My bridal bouquet by Ideal Floral Art and Design

My bouquet was composed of white anemones, orange ranunculus, and green hydrangeas and accented with monkey tails, lemon geranium. black dahlias, orange dahlias, orange mums and eucalyptus berries. The bouquet was wrapped in lace and tied off with a vintage brooch from Mignonne Decor.

Baby's Breath

I made a trip to the local wholesale flower mart and spied the ubiquitous baby's breath. I have seen some great uses for it. Hope you won't overlook it for your next party:

{From Tiffany and Leo's wedding featured on Snippet and Ink; photo by Erin Hearts Court}

{DIY baby's breath garland as seen on Once Wed}

{Used as a table overlay vs. moss, from Ruffled}

Inspiration #71: A Bold Bouquet

Yum! This gorgeous bouquet belongs to a bold couple -- in fact, the bride wore red cowboy boots with her wedding dress. When in doubt, wear red!

See more on Olivia Leigh Photographie's blog.  

Fiddling with my centerpieces

Our reception hall has doors that open up to the garden outside and I wanted to bring a bit of the garden inside. While Guitar Fred and I don't have a garden, we do have lots of succulents in pots and glass vessels at our apartment. 

I've always loved the look of succulent terrariums. I planted these succulents in October and they're beginning to bloom. The plant on the right is a trailing oregano. What's missing in the photos are the vintage white milk glass -- which I'll fill with a head of hydrangeas.

I've been looking at orange pintuck linens for the tables. For your centerpieces, are you going for a single, tall/short vase arrangement, or something clustered like below?

{Photos by Vera Devera}

Inspiration #67: Hydrangea Centerpieces

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers and they're super easy to make into lush arrangements. They'll go perfectly with my vintage milk-glass compotes.

 

 {Source: The Knot}

{Source: Sprout Flowers; Arrangement by Martha Stewart}

 

{Source: Bride's Cafe}

DIY: A 100% Organic Dinner Party

Originally uploaded by emilie raguso

Yesterday, I threw yet another dinner party, this time for 42 guests, in an empty Victorian in West Oakland. The menu was  100% organic and "farm-to-table" which included courses like green garlic soup and shaved asparagus with lacto-fermented beets. In line with the organic theme, I wanted to have an earthy, yet cheery centerpiece for each table. Daffodils immediately came to mind -- they're springing up everywhere -- we saw lots blossoming along the highway from and to Mendocino a couple weeks ago and grocery stores are brimming with unfurled daffodil blossoms.

I bought potted mini daffodils ($3.99 for 3 bulbs in a pot) and cut daffodils ($1.99 a bunch from Trader Joe's) and put them in vintage pots and mason jars a friend had donated to me. I scored a huge box of Spanish moss from the Center of Creative Reuse for only $4 (a teeny tiny bag at Pottery Barn would've cost me $10) and placed freshly foraged chanterelles on top so that the table looked like a forest floor. Khaki colored gift paper from IKEA (3 rolls for $1) served as a table runner to finish the look (see photo above by Emilie Raguso, reporter at Oakland Local).

Here's how we set the glasses. I found sheets of "Organic" labels donated by Whole Foods to the Center of Creative Reuse for $1. I wrote each of the guests' names on the labels and set them next to their wine glass. We held cocktail hour in the backyard underneath blossoming fruit trees. My yellow Nantucket lanterns ($7 each from a Smith and Hawken closing sale; originally $39 each) played well with the yellow daffodils!

My total cost was $42!

 {Photos above by Brittany Piehl}

Inspiration #63: In-Carnations

{Photo by Vera Devera} 

San Diego Budget Bride, Alicia, inspired today's post since she's lamenting her DIY carnation centerpieces. Above is a photo of a dinner San Francisco Opera hosted onstage at the War Memorial Opera House inspired by the new opera, Doctor Atomic. My event design mentor, Karman Pave of Special K Events (and also the Special Events Director at SF Opera), directed the floral designer to create pom-poms of white carnations that rested on black flower pots. It was a very dramatic and modern look.

Here's a couple more from the Hostess with the Mostess blog:

 

And then another from Country Living:

Here's more carnation yumminess from So You're Engayged:

Inspiration #54: A Tulip Chandelier

Okay, crafty-nistas -- how can I make this stunning display on my own and for no more than $100?!?! This is fantastic, so whimsical and modern at the same time. I suspect I can buy the hanging votive holders from CB2 for $3.95 each and substitute the tulips for an inexpensive bloom. This would be amazing hanging above the bride and groom's sweetheart table.

Any suggestions?

{Photo by Our Labor of Love as featured in Brides.com}

Inspiration #53: More Flowers

This Christmas, Guitar Fred's mom sent me home with almost all of her vintage white milk glass collection (bless her heart) and I've already bought 16 really cool yellow "Nantucket" lanterns at the Smith and Hawken closing sale (below) for 80% off of $39 (that's $7.80 each) .

{Photo of Smith and Hawken Yellow Lanterns by Vera D.}

{My own milk glass vase as featured on IdeaL Floral Art and Event Design}

Here are some really cool arrangements for some inspiration on what to do with these elements:

{from the knot.com}

{from the knot.com}

{from Marry You Me}

Inspiration #44: Peacock + Succulents

As part of my requests for floral design, I've been asking the designer to incorporate succulents, coleus/foliage (like kale) and peacock feathers in the design. And then I stumbled across the Mason Jar Bride's wedding on Wiley Valentine, and again on Jessi Haack 's blog, where my vision has been brought to life. I hope my designers come up with a fresh twist on this. It's so lovely! :)

{Jessi Haack Weddings}

{Jessi Haack Weddings}

Meet the ladies behind IdeaL

{Above is a mock-up of a design they did for me using my own vintage white milk glass vase.}

Here are a couple ladies you should meet: Imogene and Luzelle of IdeaL {floral art and design} based in the East Bay. I've met with them a few times to see if they're a good fit for our wedding floral design, and I sure do like 'em...and their pricing is affordable since they are still building their portfolio -- as I am with Va de Vie Events. I asked them to share a little about themselves:

1. How did you get started? How did you meet?

We are cousins! We grew up together...and are best friends too! We both have always had a creative itch....we helped with friends'/families' weddings and parties, and even did my own wedding (Luzelle). After a couple years we realized that we should just start our company and go for it! We always had it in the back of our minds but never really did anything about it. One day I asked Imo if she wanted to start the business...when she said,"yeah!" Then we took off from there! We were official in May 2009! Yay!

2. What's your favorite moment in a wedding?

Watching the couple do their first dance...you see so much love and emotion between the newlyweds! A lot of times it is so sweet it makes you melt!

3. What's your inspiration?

Our inspiration is the client's personality and the style that she/he describes....it's so much fun to explore different ideas and pick at the clients' brains! So our inspiration truly differs every time.

4. What should brides look for when selecting a floral designer?

Brides should make sure they are working with someone who is personable and easy to deal with. We think that it's important that you have a good connection with your florist, as well as with every other vendor you decide on. You want to work with someone who can suggest different ideas but and also cater to the style that you want. You also have to feel like you trust your florist. Flowers are an important aspect of a wedding and will set the tone of the event so you want to make sure they know what they are doing. We also believe it is important to work within a client's ideal budget. We understand the value of money and if there is something that a client truly has to have, we do our best to make that happen by helping them choose other options that will allow them to.

5. What's your favorite flower?

We really love dahlias and peonies! They are fun and can bring a lot of life to an arrangement. We also love how romantic they are.

Inspiration #39: Corsages

maid of honor corsage
Originally uploaded by Floral Design by Jacqueline Ahne

I plan to do some of my floral arrangements myself but I do want help with my own bouquet and the flowers for our wedding party. In particular, I've been exploring corsages as a lower cost alternative to bridesmaid bouquets as they are generally anywhere from $15-30 a pop.

{Silk flower peacock feather corsage on etsy.com by ekaminsk}

{from Cross Pollination Floral Blog, photo by Jennifer Lindberg}

{"Green with Envy" Corsage on etsy.com by Ardesign}

Asker and You Shall Receive...a nifty pew flower arrangement

{Photo by Jason Chong}

For $5.99, the IKEA Asker makes decorating your pews stylish and for a great price and half the time of making floral pomanders! My friend Linda W. recently helped decorate her friend's wedding, and I couldn't resist sharing how she creatively used the Asker container, which is often used to save countertop space as part of an IKEA kitchen organization system. She attached the vases onto the pew by tying a satin ribbon into a loop and securing with a bow. You'll probably want to ensure the floral arrangements stay in place by using floral foam bricks inside the vessel. Here's the close-up:

{Photo by Jason Chong}

{Photo by Jason Chong}

If you've done something similar with IKEA containers, please share your story!

Inspiration #31: Dahlias, Dahling

Vintage-y
Originally uploaded by morganiscool

I'm all for buying fruit, veggies, and flowers in season and locally -- it reduces your carbon footprint and guarantees freshness. Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers and I just bought a bunch grown in the Bay Area for only $4.99 at Berkeley Bowl. I should've pick up some baby kale too to accent it.

I love this arrangement by morganiscool on Flickr. It'd pair nicely with my Vera table linen idea from an earlier post.

Inspiration #26: Fresh Flower Cakes

[One of the few sugar gum cakes I actually like! By Nice Icing]

The other night, I found myself riveted to a rerun of the Food Network Challenge: Battle of the Brides' Wedding Cake featuring the rock n' roll lady of cakes, Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake and Orson in San Francisco, and some other rising stars. The pastry chefs had only 8 hours to make a cake and to make matters worse, their pastry assistants turned out to be the brides they would be making the cake for. Many of the brides admitted they were Type A perfectionists and you could see the chefs sweat! In the end, Buddy Valastro (now on TLC) of Carlo's City Hall Bakeshop took home the $10,000. I have seen Buddy on other challenges and he always makes the same sugar paste flowers and towering tiers - bo-ring (with the exception of the retro cake by Nice Icing above)! It was very traditional...and I personally lean towards a less formal, structured cake.

Here are some great cakes featuring real flowers I found on Flickr. The first 2 come from Short Street Cakes in Asheville, North Carolina.

[Vegan Almond Raspberry Cake]

[Day of the Dead Cake]

[Maxine's Catering]

[SocalCatering.com]

[Nadinasaur's Peony Cake]

Inspiration #14: Floral Ring for Bridesmaids

Happy Memorial Day! Just returned from a walk with my maid of honor in the garden/creek nearby and dished about the wedding plans. With flowers on my mind, the following idea came at the right time.

Since we're having our wedding in a garden, a "blooming ring" is a potential gift for my bridesmaids. Thank you Martha Stewart Weddings.com:

Blooming Rings

These fabric-flower bands will be a hit with bridesmaids. Give them out at the shower or rehearsal dinner. Start by snipping fabric flowers, such as the vintage ones shown here, from their stems. Wrap ribbon around your finger to determine the approximate length you'll need; cut ribbon to size, adding about 1/4 inch for overlap. Use a hot-glue gun to join ends together, forming a loop, and to add flowers to ribbon bands.

Inspiration #12: The Wish Tree

The first time I saw a wish tree was actually at the SF MOMA during Yoko Ono's exhibition. Towards the end of the exhibit was her wish tree, where patrons could fill out their wish for the world and attach it to the tree. This practice has become very popular in weddings, symbolizing a collective wish for the couple from their closest friends and families. The most common tree branch I've seen used is the manzanita, with its rich and smooth mahogany finish. You can adorn the branch with baubles, hanging lanterns, floral pomanders, paper birds, you name it! The Wedding Chicks show how to do it here with supplies from Blooms and Branches.

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