07.24.08
Posted in Weddings at 9:07 am by tweeny
Reina and Rick
Reina and Rick had a romantic sunset ceremony with the Pacific Ocean as backdrop at Malaga Cove Park in Palos Verdes Estates. An intimate reception followed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Redondo Beach. There were lots of roses, Reina’s favorite flower, all in a warm sunset palette to reflect the evening’s theme.
For the bouquets and centerpieces, we used two varieties of roses - Gypsy Curiosa and Sahara. Gypsy Curiosa roses have a large number of petals in beautiful shades of orange, gold, with some hints of raspberry. Sahara roses have a lovely creamy shade and are sometimes almost almond. Both roses open fully. Here are a few pictures of the centerpieces and the wedding cake – which smelled incredibly good!
Roses, lotus pods, eucalyptus, lipstick pods, statice, and solidago in a square ceramic container in cinnamon.
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07.17.08
Posted in Weddings at 9:40 pm by tweeny
Jessa and Jason
Jessa and Jason had really great ideas for locations for their wedding ceremony and reception: Pacific Palisades Park in Santa Monica (along Ocean Ave between Alta and Palisades – awesome view!) and Writer’s Boot Camp at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica. Their colors were pink and green and Jessa loved dahlias! With the park already so beautiful with the surrounding trees and plants, Jessa decided on something simple and elegant for the ceremony. We lined the aisle chairs with pink chrysanthemum pomanders and accented the altar podium with a small garland of pink and green flowers (acid green fuji mums, gerberas, hydrangea, and roses).
For the reception at Writer’s Boot Camp, Jessa wanted to display some pictures on branches as guests walked in to sign-in and receive their table assignments. So we created a large tree with 4-ft. and 3-ft. tall manzanita branches secured in plaster of paris in a black clay planter. Blooms of pink and green dendrobium orchids were glued onto the branches for decoration while allowing space for all the pictures.
We also decorated the cocktail tables with long single stems of fuschia gerberas – effectively creating a modern look for the white, open space. Half the dinner table centerpieces were low, and half were tall – a great idea to help keep costs down while also creating interest and drama in the room with the varying heights. Low arrangements were all gerberas in bright orange, pink, and fuschia, while tall arrangements were all dahlias in bright orange, pink, and fuschia. The use of monobotanicals is a great tool for creating a modern and dramatic look that fit very well in the open and modern space at Writer’s Boot Camp!
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07.14.08
Posted in Floral Happenings Around the World at 2:09 pm by tweeny
For AIFD final evening’s dinner extravaganza, “Luce Moderna”, designer Anthony Vigliotta and his team were sure to make even the bathroom unforgettable.
Willies on a plate and on urinals too!
This bathroom created quite a stir! After AIFD President Tom Simmons made a comment about it prior to his presidential address, men and women in their tuxedos and ball gowns were traipsing about the hotel peering into every men’s restroom. Finally it was there on a landing between the second and third floors!
Hubby complains a lot about how women’s restrooms are usually so much larger and more opulent than men’s restrooms with sitting areas, mirrors, and overstuffed couches. Well, on this night the men’s room took center stage! Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the designs were made by an Anthony vs. an Antonia!
Which sort of brings up another point. Why is it that in even women dominated and stereotypically feminine industries, men are still tapped with most of the honors and positions of power? We can do it too ladies!!! Set aside those fears and insecurities and let us too share our creativity, wit, and leadership!
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07.11.08
Posted in Floral Happenings Around the World at 11:51 am by tweeny
“Collaboration”, the 2008 AIFD (American Institute of Floral Designers) symposium just took place July 5-7 at the Chicago Hilton in beautiful downtown Chicago. It was my first time attending a flower meeting, and boy was it different from all the scientific meetings I attended as a graduate student! It felt like I had walked into one big happy family reunion, and despite me being a first-timer, I received a warm reception and everyone I met was friendly and lovely to talk to. The number one goal for these symposiums is education and I was floored by the creativity and incredible openess of how each world class designer presenter revealed how he or she made a particular arrangement or installation. There were demonstrations and after each program, attendees are able to photograph and visually inspect each work closely. There were no unplublished data to protect and no competitors to dispute. I could ask anyone any question about his or her business, designs, or methods, and he or she would answer truthfully granting me incredible advice. It was perfect for a newbie like me and I learned so much! Everyone was there to help each other out, to network, learn, and further advance the floral industry.
Here are some pictures from two of the fancy dinners - the inaugural dinner for the new AIFD inductees and the final night’s dinner:
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07.10.08
Posted in Weddings at 5:13 pm by tweeny
Weddings weddings weddings!
Angela and Tim at The Westlake Village Inn, Westlake Village, CA:
Angela wanted something simple and elegant incorporating her colors of fuschia and midnight blue. For the ceremony in the Tuscan Garden, we decorated the aisle chairs with pomanders made of ivory carnations with raspberry tips and tied with midnight blue satin ribbon. The gazebo was accented simply with a wreath of ivory carnations and two large pomanders of the same ivory and raspberry-tipped carnations. (The wreath and large pomanders weighed a ton! Not bad for us vertically challenged gals armed with a ladder!)
For the reception in the Provence Room, low centerpieces comprised of pink and fuschia flowers were made in silver reflective ceramic cubes. We used mostly dahlias, roses, and Angela’s favorite flower, gerbera daisies in a dark fuschia. GM Floral, a supplier at the downtown market, offers these awesome containers. According to my source there, the buyer just bought some to test out and they flew off the shelves! They also come in reflective gold and a very cool bronze I hope to use in the future!
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07.01.08
Posted in Floral Happenings Around LA at 5:58 pm by tweeny
A couple of weeks ago I checked out the Living Flowers Ikebana and Contemporary Art exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. This special exhibit started June 15 and will continue until September 7, 2008 and showcases the different ikebana styles of the Ikenobo, Ohara, and Sogetsu schools. The ikebana will continue to change throughout the exhibition, so you should go back periodically to see the new works of art! I was particularly floored by the more modern works presented in the Sogetsu style. Since photography was not allowed, I had to sneakily take these pictures using my phone (sorry for the quality!)
I loved the clean and modern look of the arrangements. Going through the exhibit inspired me to learn and practice ikebana - which roughly means to “bring life to flowers”. Flowers are dead when they are cut and are given new life when they are arranged. Interesting, neh?
Anyway, so I really liked the modern and gutsy ikebana arrangements from the Sogetsu school of thought and looked online for classes and workshops offered by Sogetsu. Not too much in the way of online information for the Los Angeles branch (like a website) but there’s a list of all the local branches of Sogetsu listed on the Japanese website. For learning for the first time and practicing, I think I would like to take a class offered by UCLA extension taught by Kyoko Kassarjian, who holds the highest teaching rank of riji by the Sogetsu School of Ikebana in Japan. They are offering the intermediate level course for summer 2008, so hopefully they will offer beginner again in the fall! In the meantime, I plan to go back to the museum to see different Living Flowers ikebana!!
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