Ruth & Michael- Boutonnieres & Corsages

The orchids worked perfectly for the boutonnieres and corsages. We found ways to make the bridal party members match each other and for all the other personal flowers to fit the feel.

Groom's Bout: White Orchid and magenta Orchid

Groomsmen: Purple Hydrangea and magenta Orchid

Ruth's dad passed away a few years ago and Ruth had chosen a dear friend to walk her down the aisle. His boutonniere had a magenta and a lavender Orchid.

Mothers' Wristlets: White orchid, magenta orchid, boxwood, Sangria ribbon, pearl wristlet

Officiant: White Orchid

Ruth chose to honor some very special people with flowers, many of whom I knew. It was a very sentimental moment to be creating these flowers with each person in mind.

Last up: Come back tomorrow to see how Ruth and Michael chose to honor their Dads.

Fashionable Feathers

Georgia Bride Sommona had one specific request when we started designing her wedding flowers--she wanted peacock feathers as a main feature. I decided to take her ideas along a not-so-traditional route. Instead of matching the colors in the feathers with flowers, I found a way to make them stand out. By using lighter colored flowers for her September wedding, the rich tones of the feathers became more than just a subtle accent.

Her bridesmaids were going to be wearing midnight blue and Oasis blue, so the scheme still needed to coordinate, but in a funky vibrant sort of way. We settled on a nice green and white color scheme to complement the dresses and Sommona's style. She liked orchids and hydrangea and wanted a hint of purple in her bouquet. From those details, we constructed the look that was perfect for her.



Bridal Bouquet: White roses, white hydrangea, green hydrangea, green cymbidium orchids, orchid hydrangea, peacock feathers.
Toss Bouquet: White roses, orchid colored hydrangea

Both bouquets incorporated her bridesmaid dress colors with midnight blue satin ribbon with oasis colored ribbon ballerina wrapped and finished off with pearl-head pins.

Sommona's 6 bridesmaids carried a contemporary design with green and white hydrangea and an off center placement of 3 peacock feathers. These bouquets were also finished off with a ballerina wrap and pearl-head pins but in the opposite colors as the Bridal and Toss Bouquets.

Thanks to Sommona and her happy new husband for working with me on such modern and fun flowers. Blessings in your new marriage!

Go from bare-bones to bountiful!

When some florists give their quotes, brides are forced to subtract arrangements from their wish list. With Love Is Blooming, most of my brides see their savings and add things on! If you go with designer silk wedding flowers, you don't have to break the bank--you can afford more flowers than you think!

Such was the case with bride Amabelle. She originally sent in a Bridal Checklist requesting information for a bridal bouquet and a toss bouquet for her black, white, and teal November wedding. In the end, she decided to order a bridal bouquet, a toss bouquet, a maid-of-honor bouquet, a junior maid-of-honor bouquet, 3 bridesmaid bouquets, and 6 boutonnieres!

Her original idea for her bouquet was a round, hand-tied bouquet of gardenia with pearl accents. The more we talked, the more we added. Pretty soon, her bouquet had roses too. Shortly thereafter, we added anemones because of their fabulous black centers. From there, she started talking about bouquets for her bridesmaids. The arm bouquets would have a combination of roses, anemones, and lilies all in the classic and clean white.

The designs became a little more complex, the bouquets a little fuller, and the embellishments a little more elaborate. For just under $300, I was able to create 13 beautiful, classic, and affordable arrangements! Take a look at some of the finished products:

Boutonnieres: White rose with black satin ribbon and teal overlay

Bridal Bouquet: White roses, Gardenia, and Anemones. Pearl pick accents, black satin ribbon and teal ballerina wrap with pearl-head pins.

Check back to see a feature on Amabelle's beautiful arm bouquets, a unique and uncommon bridesmaid choice.

Bridal Timeline: Years Down the Road

Lisa and I have been working together on her flowers for a long time, almost 2 years! She contacted me in 2008 to get some initial pricing and information for her August 2010 wedding. I didn't hear from her for a while until she e-mailed me again last November. While time had marched on, Lisa knew she was still marching down that aisle, and she was going to do it with ivory and pink flowers.

Her flowers of choice were roses, orchids, and peonies, so we got to work finding great looking fresh touch orchids, perfectly pink peonies, and crisp, open garden roses. The orchids were going to be the flowers to tie everything together, but Lisa wanted her bouquet to stand out. We chose ivory roses with ivory and pink orchids for her bouquet, while the girls carried light pink peonies and bright pink orchids. We then decided which flowers would be for the bouts and corsages and then I got to work.

Here are a few shots of the final products:Groom's Bout: Ivory and Pink Phalenopsis Orchid

Groomsmen Bouts: Hot Pink Phalenopsis Orchid--these are incredibly lifelike!

Grandparents Bout and Corsage: Ivory rose, Ivory rose with ivory and pink orchid

Bridesmaid Bouquets: 3 Large light pink Peonies and hot pink orchids

Toss Bouquet: Ivory roses and ivory and pink orchids, ivory ribbon wrap and pink tails

Bridal Bouquet: 13 Ivory garden roses, pink and white Phalenopsis orchids, and an ivory ribbon wrap with pink criss-crossed ribbon and pearl accents.

In Lisa's case, she had lots of time to work with me to find the perfect flowers, designs, and colors. What we ended up with are arrangements that were Lisa's style two years ago as well as today and she'll have the same flowers to celebrate with at her 50th Anniversary. Congrats Lisa and thanks for including me in this wonderful time in your life!

July Jewels - Flowers in Yellow and White

Bride-to-be Gretchen called me up looking to get some information for her fast-approaching nuptials. Her style was clean, simple, and sunny--yellow and white roses. She gave me some of her ideas and from there I walked her through some different options for the bouts and corsages. What we came up with was a nice set of summery flowers, perfect for a July wedding.

Her son's bout: small rose bud and mini yellow roses

Mother's wristlet: mini white and yellow roses and butter colored ribbon

Groom's Bout: Open rose with mini yellow roses


Bridal Bouquet: 6 yellow and 6 white roses with pearl accented ribbon wrap

Gretchen set up a time to come over and see the flowers part way through their construction. We took that time to talk about ribbon ideas and finish the final design details together. She picked up her flowers with a few weeks to spare and was thrilled to check one more thing off her to-do list. Thanks Gretchen for working with me and allowing me to help make your wedding a little extra special.