Enchanted Al Fresco Dinner Party

A lush and textural Spring centerpiece by Los Angeles Florist Winston & Main, created with sophisticated of yellow and moody burgundies.
 
You might not think of January as the time of year to indulge in a decadent al fresco dinner party. But in Los Angeles? We’re spoiled and the weather is *almost* always perfect. 
 
An outdoor tablescape overflowing with wild & whimsical floral centerpieces.
 
So after multiple years pandemic-ing, it was a joy to gather with fellow vendors and friends to bring this beautiful day to life. And then to really ENJOY it, together.
 
A moody, lush, and abundant table scape featuring local blooms in shades of lemon yellow, blush and burgundy with blue accents and taper candles.

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and trying to be really intentional around, is treating myself (and my team) to the same beauty we create for our clients.

It’s a wonderful thing creating and curating beautiful experiences for other people, but it’s also A LOT of work. Effortless takes SO much effort, and without intention, it’s easy to get exhausted and have nothing left for our own celebrations.

I always want to create for my clients from a place of inspiration, abundance, and ease, and this means being mindful to create beautiful experiences for myself too. Even if it’s just the perfect cup of coffee!

So this year, sign me up for all the opportunities to connect, uplift, and encourage my fellow creatives, as we celebrate our unique talents and enjoy the beauty we create in community.

A lush bar arrangement featuring garden roses, sweet pea, and lisianthus sits on a vintage bar cart.
 
A unique floral centerpiece made for an outdoor al fresco dinner party by Los Angeles Florist Tabitha Abercrombie, and the outdoor tablescape.

It’s always such a pleasure to collaborate with Jessica from Art & Soul Events because she is so intentional, generous, and creative. I really enjoy collaborating with planners who appreciate my styling background and let me lean into the styling aspect of floral design. More is more, and I loved bringing the flower magic to everything from the bar cart to the cake.

Two photos, one showing a bar cart featuring a romantic arrangement, and the other featuring Tabitha Abercrombie holding a cheery mug of flowers.

I brought plenty of lush local flowers from our neighboring flower farms & the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, as well as some beautiful Japanese Sweet Peas from Mayesh at the LA Flower Market. Fun fact: our studio is located just upstairs from Mayesh!
Sweet peas on speed dial FTW.

A bird's eye view of a bold floral centerpiece with a unique color palette that includes sweet peas, anemones, and garden roses and a delicious shot of beautiful tray passed appetizers by Fundamental LA styled with fresh blooms by W&M.

Gotta love a bird’s eye view of some epic blooms! And it goes without saying that all of the food from Fundamental LA was both delicious AND beautiful, but I’m saying it anyhow.

A whimsical/romantic cocktail arrangement by Los Angeles Florist Winston & Main in shades of burgundy, cream, and butter yellow.
 
This time of year brings out the best of the winter/spring florals for Los Angeles Florists, and so our table featured plenty of sweet peas, anemones, even garden roses! I loved creating this unique palette- both pastel AND moody, and used lots of shades and textures to add depth & drama to the design.

A romantic garden-style bar arrangement in shades of peach and soft yellow with accents of burgundy anemones.
 
Sliced citrus, persimmons and crystals brought even more visual interest to the table and bar, and really help reflect the winter (and witchy!) season.

In the first image our moody cocktail arrangement accentuates a beautiful place setting featuring a custom menu by Roseville Designs and a winter citrus accent. The second image is a tablescape detail featuring our unique palette of cream, yellow, peach & burgundy with blue taper candle accents.

A candlelit family-style dinner featuring lots of small cocktail arrangements scattered among the platters.

I’m honored to have had the opportunity to collaborate with my fellow creatives to create + enjoy this beautiful dinner party!

A candlelit family-style dinner featuring taper candles and close up of the centerpiece created by Tabitha Abercrombie from Winston & Main.

There’s nothing I love more than a good dinner party (or marathon recipe) and so I’m looking forward to many more enchanted evenings cultivating community with my fave event pros, while we enjoy our own creations.

A chocolate naked cake by Nicole Bakes Cakes is adorned with fresh florals, chamomile blooms, and citrus accents.
 
Can we have a moment for this perfect creation by my cake bestie Nicole Bakes Cakes?
It was a pleasure to flower, fruit, and crystal another one of her beautiful cakes, and even more fun to eat it!

If you’ve ever heard/thought/read that wedding cake can’t be both a work of art AND ridiculously delicious, you need to get a cake from Nicole immediately.

Two pictures of a slice of a chocolate naked cake by Nicole Bakes Cakes. Adorned with fresh florals, citrus accents and an extinguished candle.

And finally, a little editorial cake styling FTW.

Event pros enjoy a candlelit dinner party, toasting with wine over a table full of family style dinner.
 
Here’s to a beautiful 2023: More dinner parties. More connection. More flowers. More cake.

Planning + Design: Art & Soul Events // Photography: Amber Gress // Catering & Cocktails: Fundamental Events // Floral Design: Winston & Main // Pastry Chef: Nicole Bakes Cakes //  Tabletop Rentals: Casa de Perrin // Menus: Roseville Designs // Natural Wine: Buvons // Napkins: World Market

To see more of our floral designs, head to our portfolio.

 



Lessons from Flowers: 2020 Edition

A bold and colorful bouquet created by Tabitha Abercrombie of Winston & Main, featuring local & seasonal blooms like dahlia & zinnia.
 
2020 started out so hopeful. I attended the Team Flower conference in Pasadena. The next week I took Amy Nicole’s Bouquet Bootcamp. I love education and I loved getting it in right at the beginning of what was sure to be a busy year. A profitable year. The MOST profitable year yet. (ha ha ha)
 
A modern cascade bouquet, created by Tabitha Abercrombie of Winston & Main in a workshop taught by Amy Nicole.
 
Photo: Rebekah Lemire Workshop: The Floral Coach
 
We did two beautiful weddings, a few brand activations, and one AMAZING celeb event (NDA be damned). We did our final design meetings for our spring weddings…
 
Red wedding details from Winston & Main, Malibu, California
 
Photo: Brooke Allison Photo Planner: Events by Emily Kay
 
A beautiful cascade bouquet in white, green, and orange for our Leap Day Wedding at the Ebell Los Angeles, as featured on Martha Stewart.
 
Photo: Miki and Sonja Photography Planner: Moxie Bright Events
 
A lush, foam-free, tropical installation by Winston & Main for a celebrity event in Los Angeles in early spring 2020.
 

And then the world shut down.

Our studio building, aka The Original LA Flower Market, shut down, and I had a couple hours to take everything “valuable” out of my studio. To watch my vendors throw their product/profit in the garbage. Talk about a surreal and heartbreaking day. What IS valuable in your business/workspace/life when you have to choose what to take with you?
 
Bold pink bouquet featuring peonies, dahlias, spray roses and more from Winston & Main, Los Angeles, CA.
 
After a month at home without flowers, I tentatively dipped my toe back in, and started figuring out how I could safely get flowers (both locally and from my wholesaler). There was a veeeery strange period of picking up flowers 100% no contact- checking out my pull from a parking lot, and then putting it in my car before dousing myself in sanitizer lest any covid nasties were hitching a ride.
 
Creating flower arrangements in my backyard during the pandemic.
 
Tabitha Abercrombie created a makeshift floral studio in her living room during the pandemic by keeping the lights low and the AC cranking.
 
I arranged flowers in my backyard and turned my tv/guest room into a temporary cooler by cranking our AC.
 
Iphone images of bouquets created by Tabitha Abercrombie of Winston & Main during 2020.
 
I advertised my new delivery biz solely via instagram AND the response was overwhelming.
 
Clients, old and new, embraced flowers in a way that felt absolutely sacred. The joy I witnessed when I delivered flowers from a grandchild to their grandmother, who was isolated at home alone, was beautiful and heartbreaking and so very meaningful.
 
A beautiful elopement planned by Opus Events Co. with photography by The Hendrys and flowers by Winston & Main.
 
Photo: The Hendrys Planning: Opus Events Co.
 
A beautiful elopement in Los Angeles, featuring a flower crown by Winston & Main, and photography by The Hendrys.
 
Photo: The Hendrys
 
A bride and her beautiful Winston & Main bouquet, photographed by Heirlume Photography at The Bel Aire Hotel.
 
Photo: Heirlume Photography Planning: P.S. & Associates Event Planning
 
A beautiful Joshua Tree Elopement, featuring blooms by Winston & Main, and photographed by Michael Gomez Photo.
 
Photo: Michael Gomez Photo
 
Getting married at home never looked so good- a bright bouquet from Winston & Main, beautiful photography by Faye Casaje.
 
Photo: Faye Casaje
 
There were elopement blooms too- in national parks, backyards, hotels, and homes.
 
A bold and local bouquet by Tabitha Abercrombie of Winston & Main, featuring dahlias, cosmos, and rudbeckia.
 
A bright & bold bouquet by Winston & Main featuring peony, dahlia, ranunculus, and zinnia for a 2020 elopement.
 
A colorful weekly delivery bouquet by Winston & Main.
 
2020 was an excellent reminder for me about just what I love about flowers.
An opportunity to come back to my WHY again and again, one bouquet at a time.
 
A lush arrangement featuring local and homegrown garden roses, by Tabitha Abercrombie of Winston & Main.
 
Flowers are magic and they have the power to transform spaces, people, and bad days alike. Flowers are a powerful reminder to be present, and they teach us to cultivate a more mindful relationship with ourselves and the world around us.
 
They remind us that joy is now.
 
This is one of the lessons I’ll be taking into 2021, and the busy season ahead.
How about you? What did you learn or relearn about your business in 2020?

Photography:
All photography by Winston & Main, except where credited otherwise.

Rebekah Lemire / The Floral Coach / Brooke Allison Photo / Events by Emily Kay / Miki and Sonja Photography / Moxie Bright Events / The Hendrys / Heirlume Photography / Michael Gomez Photo / Faye Casaje



ROMANTIC FALL WEDDING INSPIRATION

Lush and bohemian fall wedding arch
 
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?
 
Fall wedding invititation suite in burgundy with pressed flowers and custom envelope liner
 
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.
 
Installation in rustic wheel barrow with cascading fall flowers
 
Rustic Wheel Barrow with cascading roses and fall leaves
 
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.
 
Boho couple pose next to rustic wheel barrow overflowing with fall flowers in shades of blush, gold, and berry
 
See? These cuties knew just what to do.
 
Wedding cake with real pressed flowers
 
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!
 
The Old Fashioned Caravan, fall cocktail inspiration, bar signage with pressed flowers
 
Speaking of cute- I’m pretty dang sure The Old Fashioned could not get any cuter.
 
fall cocktail inspiration with fresh flowers and rosemary
 
And could this cocktail look any more delicious? Gimme!
 
Fall tablescape set against rustic wooden doors at Stonewall Ranch, Malibu
 
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…
 
Fall Wedding Inspiration tablescape featuring blush, berry, burgundy and gold flowers
 
Fall floral centerpiece in rich shades of blush, apricot, berry, burgundy and gold
 
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?
 
Romantic fall floral arch full of roses and dahlias in shades of blush, berry, burgundy and gold
 
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!
 
Romantic and Bohemian Fall Wedding Inspiration
 
A quick costume change and that view?
Yes, that’s the fog rolling in OVER THE WATER. Seriously, Stonewall Ranch, that view is insane!
 
Boho Couple at Stonewall Ranch, Malibu
 
See what I mean?
 
Boho Couple wedding portraits at Stonewall Ranch, Malibu overlooking the ocean
 
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