april 29th

i did indeed drag myself out of bed this morning at 5:30 to watch william and kate's wedding. i was surprised how emotional i became when i first tuned in. not so much because of the wedding itself, but remembering sitting with my father 20 years ago watching the wedding of charles and diana.  i miss my father terribly and moments like this just get to me. now take a look at this sweet picture of kate with her own father giving her away...
 
the bride's bouquet: one word, stunning. two more words, elegantly understated.  kate carried sweet william flowers in a nod to her new husband. also included---in accordance with royal tradition--was a sprig from a myrtle bush planted by queen victoria on the isle of wight in 1845. myrtle itself is an emblem of marriage and love.

other flowers in the bouquet included hyacinth, lily-of-the-valley and ivy. there is quite a bit of meaning behind the flowers. sweet william means gallantry, lily-of-the-valley the return of happiness, and hyacinth stands for constancy of love while ivy signifies fidelity, marriage, wedded love and friendship.

 congratulations to the duke and duchess of cambridge!

 

              

countdown....

yes, i'll be getting up at 5:30a this friday to watch the royal wedding. i watched as princess diana married prince charles, so i feel like it's only fitting to watch their firstborn son marry his soon-to-be princess. i will admit, i love all the pomp and circumstance, all the rich traditions, so it should be an event to remember.

site of the wedding westminister abbey, inset of shane connolly
floral artisitic director for the wedding.

shane connolly, the floral artistic director (i think we should re-think jane's "title"...) for the wedding has said that westminster abbey, the site for the nuptials will be awash with a sea of seasonal british flowers and foliage when the happy couple say "i do" this friday. many of the trees and greenery will come straight from the royal estates. an avenue of trees, some up to 20 feet tall (!?) will line the aisle leading to the altar.

details of kate's bridal bouquet is still being kept under wraps, although it is rumored to be an all white bouquet in keeping with tradition. guess we'll just have to wait and see.

april 2nd

just a few weeks back, spring took a tiny step forward delivering a crisp but sunny day the first saturday of april.  our bride, cori, had a vibrant bouquet made up of contrasting colors:  free spirit roses a gorgeous coral color with petals that were ruffled at the ends were complemented with peachy garden roses and salmon colored dutch tulips. these were set off by brilliant purple blue hues of clematis, delphinium and sweet peas.  green berzilia berries, astilbe, white garden roses and maidenhair fern anchored the whole look.  the combination was a wonderful look to usher in a happy new life together.

the bridesmaids wore an absolutely gorgeous shade of coral which i am sure looked amazing with their bouquets. i am sad not to have pictures of those just yet...but stay tuned.

 

low centerpieces using some of the same flowers found in the brides bouquet carried on the contrasting look.

centerpiece round-up 2010

i thought i'd put together a round up of sorts, of some of our favorite centerpieces from 2010.  enjoy!



photos courtesy of carla ten eyck and val mc cormick photography




photos courtesy of jacob bergmeier and erik maziarz photography

michelle wade photography

orange orange everywhere...

i'm focusing on one color palatte today from weddings gone by...the same color used in so many different ways--sometimes warm, other times cool, sometimes cuddly, othertimes crisp but all the same lovely juicy, ORANGE...

and on this rainy april day, a welcome break from the grey.



courtesy of tony spinelli photography and jacob bergmeier














courtesy of tony spinelli photography, 
jacob bergmeier + just for you



in memory of elizabeth taylor

she was a mesmerizing beauty, a star among stars, fiery and passionate, tabloid fodder and graceful until the end. whatever else people may have thought or said, elizabeth taylor was a legend.

as we also know, she was married an astounding 8 times. is that a record i wonder? in any case i thought it might be nice to reflect on (some of!) ms. taylor's wedding flowers from her trips down the aisle.




2nd wedding to michael wilding


a lovely simple bouquet of lily of the valley.



4th wedding to eddie fisher

 again lily of the valley mixed with green cymbidium orchids. and how cool is it that she wore a green dress?

trading a green dress for yellow at the first of her two marriages to richard burton (husband no. 5 and 6) i'm surprised she carried a bouquet since she's wearing one on her head.



lastly a picture of the tulip and hyacinth bouquets et's bridesmaids carried at her very first marriage to conrad "nicky" hilton.

photography

i thought we'd try a little comparison. below is a picture from bethany and ben's wedding last year at the carousel pavilion taken by yours truly:

 

nice, right?  well, here's why you'd never hire me to do your photography and why it's best left to the professionals like sara at growing tree photography. 

beautiful!

here we go...

a cooler semi-filled with flowers means spring has sprung and bridal season is on it's way. believe me, our cooler can get a LOT fuller than this, but it is nice to peek inside and inhale a whole lot of flower deliciousness. more on these weddings to come...