Dark Purple and Teal for Sara and Aaron!

With colors like Concord Grape and Tealness you know the flowers are really going to pop!! For Sara and Aaron's September wedding, they chose to stay away from the more traditional fall colors and go with colors they love! When we sat down to figure out the flowers, I knew we just HAD to use the dyed dendrobium orchids somewhere. They have the perfect combination of the purple and teal all in one blossom. Sara wanted her bouquet to be mainly purple with accents of white. Since there isn't a purple rose, I always recommend what I like to call the rose imitator: Double lizianthus and it comes in the best purple color! Sara's had purple hydrangea as well as purple delphinium. The three shades of purple blended beautifully with one another and the stephanotis added that hint of white while adding a touch of fragrance. For her girls, we decided on a base of blue hydrangea studded with the dyed orchids and and purple delphinium. And, as always, when I am placing flowers on the cake it is one of the aspects of my job that I just love!! The smell of the fresh cake is sooooo yummy!!!

Congratulations to Sara and Aaron!

Devon and Dionnavan's fall details!

I just had to put a lot of pictures on this particular blog! The details were just so much fun!! Everything from the tiny pinecones in the bouquets, bouts and corsages to the curly willow accents in everything!! And that aisle! It was created by fall leaves instead of the usual rose petals! Can we talk about that back ground? That is the veiw from Devon's parent's home up in Divide! GORGEOUS!!!! I told her dad, Chuck, that if he ever decided to sell he better call me first! I wish I would have taken pictures of their "driveway". You go under this big log arch with their ranch name on it and then drive down a gravel driveway with all kinds of pine trees flanking you on either side. It then opens up to the meadow area you see in the picture with their home right behind! It truly was the perfect place for their wedding!

Congratulations to Devon and Dionnavan!

Jamie's hot pink and green wedding

Jamie chose a color combination that never fails to delight me! For some reason I just think hot pink and green is a fun color combination! Jamie and David were married at Shove Chapel. One of my all time favorite places in Colorado Springs. One thing we did for Jamie was to reuse the pew pieces in the centerpieces. Simple rose clusters were tied to the pews and then transfered to square vases at the reception. This is another budget saving tip that gives you double duty for your money!

Congratulations to Jamie and David!

Shelby's Black Forest wedding

Shelby and Nolan were married on a beautiful day at the Black Forest Bed and Breakfast! We had so many weddings get rained out over the past weeks that it was a relief to finally get a Saturday that was sunny and bright! Shelby's color scheme of brown, green and white fit the setting perfectly. When my daughter Amanda and I arrived to set up we found a calm and happy bride, bridesmaids as well as family members. Shelby's mom, Kay, greeted us warmly and showed us where to put the personal flowers. They had a very unique idea for the centerpieces. They had found an online supplier that had real aspen bark wraps that I used to wrap around the vases for the tables. In each vase was a spray of white dendrobim orchids with curly willow branches. We also decorated the gazebo with green hydrangea and asparagus fern. Unfortunatly, I did not get good photos of either one. So, I am hoping that my friend and photographer, Becky Young of Becky Young Photography will take pity on me and send me some of her professional pictures of these details! To see her pictures and read her blog go to here web site, click on the blog and archives for August of 2009. Shelby and Nolan are on that page. www.beckyyoungphotography.com

Congratulations to Shelby and Nolan!

Happy Holly!

Now, most brides are happy people on the day of their weddings, but Holly was happy all the time! Ok, maybe she isn't all the time, but every time I talked to her either on the phone or by email she was just so happy! It was truly a joy working with her as her emails always made me smile. Holly and Aaron were married at Doolittle Hall at the Airforce Academy. Their colors of burnt orange and dark red were reflected in the flowers. A fun, fall combo of roses, berries and mini mango calla lilies. They had a wondeful team of vendors including talented coordinator Danielle Odil from Something Classic Events www.somethingclassicevents.com and dream team photographers Nick and Traci from Real Photography! To see just how happy Holly is check out the blog about their wedding from Real's web site. www.realphotography.com/blog/ At the bottom of the page click on the archives labeled September 2009. Holly and Aaron will be listed on that page and you can click on their blog with photos!

Congratulations Happy Holly and Aaron!

Just the Bouquet please!

Tiffany was a great example of a do it yourself bride! Some of us are just born with an ability to create and do so in a way that it looks great! Tiffany was one of those brides. She took on the task of all the decor and personal flowers except for one thing: her bouquet! She knew she wanted that handled by a professional and came to me. Together we decided to go for a cream/white combination and since she has bling on her gown, bling went into her bouquet in the form of crystals in the center of the stephanotis. Now, please note, the Vendella roses in this bouquet are actually a lot peachy looking. They are a true ivory rose and smell heavenly!!

Congratulations to Tiffany and Nate!

Sarah's Lesson on Tight Budgets

Sarah's wedding is a lesson in budget. Sometimes a wedding budget can be pretty tight. Considering our current economy, this is pretty normal right now. Sarah chose to focus on color and a few simple but fun flowers. Take the groomsmen boutonnier's for example. Rather than chosing a more expensive flower she decided that an all berry look with a touch of greenery would be just as fun while still saving some money. And she was right! To help make her groom stand out, we simply added in a few fiddlehead ferns. Again, a fun flower that really stands out and makes a statement without costing a fortune! The next hurdle we needed to overcome was the bridesmaids bouquets. Originally she was thinking of doing these herself. Now, in my experience, this works out maybe a 1/4 of the time. Consider this, the day before your wedding you are going to be tackling a LOT of last minute details, not to mention arriving out of town guests, rehersal and rehersal dinner. All in one day. Do you really want to be up most of the night before your wedding arranging flowers when there are professionals who can do this for you while still making sure your budget stays intact? Most people would say NO! But, there are those few who can and do arrange their own flowers and they look great! No, they are not designer, over the top florals, but they aren't bad either. Sarah, after thinking this idea over, decided to check in with me to see what we could do. The biggest problem was that she had 7 bridesmaids. Here is another lesson on super tight budgets. Cut the bridal party down to no more than 2-3 bridesmaids and 2-3 groomsmen. The more people you have standing up there with you, the more money you will have to spend on everything from the flowers to the food. Yes, I know you have good childhood friends, sorority sisters, etc. But, simply being invited to your wedding is an honor in itself and most people would be delighted with the invite. So, how did we solve Sarah's dilema? Easy! Gerbera daisies are a very cost effective flower. They are a great size and come in all kinds of fun colors. 5 stems of hot pink gerbera daisies, some green hypericum berries and ribbon tying the stems and you have a bridesmaid bouquet for a lot less than if you would have chosen multiple blooms. Remember: multiple types of blooms in a bouquet will equal to a higher costing bouquet in the end.

Congratulations to Sarah and Corey!

Romantic Red Roses and special friends!

Lia found me in a roundabout way, which happens to me a lot. A former bride of mine happened to mention to a co-worker about my work. They had a friend, Lia, who was having her reception at their lovely home and needed a designer for her wedding. Lia loves red roses so the natural choice of colors was red, white and black. We initially figured out a good working point for their flowers with the knowledge that it would need to be tweaked due to the fact that this was not a typical wedding venue, it truly was a personal home. I heard from Lia's mom, Pat, not too long after I met Lia. I love working with southern moms and Pat was no exception! They just seem to have a unique style, grace and ability to plan truly elegant events. Planning took off from there and over numerous emails and phone calls, we nailed all the details down. The result as you can see was very romantic! The McConnell's home was amazing in its own right, not to mention how nice this family is, but once it was set up for Lia and John's reception, it was breathtaking! I am no fan of baby's breath, but it worked so well in the candle rings and the cake that even I had to admit, WOW!! The caterer for this event took on a lot of the logistic's burden as well as the catering. I had been hearing about Cravings, www.cravingscatering.com for a long time so I was so happy to finally meet one of the owner's, Lisa, at the house. I hope we get to work together again someday. And, last but not least, I got to meet Pat! After all those phone calls and emails I had hoped we would meet face to face and we did. She raved about the flowers and I raved about how great it was to work with her! I will miss Pat and her wonderful southern woman spirit!

Congratulations to Lia, John and their families!

Kayla's sparkly purple wedding

I met Kayla and her mom at a bridal show held at The Pinecrest in Monument. I normally do not do bridal shows as I have found over the years, they tend to be super spendy and kind of a wedding mill. I decided to do this one as it was hosted by Taylor Fry, one of the owners of www.Go2Wed.com I love Taylor's energy and hard work. We hit it off way back when and have been working together as much as we can ever since. Anyway, Kayla was having her wedding and reception at The Pinecrest and was still in need of a florist for her August 1st wedding. I just happened to have brought a bouquet with stephanotis featuring crystal centers and Kayla was sold! Seems that not only does Kayla like her bling, her dress and veil were heavily beaded! Perfect! Her color scheme was victorian lilac, lapis and cream. Now, I have been a purple lover from way back. I use to wear it almost all the time in high school. Even had purple trimmed Nike's! So, for me, this was an easy to design wedding. Love the combination in her bouquet of sweet peas, hydrangea, delphinium, bavardia and crystal centered stephanotis! It was great to work with you Kayla and I wish you and your new hubby, James, all the best!