NEW WEBSITE!!!

BOTANIQUE HAS A NEW WEBSITE! CHECK IT OUT AND ENJOY!!!

WWW.BOTANIQUEFLOWERS.COM

And the winner is.....

WHITLEY AND SARAH!!!!! 

Congrats to these lovely ladies- they won our Love Is Love Sweepstakes! I cannot wait to meet with them, especially after they sent me this photo completely unprompted, and look so joyful and in love.

If you missed out on what the Love Is Love Sweepstakes was all about, here is a brief recap: During the November elections, Washington voters approved Referendum 74, passing a bill that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state.

We wanted to do something to celebrate this truly exciting moment, and long overdue right- so we decided to give away $1,000 worth of wedding floral design services to one couple getting married in 2013 in the greater Seattle area. Whitley and Sara were the lucky couple whose names I drew out of my favorite vase :)

Many thanks to all the couples who entered the sweepstakes! It was so lovely to read about everyone's ideas for their flowers and weddings- I feel like I just got the most wonderful glimpse into so many beautiful relationships. I hope I get to work with some of you all too- please be in touch if you would like to schedule a complementary consultation for your wedding- I'd love to meet in person!

Wishing everyone warmth, and many congratulations,

Kelly

DPP, Days 3 & 4

Day 4: Crabapple tree, defunct birdhouse, and magical sky

Day 3: One of our resident hummingbirds sitting on top of the plum tree.

The Cutting Garden looks pretty bare right now... just branches, birds, sky and a bunch of soggy earth. It makes this photo project all the more challenging! Read up on the December Photo Project here to see what this is all about (and why this blog is being turned over to photos that may or may not include flowers for the next month!)

December Photo Project: Day 2

Eli's "Magic" Beans, dried and ready to plant in next year's garden. Scarlet Runner Beans, the most unexpected colors...

December Photo Project

Day one of the December Photo Project! The fabulous Erin at Floret Flower Farm tipped me off to this project, and I think it is just a fantastic idea: one photo a day for the first 25 days of December.... I'm curious to see how it unfolds. This photo is a close-up of one of the arrangements I delivered today for a holiday party.

Stay tuned, more to come :)

Marisha & Andrew

Watching the rain POUR down outside, it is hard to remember that sunny days do, indeed, exist in this city! That the clematis, gentian, garden roses, amaranthus, dahlias, acidanthera, quince and raspberry branches in the floral designs from Marisha and Andrew's wedding did, in fact, come from the rainy Northwest. Not that anyone from Seattle needs this reminder, but if you are planning an outdoor wedding in Seattle, best to do it between mid-July and mid-September, which (bonus for those who like local) also happens to be when an abundance of incredible locally-grown flowers are available.

Marisha and Andrew were married on one such beautiful day in late August. Following their ceremony at Saint Edwards Park, they led their guests on a bike-ride to Marisha's parents house, where the reception was held (now that's pretty fun, don't you think?). The day was captured beautifully by Eliza Truitt Photography- other than the above photo, all these gorgeous images are her amazing work!

Cutest. Flower. Girl. Ever. With a little bouquet that matched Marisha's.

Marisha and Andrew's pooch Pixie sported a 'Golden Celebration' garden rose on her collar.

But of course Marisha and Andrew stole the show....

While all this gorgeousness was going on at the park, Teka and I headed off to the house to get things ready for the reception. We set up thirty-something little arrangements in teal canning jars that had belonged to Marisha's grandmother.

And one of my favorite pieces from the whole summer, a big, silver urn filled with fruiting branches, garden roses, clematis, baptisia foliage and more..... every single stem in this arrangement was grown locally- pretty rad, don't you think?!?!

And then there was the apple tree, dressed up with ribbon where guests could attach good wishes and notes for the bride and groom...

And two more shots that have nothing to do with flowers, but are just so beautiful that I had to include them here. Did I mention how talented Eliza Truitt is???

A huge congratulations to you Marisha and Andrew! You are just gorgeous together in every way. It was an absolute honor to be part of your wedding day.

Love Is Love

Last week, Washington voters passed Referendum 74- a bill that grants same-sex couples the right to legal marriage under Washington State law. It seems like this should have already been a right- the freedom to marry whoever you choose- but there it is: we live in a society where equality is something we walk towards slowly, one step at a time.

But enough lament; this calls for some major celebration! To mark this momentous occasion, BOTANIQUE IS GIVING AWAY $1,000 OF WEDDING FLORAL DESIGN SERVICES to one lucky couple! We are calling it the "Love Is Love Sweepstakes," and entry is open to ANY couple getting married in 2013 in the greater Seattle area. For more details and to enter, visit the following link on our website:

http://www.botaniqueflowers.com/love-is-love.html

Entries must be received by 5pm on Friday, December 7th, and the winner will be notified on Monday, December 10th. Good luck, and happy wedding planning!

Thanksgiving Offerings

"The Autumn Explosion"

 (Pardon my naming, it is really hard to come up with good names for floral designs...) 

Followed by:

"A Peachy Autumn Palette"

And lastly...

"An Apple a Day..."

We will be creating a limited number of each of these arrangements for pick-up or delivery on November 21st and 22nd, for Thanksgiving. Pre-order now so that we don't sell out of your favorite! You can place your order here, or email (emailbotanique@gmail.com) to arrange for a custom design.

From a few weeks back....

I love it when a flower surprises me. I am not usually a huge fan of standard roses, or purple roses, but these lavender 'Ocean Song' roses from Peterkort really took me by surprise. They just went perfectly with this palette of creamy, mauvish purples, bright white, and teal.

These were the subscription arrangements from a few weeks ago, created with an abundance of gorgeous flowers from Washington and Oregon growers selling at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, and some from the Botanique Cutting Garden too!

Talia's Bouquet

This is my dear friend Talia, holding her bouquet from her wedding to her beloved Justin in late September. More photos to come, but I wanted to share this shot now, because, well, I really love it! Their wedding was so beautiful, and any chance to re-live beauty (especially beauty in the form of two close friends getting married combined with flowers) is good by me.

Many thanks to the ever talented Kari Champoux for the photo!

Fallen

Crab Apples, Sunflowers, golden yellow Rudbeckia, Rosemary, sweet smelling Stock.... it's harvest time, and leaves, fruit, and berries are starting to fall to the ground.

My subscribers this week received a little cluster of Crab Apples along with their arrangement. For those wondering what, exactly, is the plan for this cluster of fruit, I hope this next photo will illustrate:

I love placing a few pieces of fruit on the table below an arrangement with fruiting branches in it.... like the fruit has fallen, and landed right there on it's own.

Peter & Charlotte at the Clise Mansion

It starts like this:

And turns into this...

And this...

And then becomes magic....

Peter and Charlotte were married at the Clise Mansion on August 17th, 2012. Charlotte was just lovely to work with, and chose one of the prettiest color palettes out there: blush, cream, pale and canary yellow and hot pink. I loved making these designs! And I love re-living them through the photos of the amazing Jennifer and Brian of Photo Elan-- be sure to hop over to their website and blog and check them out!

The boutonnieres were all created with little flowers made out of cedar wood that Peter's aunt made, that had been in the family and used in boutonnieres before- I think they look like little pine cones.

I loved Charlotte's bouquet. It is hard to go wrong with cafe au lait dahlias, creamy roses, baptisia and clematis foliage, and one of my favorite perennials (though it's name always makes me laugh) gooseneck loostrife!

Congratulations Charlotte and Peter!!! I wish you all the very best!