Centrepiece for a Winter Wedding

I had another wedding flower request last month for a wedding in December. However, this was not your typical wedding flower request. I was only asked to make a table arrangement. No small posy or body flowers were required. Oh well..happy to do any floral arrangement.

Never did talk directly to the bride to be, only through forwarded emails. She was not particular about color or flowers except no roses. I have to admit, she has to be the first girl who does not like roses. She also didn't want any winter greens. So this is what I came up with.

Since bride to be was not particular of colors or flowers, I chose one of my favorite color combos. Purple, red, white and light green. Purple mokara orchids are always the perfect intensity of purple without it being over powering. I would have gone for a more "fire engine" red asiatic lilies but i think it has enough pink hues to blend well with the mokaras. If I could have used roses, I would have put mini white roses instead of alstromerias. But alstromerias will never disappoint. The picture doesn't show the red stripes in the alstromerias but it ties into the red tulips and the reddish hues in the lilies.

That top lily bud had a weird curve to one of the petals. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.





Back view

I had planned this elaborate weaving of the tulips in the back but the boxwood covered it all. I didn't plan to use boxwood to cover up the foam but there were no ming fern at the store. And this boxwood variety was not very nice to work with. It was not as full and very thin stems.

Top view

You can see the bells of Ireland more clearly in this picture. I pulled some of the blooms off the stem to show more of the stem. I really want to do this arrangement again but with the flowers I want. However, I might try a different color scheme. Maybe purple, blue, red and white and minus magnolia leaves.

Enjoy!

What Did You Do This Weekend?

What did I do this weekend? Arts & crafts. So much fun and never gets tiresome.


The final product. A homemade book to surprise mom and dad on Christmas. Don't worry, mom and dad are computer/internet illiterate so I'm safe. It started off as just a card but this was much more fun and filled my Sunday night.






So be patient little ones, there will be posts of our adventure to the Olympics in the new year.

Mme. Chorizo

More Christmas Flowers

This was a very simple winter greens wreath but classic. I used all the left over greens I had from the hat boxes arrangements expect boxwood. Boxwood is not as hardy as winter greens. I was going to add gold or red round ornaments but I wasn't sure if it would suit the recipient's taste/decor. I gave this to a dear friend E. I hope E. and his family enjoy it. I told E. that he can make the wreath more versetile by removing the bow and place it on the dinner table. Prop the center of the wreath with a small container and place the prized turkey on top of it. Instant centerpiece!

Christmas Party Flowers

The weekend of the work Christmas party has come and gone. The clean-up (all the sap and pine needles) is finally done. Here are the pictures I took hastily before they were loaded into the car. Thanks so much B. for helping me move them. I know I would have gotten stuck in the snow and wouldn't have been able to get all the flowers to the party on time.

Here is a close up of the hat box. There would have been more purple alstromerias but they did not open as fast as the red ones.


Friday was a long day as all 30 arrangements had to be finished. I covered our basement floor with the flowers that Agent Chorizo wasn't able to get to his computer desk.


All that work was all worth it. I enjoy creating them for people who truly appreciates them. I wish I remembered to take a picture of them on the dinner tables. But I was in such a hurry to get home that I forgot. Oh well, hopefully next time.

Christmas Party Centrepieces Preparations

It's that time of the year again. Christmas is just around the corner and I have an up coming project as requested by work. I am so excited! Who am I kidding, I am excited for every project I get to do.

My vision for this year is mostly purple and green. Some people are giving me funny looks when I say purple but just look around the stores. Shades of purple is sprouting here and there. I am sure every girls got a orchid colored t-shirt or a lavender dress shirt for the guys. It's the new "pink" if you will for the guys.

The party is not till another week but I am not going to pull an all nighter like my last big project. I guess it doesn't really count if you sleep till noon the next morning. So I am getting a head start and getting all the containers ready. Each table will have 3 hat boxes that will have the lid tilted to one side and all the Christmas greens and flowers spewing out the other side. Much like the one I did for a co-worker that had hot pink gerbers and pink roses.

Before


If you are wondering if I got the containers from Ikea, you guessed right. They are perfect size and price. Maybe I was a designer for Ikea in my past life because that is the only way I can explain my obsession..i mean fascination with Ikea.

After (minus the flowers of course)


So far I got the go ahead for 9 tables (up to 15 tables). The red and gold berry like ornaments will be added to the arrangements later. I will have the 2 smaller hat boxes elevated higher so it will give it more depth. I hope the venue will have enough tea lights to brighten the tables. As you can see, I got one table done, which means 8 more sets to do.

Trial Wedding Arrangement

I am so lucky to work with such a beautiful and sweet girl. She asked me to do her wedding flowers for her August nuptials. She loves colors and it is very fitting for someone who is just full of sunshine. She loves autumn colors but want to add some pinks and blues. This is what I came up with.



I convinced her that he bouquet will have more of a tear drop shape compared to her maid's because that will compliment her tall figure. It's not a perfect teardrop but remember that's it's only the trail run.


Here is the ribbon and lace detail on the stems of the bouquet. She absolutely loved it and I have to say that I love it too.

More Flowers

Roses are one of my favorites. They are so nice smelling and so easy to look at. I only wish they last longer then their average of a week. Peach maybe a color that is not as versatile as other colors but the pairing with yellow gives it a softness and elegance.





This was a present for someone's big 50 birthday. She really liked and I had lots of fun creating it. I remember she had recently bought a sofa table so this long low piece was perfect to catch your eyes every time you walked by. The peach color roses were actually orange roses. Even with the automatic button on the camera, natural light is hard to achieve at night. Hopefully I will be able to set up a little spot in my "flower room" for better portraits. Until then, bear with me and my shaky, blurry and dull colored pictures.

Can't Get Enough of Flowers

So so sorry. I know it has been ages, but I moved last month and am still painting the walls. In the mean time, I was fortunate to have a very loyal customer that wanted flowers. Enjoy the finished project as much it was to create them.






I was never a fan of Gerber daisies but I think it really worked with the other color combos in this arrangements. The flowers are still in the early stages but in the back and left side I added tuber roses. They will open to a nice off white flowers with an intoxicating scent that will hopefully draw more viewers. The purple alstromerias were a perfect shade of purple as it didn't over power all the other flowers. I probably didn't need to add the baby's breath but it does give it a light airiness.

New Spin on the Walk Down the Aisle

I was given the honour to arrange the flowers for a friend's wedding last weekend. The wedding was so beautiful. Beautiful weather, beautiful garden and beautiful people. I don't have any pics right now as I was up really late that night so I didn't feel I could take any decent pictures. So hopefully the bride will share some of her wedding pics for me.

Since then, I haven't been able to stop thinking about wedding flowers. Found some blogs by other florists and they posted a really cool YouTube video. It just reminds me that in the end of all the planning, stressing and fussing over flowers, a wedding is about having fun and making the best of that day for the happy couple. Enjoy everyone. By the way, I found the video on "Hidden Garden Floral Design" blog. She does some amazing arrangements. Check the website out!

This One's for You "M"

A little late but nonetheless.....