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!

One of my fun couples of 2009: Victoria and Ace!

When I met Victoria it was quickly apparent that we were going to have fun! Not only do both Victoria and Ace have such a fabulous sense of humor, they are just down right fun! When she told me the colors of David's tangerine and clover, I just knew this wedding was going to look so bright and cheerful! Perfect fit for their personalities! Check out that arch! I actually had to politely shoo a few people away so I could get a picture of it as they all were using it as the perfect couples' photos opportunity! And, those centerpieces! Do they scream Colorado summer time or what? The ceremony and reception were held at the Evergreen Lake House. Now, if you have never seen this place, GO! The views are incredible and the House is literally located among a lake, flowing streams, winding paths and mountains all around. Not to mention the wildlife! A photographers dream for sure. Oh, and, when the bride arrived in her custom designed gown, she pulled up the skirt to reveal: her cowboy boots! Their hiking hats were on prominent display and each table had a picture with a place they had vacationed at or hiked. This was their table "numbers" and added a fabulous personal touch. Last, look at the cake. It is kind of hard to see in the picture but the cake topper is an itty bitty Gumby and "Mrs" Peanut. Personal nicknames that the bride and groom gave to each other!! I am going to miss this couple but am happy for them as well! Congratulations to Ace and Victoria!

Flower decisions are harder for some than others

This was the case with lovely Katy! Initially, she wanted to do pinks and greens. The ceremony was to take place in Hudson Gardens where her mom works! At the time of our first meeting, the reception location was up in the air but she was leaning towards the Space Gallery in downtown Denver. A very modern, funky location. It would be a mix of gardeny on one hand and funky on the other. Katy quickly realized that she did not want pink at all! Instead, she loved the look of shades of greens, black and a touch of yellow. No problem. We changed the flowers to reflect that. Now, some people have a hard time visualizing what a particular combination is going to look like. It can actually frustrate brides to the point where they can get emotionally bankrupt. That happened to Katy. We decided to step back, allow her time to refocus and then we would finalize it all. Within the last several weeks before the day we did just that and the end result turned out fabulous! It was the funky, fun, modern wedding that she had dreamed of and it was perfect! Note those awesome table runners? They hand sewed them for the reception! And don't you just love the same detail on the cake!? Now this is a wedding where green flowers was done right! With the tireless energy and professional help from their coordinator Danielle Odil with Something Classic Events, http://www.somethingclassicevents.com/ we all pulled together and pulled off an amazing and fun day/night for all! Nick and Tracy with Real Photography were on hand to capture each detail! www.realphotography.com I am hoping to get some professional photos from them! This is one wedding I truly want in my portfolio!

Congratulations to Katy, Bryan and their families!

Carnations used in a modern way!

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I don't like carnations. It comes from a good 20 years ago when we did not have the wide range of flowers on the cut market as we do today. Back then, carnations went into everything! They just got overused. Now, I have made exceptions to my dislike. I actually love them massed together either by themselves or with another full flower such as roses or hydrangea. So, when Bethany came to me and showed me a picture of an aisle with white carnation spheres perched on top of tall, clear vases and branches in side I knew I had to design this! Not only did it look stunning on the aisle, but the spheres were then re-used as the centerpieces on shorter vases. Great way to double duty your flowers! Unfortunately, the ceremony was not able to be outdoors. It had to be moved in due to a downpour. The quick actions of the family as well as her coordinator, Taylor Fry, http://www.coloradoweddingsandevents.com/ along with Diane Bice and the excellent staff of The Club at Flying Horse, everything was quickly moved inside. A few tears were shed by both the bride and groom over the need to move inside, but once those were dried, everything went along perfectly. Congratulations to Bethany and Matt!

Lauri's outdoor extravaganza!

Lauri is the daughter of a good friend and personal lawyer to my husband and myself. When she became engaged, her dad, Stuart, knew exactly who to call for the flowers. When I met with Lauri and her mom, Nan, she pretty much had an idea of what she wanted as far as colors but not as much with flowers. As I listened to her describe what she was thinking, I just knew what we were going to do! Dyed orchids in lime green, turquoise and fuschia!Lauri fell in love with my hand glued orchid trees as well as my sunken orchid centerpieces. Viola! Three styles of centerpieces were born playing on this concept. Lauri and Jim's wedding was not only large, 350 guests, but so was their wedding party! 7 bridesmaids and 8 groomsmen. Check out the bouquets! Don't the turquoise orchids look like little butterflies hovering above the flowers!?!

And, to top it all off: it was an outdoor reception with NO tent. Yes, there was a backup, but they truly wanted it outside, under the stars. They got lucky! In weeks filled with storms, winds and rain, their night went off perfectly! Shove Chapel was the ceremony site, with the courtyard of Barnes Science hall the location for the reception. Both located on the campus of the University of Colorado. Guests were able to take a super short walk from one location to the next. Talk about convenient for your guests! When I went to pick up the vases, etc the next day, I ran into Stuart. He said that everyone talked about how beautiful the flowers were and that I better expect to be even busier in the future. All I know, is that I loved how it all turned out and that I am happy for both families. Congratulations to Jimmy and Lauri!