ROMANTIC FALL WEDDING INSPIRATION

August 22nd, 2018

I am so damn excited to share this styled shoot with y’all and am totally doing a happy dance over here because it’s featured on Green Wedding Shoes today.

Overflowing with lush fall floral inspiration, this was the styled shoot of my dreams. Dream Team. Dream Location. Dream Flowers- fresh, pressed, and dried! And I even got to create an invitation suite!

You know what’s missing though? Floral foam! We created ALL this flower magic without so much as a block of that nasty stuff. Beautiful and (more) sustainable FTW. You can read more about my aspirations to green my lil’ floral biz right here!

Then check out all the moody magic below, captured by the brilliant Evangeline Lane, head over to Green Wedding Shoes to see even more, and hurry back and hire me to make all your fall floral + paper dreams come true. Deal?

We’ll start at the beginning. I love designing paper goods and especially LOVE when they set the tone for your wedding or event from the very beginning.

Here I used pressed flowers on the individual pieces of the suite, and created a custom envelope liner from a photograph of all the flowers that I pressed.

You’ll see these pressed flowers, as well as the dried floral styling elements repeat throughout the event- on the day of paper, in the bouquet, in the centerpieces etc.

I love a strong design/theme and it was such a joy to work with Jessica of Art & Soul Events to bring this vision to life.

Jessica mentioned this wheel barrow in our first conversation, and I immediately knew I wanted to create a floral blanket cascading out of it, before I ever even saw the damn thing. Sometimes ya just know.

This turned out exactly how I pictured it, and would be such a cool way to welcome guests, accent a ceremony area, or create a unique photo backdrop.

See? These cuties knew just what to do.

And then there’s this sweet thing!

How gorgeous is this cake by Nicole Bakes Cakes, featuring a frosting pressed flower motif, accented by real pressed flowers? Swoon.

Also worth noting- I finally got to meet Nicole, have the boomerangs to prove it, and she is the cutest!

Speaking of cute- I’m pretty dang sure The Old Fashioned could not get any cuter.

And could this cocktail look any more delicious? Gimme!

Pretty much tabletop perfection right here thanks to gorgeous rentals from La Pinata Party Rentals and Jessica’s fab design/styling skills!

Also, we should really talk about Stonewall Ranch– this place is gorgeous and has SO many special + different areas/backdrops/photo ops. Just wait…

I loved designing with blush, peach, berry, burgundy and gold blooms to create these lush floral pieces. My favorite bloom? Probably that foraged + dried + perfectly peachy bouganvillea. Although I’ll never be mad at a Combo rose. (they’re the gold ones)

What’s your fave?

And then, there’s this arch + that view in that light. Magic.

It is worth noting that Jessica cried when she saw it, which is like the highest praise a floral designer can get. Tears, people.

Telling you this makes me blush, but holy hell I loved this thing and I am damn proud of it.

The mechanics are really simple- just chicken wire + water piks, then a base of lemon, ninebark, and maple, followed by loads of roses, garden roses, dahlias, and accent blooms in shades of blush, taupe, peach, berry, burgundy and gold. Favorite arch ever!

A quick costume change and that view?
Yes, that’s the fog rolling in OVER THE WATER. Seriously, Stonewall Ranch, that view is insane!

See what I mean?

Pure magic.

Go see more over on Green Wedding Shoes! Then come back and hire these talented people:

Venue: Stonewall Ranch / Planner & Designer: Art & Soul Events / Photographer: Evangeline Lane / Floral Designer, Invitation Design, & Stationery Floral Styling: Winston & Main / Rentals: La Pinata Party Rentals / Bar & Cocktails: The Old Fashioned / Cake Designer/Pastry Chef: Nicole Bakes Cakes / Hair & Makeup: Makeup & Hair by Jackie Romero / Dress Boutique: Lovely Bride / Dress Designer: Rue de Seine Bridal / Beauty Planning: Elwynn + Cass / Signage: Heirloom Paper Co. / Bride & Groom: Andi & Brett

ALICE IN WONDERLAND BRIDAL SHOWER

August 13th, 2018

It’s always such an honor when other vendors hire me to create something beautiful for their special occasion, and working with Courtney of Cecile’s Paper Co. to bring some flower magic to her sophisticated Alice in Wonderland Bridal Shower was a true joy.

She gave me a color palette, let me peep her gorgeous invitation suite (just wait until you see it!) and told me to do my thing. Her colors? And I quote, ” mauve, greys, silver, and faintttt blush.”

Challenge accepted.

While I often work with bold palettes, my personal style definitely leans towards more subdued shades + bold/interesting textures and accents. And I’m pretty obsessed with mauve these days. Her only request was that we avoid Dusty Miller, despite the fact that it did lend itself well to this color palette. Fine by me, it’s never been a fave. See ya Dusty.

Let’s talk for a minute about how smart/effective Courtney’s communication style + level of involvement in the design was though, because I think it’s an important aspect of getting truly spectacular results from the vendors you work with to bring your wedding or event vision to life. I believe in picking artists & vendors whose work and style you really admire, giving some parameters, and then trusting them to do their thing. I know that this is how I create the work I’m most pleased with for my own clients, and I’ve also had great success when hiring other artists/makers/vendors in both the film and now event industry with this hand on/hands off method.

Bonus: Less stress for you! You don’t need to learn every flower, become a letter press master, or stress out over the timing of your event particulars if you hire the right people, and let them do their job.

Also, her fascinator!

Okay, okay… early morning musings and advice aside, are you ready to see some more gorgeous photos by the fabulous Jessica Rieke Photography?

I love love love decorating cakes! It used to make me nervous when I first started designing, but now I think it’s so fun. Especially when I have some gorgeous Grace Rose Farm roses to play with.

I created focal centerpieces in antique silver compotes featuring Earl Grey and Quicksand Roses, Garden Roses, Lavender Spray Roses, Mauve/Antique Lisanthus, Scabiosa, Chocolate Queen Ann’s Lace, and lots of Oregano. Yep, oregano.

Jessica used the flowers in her gorgeous flat lays, which is such a nice way to add dimension, keep it cohesive and tie everything together!

I also did a few vintage tea pots and tea cups of flowers to add a little whimsy and tie into the tea party theme.

Those cobra lilies though!

Working at The Peninsula Beverly Hills was a delight- the Magnolia room is the perfect size + blank slate for a bridal or baby shower, and the staff was SO dang nice! They even brought us water when we arrived and were setting up, which is so appreciated after hauling flowers around.

This is basically envelope perfection- I’m a total sucker for vintage stamps. And that ribbon!

The gorgeous guest of honor.

Holy flat lay! Look at all those crazy gorgeous details! Thank you so much Courtney, for trusting me to bring your vision to life and big congrats on your fast-approaching wedding! xo

Venue: The Peninsula Beverly Hills / Photography: Jessica Rieke Photography / Paper Goods: Cecile’s Paper Co. /
Floral Design: Winston & Main

DRINKING WITH CHICKENS

August 3rd, 2018

This is the strike crew of my dreams y’all. It ~~might also be~~ IS the booze + lovely lady + flower + chicken-filled party of my dreams. For sure. I first discovered Kate and her amazing blog/Instagram, Drinking with Chickens, last year when I wrote this article on Apartment Therapy.

We started chatting on IG and godblesstheinternet here I am creating some flower magic in her backyard a year later. She also took that amazing photo up there.

Kate’s garden is ridiculous. Like fairy-tale levels of perfection #gardengoals ridiculous. And I was so lucky she agreed that I could bring along my pal Victoria Gold Photography to snag some fancy florist shots. AKA, the kind, at big events, I’m usually too sweaty/busy to ever take, let alone look at, or post again.

Just hanging with my snips and some big ol’ fried egg peonies in the garden. Like ya do.

Victoria took a bunch of florist glamour shots of me in the garden, and we did things like torture poor Pip with a flower corsage necklace. He loved it. Obviously.

So calm. So not sweaty. Just jeuging up a flower-filled table in the garden, like ya do.

We’ve been making these modern brass wrist corsages for our wedding clients for a while now, and just love them! See also: we love making acrylic signs! And…No more 80’s prom arms, I mean, unless you’re having an 80’s prom wedding in which case- call me! 🙂

I just love love love these little pieces of floral jewelry, because each one is totally unique. It was really fun to watch guests select the one that spoke to them.

Did I mention that I LOVE attending parties that I’ve floralized? I am consistently humbled + awed by the effect beautiful flowers have on people and feel so lucky when I get to see my #flowermagic in action.

Are you ready for flower porn on a whole different scale though?

And a different angle. That garland though. She’s extra.
Iphone pic by yours truly.

Especiallye extra at this angle.
Photo + Gorgeous lil’ cupcakes by my pal Kristin over at Dine X Design!

Fun fact: Kristin and I met at Alt Summit waaaaaay back in 2012 and reconnected at this lil’ shindig! Again, godblesstheinternet!

More. More. More.

More chickens. More flowers.

More hot ladies with lap chickens.

Leave no surface or booze bottle unflowered. That’s what we say. After all, Kate’s blog is called Drinking with Chickens. And Koval did put the “booze” in the Boozy Garden Tea Party. And it was delicious!

Okay, maybe just one more tablescape. Is it weird that I wanna climb on that table and roll around in the flowers?

Well, maybe I’m just a little weird. 🙂