Friday Frequently Asked Questions

Do we provide samples of bouquets or centerpieces?

Generally we do not provide samples for bouquets or centerpieces-- the sample previews that  are displayed on "those wedding shows" are  used as production value for the florists working on the show-- in all of my career, I have never designed in a shop that  provided samples--if  a sample is requested, we must charge for the time and materials that it takes to design and create it.  Even it we agree to provide it, there are usually so many disclaimers-- sample flowers are ordered in small quantities, so a different quantity and grower may provide a different product-- some flowers may not be available- some may be different colors due to different time of season. With all of the images available, both in our studio, bridal magazines and the internet  we feel confident that we will design  a gorgeous finished product.  When choosing your florist you must feel comfortable with their experience and skills to know that you have communicated your overall vision.

Holiday weddings

 

It's just four months away from Christmas-- I can hardly believe how time is flying past this year.

This was a fun and festive holiday wedding--this is the Foothills ballroom at The Hyatt Regency on Ladybird Lake.

 

 

The reception featured 3 different styles of centerpieces-- the first featured a glass cylinder filled with festive ornaments, the second featured submerged ornaments with floating candles and scattered petals .

 

The tall centerpieces featured submerged ornaments along with curly willow, suspended candles and white hydrangea and red roses.  Notice the pill bottles on each place setting--the bride and groom were pharmacists!! The guests filled them with goodies from the candy bar.So clever!

Turquoise meets fuschia, pink and purple!

 

This has always been one of my favorite color/flower combos--bright pinks,fuschia and deep purples.The roses,gerbera daisies,dendrobium orchids ,stock and lisianthus make a perfect summer combo.  These brightly colored flowers complemented turquoise dresses--talk about a color combo!

 

Each table featured an isolated flower from the arrangements accented with the  blue votive candles.

 

And the cake was a presentation of color-- the bride's bouquet featured the phalaenopsis orchid blooms along with the other color combinations.

 

These were the adorable jr. bridesmaids --they each carried fuschia bouquets.  The men in the party wore shirts with green/blue pin stripes. I cannot wait to see the pro pics from this event.The colors should create a gorgeous palette for the photography.

Looking forward to fall!

I'm enjoying an incredibly lazy Monday morning-  I've had a lazy weekend of birthday celebrations (mine!) and now enjoying Monday.  It's back to school for most of the area with colleges following later this week.  Our staff has had an incredibly busy and eventful summer so we are looking forward to the routine fall will bring us.  Thanks to our sister in law, Jackie for filling in the office this summer--she is back to work at her daytime job of being a diagnostician-we'll see her later this fall for some wedding fun!  Fall flowers will be making their appearances soon and we'll be designing some great fall weddings! Thanks for reading!

Frequently Asked Questions - take 2

Let's discuss the price/cost of petals.  Most clients perception is that petals should be cheap-unfortunately that is not  the case.  The supply/demand of petals has become tremendous over the past 5 years.  The demand has increased due to beautifully photographed aisles covered in petals-did you know most aisles require between 250 and 500 roses to be petalled?  If you want a specific color  we must purchase that color of rose to be petalled, depending upon on the variety it most likely will be the same inventory that we will be using to design the other elements of the wedding.  Sometimes petalling requires more labor than making  an actual bouquet or  arrangement.   

 

Alot of venues only allow petals as an exit option--they are biodegradable and  look fabulous in photos- we price this out per person.

 

A few years ago we had a little more flexibility in purchasing roses for petals, but with today's economy our wholesalers no longer carry a huge cooler full of speculation product-- because of the perishable nature they must be efficient buyers, if not it becomes waste very quickly.  With that said, we too must be efficient buyers even when it comes to petals- they are a beautiful element and complement to almost every wedding but don't be caught offguard at their pricing.  I'll be happy to answer comments on this topic.

More summer weddings.

 

I absolutely love the simplicity of this chair marker-- a single cymbidium,fatsia japonica and a little pittisporum with a simple sheer ribbon--clean,classic and green- how could you go wrong?

 

The bridal bouquet to complement the chair marker--crisp and clean in green and white with a touch of ivory-- I know green cymbidiums have been done to death but I still love their uniqueness.

 

An even simpler centerpiece-- stunning bells of Ireland with suspended tea lights-- I love it when every element in complementary.

Villa Antonia in the summer!

 

This summer in Central Texas has been brutally hot-- another one of our brides braved the heat and headed outdoors for the ceremony at Villa Antonia--lots of smilax and summery yellow flowers complete the arbor.

 

The reception was both indoor/outdoors with a comfortable (85degree?) breeze-- I loved the tables-- those gorgeous soft natural linens reminding me of burlap finished with gardeny yellows and soft blues. Open yellow roses, stock, freesia and hydrangea all found their way to the tables--the bride provided the  table numbers.

 

A little closer up-- you can hardly tell its 100+ degrees-- 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Water, oh glorious blue water!

I will be answering some of the most frequently asked questions that we receive and giving our point of view on the answer--let me know if you have a specific question regarding wedding flowers/pricing.

Question Number one:

Do you deliver the bouquets in vases/water?

The short answer is no, but there can be exceptions.  I was trained by a fabulous floral designer, Duff Akins- his philosophy, one that I have adopted as my own is this... bouquets delivered in water can be disasterous, the water could accidentally get  spilled on a wedding/bridesmaids gown, they could get knocked over, spilled and destroy the design and who wants a wet drippy mess?  The exception is if we are travelling a long distance ( more than 1 to 2 hours) we will transport them in water but box them up for presentation upon arrival. As a professional floral designer, it is our job to make sure the flowers are in their most prime condition so they should not need the security of water.  

Pink and green final details

 

Back to the Lakeview room-- I love this setup for a reception, the long table down the center of the room with the dinner tables flanking each side.The bride and groom are seated on the end of the table.

 

We used both tall and low floral pieces and candles for this long table.  These tables take more components= $$ than the normal head table - but it makes an extraordinary presentation.

 

A few of the components- pink raspberry hydrangea, green hydrangea, gerbera daisy and bells of Ireland accented with candles, candles.

Pink and green-

 

One of my favorite elements--neatly trimmed wheat grass that created a home for the escort card table--the grass reminds me of lazy summer days.

 

The ceremony area was in the Sunset Room, which later was "flipped" to become the dancing room-- I was told that it looked awesome with black and white polka dot linens.  We used 8 foot columns with a bridge across the top--this photo does not show the flowers, candles and hanging candles very well. Each chair had a handmade cone filled with  rose petals.

 

This is one of the six chandeliers in the Sunset Rooom- I love the suspended bowls filled with flowers, can also have candles but the  summer evening I think the floating blooms were perfect!

Vintage Villas indoors

 

Last month I had the pleasure of working on this fun summer wedding that took place at Vintage Villas!

The ceremony was held indoors ( yeah-we are having a record setting heatwave/summer!)

The doors had a pair of wreaths to greet the guests.

 

This is the Lakeview room where dinner was served-- the bride's mom worked on every single detail and it shows-- The linens were apple green with a sheer topper with a swirled pattern- we added  the pink chair sashes, the hanging lanterns and of course the flowers!

 

The flowers were shades of pinks and greens-- spider mums, lilies, gerbera daisies, raspberry pink hydrangea.  This wedding had a great summer feel -- thanks for letting us be a part.

We are back!

 

This is the beautiful arches at Land's End on the Baja peninsula--I was lucky enough to spend a few days in this gorgeous area.

 

Thanks to Tom and April for joining us--

 

And a sneak peek from one of my favorite summer weddings--more to come tomorrow!

Vacation time is here!

What do Cabo San Lucas, South Padre Island and Oklahoma have in common?  It is where you will find various members of our staff over the next couple of weeks!  We will be coming and going in shifts-everyone is getting some much deserved time off!