Quickie!!!

I don't have a lot of extra time these days to dilly dally on my blog..though I love to do it. Today was spent in the studio watching Willy Wonka with little A as we prepped all the flowers for Kelly and Sean's wedding this weekend. Oompa Loompa used to scare me but Alice loves their songs so much, I have a renewed love of their orange-y look. Which - oddly enough ties in with the theme of the wedding flowers (not in an obvious way.)

Here are a few images of some flowers we sent out yesterday....I absolutely LOVE the pansies. Aren't their little faces so cheery?

"So shines a good deed in a weary world"

Garden Fiesta!

One week and counting till Kelly and Sean wed in Laguna! I am thrilled to be working with Rebecca Stone of Duet Weddings on this one. She is a talented, fun gal. So approachable and sweet. I can see why brides seek her out...

The inspiration for this wedding is very fiesta, with a touch of Frida Kahlo colors thrown in for good measure. I saw an exhibit of her paintings once and they were like surreal, jeweled, pandora's boxes of color. Lots of color!!!! So I think the samples may need to get even more lively from here. More peach tones, some smaller pieces that are all red or all orange. Lots of big open flower heads on the tables. Turquoise footed goblets, YUM!! We are wrapping some of the vases with various festive patterned fabrics to bring in another layer of texture. Hard to see in these images (if only I had Martha's prop room handy!) ... but on an ivory tablecloth....POP! More next week on this.

Flowerwild Wedding - Jessica and Ryan Part II

A few more goodies from the wedding this last weekend. Then, I'm off to lunch with my adorable 21 month old beauty... she wants to hang on the "paaaiyo", aka patio - even though it is about 200 degrees outside. Tough little critter! If only flowers were as resilient as she. Then I wouldn't fear the heat of a late August fete.

Flowerwild Wedding - Jessica and Ryan

Swwwwwwwweeeeeeet! It's nice to be around couples who are getting married and actually enjoying it! These two were fun, fun-loving, and full of laughs. Jessica and Ryan = humorous pairing with lots of good years to come...I'm certain of it! Here are a few snippets from their flowers as we prepped at the Flowerwild Studio. More to come...

Love in a Mist bouts...


The Bridesmaid's lovely white puff encircled with blackberry vine...




Centerpieces pre-dahlia, loving all the dark textured greenery YUM YUM....

Weekend Wilderness

Just a sweet little something. All with ingredients from the local farmer's market. It's happy don't you think?

Samples for Michelle

A wedding in Rutherford anyone? aka Napa valley...I honestly wish I could do events there every week. Last time my husband and I went up there we stayed in Calistoga. Hot springs, geysers - big geysers, fainting goats (they have these when you go see Old Faithful, don't ask me why. But they were darn cute.), petrified forests (whoa), great music, and something else.......oh yeah, WINE! Lots of really amazing wine!
Make some pretty flowers, watch a wedding, celebrate. It's a good life. This wedding happens to be taking place at a very breathtaking venue, Beaulieu Garden. Just the driveway into the space is awe inspiring. Can't wait to see it all come together on the big day. Long hard wood tables with an array of our delectable flowers scattered all around. It will be one to remember.

Samples for Jessica

I wonder, is there a weird connection between redheads? Because it seems like an unusual percentage of my brides are of the redhead/strawberry blonde persuasion. Relative to the rest of the population....It seems strange that hair color could somehow color your appreciation and taste for beautiful, wild things. But then again, Why not? Anyway, I'll try to stick to the point. Jessica= pretty strawberry bride to be. July 17th is the date. Sunsets are the inspiration for the colors. A little taster of the look see below.
Peonies, Cafe au lait dahlias, passion vine, viburnum berries, garden roses, vining sweet peas. A softer bundle of blooms for the bride to carry. My love for beautiful, wild things grows!

Flowerwild Wedding - Pollie and Chris

Fall weddings are such fun, especially when the weather here in California is kind. No fires, no hundred degree heat and we're good! Pollie was such a nice person to work with and she really let me have a lot of creative freedom. Three cheers for a relaxed bride!!! I chose to use the chocolate cosmos like floaty little butterflies throught the arrangements. Juxtaposed with some other more structured elements such as the succulents and spiraled begonia leaves...wow. Pretty Pretty and classy too.
The venue is so beautiful and tad bit undiscovered so give it a look- Pasadena Museum of History
Photography by Eric Powell

Wanna see something CRAZY?

I love all kinds of flowers. Not to say I don't discriminate. I do. I'm not prefect. So in my research I found THESE!!!!! Chinese tree peony varieties. Aren't these so insanely gorgeous? There's a lavender one! And the red and white varigated is my personal favorite. Just another reminder of Mother Nature's magical talent for surprise. I'm going out to the garden to plan my tree peony sanctuary right now...