Heather and Jon - August 15th, 2009

Heather scheduled a consultation with me pretty early (as far as florist bookings go) - I think it was in Oct '08. She didn't come with any specific ideas but she knew one thing she wanted - Gerbera Daisies. Her wedding venue was Langdon Farms in Aurora, OR and it was a beautiful location that had a nice laid-back appeal but without being too informal. Her colors of burnt orange and sage fit perfectly with the surroundings.

My Inspration Board for Heather's wedidng

The happy couple - Heather and Jon

The Bride and Bouquet
(Gerbera Daisies, Calla Lilies, and Tulips)

She had a fairly large wedding party that made for some great pictures. I really love the contrast of the sage green dresses with the dark oranges of the bouquets. I also made some cute flower girl baskets that were filled with orange Mokara Orchid heads.

The ladies of the wedding party

We went back on forth on what she wanted for the aisle way. She decided on pomanders, but then found out that the chairs at the venue had rounded backs and wouldn't be able to hold the pomanders. She remedied that by renting shepards hooks. I actually thought they were going to be the shorter ones, but found the tall ones when I arrived at the venue to set-up. I didn't want the balls to hang down too low and block the guests view of the ceremony so we decided to hang the balls right on the hooks. I thought it was a cool look and something a little unexpected.

Just Married

Since they had quite a large guest count, the pomanders were re-used and placed on top of a cylinder vase for centerpieces on half the tables. The other half consisted of bowls with floating tea lights and gerbera daisies (sorry no pics of these).

Her cake was simple and lovely and just required a few of the Gerbs placed on each level. I love her cake topper (so cute!).

The Wedding Cake

It turned out to be a beautiful late summer wedding and I wish the best to Heather and Jon in their new life together!

Julia and Brian - August 9, 2009

Julia and Brian were such a great couple to work with. When we first met Julia knew what she wanted - lots of pink! She wanted a girly feel to the flowers, but also wanted to incorporate as many tropical flowers in as would fit within the budget.

My Inspiration Board for Julia's Wedding

With their budget being pretty tight, I wasn't sure we would be able to get much in the way of tropical flowers. Cymbidium orchids are Julia's favorite, but we came up with a less expensive backup of pink Nerine Lilies to use that would keep the costs down. Luckily, when the time came to order the flowers, one of the wholsalers I work with had a fantastic price on the pink Cymbidium Orchids so I was able to get a stem to put some Julia's bouquet as well as the Nerine Lilies.

Julia and Bouquet
(Roses, Dahlias, Nerine Lilies, Cymbidium Orchids, Mini Callas, and Stock with a collar of Ti Leaves)

They were married in a picture-perfect little church in Sellwood. I was quite small inside and didn't need much in the way of decor, so we had two arrangements at the front to help showcase the beautiful stained glass.

Julia and Brian

Focal Arrangements
(Ginger, Roses, Dahlias, Bells of Ireland, Stock, Hydrangea, Snapdragons, Asiatic Lilies, and Ti Leaves)

Julia pinning her groom's boutonniere of Nerine Lilies

Groomsman and Bridesmaid
(Rose boutonniere wrapped with chocolate wire and bouquet of Dahlias, Lisianthus, Mini Callas, and Roses)

Their reception was held at the Acadian Ballroom in NE Portland. For the tables, mini vases were filled with all the varieties of pink blooms that had been used in the other floral elements and were grouped around pillar candles and candelabras for the head table. I was also able to use some of the Cymbidium Orchid blooms on the cake to go with the roses. I thought it added just the right touch.

Cake surrounded by the bouquets

Head Table

Best Wishes Brian and Julia! Thank you for letting me be a part of your special day. Also, a special thanks for getting me copies of your photos to use. Photography by Jessica Shepard. For more pictures check out my website gallery.

Rachel and Todd - June 28th, 2009

When I first met with Rachel and she told me she was doing a Tiffany Blue themed wedding I was immediately very excited since I'd been wanting to work with this color scheme since I'd seen a beautiful wedding on Whose Wedding is it Anyway? that was done with it. The one problem with the color scheme is that you are basically limited to white/ivory flowers and so you have to incorporate the Tiffany Blue in with other elements. We came up with some great centerpiece ideas that you can see below.

My Inspiration Board for Rachel's Wedding

Rachel looked stunning and the flowers turned out beautiful also. This wedding definitely had it's fair share of ups and downs during the planning process and so it was nice to see everything come together on the day-of. Photos are courtesy of Vivian Johnson Photography (she did an awesome job and was great to work with).

Rachel and Todd - such a lovely couple!

Rachel with her bouquet
Roses and Hydrangea with diamante pins

The Bride and her Bridesmaids

About a month or so before the wedding, Rachel told me she was looking for a Day-of-Coordinator and asked if I had any experience with that (I'm guessing she figured this from a couple of the comments on my website). I did do some coordinating when I lived in SLC, so I told that I could definitely fill the role if she needed me to (even though I might be a little rusty). I actually love being there throughout the day to see the events and share in the couple's happiness. Being mainly a florist now, I don't get to enjoy that as much so it was fun to do it for her.

Rachel and her father (who was very cool) and me -
waiting to go in to the ceremony

The wedding was originally set to be at the Empress Palace in Woodland, WA but about 4 months before the wedding they found out the venue had closed and taken their large deposit with it. I felt so bad for them having to find a new venue with such a small amount of time and money. They ended up choosing the Hilton in downtown Vancouver and so a few things had to be adjusted from using an outdoor venue to an indoor one, mainly adding in some more flowers for the ceremony. I surprised Rachel with the rose petals and candles down the aisle way - unfortunately it didn't hide the carpet as much as I would have liked it to.



Originally, Rachel wanted to use mainly roses, but we had decided on a mix of carnations and roses for the centerpieces to save some money. When the wedding was moved to an indoor venue, we decided to use hydrangea to create simple, yet stunning focal arrangements for the ceremony. Using bulk of one flower (especially large heads like hydrangea) is a great way to get drama with less money. Towards the end of the reception, I wrapped the hydrangea in tissue and set them out for the guests to take home with them. Also, with adding the focal arrangements I was also able to use the hydrangea in her bouquet so that was one bonus of having to move to the indoor venue.

Focal Arrangement
Hydrangea and Curly Willow

Below are a few pictures from the reception. We decided on "gift box" centerpieces that I wrapped in Tiffany Blue paper and white ribbon. Half of the boxes were filled with roses and carnations and the other half were topped with a half-sphere of the same. They were set on square mirrors with lots of little crystals scattered around them. With the votive candles everything looked beautiful and I was really happy with how they turned out. If you would like to see a few different pictures of the event you can check them out in my gallery.





Congratulations Rachel and Todd! It was a beautiful day and I am so happy that you let me be a part of it. I wish you all the best.

Elisa and Eric - May 30, 2009

For my first blog entry I feel it's fitting to start with the wedding of one of my best friends. Elisa and I were roommates for a couple years and have such similar tastes it's almost scary. She makes couture wedding dresses and I was lucky enough to be her first client back when I got married.

I flew back to SLC for her wedding and was very excited to do her flowers, especially her bouquet which was a modified version of one I had seen in Wedding Style magazine that I was completely in love with. I knew she would be just the bride to pull it off. I was very happy with how it turned out along with the rest of the flowers. It was nice that she left a lot of the creative control up to me as that can make it more fun and challenging at the same time.

My Inspiration Board for Elisa's Wedding

She wanted a palate of muted colors (mauve, blush pink, pewter/silver) mixed with dark wines and burgundies. Such a great combination! I was able to do several different centerpieces that all tied in with each other, sort of like designing a clothing collection. =) Here are some pictures from the event taken by M. Judd Photography. You can also check out my website gallery to see more pictures and different versions.

The bride looked stunning and the bouquet was perfect!

A close-up of the bouquet
Calla Lilies, Peonies, Brunia Berries, Fern Curl, Scabiosa Pods, and Pheasant Feathers

A view of the reception at Stonebridge Golf Club

A close-up of the tall centerpieces
Grapes, Spider Mums, Safari Sunset, Tulips, Fern Curl, Dusty Miller, Hydrangea, Cotinus, Feathers

Peony Centerpiece

Peonies (so beautiful!), Dusty Miller, Brunia Berries, and Feathers

Mixed Centerpiece
Safari Sunset, Tulips, Cremons, Spray Roses, Feathers

Small Centerpiece
Spider Mums, Chocolate Cosmos, Hydrangea, Feathers

Architectural Centerpiece
Cobra Lilies, Tulips, and Calla Lilies


Favor Boxes


Wedding Cake
Sugared grapes and blackberries with Calla Lilies, Fern Curl, and Chocolate Cosmos

After dinner, guests were provided with feather and domino masks for dancing outside in the tent. Elisa and I had created hers a few nights before and it turned out fantastic! It was a great day and I wish the best to Elisa and Eric. Congrats you two!