Bridal Bouquet

This was a complimentary sample of the bride's bouquet for her to review weeks before the big day. Providing such a valuable service ensures against any surprises on the day of the wedding.
The bouquet will be cradled in her arm as she walks down the aisle instead of both hands holding a traditional hand tied. This obviously isn't for everyone but this unique individual is very happy and that makes me very happy!

Aloha

A friend of mine hosted an engagement party for a couple who were going to Hawaii for their honeymoon after they're married. She asked if we could do an arrangement that would compliment her luau themed party and we were more than happy to accomodate her.

Tropicals are so fun to work with and they explode with color.

I regret not taking a close up picture of the details our designer incorporated into the piece. Even some of the ends of the stalks of Ginger that some may have normally thrown away were used in unique ways to add to the overall design. I've learned to always appreciate the details which can sometimes be easily overlooked.

Arrangements for Ceremony

After working with a Bride for 6 months or more, you develop a relationship with them. If that relationship is a good one, it makes me very happy when the weather cooperates and the couple has their outside ceremony as planned. Her wedding day was perfect.
The venue in Taneytown has a wonderful layout for weddings including manicured gardens, a lovely reception facility, and a top notch Bed and Breakfast with an outstanding gourmet Restaurant.
When I first met the client, they explained that they intended to have the ceremony outside in the garden but her date was April 21st. We decided to create arrangements that would give the guests a hint as to what the garden would look like in a month when in full bloom.
The yellow snapdragons were the largest and the best I've ever seen. The roses also opened up so much that I'm not exagerrating when I say they were almost 5" in diameter. Brilliant!

Stephanotis

I think it's funny that you usually can tell what a bride is going to choose for her wedding bouquet after the first consultation but once and a while you get thrown a curve ball. This client saw this bouquet in a book and said "that's it!" I never would have guessed this as a choice should would have made but I was happy to do it. I made a joke about the stephanotis being termed "the wedding flower" and it being a costly material to work with but it's no joke on how much labor is required for this gorgeous, fragant blossom.

Each individual flower (right hand picture) has to be attached to a special stem that has a water source for it. Think of it as a wet Q tip. Each special stem can then be attached to a wire stem by wrapping it with floral tape. It's not rocket science but it is time consuming. The bouquet we created had over 150 stephanotis blossoms with calla lilies which is in the picture to the left. The end result was a modern cascade with a traditional material.

More than Floral Design

Not everything we do is centered around floral design. On occasion we get to do decor for ballrooms, tents, and in this case staging at a convention center. Some of the products that are out there are amazing. These fabric structures stood 12 feet at their highest point. They really come to life when professionally lit with washes of color for the back wall and spots on the uprights.

Renting 15 ferns for the front of the stage was a nice way to finish the look and to soften that hard line. Renting plants such as palms and ferns can be a very cost effective for anyone to incorporate fresh materials into their venue for any occasion including weddings.

Modern Luxury

A client requested banquet seating for 40 guests at a six course dinner for his Grandmother's birthday. He asked for modern luxury so we provided over 30 different individual arrangements in white to include hydrangea, calla lilies, french tulips, roses, orchids, and oriental liles. The table was also set with four groupings of contemporary lead crystal candlesticks with white taper candles. The finishing detail was a runner of white dendrobium orchids that ran the length of the 40' long table.

Basic Elements

I consider this a great example how a few key elements can make a statement.

Most venues provide linens for their tables at no extra cost but the options are usually limited to white or ivory. The most economical way to infuse your own color palette into the reception facility is with tablecloths. If you think about it, most of the square footage in the room will be taken up by tables so putting tablecloths in your decorating budget is by far the best way to go.

Another item that is commonly used are chair covers. They are used to cover "not so pretty" banquet seating but they can look baggy and heavy. There is another option. Dollar for dollar you will get a much more tailored, clean, and elegant look by using Chivari chairs. Majority of the time we are talking only a dollar or two more per chair and that includes the coordinating cushion. Unless you are in the industry, you wouldn't know the name of this chair type but I know that most people have seen them in many, many pictures in magazines. Gold is a popular and versatile choice but they do come in Silver, Black, White, and several other colors. There is a delivery fee involved and each reception facility has their own set up fees but there are fees for installing and delivery chair covers as well. If you are one of several receptions on the same day, you may want to contact the other "parties" for that day and offer to share the expense and use of the items.

Unique Arrangement

It's hard to get the scale of this arrangement from the picture but the urns are 4' tall and then the florals are at least another 3' on top of that. One arrangement was placed on each side of a large fireplace for an indoor wedding ceremony. The composition consisted of three types of orchids, Peonies, Roses, Callas, Cherry branches, Belles of Ireland, Hanging Amaranthus, and Palm Leaves. You never know when your going to find a unique container to use in this line of work and when you do find something, you better purchase it and not wait till later or you may regret it. I found the light weight fiberglass urns at Lowes and I look forward to many years of use from them.

Inside Ceremony

This is an opportunity to show how a few floral pieces can transform an interior space and define the location for the wedding ceremony. This was Ceresville Mansion in Frederick, Maryland and although it was February with ice outside, it was Spring inside.

Modern Cascade

I would say that most of my brides ask for hand tieds but I there is a growing trend of cascading bridal bouquets. They can be modern and clean and also very complimentary depending on the body shape and style of the gown. This bouquet was almost an exact copy from a magazine picture that the bride brought into our studio. The only difference was using a soft peach calla instead of lavender.

Manzanita Mania

When I first saw an arrangement using a Manzanita branch, I couldn't wait to try recreating the look. This is the first arrangement we did which was for a Bridal Expo in Frederick, Maryland. Wedding shows are a lot of work but the upside is we are free to do some over the top pieces. I would like to thank Jeff, a very talented designer, for helping making this a success.

Balancing Act

Calla Lilies seem to be a favorite among customers and they are also a favorite of mine. They can certainly stand on their own in an arrangement. A trend from the last couple years has been arrangements being inside and outside their container. The picture of this centerpiece is a great example. The fact that the vessels are stacked demands attention from the guests.

For every client I do a sample so we can ensure they are happy on the day of their event. I consider this sample more of a tablescape than I do a traditional centerpiece. The bride was getting married on December 23rd and the reception was being held at a golf club in a room with wood beams and a large stone fireplace so she wanted something that would compliment the venues rustic elegance. After this picture was taken we decided to plug in some red hypericum berries for a little more color and some pine cones for texture. If you are going to use Amaryllis, make sure you get them way in advance because they come in a tight bud and you want to have plenty of time for them to open up to their full potential. We had to keep adding warm water in the buckets of the cut stems in order to expedite the process.

The bride's bouquet was comprised of the same Amaryllis with white Open Cut Callas, white Roses, and green Magnolia leaves.

I absolutely love what this time of year has to offer! The antique hydrangea is beautiful. The addition of a few roses and two different varieties of cymbidium orchids makes this a simple yet stunning arrangement. I doubt that the average person realizes that each individual orchid flower is hand wired before being placed in the arrangement. That's a lot of time when you have eight flowers to a centerpiece and there are 15 tables. I think it's worth it!

A Vision of White

The composition of this arrangement was made up of White Casablanca Lilies, Dendrobium Orchids, Calla Lilies, White Tibet Roses, and assorted greens. The mass of blooms sat atop a glass vase. A funny side note about this arrangement has to do with the Casablance Lilies. I always try to make sure that the client gets the most bang for their buck by trying to ensure that the blooms are at the peek for the event. I had the lilies early enough to get the buds to open but what really helped was putting the bucket of lilies in our van for a couple of hours. The warmth from the sun on the van made the flowers explode with open blooms. Hey, you do what you gotta do!

Warm Palette

Every Season has it's own special beauty and Autumn is no exception. We created this tablescape for the wedding cake with the warm tones and varied textures in mind. Originally, the client had asked that we do a floral swag to swoop down the side of the cake but instead we used small floral bouquets placed just so as not to detract from the simple elegance and stature of the cake itself. Everything you see behind this cake was brought in and hung on a pipe and drape system. The light coming in from the patio doors, behind the backdrop, really accented the design of the cream pintuck material. A special thanks to the head of my sewing department who is also my Mom. LOL!

Callas

Just a few elements can make a striking yet simple arrangement. White Calla Lilies with assorted tropical leaves and curly willow made this a show stopper but it's all about the right container. The glass vessels didn't get in the way of the guests but allowed the callas to fan outward. We also used curly willow to take advantage of the high ceilings in the tent.

Anchoring A Room

If you were a tree, what kind of a tree would you be?
How about a 5' iron tree embellished with fresh willow, glass votives, and hanging amaranthus?
The reception was in a tent at restaraunt with a beautiful view of Sugarloaf Mountain. The clients owned a working horsefarm so we decided to use details to reflect that part of their lives. Black underlays were on the tables topped by a high grade ivory burlap and black napkins simply tied with twine. Summer flowers including dahlias, cockscomb, roses, and scented geranium were placed in galvanized metal buckets as centerpieces including four embellished iron trees placed on tables at the four corners of the tent. I also must mention that the father of the groom made votive holders for the place settings which he welded together using pony horse shoes and a piece of barbed wire. It was rustic elegance at its best!

Chandelier

This was a fun, out of the ordinary piece created for a charity auction. All of the local florists were asked to donate a centerpiece and at the end of the night they would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. We approached this an opportunity to do something a little bit different. Funny thing was the event was held on the second floor of a restaurant and consideration wasn't given as to how the recipient would get the piece home. Ooops!

Think about photographs

A lot of venues have structures for the wedding ceremony. I try to think of how things will look from the perspective of the client looking back at their wedding album a couple years down the road. The arbor in the picture has a lot of wonderful detail and is pretty in its own right but the busy background stole some if its thunder and the vast openess of the site makes it feel a little wimpy. We installed some cheesecloth like material (NOT TULLE, I despise tulle), garland and floral clips. With our embellishments, the structure looked visually anchored and also brought out the scroll detail in the iron work. In the future I would love to use pink fabric and hang a small crytal chandelier from the inside center point. Would swags of hand strung orchids be too much? Come on, if it isn't pretty....it doesn't matter!