A little hellebore love....

It is hard not to get REALLY EXCITED during hellebore season. Hellebores are undoubtedly one of my all time favorite flowers, and a special jewel during these early months of the year when things are just starting to get going.

Lovely and magical. This arrangement features WA grown Hellebores, Spirea and Salal,  Oregon grown Viburnum, and California grown Ranunculas. Hello spring!

INTERN OPPORTUNITY!!!

Botanique is looking for an intern to assist with our summer/fall wedding and event season! We are looking for someone reliable, creative, hard working, able to think on their feet, and with a great eye for detail. You will learn the ins and outs of our organic, lush floral design style, and assist with all measure of tasks related to creating, delivering and setting up wedding and event florals.

Regular tasks will include:

• Processing and sorting flowers
• Learning/assisting with floral design
• Washing buckets and vases
• Assisting with event set up and tear down
• Helping to clean the studio
• Organizing supplies and non-floral materials
• Event preparation activities

We are looking for someone:

• Reliable
• Creative
• Hard working
• With an eye for detail and artistry
• Able to problem solve, think creatively, see what needs doing and make it happen
• With a positive, go-getter attitude 
• Who can commit to the position through September 2014

Hours/schedule are variable, but normally fall between Wednesday- Saturday, with Friday/Saturday availability a must during certain key weekends. We work HARD, but also have a lot of fun! This is a satisfying, creative job, and you will learn all about flowers, design and the business of weddings and events. You will do some of the dirty work, but will also get LOTS of hands-on experience with the fun parts! Position is unpaid, but we will provide you with gorgeous flowers and wonderful experiences.

If you are interested and think you might be a good fit, please send an email with the word INTERN in the subject line to Kelly at emailbotanique(at)gmail(dot)com. Please include the following in your email:

• Your name
• Why you are interested in this internship
• Any relevant work experience and/or images/link to a portfolio of any design style (NOT just floral design! If you are an amazing seamstress, painter, singer, etc. we would love to know about that!)
• Why you think you are a good fit for this position 
• Your favorite flower

We would like to start training someone in late April/May, to be ready for our busy wedding and event season starting June 1st. We look forward to hearing from you!

Jessica and Dean- Local Wedding Flowers in February

Remember the bride who wanted all local flowers for her February wedding? The bride whose story opened this New York Times article about local, seasonal wedding flowers? I had the pleasure of creating her wedding bouquet last month, and love how this bouquet expresses not only the beauty and uniqueness of Jessica, but is also testament to what local flowers can look like, even in the dead of winter when it seems like nothing is growing outside.

With a little creativity and some help from our friends at Peterkort Roses in Oregon (who grew the roses and orchids in this bouquet), a gorgeous, lush, winter bouquet was born! Jessica and Dean specifically requested some NW native plants, so the salal, ferns, and a touch of moss made it in too. Plus pussy willow, and fritillaries grown by Cascade Cuts, located just a few towns up from Jessica and Dean's home in the Skagit Valley.

We are so lucky in the Pacific Northwest to have relatively mild winters, and many flowers farmers who grow at least a portion of their crops in greenhouses- this allows them to force spring bulbs early in the year, and keep some crops, like roses, going year-round. Though the options are more limited in the winter than at other times of year, they are no less beautiful. And some flowers, like the checkered plum fritillaires and fresh pussy willow, are ONLY available in the "off-season" months of late winter/early spring. There is always something beautiful and unique blooming, some times of year it just takes a little more hunting than other times to uncover these gems.

These lovely images come care of Michele M. Waite, whose work is truly exceptional. You can check out her work here.

Congratulations Jessica and Dean! Thank you so much for requesting local flowers!

Rattlesnake Lake Photoshoot

Back in September, we collaborated on a photo shoot at Rattlesnake Lake, in North Bend, Washington. Though the thunder clouds did eventually break (and when they did, oh boy did it POUR!), Jess Hunter managed to capture some beautiful moments in the pre-storm hours. These arrangements were more about the textural elements than the "showy" flowers- juniper, amaranth, snowberries, purple basil, astrantia, quince, ferns... these elements took center stage, with just a few stems of dahlias and acidanthria (the flower featured in the hair comb and bouquet) to lend a little bit of lushness and romance. Woodsy, elegant, romantic, natural..... these were the words that inspired the shoot. All the amazing botanicals came from my favorite local farms and farmers at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market.

This shoot was recently featured on Green Wedding Shoes (you can see the feature here).

Florals: Botanique (that's us!)
Photography: Jess Hunter
Props, Tables, Trunks, and Tabletop Items: Vintage Ambiance
Dress: Claire Pettibone, from The Dress Theory
Paperie: Antiquaria
Cake: Kerri's Cakes
Hair & Makeup- Cassie Sells Hacket, from Rosaline Hampton

Kaitlyn and Dave at Sodo Park

Kaitlyn and Dave were married at Sodo Park in late June of last year, and I am so happy to share these beautiful images of their wedding, courtesy of Lucas Mobley. White peonies and garden roses, dusty miller, olive foliage, lysimachia, and silver brunia topped the flower bill for this classic, urban celebration. Congratulations Kaitlyn and Dave!!!! I wish you all the best in your life together.

Flowers: Botanique
Photographer: Lucas Mobley
Planner: Megan at Clutch Events
Venue/Catering: Herban Feast at Sodo Park

Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom

We are DELIGHTED to be featured in the Winter/Spring issue of Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom, out on newsstands now. It's a beautiful, inspiring feature of garden-inspired bouquets.... go pick up a copy and take a look! Page 94! Or if you would prefer to read the online version, you can see it here. Here is the photo featuring our bouquet, photo by Elizabeth Rudge.

 Thanks Seattle Met B&G!

The NEW YORK TIMES

We were honored to be included in this wonderful article about locally-grown, seasonal wedding flowers published in the New York Times last Sunday! It was quite a thrill to see our name alongside some of our absolute flower heros: Jennie Love of Love 'n Fresh Flowers, Erin Benzakein of Floret, Ariella Chezar, Sarah Ryhanen of Saipua, and Max Gill. You can read the article here.

It gets us really excited for all the weddings we will be a part of this year, and all the beautiful, local flowers we will get to work with! Below is a photo of one of our all-time favorite flowers- a tree peony. This particular tree peony was grown by none other than my husband's mother, right here in Seattle, and found it's way into a bridal bouquet last May. Photo by Stephanie Guerrero.