Late Summer Wedding at Alderbrook

B and M were married at Alderbrook in late August. This wedding was especially fun, as we got to use a ton of ingredients from our Cutting Garden: cafe au lait dahlias, flowering basil, hydrangea, and some prized Koko Loko roses for B's bouquet. Every season has it's stellar botanicals- in late summer, fruit is definitely part of this list. In addition to flowers, we added blackberries, grapes and apples branches to many of the arrangements for this wedding- summer splendor at it's highest! It is always a joy to work with an incredible photographer, and Ryan Flynn certainly did not disappoint- all of these beautiful images are his doing.

Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Melissa and Jeff

It's fairly rare that we take on a really small order for wedding flowers.... but occasionally the right people come along and we do! Melissa come to the studio with a very open perspective. I remember during our consultation saying, "It sounds like you would be happy with somewhat of a surprise," and she said yes, she would! She didn't want to pin down too much about her flowers, she wanted to leave the door open to our creativity and what really looked amazing the week of her wedding. The only strong request she had was nothing too tropical looking, and a slightly vintage feel. It was so fun to have so much freedom in creating this bouquet for her, weaving in ideas of what would really pop and also look at home in the landscape where she would be married, and also fit with her personality and the vibe of her wedding.

As usual, Jess Hunter took the most beautiful photographs of the couple, the bouquet, and the landscape.

Congrats Melissa and Jeff! Thanks for being so open-minded about your flowers!

Kat and Andrew's Celtic Highlands Wedding

Kat and Andrew were married in late July. Kat's mother Debra is a former floral designer, and it was so nice to work with a this mother-daughter team on the flowers. They truly understood that the best flowers and designs come when there is an element of freedom in the design process- when the floral designer really understands the vision of the couple, but things are not pinned down too hard. This allowed us to source some really incredible flowers, because we didn't need to stick to a prescribed recipe- we chose what looked totally amazing at that time, that fit within the design parameters and color palette, and was inspiring to work with!

Kat and Andrew wanted the feeling of the Celtic Highlands in their florals (and throughout their wedding), and we decided on a palette of soft lavenders, cream, and green, with lots of texture. Some of my favorite finds for this wedding were the beautiful lavender clematis in Kat's bouquet, the Canterbury Bells (which just seemed perfect), 'Kent Beauty' flowering oregano, blackberries, heather, and of course, beautiful garden roses.

Debra designed and built the beautiful, stained glass arbor under which Kat and Andrew were married (and brought it up here on a trailer all the way from California!). Talk about dedication and motherly love! It was so fun to work with such a beautiful, custom piece.

Frances and Fern Photography took all of these gorgeous images.

Congratulation to Kat and Andrew!!!

Centerpiece Workshop(s) Recap!

Earlier this year, we hosted two Centerpiece Design Workshops at the studio. They were both fantastic, with great groups of ladies designing some gorgeous arrangements! Lora Grady was there for both workshops, capturing all the action, and taking photos of everyone's finished arrangements. I am so excited to share Lora's photos of the workshops with you! I was incredibly proud of everyone who attended the workshops- the ladies ranged from people pursuing floral design as a hobby to burgeoning floral designers starting their own businesses to relatively seasoned designers. I think you'll agree that all the attendees did amazing work! It was a real treat to see everyone's creativity. Here are a few highlights from the first workshop, in May:

 

 

 

 

For the second workshop in June, we had a whole different set of flowers to choose from. Check out some of the gorgeous arrangements made in this workshop!

Krisanna Reiff made some beautiful calligraphy tags for everyone's notebooks, and the garden was filled with foxglove and poppies (many of which you can see in the arrangements).

And of course, we did a group shot in front of the Cutting Garden!

Both workshops were amazing and inspiring!

We have another workshop scheduled for Oct. 4th, and there are still a few spots left! We cap our workshops at six people to ensure lots of personal attention- it makes for a really fun, educational experience. Our next one will center around Cafe au Lait dahlias. You can read all about it and register at this link: http://botanique.bigcartel.com/

Jess Hunter will be there to take photos of everyone's work, and she is incredible! You can check out her website here: http://www.jesshunterphotography.com

Hope to see you there!