Ikebana Bat Mitzvah

Yes...today I delivered arrangements for my first ever Bat Mitzvah. While I was working on my wedding at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens I received and email from a mother, who after planning all of the necessary details for a party, realized she did have money in the budget for the flowers. After having a wonderful conversation on the phone, exchanging a few emails, and talking to my suppliers to make sure I could get the flowers in time, I was able to create some pretty fun arrangements. While I love, love doing weddings this was a great chance for me to work with some more linear structured designs and just do something a little different. In my design I tried to imitate the ancient Japanese art of floral design called Ikebana, which was appropriate since the party was held at Japonais, a Japanese restaurant in NYC.

Ok so I am no expert, have only recently been introduced to, and don't even know if what I created can really be called...Ikebana. From what I've read Ikebana is about balance in an arrangement, but doesn't focus on symmetry..it's all about the shape of the of the flowers and materials in an arrangement. And from what I've read there seems to be a bunch of rules...I'll need to take a class!....ok I'm back I just stopped blogging to do a search for Ikebana classes in NYC and found an organization called Ikebana International and found a list of Ikebana schools and teachers in the NY area. I guess I really could take a class!

Here are the pictures of my attempt. I used all tropical flowers; Bird of Paradise, Protea, Heliconia, and Ginger.

A Wedding at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Volcano, Volcano...have you heard about the volcano that erupted in Iceland?....and what it has done to flower shipments coming from Europe. When it first happened I thought, I still have a week until the wedding....things should clear up by then. Well, they didn't and it was questionable whether I would be able to get the peonies (for the Brides bouquet!) and the tulips (for the bridesmaids) that I ordered. And I was freaking out...just a bit.

Fortunately tulips are in season here....perfect timing...so my supplier was able get them for the bridesmaids. Whew...one problem solved.

But the brides bouquet...my supplier wasn't sure they'd be able to get the light pink peonies I ordered...and thought she could maybe...maybe.... get the white with the fuchsia swirls. So with sweaty palms I called my bride to inform her of the situation. My bride was sympathetic, but I knew she would be crushed if she didn't have her peony bouquet. All I could do was hope my supplier could get some color of pink peony...or that I would be able to find something at one of the other suppliers in the flower district.

I was in the city early at 7am, and the peonies weren't there....but might be in the shipment coming in at 10am. After I checked the rest of my order I decided to look across the street....and low and behold they had one box of pink peonies...brighter than what the bride had originally wanted, but better than nothing. Sigh...relief. And she absolutely loved, loved, loved her bouquet.

This is my friend Amy...She is starting her own flower business in Philadelphia called Leaves of Grass Floral Design...she was a huge help!

Thank goodness it all worked out....I had been looking forward to this wedding because it was an April Wedding at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, when all the cherry blossoms would be blooming. And that was my brides inspiration for the centerpieces, fluffy and pink.

Half of the centerpieces were tall and as you can see made with carnations...they get a bad rap, but can still be beautiful and elegant.

And the other half low...

The card table had an arrangement of cherry blossom branches with hanging votives...which had battery operated candles so as not to have a burning tree.

And the boutonnieres

Can you see how amazing the atrium is where the reception was held? Here is a picture from across the gardens.

The ceremony location was absolutely incredible and she had the most amazing weather. When the wind blew it rained petals, I am sure the pictures are going to be amazing.

A Great Idea for Your Centerpieces After Their Work is Done

This coming Friday is my first wedding of the season and the bride has a wonderful idea for her centerpieces after they have done their job setting the atmosphere at her wedding.....she is donating them.

The organization is called Flower Power. They take flowers and give them a second life after their original purpose is fufilled by picking them up from the venue and then delivering them to the elderly, sick, and terminally ill. Five years ago, this September, I lost my mother to cancer. She always had the most beautiful blue hydrangea plants and while she was home, under the care of hospice, we would cut some for her. Even though she was very weak, she made it known that she wanted them right in her line of site, not on the nightstand. And knowing that those flowers brought her some joy and peace made it a little easier to get through a very difficult time.

So if you have arrangements that maybe are too bulky for guests to take home, or you would like them to go to those who need a little lift in their day them visit the Flower Power website to learn more.

Heather's Getting Married!

I am very very happy that one of my best friends is getting married September 2010. Heather and I went to high school together, and while we weren't friends then, we became friends at a graduation party I went to when I was home for the summer after my first year of college. She is such a loyal, genuine friend who wears her heart on her sleeve. She really deserves all of the happiness in the world.

And I am so excited to be able to do her flowers for her at cost. We've been talking about a few different ideas...what she wants....what her mother wants;) ..and she's sent me the following pictures from The Knot of ideas that caught her eye.

As long as I've known Heather her favorite color has been purple...so it came as no surprise to me that our bridesmaids dresses would be purple as well as the flowers. And these gorgeous shoes pretty much sum up her love of the color.

Dahlia's are a beautiful and affordable choice for an early fall wedding...it's the height of their season so the blooms are huge and in abundance. Here are some pictures Heather sent me of Dahlia arrangements that caught her eye for the cocktail hour.

I definitely noticed a theme in Heather's pictures....Dahilas, Hydrangea, Orchids, and Calla's. Orchids are always available and their price stays pretty steady throughout the year. Dahlia, Hydrangea and Calla's are in season...so great choices heather! I plan on combining the elements in these pictures to create all of the floral elements for the wedding.

Centerpieces

The centerpieces will be on a tall trumpet vase...like the one here.

And will be a combination of the pictures below

This will be perfect for Heather's Bouquet

And for the bridesmaids bouquets I'm thinking of using hydrangea, callas, orchids, and

And boutonnieres will be orchids...

Really this is only the beginning...Heather has just started looking at pictures, but I am so excited and love what she's sent me so far!

Working on some estimates on this beautiful snowy day

I love snow and call me crazy, but I am disappointed we didn't get as much as they were calling for. My father on the other hand, who lives across the bay from Atlantic City, is digging himself out from almost 2 feet of snow! Lucky!

I'm taking the time since my hubby is outside clearing the driveway with my 2 year old 'helping' to get back to a few brides. And while writing to one realized I never posted the pictures from a wedding I did last February! So better late than never here they are.

This was my first time decorating a Chuppah. The bride wanted something simple to dress it up a little and since a main theme in her wedding was orchids I used white dendrobium orchids.

The Brides Bouquet was made of hydrangea, cymbidium orchids in white and green, and bear grass. She found and mailed me the studded buckles that were on all of the bouquets.

The Bridesmaids bouquets were a combination of orange and pink roses. And the MOH carried a bouquet of white hydrangea and white roses

The Boutonnieres and Corsages were also made of white and green cymbidium orchids

And wanting a centerpiece that the guest could continue to enjoy for months after the wedding

Phalaenopis orchid plants were flown in from Hawaii and placed in a vase with grey river rocks and moss.

Winter Break

So this is the slow time of the year in the land of weddings, but with the New Year comes new brides and I have several meetings in the first week of Jan to start things off.  I know I promised to make arrangements for the Holidays and post them, but time just got away from me and I haven't made it into NYC to the flower market (I know you understand!).  So as things start to pick up again in the New Year I'll be back in touch to let you know the trends my most recent brides are following.  Until then...Happy New Year!  

Flowers Uncut

A Reality show about florists?!

I'm sure that many to be brides and floral designers will be tuning in this week to TLC for the premiere episode of "Flowers Uncut", with Jeff Leatham.  I know I will be.  It seems that I am more wedding obsessed now than I was when I planned my own wedding! (I can't get enough of "Say Yes to the Dress"!)

Who is Jeff Leatham...you can click on the link above to see his flowery resume, but he has a pretty crazy clientele list, he did the flowers for Eva Longoria's wedding and designs for the Dali Lama  (hmmm those two people in the same sentence doesn't really jive does it?!).  In the teaser he says that you learn something new with each event....so true.  Every wedding I do I learn something that will help me to be more efficient or help me learn something new about floral design and how best to work with certain flowers.  I'm looking forward to being inspired.  Maybe you'll even get some ideas for your own wedding!   Happy viewing!