Bridal Extravaganza Jan. 2009 Show Pictures

I just want to thank everyone who visited my booth this past weekend. Here are some pictures we took on Saturday and Sunday. Please forgive my lack in photography skills. :)

I was very please with how the booth turned out. My style is to use natural material and let the flowers speak for themselves so I believe the simple display showed just that. The show was full of some very talented floral designers with some very grand designed booths. I hope that people were attracted to my booth for it's simplicity in such a chaotic setting. If you visited my booth, I would love to hear your comments!

Website Redesign

I finally got around to updating my website. Awhile back I took out a lot of pictures of my event designs in order to simplify the look. I have added them back in slide show mode under "Events". The only frustrating thing is it takes them a little time to load because there are over 70 pictures between the three categories. Hopefully one day, I will get that fixed.

I took the opportunity to choose a different more colorful format because that is really my love...LOTS of COLOR! I have also added more information along with samples of some of my proposals done in Power Point.

Attention to details....the restroom???

Most of the time, the restroom is never even thought of for an event. However, every single one of your guest will visit it at least once during your special day. If you are getting married in a hotel, they probably already have fresh flowers in both the Men's and Women's however if you are getting married anywhere else the chances are the bathrooms are left bare. Why not treat your guest to a unique arrangement of fresh flowers providing beauty and nice fragrance while they visit the restroom. The arrangement I created above would be perfect for a restroom that is used by both men and women. Architectural yet sensual.... So the next time you are planning flowers for your wedding or event, don't forget the restroom. Your guest will definitely feel special and think you have thought of every single detail.

Petals down the aisle...

I just LOVE the aisle sprinkled with rose petals. In my opinion, it is much more romantic than the runway look (sprinkled on either side of the aisle). I know it seems like a frivolous expenditure but if you really want that magical feeling when walking down the aisle you need lots of rose petals. A bag or two really only gives a few petals for every square foot. If you can only afford a couple of bags of petals, consider sprinkling them at the alter instead of down the aisle. This will still give a romantic feel while saving on the pocketbook.

An interesting side note, do you know where the tradition of sprinkling petals down the aisle came from? I didn't until recently when I was reading from The Perfect Wedding Reception by Maria McBride-Mellinger. One of the newest wedding books in my library. It apparently started in primitive cultures that believed demons lurked underground. They scattered petals along the bridal path, using beauty as a weapon to ward off the evil spirits, to protect the newlyweds. Funny how often we do things that we have no idea where the origin of the idea came from!

Matson Hoppe Wedding-Nov. 1st at Vintage Villas

Here are some pictures I got back from Emily's photographer, Robert with Fuel Photography. I just LOVE his style. Definitely not your run of the mill pics. Very artistic and creative!

The table centerpieces were created in some of my favorite vases I have, cast iron urns. They lend themselves so well to whatever floral material the design calls for. The romantic garden style wedding is definitely by far my favorite style to do.
Emily's bouquet is the top one wrapped with raffia. The bridesmaids bouquets consisted of more daisies with a hint of sunflowers to tie in with her bouquet. I just love the way they turned out.

Sorry about below...

Sometimes you just have to rant but please forgive my post below. I had come to my wits end and was so frustrated back in September. I guess that is what happens when you create for 32 weddings in one year mostly by yourself. :)

Things I Have Noticed....

Over the last several months, I have noticed a rather upsetting trend...at least upsetting for me. We now live in a world were everyone wants everything NOW. With Internet & cell phones, your expected to be on call 24/7. But what this fails to take into account is the possibility that the person you are trying to reach might have a family who loves them and needs to spend time with them or that they have other booked clients lobbying for their time. There's no grace allowance any more. Everyone wants unique but wants the convenience of mass production. Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways. My floral design business consist of one person, me. That is what keeps my design from being cookie cutter. However, it also means there is only one of me and I can only do so much in any given day. It has given me a much greater understanding when I need to contact someone. If the company is really small then I expect it to take a while because they are only human. If I am calling a huge company (IE WalMart, Microsoft, Amazon) then I expect service quickly because they employ hundreds of people just for that purpose. So the next time you are calling for anyone in the service industry, PLEASE be patient if you know the company is tiny. We really want to talk to you and help you out but it just may take us a while. We got into this industry because we have a heart to serve.