Thursday, October 29, 2009

Luxurious Scent=Heavenly Day





Kari and Joey's wedding was decked out in blues and purples. Wedding flowers are wonderful when they look great, but they are even more memorable and fabulous if you choose flowers with a scent you adore. Kari and her maids held bouquets of roses, hyacinth and stock. Other flowers that smell great: fresia, gardenia, lily of the valley, some oriental lily varieties and stephanotis. The bride and groom chose a unique theme for their wedding, Skylines... each of the guest tables were named after famous buildings from around the major US cities. The ceremony was at Central Lutheran in Minneapolis and the reception was on the 50th floor of the IDS tower. (cool thing I remember: I watched Obama's motorcade pull into the Target Center as I set up their flowers on the 50th floor, quite the view!) back to business--I wanted the flower arrangements to reflect both Kari's divine dress and the skyline theme. The placecard table had a series of 10 rectangle vases with orchids and blue LED lights to minic a skyline. Kari's amazing dress was purchased at Grace Bridal Boutique in Excelsior. I have blogged about this wedding before, but Kari sent me these great photos and I had to show you more of their beautiful day. Thank you to www.imagesbykris.com for the beautiful photos.













Sunday, October 25, 2009

Vibrant in July

While I was with Marie on her wedding day she had an everlasting smile. Her smile made me so happy and her flower color choices went beautifully with her personality. Marie and Tim were married in a large church and had a reception in a very large hall. The colorful bouquets and centerpieces “popped” nicely in the large spaces. Flowers in the bouquets: vanda and mokara orchids, mini calla lilies, white fresia, dahlias, fiddlehead fern and salal greens. Thank you to Jacki V. Photography for capturing these gorgeous images.



I love how the shimmery, navy blue bridesmaids dresses set off the colorful flowers. I have seen this color dress on many bridesmaids this season, and for good reason--it looks good on all skin types! Future brides, give it a try if you don't want your maids in black.











Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Egg Dreams


On Sunday night I had a dream. The dream went like this: I went into the chicken coop and looked into the nest boxes. I found a small tower of neatly stacked up, cracked and empty egg shells. Apparently, my chickens had been laying eggs for some time, cracking them open, eating the inside and stacking the empty shells in the back corner of the box. Since I was not eating the eggs, the chickens thought they should not be going to waste.

I do not dream of chickens laying eggs on a regular basis.

I woke up the next morning (on my birthday) and thought for a moment about the dream and then let it go. I went out into the coop that morning and thought for kicks I would check the nest boxes. Low and behold, there were 2 eggs waiting for me in the boxes. Am I psychic or just REALLY in tune with my chickens? Either way, it was really shocking to me. The young chickens were scheduled to start laying in November, when they reached a mature age of 5 months old.
FYI: The eggs were delicious. Bright, deep, golden yellow yolks tasted great scrambled with bacon and cheese with a side of toast. A nice birthday breakfast. If you live in an area zoned for chickens I highly recommend having them as pets.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

A Natural Beauty


Brianna and Andy were married on Saturday at the Calhoun Beach Club. It was an absolute pleasure working with Bri. I cannot say enough nice words about this beautiful bride (inside and out!) and her very sweet husband. Brianna and Andy's wedding was different for many reasons. One, the very relaxed atmosphere of their family, friends and even the bride herself gave a truly harmonious feel to the afternoon and into their twilight ceremony. Two, the floral arrangements appeared to be gathered from the prairie and naturally beautiful and "so Bri" as her dad and mom said as they entered the reception hall. When the parents of the bride say those words after they look at the flowers, I feel I have done my job well.

The inspiration for the floral arrangements can best be described with these key words Bri used during our first consultation: wildflowers, branches, berries, simple, airy, soft, muted colors, not too contrived and, my favorite term, Anthropology store-esque. Then she gave me the greatest gift any bride can give her floral designer--she gave me her trust. When a client gives me their trust I am inspired and driven to do my best work for them and it never fails. The bride's dress was also inspiring to me, as usual. The delicate lace of the gown needed an equally delicate bouquet. All of the little details from the bride's exquisite jewelry and purse to her floral hairpiece really made this wedding one I will remember for a long time.

Some of the flowers I used for the 12 different table centers: beach branches, smoke bush, purple salvia, millet, purple mums, mini cymbidium orchids, astilbe, purple beauty berry (in silver vase only).
Flowers I used for the bouquets: pink heather, purple mums, purple beauty berry, purple fresia, and lavender flowers and bouquet handles wrapped with antique lace and ribbon from my grandmother's collection.

Warning: This blog entry contains many photos. I couldn't resist, enjoy!

Tucked into the brides loose updo, an adornment of heather, lavender and beauty berry.

The bride said the back of the dress was her favorite part.


The ring was a wedding gift and the purse she purchased online from etsy.com from Russia.

Posing with sister



The lovely and stylish maids. The dresses are from Anthropology.


The 12 different vases for the table centers were all purchased by the bride from antique stores and garage sales. The candles in cylinders compliments of her dad, Bruce, nice job! I love the contrast of the clean, crisp white room with the texture rich arrangements, it works beautifully.






The head table arrangements. I put my favorite vase on this table. Bri said the vase cost her $3 at a garage sale. Love it.