Monday, October 20, 2008

Rachel & Ben 8.2.08

I met Rachel back in February and knew I would love working with her. She was so excited to marry Ben which made the planning so enjoyable! My favorite weddings are always the ones where the marriage is more important than the event that's being planned to celebrate it.

The wedding took place at the estate of a family friend. It was absolutely breathtaking! The house was indescribably beautiful, and the large lawn stretched right down to the sound! It's always fun to get to work at a unique venue like that. I was also excited to be working with one of my favorite photographers, Luke Rutan. Check him out at www.lukerutan.com. Luke does an amazing job with weddings in general, but I am always impressed with a photographer who can make the flowers look as good in pictures as the did in real life!

Rachel picked a unique and vibrant color palate of peacock blue, red, and cantaloupe. We decided to accent with some bright green, which really made her colors come to life. Rachel's bouquet was made of a stunning combination of blue hydrangea, red gerbera daisies, cantaloupe dahlias and green buplurum.











Congratulations Rachel and Ben! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Allie & Chris

My cousin Allie got married on August 15th and I got to do the flowers! It's always especially fun to put together wedding flowers for someone you've known forever-- it makes it a lot easier to reflect their personalities in the arrangements. Allie has always been a very sweet, thoughtful, fun-loving girl. I was so happy for her and Chris and so blessed to get to be a part of their special day!

My thanks to Christy Pelland with c.pelland photography for these amazing images! Christy not only does a fantastic job taking great pictures, but she really invests in her relationship with each couple and cares about their story. She's the type of vendor I love to work with and I recommend her very highly. Check out her web site at www.christypelland.com

Allie's bouquet was the star of the show- as the bride's bouquet should be! The bridesmaids were wearing red, so to make sure we kept a summery rather than wintery feel, we decided to use lots of orange and bright green in the flowers. I used red and orange roses, orange mini calla lilies, orange freesia, orange dahlias, green hypericum berries and buplurum in the bride's bouquet. The colors really work well together, don't you think?










Here are some shots of the girls in their red dresses. I definitely think we accomplished the summery look we were after! Allie's sister- my cousin- Kate was the maid of honor. As you can probably tell, she had the baby not long after the wedding-- she was a trooper!









Here's one last shot of the flowers on the cake:




Congratulations Allie and Chris!!!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Jen & Nate

Jen and Nate were married in early June at the Inglewood Golf Club. They wanted to create a classic, timeless feel with lots of candle light for a romantic atmosphere.

Jen's bouquet was a classic white hand-tied bundle of roses, lissianthus and sweet peas. She was stunning, and her bouquet was the perfect accessory!






The bridesmaid's bouquets, centerpieces and ceremony pieces brought a big pop of color to the reception with lots of raspberry pink and bright green. It was just the touch of color we needed to breath life into the day!








I had a blast working with Jen, her mom Sue and their coordinator Heather to put together a beautiful wedding.

Congratulations Jen and Nate!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Chantelle & Sebastian 4.26.08

I just got pictures from one of my first weddings of the 2008 season and thought I'd share them with you. All of the photos are by Christy Pelland-- Check out her website at christypelland.com. She does great work!

Chantelle and Sebastian were married in April at the Hanson Place in Sumner. I had never worked at this venue before. It doesn't look like much from the street, but it is surprisingly beautiful inside. Chantelle had chosen a cinderella theme with white, turquoise, and tiffany blue for her colors.

The bridesmaids bouquets were made up of white roses, white stock, white tulips, blue delphinium and loops of lily grass.





When I deliver flowers for a wedding, I label all of the personal flowers (bouquets, corsages & boutonnieres) to make it really easy to distribute them so that I don't have to bother the bride to find out what goes to which person. Bouquets are delivered in vases to make it easy to display them at the reception.




Chantelle's bouquet had a slightly cascading shape and was made up of white roses, white oriental lilies, white stock, blue delphinium, grape hyacinth, loops of lily grass and rhinestone accents.








Congratulations Chantelle and Sebastian!

Monday, June 30, 2008

Marcie & Kevin

Marcie and Kevin were married in an outdoor ceremony in late May at Pickering Barn in Issaquah. They were blessed with beautiful weather, which was no small miracle considering the spring we'd been having! Marcie was one of my favorite brides of the summer-- very down to earth and easy to work with! She actually reminds me a lot of my friend Kendy.

Here is what Marcie had to say about her experience working with Paisley Petals:

"Kevin and I would like to thank you for all of your hard work on our
flowers. When I first met you, I had no clue what flowers I wanted, or
what I wanted my bouquets to look like. Not to mention the
arrangements. I was pretty much just going to give you the color scheme
and let you do what you do best. And let me tell you, I was more than
impressed.

Your knowledge of flowers set me at ease, we both agree that you have
proven yourself as one of the best florists we have ever seen. Our
budget was small, but you would not have known from the looks of the
bouquets and arrangements. We received so many compliments on the
flowers, they were amazing. Thank you so much, and we will recommend
you to anyone needing a florist!"

Thank you, Marcie-- it was my pleasure to work with you!

Here are a couple of photos from Marcie & Kevin's wedding. Enjoy!


Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Windy Hill Peony Farm

I am so excited about my local peony farm! Peonies are later than usual this year because of the weather we've had. That meant that for a couple of my peony weddings, I had to buy them from my floral wholesaler instead. The peonies there cost twice as much, and they are about half as good. Peg from Windy Hill Peony Farm is so helpful and accommodating of my large orders! If you live in this area, make sure you get out there before the peonies are all gone. It's in Enumclaw on 236th in the Wabash area. It's a u-cut farm, and Peg sells bunches of 10 for 8.50 which is a steal! Right now, I have a HUGE vase on my coffee table filled with her peonies. They are amazingly gorgeous. I bought them last Wednesday, and they are still happy! (I strongly urge the use of a floral preservative in cut flowers-- it really does extend their vase life!)

Here are a few pictures-- one of the arrangement and two of a particularly huge peony... I mean, I know my hands are small, but that's still one stinkin' huge flower!



Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Jenna & Tim

I thought I'd start a new blog for Paisley Petals. This will be the place to get a sneak peak at new photos before they are added to the web site. Enjoy!

Jenna and Tim were married in a simple but beautiful ceremony at Crossroads Bible Church on June 1. Their reception was held in a gorgeous room overlooking the water at Salty's on Alki. They had been living in Spokane, so Jenna and I did most of our planning via email. This was unusual for me, since I really like to meet by brides in person to get to know them better. We worked it out though, and everything turned out beautifully.

Jenna's bouquet was an all-ivory design made up of peonies, mini calla lilies and freesia. Tim's Boutonniere was a single mini calla lily. I love callas as boutonnieres-- they are stunning in their simplicity. They have just the right form to sit nicely on a lapel. (Photos courtesy of Photo by Eva)












Congratulations Jennna and Tim!