Sarah's Wedding at Stone Manor Country Club

I don't even know where to begin with how gorgeous this wedding is.  I really think that having an amazing couple to work with is the most important part, but seriously, having Kirsten Smith as the photographer really helps too!

When Sarah came to me to talk about flowers, she wanted vintage and rustic with succulents and dahlias and wood accents.  I love this combination and couldn't wait to create something unique for this couple!  Sarah's bouquet was made of local white dahlias (yes, from the dahlia king, Don's Dahlias), white garden roses, white freesia, fiddlehead ferns, eggplant ranunculus, seeded eucalyptus, and echiveras succulents.  Her bouquet was wrapped in lace and accented with a bit of twine.

 

 

Sarah's bridesmaids carried bouquets of local white dahlias, white spider mums, white garden roses, white tulips, seeded eucalyptus, and an echivera succulent.  I loved the white bouquets against the purple dresses!

 

It's hard to say which was my favorite element, but I am pretty over-the-moon about the groom's boutonniere.  I just love being able to create something unique for the guys!

Sarah brought in a wood element by placing tree stump slabs under the centerpieces.  They were cut by her grandfather, which is a great way to add another personal element to the day!  There were two designs containing white garden roses, green and white spider mums, white snapdragons, eggplant ranunculus, fiddlehead ferns, white tulips, seeded eucalyptus, white hydrangea, italian ruscus and echivera succulents. 

 

These next two are two of my favorites....Yea, he totally grabbed her butt when he kissed her!  So cute!!

 

Here are a few more of my favorites.  Enjoy!

 

 

Look at that smile!  I love seeing a happy couple!

 

 

Thank you again to Kirsten Smith for the beautiful pictures!

Floral Accessories!

Let's talk about accessories...  We all know that the bride gets her bouquet.  But can you think of any other ways that we can bring out the bride's personality?  Flowers can be made into hair pieces, belts, purses, and bracelets!  Who says the bride is the only one who gets to play with accessories?  Flower girls, mother's of the bride and bridesmaids can also have these non-traditional and fun accessories.  Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through!  Here are some ideas that I hope inspire you!

A Garden Party + Alison Dunn Photography

Valerie Busque Photography + Élysée Fleurs 2

Often flowers can be attached to a comb or to bobby pins.  This allows them to be placed anywhere in the bride's hair-not just as a wreath!

Alicia Jayne Florals

Who wouldn't want to wear a stunning ring in place of a corsage or bouquet?  So beautiful!

Birch Blooms + Melissa Schollaert Photography

This sweet belt is a perfect alternative to a bouquet for a non-traditional bride.  You could also swap your bouquet after the ceremony and pictures for a belt at the reception and have the best of both worlds!

Elizabeth Messina + Cody Floral Design

 What a delicate touch to make a flower girl feel super-special!  These can be secured with pins, which means this sweet little one will have her hands free to carry flowers, or a sign!

Jessica Sim Photography + Leaf & Honey

This bold bride makes a statement with big, colorful blooms as a hair wreath!  Stunning!

Maria Vicencio Photography + Crimson And Clover

I love this little flower girl pomander ball!  A perfect alternative to a bouquet for little hands.

Sophisticated Floral Designs

 This is a gorgeous pop of color for any flower girl!

Sophisticated Floral Designs

 Corsages have come a long way and this floral cuff is the perfect modern alternative to the wrist corsage!

Passionflower

There simply aren't enough words for me to say how brilliant I think this necklace is.  This could easily be paired with a floral ring or bracelet.

Sweet Blossoms + Elliott O'Donovan Photography

The ladies aren't the only ones who can have floral accessories!  Look at this adorable little ring bearer pillow!

I hope these accessories are able to bring some inspiration to you.  The truth is, almost anything can be made out of flowers, as long as you are able to dream it up!  The sky is the limit, so if flowers are a priority for your wedding, get creative!  Wear your flowers!

Recycling at Sweet Blossoms!

Today's topic?  Going green here at Sweet Blossoms!  Operating a business that has the smallest carbon footprint as possible has been a priority of mine since I started the company three years ago.  One thing that became apparent to me immediately was there is a huge potential for waste when looking at the way that flowers are packaged and sent to me.  There isn't much I can do about the way the flowers are packaged, but I CAN do something about what I do with the packaging once it's here.  Here is an example of what the packages look like, when they arrive to me.

 

Some flowers arrive in boxes.  They are typically rubber banded and also have plastic around the blooms.  Others arrive in plastic buckets of water with cardboard and plastic around the tops-LOTS of resources being used to package all the pretty that makes your wedding so lovely!

When I process my flowers, they are placed in plastic buckets with water and "flower food"-more resources being used!

 

After all the flowers are used for a wedding, we are left with dealing with the "trash."  So what do we have left?  They're not in the pictures, but first we need to deal with all the buckets of water and any potential extra flowers.  Extra flowers are made into smaller designs and given away.  One of my favorite things to do is create A Lonely Bouquet.  This allows others to be able to experience the joy of having fresh flowers in their home.  The water from the buckets is used to water outdoor plants.

Next we have to deal with all the plastic and cardboard.  Take a look at the two pictures above.  What do you see?  We have plastic buckets.  I love these!  I reuse these here at the studio, which is great because it means I don't have to buy more buckets!  We have several boxes of cardboard and a bag of plastic.  Guess what?  Those are recyclable!  In my county, recyclables are picked up once a week, which means there's really no excuse not to recycle as much as you can. I only have to get everything to the side of the curb!  We also have a giant bag of clippings.  You can do one of two things with these.  You can either compost these clippings, and make an amazing mulch for your flowers.  Or, you can have the county pick up your clippings as well.  In my county, as long as they are clearly marked, you can put these out to be picked up weekly as well.  

In the second picture, do you see the little white pail, over to the right?  From this entire wedding, that trashcan is filled maybe 1/3 of the way with actual trash which was swept up off the floor after I picked up the recyclables.  

Lastly, I want to talk about rubber bands.  There are usually 1-2 rubber bands, sometimes more for every bunch of flowers I receive.  What to do with them?? Here are several ideas.  The first is that you can compost them-technically rubber bands can break down, so that's one option.  However, I get A LOT of rubber bands.  I don't think this is a super practical option.  I think it's better to reuse them.  I give rubber bands back to schools (teachers LOVE receiving supplies), post offices, and local farmer's markets to be reused.

My point here, is of course to show you the things I do in my studio to be as green as possible-because that is important to me.  But I also want you to look at this and see that this isn't hard!  You can do all of this too, with your small business, or just around your house!  Brides, I bet you are amazed at the amount of packaging that is coming in with all your registry gifts, and your wedding favors and all those other items that you're ordering for your wedding.  Most of that packaging is cardboard and plastic, right?  If I can take all these materials and get more than 90% of the waste from each wedding in recycling bins, then YOU can definitely do it too!

And now, because I just can't write to you all and give you only pictures of my trash......Here is a quick peek at Sarah's beautiful bouquet that came out of all this trash!  

Thank you to Kirsten Smith Photography for the beautiful image-more to come!

Pretty in Pink

A post on pink flowers, you say?  How can we encompass all those pretty pinks into one post?  Well the good news is that we have plenty of posts to cover all the pink, and for this post, we will stick to light pinks and true pinks.  Pink has been pretty popular recently, particularly in lighter shades.  It goes with almost any color: blue, grey, yellow, green, white, black, purple, you name it.  It can be the focal color, or an accent color.  Here are some of my favorite arrangements that use pink.

Azalea Floral Design + Eric Foley Photography

I love that this arrangement uses contrasting colors to offset the pink.  Green and pink is a favorite combination of mine and really makes the yellow pop!

Bare Root Flora + 35mm Photography

Here, the pink is used much more subtly.  It ties in with the peach and ivory shades.  That little hint of dark pink in the middle is the perfect accent to such a light bouquet!  I just love the subtle pink of the dripping flowers too!

Cornucopia Flowers and Robert and Kathleen Photographers

I think a completely pink bouquet can be lovely too!  You can mix different shades and textures to create something romantic and sweet.

Flowerbazar

I just love this one!  The light pink roses are a gentle accent to a beautifully textured bouquet.  I also love that the pink ribbon accent picks up both colors from the bouquet.

Holly Heider Chapple Flowers +Jodi Miller Photography

Here we have a mostly pink bouquet, and the accent is the greenery.  Pink and green--my favorite!  The combination of large and small flowers creates great contrast, while the greenery adds an airy quality and a lovely asymmetrical cascade.

Holly Heider Chapple Flowers

I love the contrast in this bouquet of pale, soft colors and the dark fiddle-head ferns.  I know you see my favorite dahlia (the cafe au lait dahlia) in the middle of this bouquet, so it was high on my favorites list already.  Combine that pretty dusty pink with a dark accent color, and you have a spectacular bouquet!

Sweet Blossoms + Elliott O'Donovan Photography

Can't go wrong with peach, blush, and white.  The minty green is a great contrast to using light colors in your bouquet.

Unknown-please contact me if you know the designer or photographer!

I love grey and pink together.  It's a lovely and modern color palette.  Bet you didn't think that grey flowers and foliage could occur in nature, did ya?

Vicki Grafton Photography + Alicia Jayne Florals

Last but not least, I love this dusty, pinky, purple bouquet from Alicia Jayne Florals.  Here the pink is an accent to the plum color in the flowers and the ribbon.  Notice the little hint of pale pink in the ribbon treatment!

Hopefully these give you some ideas of how to use pink in your wedding, either as an accent or a focal color.  Pink is a classic wedding color, but there are always ways to make your wedding decor new and interesting, and most importantly, unique to you as a couple!