Carnation Urn

Photo by Heather Boren


Photo by Luke Rutan


Want the lush look of ruffled peonies but it's not peony season? Try carnations! This is the one and only way I like carnations-- en masse. They take on a whole new aesthetic when presented this way. I did this centerpiece for the young life event, and also for a wedding 2 Septembers ago. The bride really wanted peonies, but they were just too far out of season locally to be affordable (read: I could have had them flown in from New Zeland, but that would have put her waaaay over budget!) so I went out on a limb and suggested carnations. She was thrilled with the result! (see second photo)Many people turn their noses up at carnations (trust me, I understand!) but they really do look lovely when they are used by themselves in a large arrangement or pomander.

Color Cube

A couple more centerpieces from the Young Life event. These are 2 variations on the same idea--LOTS of color in a cube vase with an interesting accent. The first one has roses(red intuition variety from rio-- take a closer look! One of my favorite roses!), spider mums, hypericum, freesia and anemone. We added black accents with paper, ribbon, and colored wire. This would be a great way to add color to a wedding where the attendants were wearing black (which happens more often than you might think!)

The second arrangement has a lot more orange and no black accents, so the overall look is brighter. It's made up of roses, freesia, asiatic lilies, kermit mums, anemone, and hypericum with lilly grass accents. We also used a piece of scrapbook paper under the vase to make the arrangement stand out more against the white tablecloth. This is one of my favorite inexpensive ideas for table decor. It's a great way to bring in a theme like black & white damask.

Thanks again to Heather Boren for the photos!

Picnic in the Grass

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of donating some centerpieces to the Young Life "Palate of the Plateau" event. I love this event because I'm given total creative freedom. They auction off the centerpieces, so it's good for them to be different to appeal to different tastes. I'm not given a color scheme, style, size, or anything-- I just get to do what I want! It's so great because I get to have the BEST time creating and support an organization I believe in at the same time.

So, I made about 12 centerpieces and was pretty happy with the results. Then I realized that I was about to have another missed opportunity to add to my portfolio. I'm not great at taking pictures, and I don't have a good camera, either. So, anytime I try to take photos of my work, they end up looking lame. So, I called up my new friend Heather Boren with Heather Boren Photography and asked her to do me the HUGE last-minute favor of swinging by the event during set-up to take some photos of my centerpieces. The venue was a high school cafeteria, so needless to say, the conditions for shooting decent photos were not ideal. I just got the photos back from Heather, and I have to say, I am SO impressed with what she managed to do in that big, ugly room! If you or someone you know are getting married, needing senior pictures, or a family photo shoot, PLEASE give Heather a call. You will not be disappointed!

There are so many of these centerpieces, I was tempted to put them all up in one post. But, I decided that since they were all different, it would be fun to blog them one at a time. I had a hard time picking a favorite, so I went with the one that seems to fit the best with today's beautiful, sunny weather. I'm calling it "Picnic in the Grass:"





Photos by Heather Boren Photography