Rachel and Lucas, June 19, 2010

The bride's bouquet contained hydrangea, magolica spray roses, phalenopsis orchids, vandella roses, mini calla lilies, lily grass and finally, green and white goose neck loosestrife from my garden.

submerged dendrobium orchids and floating candles

seem to "float" on the infinity-like pool at the reception

wheat grass and cymbidiums on the the cocktail tables

They love their dogs!

Today Rachel and Lucas got married at the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church and reception at the McNamara Alumni Center in Minneapolis. Rachel is sweet as can be and she also knew what she wanted to see at her wedding: lots of candles with a green, white, ivory, black and charcoal gray color scheme. The designs were glowing, sleek and fun. I think the color scheme worked great. Well done Rachel and Lucas and congratulations! Oh, and they had the best table number cards ever...black and white 5 x 7 photos of their two cute bulldogs. I'm pretty sure those will be a hit tonight.

head table phalenopsis tree

Fresh From The Garden

This week, I took advantage of the last of the gorgeous magenta peony in my garden. (Peony are available in MN in May and June. They are also available from the wholesaler cooler in winter, but they are costly.) I mixed them with dark red Asiatic lilies, dark red shrub roses and the chocolate colored Purple Palace Coral Bells leaves and their tiny, pink/white blossoms. The result is a romantic and passionate mix of June flowers. Perfect for the bride who wants something feminine and different. I love the Coral Bells leaves. Not only does the rich chocolate color on top compliment the red and magenta flowers, but the underside of the leaves has a magenta hue all its own! I love my garden.

Underside of Coral Bells leaves

This is my son, Lucas. He is going to be 3 in August
and wanted to show me his car and be in the photo. :)

Playing Dress Up

I've been married for almost 10 years now. In that time, I have traveled with my husband, bought a house, had two beautiful children and started my own floral design business. The one thing that has not changed over these past 10 years is...I love dressing up!

Today I collaborated with my friends at Studio Laguna and Grace Bridal Boutique to dress up and take some new photos for my website. It was a wonderful opportunity to create images which show my personality and love of all things floral, weddings and fashion. I really enjoyed incorporating items from my own collection such as gloves, jewelry, shoes, a parasol and gorgeous white peonies from my own garden.



For this bouquet I used peach Juliet garden roses, red spray roses, white spirea and wax flower, peach stock blooms, asters, green helebores, blue bachelor buttons and white peony from my garden then tied with a light blue sash.

Pink and Green

Jaime and Jared were married yesterday at Bayview Event Center in Excelsior along Lake Minnetonka. Before delivery, I took the wedding party bouquets to a local antique store, The Vintage Cottage in Chaska, to be photographed (since it was pouring rain outside, where I usually take pictures to document the bouquets). Lucky for me the antique shop was featuring pink and white yesterday!

At the wedding:
Jaime envisioned a pink and green color scheme for the ceremony and reception, without overdoing it. She was wonderful to work with because she was firm in her style, but open to suggestions regarding details for floral. We decided upon hydrangea, roses, orchids, spider mums and limes for a bold and fresh look.

The arbor was created by my husband Tom, especially for Jaime and Jared's wedding. It is also available for future weddings. The day was really windy, so we used a total of 200 lb of Quick-Crete bags to weigh it down. The arbor didn't move an inch the entire afternoon and the hydrangea blooms stayed perfectly in place for the ceremony and into the cocktail hour.

Congratulations Jaime and Jared! I had a great time!

Backyard Bouquets

I couldn't resist the lovely, once a year lure of lilacs. Their color, scent and soft textures are wonderful to use in vased or hand tied arrangements. I loved using the green mint with the dark lilac. And the scent--wow, so good. I kept my nose in these bouquets all day, later giving them to the lovely Katrina of Studio Laguna, thanking her for capturing these beauties from all angles.
A note on the robin eggs. The mama abandoned them in a nest in our yard and I collected them to show off their extraordinary color.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Lilacs, see you next year, I'll miss you!

Prom King and Queen (of Hearts)

Challenge #1:
How to design a corsage and boutonniere for an Alice in Wonderland themed prom?
I used the King and Queen of Hearts, of course!

Challenge #2:
How to design this very last minute order using only fresh product found in my own garden?
I gathered lily of the valley, dark purple columbine, pink saxifragia and young birch leaves.

I heard later that afternoon the clients loved having such unique and locally grown "floral bling" for their prom night.