bunch of concrete, cinder blocks, & old stains from the bakery that was in there for 20 years prior to me! But, it is so great to have everything on one level! I can spread out, make a huge mess, & get more done now than I ever did at home! I love it!


I am much more centrally located now as well. Previously all my deliveries originated from my home in Olathe. Now I am at the corner of Johnson Dr & Nieman & can really be almost anywhere in 15 minutes! That really helps on days where I have multiple deliveries.


I share the space with two wedding cake vendors, Iced Art & Rebekah Foster. So, if any of you are up visiting them, you can poke your head in the back & say "Hi" to me! I am still not too busy right now, but starting in May, I will practically be living up there!

February 17th: Finally a wedding!

Well, the toolbox was a little rusty, but I finally got to work on a wedding this week! Not a huge event, so I was able to ease back into it! I only did 2 bouquets, altar flowers, & cake flowers for this wedding, but was eager to post something so here it is!


The bride wanted a very natural looking bouquet. I started with a base of acacia & seeded eucalyptus & added Escimo roses, Porceliana spray roses, arabicum, lilac, raspberries, hypericum, & stephanotis.


Check out the ribbon on the cake! The cake lady actually made this by using a regular chocolate brown satin & hot gluing the bow accent ribbon to it. I thought it was really neat! You see so much of the plain ribbon wrap, this is a nice twist!


For the DIY-ers out there, the cupcake stand is really just the cheap, white, cardboard ones you buy. The bride's sister painted the stand chocolate brown & hot glued the red trim around the edges. It looked really professional! So now, when the cupcakes are gone, at least the stand still looks good!