After the wedding Jen asked that we donate the flowers to a hospital or retirement home. Capitol Manor is just down the road from Zenith Vineyards (and also where my grandparents live!) so we took them over the next morning. It was a simple thing to do and was a really lovely gesture for the residents. I loved how they wanted to know all about the wedding... the dress, the venue and of course the flowers!  Needless to   say it sparked a lot of memory talk.   Feel free to ask us about various options for donating your wedding or event flowers the day after.

Have you checked out the Style Unveiled blog recently?  Well, we're excited that our flowers have been featured on the national blog today and Portland's regional version yesterday!

First up was Kami and Brett's wedding at the Unitarian Church in downtown Portland with a reception following at the World Forestry Center up in Washington Park.  They wanted the flowers to be bright, colorful and fun with no one color scheme.  Jessica Hill Photography took the vibrant photos.  I particularly love the shots of the couple as they took the Max from the ceremony to the reception site.  Such a fun idea!  Check out the images and interview with Kami at http://styleunveiled.com/portlandrealweddings/kami-and-brett.html.

Today's entry was all about succulents... those yummy little textures that we use so often in bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces and as accents tucked in to moss, rocks and candles.  Check out a few of the images from a past photo shoot with Brandon Perron Photography and Champagne NW Event planners.  http://styleunveiled.com/blog/2010/7/20/make-your-wedding-day-more-succulent.html

Happy blogging!

Last week we were excited and honored to have received the award for Best Florist in Portland from Oregon Bride Magazine! This is the second consecutive year that we have won based on votes collected from readers, vendors and editors of the magazine. Thank you SO much to everyone who voted as well as to our families, friends, clients and peers who have supported and inspired us throughout the years. Thanks also to all of our brides, grooms and their families who have invited us to partake in that most special day in their lives. Even after the hundreds of weddings that we've provided flowers for I still get a little emotional thinking of what a privilege that is. :-)

Cheers to another wonderful year!

When Nicole and Steve were married 7 years ago they were young and could not yet afford a "real" photographer so they didn't have any professional photographs of the day.  Nicole is now a well known (and insanely talented!) makeup artist and Steve is a photographer.   And they were finally able to have some beautiful photographs of just the two of them taken by a professional... in this case the also insanely talented Bunn Salarzon.

When Nicole came to me and asked for a petite bouquet for the shoot we both agreed that needed to be non-traditional, non-bridal, colorful and fun.  The result was a delicate handtied bouquet of yellow ranunculus, purple astrantia, mint leaves, hosta, succulents and twigs.  I thought it played off of her dresses and the overall feel very well! Plus, the mint smelled delicious!

For more on Nicole's services check out her site at www.nicolewagnermakeup.com

And for more on Bunn check out her site at www.bsalarzon.com.

Cheers!

Last year we were honored with being awarded the Best Florist in the Portland metro area by Oregon Bride Magazine at their annual "Best of" party. This year's party will be held July 8th at the new Pure Space in the Pearl. Although we don't know yet if we won (announcements are made at the party) we WILL be providing bouquets for the runway show. In addition I have to say this was BY FAR the best party of it's kind that I've ever attended in Portland. Tons of vendors are there, drinks, food, fashion, flowers, music... essentially all of my favorite things! Tickets are available for purchase on the Oregon Bride website or feel free to contact me directly as I may be able to add your name to the guest list without having to buy a ticket (shhhh...!) Now, all that's left is crossing our fingers for a repeat win!!!

www.oregonbridemagazine.com
www.blumfloraldesign.com

Wish Upon a Wedding is a non-profit that grants "wishes" to couples with terminal illnesses achieve their dream wedding when hospital bills have gotten in the way. I'm so excited to be providing the flowers for the Portland chapter's launch party on Monday June 28th.

The event is open to all and we encourage you to attend! And if you know of a deserving couple who could use a helping hand in making their wedding dream become a reality check out the application page on the site.

Cheers and all the best!

www.wishuponawedding.org

Trends fascinate me.  Who starts them, how they develop, and how some trends eventually become classic or even iconic is a bit of a mystery that I love trying to figure out.  As a wedding florist I am constantly aware of patterns and trends in my biz and with my clients.  I think it's both important and fun.  Some of the trends I've watched have DEFINITELY faded (thank goodness) while some have stood the test of time (yay!)

One such look is the "Northwest feel."  The first time I really dipped my toes into that look was at the Bravo wedding show a few years back.  I was paired with Class Act Events in the Grand Ballroom at the Governor Hotel.  For some reason both the coordinator and I had the exact same reaction to the room and thought the same thing that an over the top natural look that still oozes elegance would be perfect.   Quite honestly I'd never seen the Northwest look done the way I wanted it to be done so it was a real treat for me to play with.

For the decor I wanted it to feel like guests were sitting along the banks of a stream bed in an old growth forest (more than in a country farm yard.)  By incorporating lots of lush green ferns and fresh mood moss the look became rich and colorful.  Chunks of slate, marble, river rocks and pebbles from a nearby rock yard lent texture and added to the stream bed look.  Tulips, lady slipper orchids and fern curls provided color and let you know a florist had really been there.  The final touch was LOTS of clear glass cylinders and column candles.  To me candles are essential in transforming a setting and the candle holders themselves can totally alter a mood.  I wanted an elegant look so the contrast of the slightly more modern straight sided cylinders worked best.  If we'd wanted an even more rustic feel Ball jars would have been perfect.  The linens, chargers and printed materials added the finishing touch to the look.  

Since I first put these images on my site I've had countless clients come in wanting to incorporate a touch of the Northwest to their wedding decor.  Sometimes it's as simple as incorporating a few sprigs of maidenhair fern and twigs, often it's replacing more traditional rose petals with moss and rocks.  This summer it feels like the natural look is taking a more feminine turn with incorporation of more terrariums and delicate flowers.  Whatever it is I LOVE it because I love the idea of sharing something you love (in this case our home in the NW) with the people you love.  Plus, it's just fun to be a little different. :-)

A more traditional autumn look that incorporated moss, twigs, birch bark containers and river rocks.  Polished river rock adds some texture without the "all out" feel of unpolished stones.

Delicate touches of maiden hair fern, birch bark and river rocks were added to the wedding of this East Coast couple entertaining at the Columbia Gorge destination wedding.  

And an otherwise simple, classic summer look gets updated with maple foliage, green berzillia berries, twigs and fern curls.

I love peonies and I'm definitely not alone!  These big, fluffy, gorgeous flowers are probably my most requested blossoms from brides and friends alike.  

Unfortunately peonies are difficult to come by most of the year but for those lucky brides getting married mid-May through mid-June (think of it as rose festival season) peonies are available locally from our amazing farmers and growers.  Buying peonies locally mean the quality is SUPERB and the prices are incredible. Peonies are also available in the fall but the prices tend to be higher as we ship them in from New Zealand.

If you're looking for more inspiration, a source for planting peonies in your garden or even just a fun day trip I recommend checking out Adelman Peony Garden's website.  www.peonyparadise.com

One of my favorite organic flower growers, Dancing Moon Farm, also has a great site for checking out their selection of peonies.  www.dancingmoonfarms.

Below are pics from some of our favorite peony weddings.  Enjoy!

Have you checked out Portland Style Unveiled recently?!

In a recent post Kami Young, one of our Memorial Day weekend brides, was interviewed about her upcoming wedding. Check it out!

Portland Style Unveiled-
www.portlandstyleunveiled.com

Image by Jessica Hill Photography-
www.jessicahillphotography.com

In March I took part in a mock wedding photo shoot at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Portland.  Events like this are fantastic as they provide us the opportunity to experiment with new looks, products and create new images for the portfolio that may be different from the norm.

For the Hotel Monaco shoot I worked with Mandi at Champagne NW to create a look with rich, fun colors and interesting details.  I love jewel tones but I sometimes think they have the tendency to get a  little dark (and dated!) so we used fuchsia linens to give the look a lift.  Lots of candles, modern vases and Spring flowers also lightened the look and kept it contemporary.

A table centerpiece of three black glass vases each filled with a unique type of flower.  When using multiple containers on a vase I love to keep the flowers themselves fairly simple.  Plus, I LOVE PURPLE SWEET PEAS, so getting to use two bunches in one vase just made me really, really happy. :-)

We thought it would be fun to play with napkin folds and little touches at the shoot.  Here we did a classic pocket fold and added a single tulip for some interest and additional color to the place settings.

I love Cornell Farms Nursery!  They have an incredibly fine tuned selection of annuals and perennials to choose from as well as amazing potted planters!  Sometimes when I'm needing a little inspiration (or just the need to get my hands in some dirt!) I'll go wander around on the premises, smell the flowers, touch the leaves and find myself a few little obscure plants to bring home.  

Well, I was just looking for some info and found their site on-line.  Why had I never thought of looking for that before?! Anyway, the best thing I think about the site is the forum section.  If you're a gardener (master, novice or anything in between) you can ask them a question on-line and they'll respond with a professional answer.  Despite my label as florist my thumbs are certainly NOT green so I think this service may be my saving grace during the upcoming vegetable planting months!!

Check it out!  www.cornellfarms.com

The cakes on this page were created by the incredibly talented teams at Dreamcakes by Judy Reece, Beaverton Bakery, La Jaconde and Saint Cupcake. Images were provided by Valls Photographic, Artistique Photographie, Eric Cable, Benjamin Edwards, Serena Davidson, Lauren Brooks and Erin Grace.

"The seeming simplicity of a masterpiece is sure proof of its grace.” — Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel

Every year I try to make it to at least one flower festival. My love affair with farm festivals began as a little girl when I'd take Spring trips with my mom to the tulip festival in Woodburn, or the lilac festival in Spokane, or the lavender festival in Seattle... well, you get the idea. I don't know, there's just something about eating an elephant ear surrounded by beautiful plants and nerdy tourists that makes me ridiculously happy.  

Last year I decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of going to the tulip festival in Holland and it was amazing!

In a couple of weeks I'll continue on my flower festival frenzy by hitting up the tulip scene in Istanbul. I'm really, really excited about this one as so many tulips are actually native to the region.  In fact, did you know there are more wild tulips in Iran (turkey's neighbor to the east) than any other country?  Sultan tulips here I come!!  

I'll be sure to post pics from my adventure upon my return! For more info check out the travel Turkey site. http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Sights/tulip_fest.html

From us to you!! And as we have an almost weird love for weird flowers I share this with you... a 21 leaf clover! How's that for luck?!

Janee and Will were married on a very HOT day in July with a ceremony in the Shakespeare Garden at the Rose Gardens and a reception following at Helvetia Winery.  For the decor they wanted to keep the color scheme simple, flowers soft and details personal. 

Janee's Bouquet featured a mix of cream spray roses, chocolate cosmos, chocolate fiddlehead fern curls, green cymbidium orchid blossoms and green hydrangea.  The stems were simply wrapped with ivory dupioni silk.

Guests at the reception were seated at rectangular style tables. We used several styles of centerpieces on the tables for interest.  This style featured three very simple clear glass vases lined with coffee and mounded over with green hydrangea.

Another style of table centerpiece... this time with green hydrangea, white dahlias, cream garden roses, chocolate cosmos, chocolate fiddlehead ferns and green cymbidium orchid blossoms. 

I consider exploring, experiencing and hanging out in cool and beautiful venues in the Northwest to be one of the greatest parts of my job!  We've decorated tiny chapels in Central Oregon, large hotels in downtown Seattle and everything in between.   Over the years we've certainly come to select a few favorites out of the bunch.  One of those favorites is the beautiful View Point Inn in Corbett, Oregon.  The Inn is about 40 minutes from downtown Portland and sits on a bluff overlooking the gorge.  Because of the location it has the gorgeous views but limited wind exposure that so many other venues in the gorge experience.  The venue itself is immaculate with the interior of the building being ALMOST as lovely as the views (I say almost because it possible to beat what I think is one of the most beautiful places in the world??!)  Fortunately for us the owners at the Inn consider us to be a good fit for the aesthetic of the property and as a result we have had the opportunity to provide flowers for dozens of events held there.  Here are a few images from some of our favorites.

There are some outdoor venues that need quite a bit of decor to customize the space.  But with others when the view is the focus I like to keep ceremony decor fairly low to keep the skies open.  Here we provided a simple wreath to surround the unity candle.  I love the "Karmel Antik" roses and green hydrangea combination.  

I think it's so important to be able to get ready on the grounds of the ceremony venue.  It keeps travel to a minimum and lowers the stress of having to "make it on time" since you're already there!  Plus, I think it would be fun to keep an eye on the preparations of the venue while you're getting ready. :-)

This is a view down the sun porch inside the Inn.  Most weddings will seat guests at long tables in this space.  Because the tables are quite narrow one of the most effective ways to add decor is with multiple smaller arrangements.

The images on this post have been taken and generously gifted to us by several talented photographers.

Thank you to Lauren Brooks, Valls Photographic, and Eric Cable.

www.laurenbphoto.com

www.alturastudio.com

www.ericcablephotography.com