Vintage Pastel and Turquoise Wedding

Last I checked, flowers didn't exist in turquoise, teal or Tiffany blue, so it's always a challenge to incorporate this ever-so-popular color into floral design.  This magnificent color that is not quite blue and not quite green is undeniably one of the hues of the decade, thanks to a popular jewelry retailer.  I decided to incorporate my love of turquoise, with my other faves--vintage lace, pastels, garden roses, ranunculus and anemonies.  Voila! 

The Daily Petal Featured on Hindsight Bride!

Back in October, I was honored that the Rogue Bride featured some of my designs and opinions in a clever story about the alternatives to peonies, mason jars and macaroons when she was a guest blogger for Hindsight Bride.  Check out the full feature here.

Also check out the Rogue Bride, herself.  The name says it all...she definitely deviates from the norm and that intrigues me.

Katie and Aaron's ORANGE AND LIME green wedding

A refreshing squeeze of orange and lime cleanses the wedding palette with a fruitful blend of modern simplicity, whimsy and charm. Orange dahlias, ranunculus, and tulips with accents of green hypericum and carefully placed mini persimmon branches added tanginess to the citrus mix.  Pucker up and dare to try this vibrant color scheme for your summer or fall event.

The fun-loving nature of Aaron and Katie are beautifully captured through the clicks of Figlewicz Photography.  Check out more photos from the wedding here.

I Have the Blues (and Yellows)

Blue flowers are the black diamonds of florals...very few and far between.  If you happen to have a blue wedding around Spring, Fall or Winter, try blue anemones on for size!  They definitely pop nicely against the yellow ranunculus and craspedia (billy balls!)--an exquisite combo of structure and femininity and a touch of modern whimsy.

Doesn't this combination of color take the blues out of your life?? 

Centerpiece of the Day - Summer Meets Fall

As my car thermostat reads 108 degrees, I'm thinking (as I turn up the AC) that summer has finally hit Los Angeles, right in time for Fall! As an ode to the heat wave, I am posting the "centerpiece of the day," an effective blend of summer vibrancy offset by a subdued fall palette.



It is amazing how such a simple blend of roses, ranunculas and tulips can have such a strong voice. The textures of the different petals, the color patterns of each flower head, and the use of neutrals to allow the eye to rest, all work wonderfully and effortlessly together.

Hotel Erwin Photoshoot

A few months ago, I was approached to be a part of a photoshoot for a hip and trendy hotel in Venice called Hotel Erwin. I knew it was a match made in Heaven when I walked past an elaborate graffiti wall to enter the hotel. The staff was wonderful and I really had a great time designing for their modern, minimalist banquet room. Here were some of the design highlights.


I chose to design arrangements that can work for both weddings and corporate events, so the flowers were on the simple, clean, modern side.

If you have a smaller size wedding or just want a fun place to grab drinks with friends, I would highly suggest their rooftop lounge, which has a spectacular view of Venice Beach!

The Big Misconception

I haven't met too many brides that do not include peonies as one of their top five flowers. I can't say I can blame them since it is truly a beautiful bloom that is just a notch above most of its counterparts. Such beauty also comes with a hefty price tag, usually 5 to 10 times the price of a rose depending on the season. The size of the flower head and the intricate petal pattern (say that 10 times fast!) offers an ironically simplistic elegance that need not be paired with much more than some hot pink ranunculus and green hydrangeas.

On the flip side, I haven't met too many brides that do not list carnations as one of the flowers they dislike. So today, I'm playing Devil's Advocate of sorts (something my husband has seem to master!). At half the price of a rose, can a carnation really live up to the standard of a peony? Let me let you in on a little secret...the bouquet above has no peonies. Guess what those beautiful ruffly flowers are?

Carnations! Even if you were not fooled, you have to admit that they are quite stunning when they are incorporated correctly into a design. Perhaps its lack of beauty is a bit of a misnomer.

Happily Ever After at Wayfarers Chapel

Rain, rain, go away...la la la...

I guess I've learned to appreciate rain more and more as I get older. It used to be a hindrance to just about everything--play, commuting, life. Now, it not only waters my extremely thirsty garden and washes away the dust on my bath-challenged vehicle, but it also makes me feel rejuvenated and cleansed (a "frenemy" of sorts). Why oh why does it always have to happen when I have to go buy flowers though? **sigh**

Instead of thinking about the hectic commute tomorrow, I'll reminisce about a recent morning outing up to Wayfarers Chapel atop the stunning hills of Palos Verdes where I was enveloped by rays of sunshine, a slight breeze and (dunt da da dah) silence (that just sounded like it could be the lyrics to a hit 70's song!). I had an early afternoon wedding to do and showed up a couple of hours early and took photos of the venue and the flowers I had designed.

If you are not familiar with the infamous Wayfarers, it is a beautiful chapel surrounded by glass walls and ceiling that features tremendous views of the ocean and affords you the feeling of being immersed in a natural environment even though the city is just a hop, skip and a jump away.


The bride made two requests from me: 1. Her bouquet needed to have the herb sage incorporated into the design and 2. The groom needed to have a hand in finishing off her bouquet. The first request was a cinch. The second request required more ingenuity and a bit of secrecy. The groom was excited with my suggestion that he surprise her by attaching a hand written note onto her bouquet handle. When the groom showed up to write his note that afternoon, he was smiling from ear-to-ear; a definite sign of their wonderful future together.


His boutonniere carried the same garden-inspired feel with the use of ranuncula buds and accents of sage.


I fell in love with the elegance of the Maid of Honor bouquet made of just ivory roses and ranunculus.


The flowers definitely embodied the beautiful simplicity of the venue and the refreshing feel of its surroundings which, on that particular day, was miles away from the weather I will be facing tomorrow...ugh. I know, I know...I can't complain. I live in LA.

Simple Orange

With Project Runway running in the background and everyone sound asleep in my home, I set out to write the next blog entry that hopefully is more inspiring than this episode is turning out to be. My initial plan was to post some photos of a more neutral garden-inspired wedding I just did, but I think I'm going to switch gears and post something with a little more vibrancy to match the graphic detailing of the fabrics shown on the show. (Does that mean I was a little inspired?). It's actually quite fitting since this simple design was inspired by the Living with Flowers book I last blogged about. I better get going since the show is about over and I am literally moving an inch an hour!

I utilized numerous stems of orange ranunculus and a few chocolate ti leaves that I had leftover from a class I just taught. It was such a natural pairing against the dark brown hue of the sticks I had collected last month and stored in my garage. (Against my loving husband's protests, my garage has become a bottomless pit for design materials I hope to one day use in designing). In my opinion, the ranunculus are so visually interesting since they have natural variation and every single stem is completely unique. Without doing much, the arrangement effortlessly has depth, interest and style.


I completed the story by creating a matching bridal bouquet consisting of the same ranunculus collared with the chocolate ti leaves. Isn't it ironic how simplicity can speak volumes?
Maybe if I clear my garage, my husband might agree to marry me all over again, so I can have these exact flowers for our second wedding!

PS. Thank you everyone for asking about my sickness. I'm much better now, even though I figured out that I'm allergic...to flowers! Nothing that a little Claritin can't fix!

Life is Like...a Bouquet of Flowers

Today, I was perusing through some of the images in my portfolio and came across this particular bouquet and this might sound kind of odd, but inherent in this flower mix was a feeling of happiness and a subdued excitement that I felt summed up my weekend quite nicely. Incorporating flowers in decor lends more than just physical beauty. It also adds an emotional aspect to the event. For instance, an arrangement with a palette of deep rich reds using structured flowers like roses, calla lilies and orchids lends a bit of drama to the decor. In the same sense, this bright bouquet of tulips, ranunculus, and tulips adds fun, whimsy and joy to any function.


So, why was my weekend like this bouquet? (Still sounds odd to say!). It all started with a successful yard sale that allowed me to make room for my new flower cooler that was delivered earlier than quoted!!!! Then, I had the opportunity to meet a client and her fiance and she proved to be just as genuine and nice in person, as she was through her email communications. I also got the opportunity to relax with my family while sitting out in my front yard watching my piles of junk (or treasures!) disappear. When you are starting a company, life tends to be a bit hectic and you forget to relax. It is when you start appreciating the little things that makes you realize that life is going well and indeed it is. I've always known I have great family and friends, but recently with the start of my business, I've been blessed to work with a great group of clients who are so easy going and open to different ideas. With weekends like these, who needs a box of chocolates!

Zen-ly Stated

The simplicity of this arrangement, enhanced by the soothing color scheme and the modern, structured yet random look, gives off such a feeling of Zen. I created this arrangement to look like a piece of art full of interesting lines and movement...definitely not your run-of-the-mill centerpiece. The fluffiness of the ranunculus beautifully contrasts the stiff lines of the mini calla lilies and equisetum giving the overall look much more depth and texture.



Although the look is simple and clean, I would caution you to be very selective on the florist that can execute this type of style. Believe it or not, randomness is harder to achieve than uniformity. It takes a floral designer that has an eye for modern design or understands effective spacial placement...(don't tell me I didn't warn you).



Due to the height of this particular design, it would work best on a guest sign-in table or place card table. In a wedding, I would complement this arrangement with similar but lower seating centerpieces for the guest tables so that guests are able to have an unobstructed view in conversation. Surround these works of art by intimately lit candles and--voila!--a Zen scape has been painted.

Judgement Day

As promised, here is the round hand tied bouquet in order to compare and contrast the look of the cascade versus the nosegay. I used a similar mix of flowers, but felt that the nosegay bouquet needed the pink pom poms to offset the darker coloration, mostly for photo purposes (This is kind of the Art Director side of me kicking in). In real life, the bouquet would look fine with shades of burgundy and purple, but in photos, the details get a little lost with large clusters of darkness. You might ask, why wasn't this the case in the cascade? The use of a bouquet holder allowed the flowers to be placed with some separation, so even in photos, each bloom can be appreciated. This separation is relative since you can see that the flowers still look beautiful in the hand tied bouquet.

Due to the spacial relationship of the flowers, even though the cascade was larger in size, more flowers were used in the construction of the nosegay. On the flip side, more time was logged in the designing and flower prep of the cascade.

One last thing to consider with the nosegay is the finishing of the handle. The handle is often overlooked because it is usually covered at least partially by the hand that is holding it. However, similar to wearing a killer pair of shoes under your long wedding gown, it finishes the look and it's those moments when someone catches a glimpse of it that makes it worth finishing off the look. For this garden inspired bouquet, I chose to do a twine wrap.


There's a million other options depending on the look and style of your bouquet. Use rhinestones, leaves, contrasting ribbon, vintage handkerchief...whatever best suits you on your wedding day. So, what's the verdict? Cascade or nosegay?

What Goes Around...Comes Back Around

Within the last decade, cascading bouquets have had a shaky past full of ups and downs. They were once the norm, then went almost obsolete, and have now been starting to make their way back fighting their reputation as being the antithesis to modern design. The blame lies on the shoulder of none other than Martha Stewart who popularized the round, hand-tied nosegay bouquet. As a result, the cascade became known as "your mother's bouquet," and only the most traditional brides carried them down the aisle.

In my past life at the magazine, we dedicated editorial space to promote the comeback of the cascade and our attempts have had a fairly positive effect. I must admit, I am still biased towards the hand-tied bouquet, but I have a great appreciation of cascades and in particular, the smaller tear drop bouquet. To me, tear drop bouquets are the modern cascade. They are shorter in length, skinnier in width, and as its name states, shaped like a tear drop. With vivid images of French countrysides (from watching the Tour de France with my husband) and Irish green pastures (from forcing my husband to watch the chick flick P.S. I love You with me), I was inspired to make a tear drop garden style bouquet. I also made a nosegay version, which I will post on my next blog entry, so you can see the two styles side by side.



Advantages of a Cascading Bouquet:

1. Inherent in the style is the feeling of romance and movement.
2. If designed in a bouquet holder, the flowers can be placed so they have room to breathe and do not appear crushed.
3. If designed in a bouquet holder, delicate flowers can survive longer since it will have a water source.
4. Due to mere size, the bouquet becomes an instant focal point.

When considering a cascading bouquet for your wedding, make sure the bouquet will be made proportionate to your body size. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've seen a small framed bride being overwhelmed by a humongous blob disguised as a bouquet. These extra flowers also unnecessarily adds weight that you will have to bear throughout your entire event. Cascades also take more time to prep in order to ensure the flowers do not fall out. I don't think all florists take time to do this step and I always find it sad seeing a bride picking up parts of her bouquet off the ground as she walks.


I hope that cascades do come full circle because they add another dimension to floral design. In essence, cascading bouquets are almost analogous to letterpressing in invitation design. They are both classic forms that have found a place in modern day application.