Flourish - Wedding Flowers & Floral Design, Florist

Real Weddings Magazine Phoot Shoot

These images were from the photo shoot in the last Real Weddings Magazine. The photographer was my friend Sarah Maren, Hair and Make-up was by the always glamorous Image Provocateurs and the site was one of my favorite venues, The Old Sugar Mill

I love designing flowers for photo shoots. It gives me a chance to go all out and put together some fabulous flowers.

Labels: bridal bouquets, Real Weddings Magazine

Wedding Decor A to Z- Color

Series of topics about wedding planning, flowers and wedding trends categorized from A to Z.

"C" IS FOR COLOR

One of the first decor directions you will establish when planning your wedding is color choice. Color plays a huge role in the feel and look of your event.

I want to talk about color impact in flowers by discussing two ends of the scale. All white flowers and brightly colored flowers.

WHITE FLOWERS
All white flowers are the traditional choice for weddings. White symbolizes purity and a fresh start. But when using all white flowers there are a few problems to consider.

Lack of impact: When designing with white flowers there is a lack of the initial "Wow" factor. When your guests first enter the reception they may not be immediately bowled over by the impact of the flowers. Additionally, all white flowers have a tendency to disappear in photos. How do you compensate for this? By either using masses of white flowers or by using the flowers in an interesting and unusual design.

The picture above is of centerpieces in shades of white and touches of green. What makes these centerpieces interesting is the use of textural elements and the varying shades of white. The variety of textures and shades keep the flowers from blending away into a white "blur".

White flowers are more delicate: If your event takes place in the heat of the summer your white flowers might suffer for it. White flowers show bruises and heat damage faster and easier than deeper colored flowers.

BRIGHT FLOWERS

Brightly colored flowers at weddings have become more popular. for several reasons. But for me- I love bright flowers at a wedding because they communicate joy and happiness.

More bang for your flower buck:
Bright flowers give your reception room a lot of impact and visual excitement. Another consideration is bright or high contrast flowers will photograph beautifully.

More flower choices make good budget sense: When your floral designer is not limited to one specific color but is working with a palette of colors it allows for smart purchasing decisions. When I am working with a range of colors, I can take advantage of great specials offered by flower wholesalers and growers. This means more blooms for my bride and groom!

I guess you can tell where my heart lies. In a bed of sunshine, citrus and candy colored blooms!

Labels: bridal bouquets, bright wedding flowers, Sacramento wedding flowers, white wedding flowers

Incline Village wedding

I recieved this note with these pictures from one of my spring brides. Demetria and Reid live in another state so all of our planning was done via phone calls and e-mail. I met Demetria the first time when I brought in her bridal bouquet. The wedding took place at the goregous Saint Francis at Incline Village, NV and the reception was at The Chateau. The views were to die for!

This note is so sweet! I love my brides!

Shannon-

Here are some photos that my wedding photographer, Samuel Potter got of some of your work.

The colors and the designs were beautifully coordinated. I am so glad I have these pictures.

You were so great to work with and I will definitely recommend your work to my family and friends. You are very creative and those special touches is what made our photos come to life. Thank you so much. -Demetria-

Labels: bridal bouquets, Sacramento florist, Sacramento wedding flowers, Sacramento weddings, Tahoe wedding flowers

Highlights from David and Sarah

I recieved a link to a highlights reel today. I designed the flowers for David and Sarah last year.

Take a look:

David and Sarah at Le Rivage

Thanks Jensen Video!

Labels: bridal bouquets, centerpieces, decor, fall, Le Rivage Hotel, Sacramento, Sacramento florist, Sacramento wedding flowers

Where do you get your flowers?

When I started in the field of floral design, 20 years ago (yikes!) cut flowers that were grown and shipped from another part of the world for the average florist to use were rare. Partly because of the cost of expedited shipping and partly because communications between growers, wholesalers and the florist were cumbersome and difficult. With the advent of the Internet and improved shipping channels it has become commonplace for florist to use product from all over the world every single day.

This picture below is of a Groom's boutonniere I designed this past October. Where did those flowers come from? Let's break it down-
Dendrobium orchids- Hawaii
Ruscus- Florida
Hypericum berries- Columbia

I find is fascinating that such a small item's parts hail from three different parts of the world.

What about the picture of the bridal bouquet above?

Roses- Eucador

Lilac- Holland

Hypericum- Columbia

Blushing Bride Protea- New Zeland

Scented geranium- USA- Oregon

Lisianthus- Columbia

Seeded Eucalyptus- USA- Florida

Hanging amaranthus- Columbia

Isn't that amazing?

Over the past 20 years our world has changed dramatically. With the ease of communication the world has become such a small place. Countries and cultures that used to seem exotic and far away have become an intricately entwined with our everyday life.

Photo credits: Tee Taylor, True Love Photo

Labels: boutonniere, bridal bouquets

One of my favorite summer bouquets

I loved designing this bridal bouquet. It was so bright and beautiful.

The style of the design is a modified Biedermeier bouquet. Biedermeier designs are of concentric circles or lines of one type of flower. I designed this bouquet to have slightly irregular shape so the overall effect was not so studied.

Labels: bridal bouquets, summer

One of my favorite Spring bridal bouquets

I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite designs from last year's wedding season. I'll put up a different favorite when the mood strikes

This was one of my favorite spring bouquets. The bouquet was very traditional in shape, flower choice and style. I loved how the colors of lavender, champagne and white blended. Plus I am a sucker for any bouquet that incorporates peonies and sweet peas. :)

photo from Bradford Sheperd

Labels: bradford sheperd, bridal bouquets, spring

New Camera!

I did it! I took the plunge and invested in a nice camera to document my work. Thanks to my photographer friends (Beth with True Love Photo, Wendy from Wendy Hithe Photography and Sam from Sharpe Photographers) that have given me some great tips along the way.

The pictures above are from the events of this past weekend. I look forward to taking pictures of all of the beautiful flowers we have planned for this summer!

Labels: bridal bouquets, centerpieces

Fun bridal bouquets

Thanks to Rachelle Photography for taking these pictures of bouquets I designed. You are a Rockstar!

Labels: bridal bouquets, Rachelle Photography