Alix & Aran at the Center for Wooden Boats

Alix and Aran were married on July 28th, at The Center for Wooden Boats. They had a small, intimate wedding, that was the perfect example of "quality over quantity." Being an event planner, Alix was super organized, and hired an amazing team of vendors, from food (Herban Feast = to die for) to photographer (Malcolm Smith = super smart and stylish). Thank you Malcolm for these great shots!

The cocktail tables were each adorned with collections of cut succulents, little jars, bottles and bud vases (with flowers in them of course!), placed at varying heights on little blocks of wood.

Alix wore an awesome, teal dress that suited her perfectly.

Congrats to Alix and Aran! May you have a long and happy life together!!!

Making a mock-up

Normally I don't like making mock-ups- they are typically made so far in advance of the big day that the flowers selections are nothing like the flowers used in the actual piece, thus they are a pretty inaccurate representation of what the actual bouquet will look like. But when the first dahlias of the season appeared in the market today, I was practically jumping up and down with excitement to make this one! (LOCAL DAHLIAS ARE IN- YES!!!!!) Plus, it's for a wedding at the end of this month, so I will be able to use nearly all of these flower selections.

Pretty summery.... (and thanks to my lovely landlady Amy for modeling!)

Succulent Gardens for Washington C.A.S.H.

A few weeks back, I had the honor of creating centerpieces for the annual fundraiser for Washington C.A.S.H., an incredible non-profit in Seattle whose mission reads: "Washington C.A.S.H. empowers aspiring entrepreneurs with limited resources—and unlimited potential. We provide the hands-on education, in-depth support, and access to capital needed to launch and grow successful small enterprises." I was particularly excited for this project, because Washington C.A.S.H. is a very special organization to me: they provided me with tons of helpful training and resources when I was starting Botanique, and continue to play a critical role when I need business mentoring.

For their fundraiser, I wanted to create something clean, chic and modern that they could sell to attendees of the fundraiser at the end of the night to raise money. As these succulent gardens will survive for quite a while without too much care (just a little spritzing with water about once a week), and they have a cool, contemporary look, they seemed like a good match.

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the room once it was all set-up, nor did I take any photos of our epic adventure through the Convention Center Loading Zone to get these little gardens to their homes on the tables! (but that part is a crazy story involving zooming pallet trucks, humongous dollies, and a massive freight elevator...) Suffice to say, they all made it to their proper places safe and intact, and the event was a huge success, raising over $100,000! Congratulations to Washington C.A.S.H.!

For anyone out there in the Seattle area with a great business idea who wants/needs some help getting it off the ground, I strongly recommend that you check out Washington C.A.S.H. They are truly a fantastic organization, and it was such a treat for Botanique to be able to help with their fundraiser!