January | 2020 | Winston & Main

I’m always so flattered when other vendors or industry peeps hire Winston & Main to bring the blooms ESPECIALLY when they give me the creative freedom to really go for it.

That’s the dream.

So when David of La Pinata Party Rentals reached out about creating something extra special for his *extra special* birthday party this ombre floral fluff dream became reality.

All 21 feet of it. Floral foam free + 100% reclaimed post event too.

Light it up! I designed the entire table in an ombre, florals + tapers too- moving from yellow to peach to orange to pink to red to blue to purple. SO much fun. SO many tapers.

The pink & red arrangement may have been my favorite because the double tulips were RIDICULOUS for October.

Although, blue & purple are definitely the winner for being MOST on trend- Pantone named Classic Blue as it’s Color of the Year shortly after this.

Talk about an incredible host- David treated his guests to a welcome bar, an epically colorful + delicious dinner catered by Hungry Bear Catering Co., a Xylophone Band AND a post-dinner surprise arcade reveal. YES, an entire arcade. Host AND birthday goals.

The velvet tux wasn’t a bad touch either.

Action shot.

This color combo was the most challenging for me, but I was so happy with the way it turned out. Also, #carnationsforever.

More fluff. You’re welcome.

Love to see our flowers getting papped.

Class photo time.

Ready for her glamour shot.

Head in the clouds.

And an action shot of us making it happen.
Ladders are an indispensable part of great floral design.

Hi-fives all around. Showing you this one despite whatever is going on with my face.

Thanks for capturing these colorful clouds in all their glory Julie Shuford! You the best!

BOOM!

Here’s little mood board in case you want to use our colorful event as a jumping off point for your own.

Don’t forget to send pics!

Venue + Rentals: La Pinata Party Rentals / Rentals: Collective Rentals, Platinum Prop Rentals, Gems Parties Rental / Florals & Design: Winston & Main / Photographer: Julie Shuford Photography / Catering: Hungry Bear Catering Co. / Men’s Styling/Rentals: Eric Acuna for Friar Tux

In 2019 we had the opportunity to design more foam-free installations than ever before, and I really enjoyed figuring out the best mechanics for each project to ensure that they were stable (don’t want our sh*t falling on peoples heads) beautiful, and long-lasting, without a single brick of floral foam.

If you’re not familiar, floral foam is essentially the single use plastic bag of the floral industry AND along with the utter waste inherent in anything you use once and throw away, it breaks down into microplastics and is gonna sit in our oceans and/or landfills for a bazillion years. Oh, and it’s also not the healthiest for florists. Win, win.

You can read a little more here. BUT I’m truly not here to judge- I just wanna do my best to make my business more sustainable with every project and I want to encourage my fellow designers to do the same.

To that end, here are some truly epic installations that I’m damn proud are #nofloralfoam. I’m happy to answer questions/show the mechanics for any of them, so if you’re struggling to reduce the amount of foam your studio uses or need ideas, don’t hesitate to reach out- email me or drop into my DM’s on IG.

Now let’s talk clouds. We created over 20 feet of them for our pal David’s birthday and LOVED how they turned out. We were able to keep ALL of the product (stay tuned, dreaming up something good for it) and we reclaimed the internal structure/mechanics too.

Photo: Julie Shuford Photography / Rentals: La Pinata Party Rentals

When Holly of Anything But Gray Events asked what I’d like to do in the space (a DTLA bar!) this was my answer.

photo: Aurelia D’Amore Photography planning: Anything But Grey Events

It was clearly a year of epic + colorful trees around here! 🙂

photo: Julie Shuford Photography

And pianos. aka. A Piano Moment

photo: Villa Visuals / planning: Anything But Gray Events

photo: Julie Shuford Photography / rentals: La Pinata Party Rentals & Collective Rentals

Fresh & fun for our pals at Ketel One Botanical.

An epic + moody moon gate arch in the sky.

photo: Brian Macstay / planning: The Rheefined / rentals: La Pinata Party Rentals

The bougainvillea arch that looks like it grew there (but really was totally bare when we started!)

photo: J Wiley Photography / planning: Thread Events

Growing aisle flowers- totally possible without the plastic!

photo: J Wiley Photography / planning: Thread Events

A quick iphone snap of a corner of the Chuppah from one of our last few events of the year. This transferred beautifully to the sweetheart table after the ceremony too!