pink and navy blue

Pink and navy blue are a fabulous color combo.  I just love the bold contrast.  These wedding flowers were various shades of pink, with navy blue and silver accents.

We wanted to go for a soft, ruffly/lacey, feminine look, balanced with the more masculine blue.  Often when you're wanting that ruffly look, you go for flowers like peonies or garden roses, which can be pretty expensive.  But you can still absolutely achieve that look on a tighter budget with less expensive, but still gorgeous, flowers!  The main flowers we used for this event to fit the color and look we wanted were godetia and mini carnations.  (Don't be scared off by the negativity often associated with carnations - mini carns are more delicate looking, and work really well to fill in and add texture and depth!  Plus the godetia are more showy, so the eye is drawn more to them.)

The bride's bouquet was made entirely with godetia.  These beautiful blossoms are light pink around the ruffled edges with dark pink centers.

See what I mead about that ruffly/feminine look?  When they're all clustered together like that, it is simply gorgeous!

And here you can see how even when they are clustered in a bouquet, the beauty of each individual blossom can still be appreciated.  A simple but stunning bride's bouquet.  The wrap of the bouquet was navy blue ribbon with a silver necklace chain as an accent.

And to match the bride, the groom's boutonniere was made with the same pink godetia blossoms, with silver leaves and navy blue ribbon.

The bridesmaids' bouquets were made with godetia and mini carnations in three different shades of pink and white, and a navy blue ribbon wrap.

The different colors of carnations add depth and texture, and mirror the shades of pink in the godetia.

The groomsmen boutonnieres were made with the different shades of carnations, silver leaves, and navy blue ribbon.

 And then we have the centerpieces.  Same flowers, in short round vases tied with tulle and navy blue ribbon.

spring tulips

Happy Spring everyone!  In spite of the snow still clinging to shady patches of my yard, I am ready to celebrate spring!

And what better way to do so than with some beautiful spring bulbs?

A mix of different colored tulips

I love the red and white striping on this dark purple tulip.  Gorgeous!

This little crocus blossom is the first flower from my garden this year!  I had to rescue it from the snow yesterday (it snapped off under the weight).  So excited for more to come!

fall flowers and a pumpkin

I had the opportunity to work on some fall-themed florals recently for a dinner at my church.  It was lots of fun, and I love fall colors!  Plus, I got to use a pumpkin!  I've been wanting to do an arrangement like this for a while, but well, you just can't do this any time of year but fall!  And, as long as I had the flowers, I did a little bouquet as well.

A fall color bouquet wrapped in twine

Fall color flowers and curly willow in a pumpkin 

A close up of the flowers - yellow alstromeria, mums, and asters, orange daisies and asters, and burgundy carnations 

Happy Fall everyone!

floating roses - an elegant white wedding

Elegant and classy, but with a unique twist.  So many weddings have round tables, so it was fun to do long tables - they allow for a different style and a little more room.  Instead of just one centerpiece, we went with a row of centerpieces down the length of the table.  And those of you thinking "yeah, but that would totally blow my budget! I can't afford more than one centerpiece per table!" - definitely not the case here.  Each vase had only a single flower in it - a large white garden rose floating on top of the water.  We did mix it up a bit so some tables had a taller centerpiece in the middle, but the tables with only the floating roses looked just as lovely.  And the little glass votives, lace tablecloths, and delicate china gave it an even more romantic feeling.

A row of full white roses floating in glass vases

The taller centerpiece was actually on a glass cake stand - white roses, some greenery, and a taller candle in the middle

Retro Wildflower Themed Shoot

Here are just a few of the pictures from the awesome shoot I worked on a few weeks ago.  Thanks April from Bladh Photography for the gorgeous photos!  They were going for a very retro/vintage look, with the flowers looking very natural and organic, so we used some wildflowers, and some things you might find growing in your own garden.  We also used mason jars and some vintage looking vases and pitchers to hold the flowers and tie it all together.  Enjoy!

Photography: Bladh Photography

Makeup: Shanda Palmer with Fase It Makeup

Cotton Candy: Candy Clouds

For more of this fun shoot, check out Bladh Photography's blog post 

For more pictures just of the flowers, go to my previous blog post

garden and wildflower themed florals

I had the wonderful opportunity of working with April from Bladh Photography on a fantastic shoot this week.  It was a very organic, vintage, styled shoot, so we used  a lot of wildflowers and flowers you'd find in the garden (I even snuck in some herbs from my herb garden!).  I can't wait to see April's pictures, which will not only be infinitely better than mine, but actually be from the shoot.  These are just a few I managed to snap on my own.  You'll get to see the full shoot soon - including beautiful vintage furniture pieces, mason jars filled with wildflowers hanging from trees,  a gorgeous couple, and lots of fun!

So enjoy these for now, and look forward to more coming soon!

I adore these little white vases.  I have a pair of them, and want to use them for everything!  Plus, they matched a vintage white porcelain pitcher we used in the shoot as well.

The bouquet - a very organic, wildflower look, hand tied with sage fabric, some bits of netting like you would find on a cage veil, and some twine.  We used daisies, peonies, garden roses, wild mustard, columbines, and several other garden flowers. 

Another shot of the bouquet - a pewter locket is tied on with twine around the stems.  Personal accents like brooches, lockets, keys, bits of lace from the bride's dress (or her mother's/grandmother's) are a great way to add a little something extra to a bouquet, or to tie in themes or other elements from the wedding.

Peonies, daisies, and some wildflowers fill one of many mason jars used to set the scene for the shoot.

cream and apple green wedding

Oh my goodness this wedding turned into a nightmare!!  Not any fault of the bride and groom - they were wonderful to work with - just everything seemed to be going wrong.  From flowers dying inexplicably, to vases breaking, to construction traffic making it take four times as long as normal to get places, to my camera dying so I couldn't take any good pictures... oh, it was a long and stressful day!
I just hope the day went better for the bride and groom!!
But in spite of everything, I think the flowers still turned out beautifully.  I'll post the few pictures I got (some kind of gross because I took them on my phone - my camera died, remember?) And hopefully soon I'll get some pictures from the photographer that will be infinitely better than these.  But it should give you a little taste of this wedding.

The bride's bouquet - cream and green roses with white ranunculus and green hypericum berries

The groom's boutonniere - a cream rose with green hypericum berries

The wedding party flowers - a bit blurry I know... Cream roses and green berries for the women, green roses and berries for the men.  I didn't get a good picture of the maid of honor's bouquet...

The centerpiece for the head table

Green hydrangea and curly willow centerpiece

White hydrangea, curly willow, and green berries centerpiece

The flowers for the top of the cake - I didn't get a picture of them on the cake because it wasn't ready to assemble when I left.  I really really hope I get a good cake picture from the photographer!!

Definitely not the greatest picture, but you can see more of the finished result - half the tables had the hydrangea centerpieces, the other half had short round vases with green roses, and curly willow down inside the vase.

For some beautiful pictures of the flowers for their "groomal" session, check out the "sneak peek" post from a few weeks ago.

silk flower centerpiece in burgundy, green, and cream

I love interior design - in fact, I briefly contemplated becoming an interior designer, but decided to just keep it as a hobby - so I was delighted when a neighbor asked if I would design something for her home.  She already had the container and many of the flowers, but didn't really know where to go from there.  She wanted something really full and Victorian looking to match the furniture and decor she already has.

A close-up of the flowers - look pretty good for silks, don't you think?  (Yes, I am biased.  I definitely prefer fresh flowers, but for something like this, that doesn't really work.  So the key is finding silks that don't look all super fake!)

These pictures were actually shot at my house, not the house the arrangement was intended for.  I'll have to go see how it looks in its rightful home.

spring wreath

It is snowing today.  I am done with snow!  So I decided to make this incredibly spring-y wreath of blossoming branches.  Just to defy the weather.  Of course, I'm still planning to stay inside all day.  But since spring IS coming, and hopefully soon, here is some spring floral inspiration for you!

Have I mentioned that I love my new camera?  Because I do!  I mean, this is a tiny little pink blossom, and look at all the detail in the photo.  I love it.

This was my very first attempt at making a wreath completely on my own - as in, no floral foam or wire frame, just the branches.  It was a bit tricky, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.  These would be beautiful decorations for a spring wedding, or just to brighten up your home.

Happy (almost) Spring!!