Fresh Flower Rings!

My little flower rings have been a big hit lately! I made a couple for Heather Boren's girls for the Father/Daughter dance in February. Heather is a super-talented photographer, so she snapped a couple of shots for me (check her out at http://heatherborenphotography.blogspot.com/). I'm so happy to finally have some professional quality shots of my flower rings-- the others I have are blurry and just don't do them justice!



These rings are great for bridesmaids to wear at the reception-- they still get to feel special without having to carry their bouquet around all night! They are also fabulous for prom, birthday parties, bachelorette parties, girl's night out, etc. Rings range from $15-$25. Once you have your ring, I can re-do the flower for $5- $10 for future events.

Nicole & Mike

Nicole and Mike were married on September 26th, 2009 at Crystal Mountain Lodge. I had a blast working with Nicole. It's always fun to work with a bride who has her own unique style and isn't afraid of color! We used peacock feathers, callas, lisianthus, spider mums, hypericum berries and cymbidium orchids to put together this look. I love the way it turned out, and I'm still amazed that it went off without a hitch considering my baby boy was just 6 days old at the time!

Congrats Nicole & Mike!

 

All Photos are by Clane Gessel Photography.

This wedding was also featured as the "Wedding of the Day" on weddingchannel.com! Check it out:
Nicole and Mike's Wedding - Wedding Style - Real Weddings - Wedding Photos - Whot Got Married - Wedding of the Day - Wedding Themes - Wedding Planning - Wedding Ideas

Come See Me @ the Festival of Crafts!

There's a new event coming to town this year that I'm pretty excited about... The Festival of Crafts! Over 70 vendors will be there to give you a chance to kick off your Christmas shopping! There will also be santa pictures, carolers, free holiday crafts, entertainment, food-- the works! Admission is $5, or $4 for seniors and kids are free! Paisley Petals will be there taking orders for both Thanksgiving and Christmas centerpieces. The dates are Friday November 20th through Sunday November 22nd. Hours are 9 to 7 Friday and Saturday and 10 to 4 on Sunday. It's at the Enumclaw Expo Center (aka King County Fairgrounds). Hope to see you there!

Corrine & Kelly

 

I had so much fun working with Corrine on her wedding! She has such great taste! As a designer, it's always fun to get to work with lots of color and texture, and this wedding definitely had both of those elements. We used callas, dahlias, orchids, roses, hydrangea, hypericum, seeded eucalyptus and- my favorite- fern curls! I love the accent of the fern curls in the bouquets. I especially liked the way they looked in the boutonneires! Thanks Corrine for letting me be a part of your special day!

All photos are by Kaycee Clark with Real Life Photographs. You can find Kaycee's information on the "vendors" section of my website.

Abby & Lucas

Abby & Lucas were married on July 11th, 2009 at Wellspring Woodland Spa in Ashford, WA. During the inital consultation process, Abby described their venue as "an earthy utopia that is unique and romantic." They wanted flowers that reflected that feeling. We decided to go with a unique blend of greens, browns and ivorys. Everything turned out beautifully-- I especially loved the fern frond boutonnieres.

Congratulations Abby & Lucas! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

 

Behind The Scenes

I've been realizing lately that most of my clients really don't know what goes into designing a wedding. I thought it would be fun to give you all a little peek behind the scenes. I have a small wedding this Saturday, so today was pick-up day for the flowers. On pick-up day, I go in to my wholesaler and inspect the product. I make sure I have everything that I ordered and that the quality is good and make any last-minute order additions based on what they have available in their cooler. This is also when I pick up any supplies I might need- floral preservatives, ribbon, mechanics, etc. (mechanics are the items you use to make a design like wire, floral foam, corsage bracelets, etc.) Picking up the flowers a couple of days before I do the design work gives me a chance to prepare them properly and allow any closed blooms to open up.

Once I get the flowers back in the shop, it's time to get them all prepped and hydrated. All of the flowers cared for according to their specific needs. For example, i just finished processing 50 blooms of stephanotis. They have to be float soaked in water for 30 minutes, then sprayed with an anti-transpirant, allowed to dry, and stored in a damp-paper-towel-lined tupperware container in the cooler.

Here is a picture of the stephanotis drying.


I also found 2 odd blooms in my stephanotis today-- one with 4 petals and one with 6! They are supposed to have 5 petals.





I am using black magic roses on this wedding. This is my favorite red rose because of it's great shape, rich color and velvety petals.


Here's a photo of the stripped leaves & thorns and cut stems from 75 roses! Sometimes this is a messy business!


Lisianthus is another favorite wedding flower of mine. It looks a lot like a ruffly rose, but it's petals are more papery and it's quite a bit less expensive. Lizzy comes in white, purple, pink, cream, yellow, and some bi-colors.





So, I've got about 5 hours worth of work put into this wedding so far, and I haven't designed a single bouquet, corsage our boutonniere yet! Preparing the flowers properly is so important for their lasting quality. Making in from the pre-wedding photo shoot all the way through the reception is a lot to ask of flowers-- especially when they're not in water! Proper care and handling at the beginning means that my clients always get the freshest, most beautiful wedding flowers that last as long as possible!

Thanks for reading-- always feel free to ask me any questions you may have about flower preparation and care!

Fresh Flower Rings!

We are excited to unveil our new offering for the 2009 wedding and prom season-- Fresh Flower Rings!!!

These are a super-cute alternative to a corsage. Or, an addition to a corsage package if you want to go all out. Over and over, I have heard clients express less than enthusiastic feelings about corsages in general, but they really didn't know what else they could do to honor the important people in their lives at their wedding or to make their date feel special for the big dance.

The Fresh Flower Ring is our answer! The ring itself can be made in just about any color, and the fresh flower possibilities are endless. From button mums (like the green ones pictured below) to orchids, many different types of flowers can be fashioned into rings.

Here are a couple of pictures of my first attempts to give you an idea:






As always, if you know anyone who is planning a wedding or event, please give them my name! I appreciate all of your referrals!