Featured on Ruffled!

A little over a month ago we were featured on Ruffled! Below are some of my favorite images from the shoot, but be sure to head over to Ruffled to check out the full feature, because there are tons more........

Flowers: Us!
Photography: Lora Grady
Event Design: Darien Leigh Events & Design
Venue: Dairyland
Decor: Vintage Ambiance
Invitations: Dahlia Press
Hair and Makeup: Ceann Cherry
Cake: Baked
Bowties: The Tie Bar
Baubles: Charming Charlie

Schuyler and Peter- Whimsical Garden Wedding in Madrona

Schuyler and Peter married in early June at a private residence in Madrona. I loved working with the color palette Schuyler chose of orange shades, bright greens, and crisp white. Mock orange, scented geranium, and sweet peas made Schuyler's bouquet smell amazing, and the poppies and ranunculas created a serious color kick. When I handed Schuyler her bouquet, she gave me the best compliment any bride can ever give their floral designer: "It's perfect!" Music to my ears. All photos by Barbara Kinney. Fun fact: Barbara was a staff photographer at the White House while President Clinton was in office! Check out her website for some amazing photojournalism.....

This bunny was a permanent fixture in the garden... but he did dress up in a new white top hat and tulle bowtie for the occasion....

(This photo totally cracks me up! All I can hear is "The bouquet is mine.....")

Congratulations Schuyler and Peter! It was a joy designing these flowers for you.

Josie & Colt at Fireseed

Josie and Colt- what a sweet, kind and easy-going couple. I was lucky enough to design the flowers for their mid-May wedding at Fireseed, and it was a delight to work with such a bounty of gorgeous, local ingredients: TREE PEONIES! RANUNCULAS! POPPIES! Plus wild-foraged honeysuckle, rubus, senecio foliage, viburnum... some of my all-time favorites, woven together to create a look that reads as fresh, springy, vibrant and soft. All of these gorgeous images were taken by Stephanie Guerrero and Tara Brown.

It was a lovely, warm, springtime affair. Congratulations Josie and Colt on the start of a new chapter together!

Sarala's Bouquet

It has been so busy around here that I am way behind on my blogging. There is so much to share! Before March is a completely distant memory, it seems important to share this shot of Sarala's bouquet. From that magical time when fritillaries, hellebores, muscari and ranunculas were all blooming together. Magic, I say, magic!

This lovely photo comes courtesy of Ish Ishmael. Stay tuned for lots more photos coming to this blog in the near future.....

Spring Bouquets

Spring flowers are so pretty.... so undeniably pretty!!! The delicate petals, the buds and blooming branches, the vibrant green of all the new foliage.... it's like all the flowers are saying "Hey! We're back! And we're glowing more brightly than ever before...."

It's how I feel too- like I am waking up, stretching my legs, and feeling rather bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Spring marks the beginning... the beginning of the eight or so months where amazing botanical materials spill out of every corner of the garden; where I get to create bouquets and arrangements (and this year, some really cool installations too!) for an amazing clientele who value local flowers and artful, graceful and luminous design.... it truly is exciting!

Ready, set, SPRING! Here we go!

Spring Subscription: Week Six

I won't hide it: I am on a mission to convince you that local, seasonal flowers are the best thing out there since sliced bread. I dare you to try to find flowers this beautiful in a Trader Joe's. Or a Safeway. Or anywhere else that sells flowers flown in from other parts of the world. They may be cheep, but those flowers can't hold a candle to the local ones.

This week's subscription arrangements include:

• Physocarpus, Candytuft and Polygonum from J. Foss Garden Flowers in Chehalis, WA
• Ranunculas from Everyday Flowers in Stanwood, WA
• Campanula from Charles Little & Co. in Eugene, OR
• Coral Peonies from Oregon Coastal Flowers in Tillamook, OR

The Summer Subscription starts on June 28th. Read about it here, and sign up here.

Spring Subscription: Week Four

Vivid color. I didn't know how much I had been craving it until I saw it! This spring I have been so drawn to pastel shades, creamy whites, purples, sea green.... I went to the market on Wednesday to select flowers for the subscription and was so taken with the warm, bright shades of carmine, peach, royal purple, burnt orange... It seems like in the week Eli and I were in California, Washington's flowers just went totally crazy!

I had been waiting and waiting for the local ranunculas to come into season. There are so many gorgeous hues to choose from, but ultimately the salmon-peach won me over.

Another incredible flower, the bearded iris. That deep purple looks just like magic.

This week's arrangements contained a fiery mix of: ranunculas from Everyday Flowers in Stanwood, WA, bearded iris from Schreiner's Iris Farm in Salem, OR, and a fiery, magenta/hot pink/red variety of scotch broom from Jello Mold Farm in Mt. Vernon, WA.