Flowers

Happy New Year 2011! Merry Christmas 2010!

Sorry so slow!

Here are a few images of a private Christmas brunch held at the Jonathan Club we did last year. That Sunday was also “Snow Day” at the club where they created a miniature hill made of snow for kids to sled down. And not too far away you could hear the crashing waves of the ocean! What a way to confuse the senses!

We attached clear water tubes to sandblasted grape wood branches and filled the tubes with water. Each tube then held a couple stems of paper whites. We arranged 3 branches on each table on a bed of smilax vines.

After the party, the centerpieces came apart easily for guests to take home!

(You can also find this post on WeddingAces)

Even if you don’t plan to hold your wedding on Valentine’s Day weekend, you can still have beautiful, romantic bouquets in multiple shades of pink and red. Accent with deep purple or peach for something a little different. Adding ostrich feathers makes a dramatic and glamorous statement. And little sparkling rhinestones glued onto roses and calla lilies or just placed between the flowers add a little bling bling edge.

Lots of different soft textures evoke romance and love, so plan to have a bouquet of various types of flowers in the same color family.  Flowers for romance include roses, of course, as well as the multi-petaled ranunculus, cymbidium orchids, fluffy peonies, mini calla lilies, and sweet peas.  You can also decorate the bouquet handles with lace overlays, rhinestones, or large satin bows.  Let your bridal bouquet speak the language of love!

Have you noticed that when you buy fresh cut flowers either from your local grocery store or flower shop, the blooms just don’t really smell all that floral? They smell more like “fresh” – like leafy vegetables – but not quite like perfume and soaps that are actually floral scented.

What’s going on? Well, as growers continue to cross and breed and create hardier cut flowers that survive the long, arduous journey from farm to plane to auction to wholesaler and finally to shop and customer, we begin to substitute fragrance with longevity. We are left with gorgeous and long-lasting blooms that come in new and interesting colors but without much fragrance. Which might be a good thing for some people, but sometimes scents and fragrances can really set the mood and complete the memories of your wedding day. And isn’t it natural to just stick your nose into your bouquet to smell the flowers?

Well, lucky for us there are still many flowers with lovely scents that our human noses can enjoy! Some pretty strong that they may actually bother some people (lilies, baby’s breath), and some might not be all that pretty in smell (narcissus, poppy), and some smell like you’ve walked into a kitchen (dill, allium). Some really beautifully smelling flowers include perfect for bouquets include freesia, lilacs, sweet peas, gardenias, tuberoses, stock, and some roses have a lovely faint scent. Most cut orchids do not have a scent, but cymbidium orchids can smell quite pretty. Chocolate cosmos, already stunning in a dark velvety brown, also smells just like their namesake – chocolate! So request some of these flowers for your wedding décor for a memorable and deliciously fragrant day!

Read the rest on WeddingAces!

Lisianthus, like the rose, is actually available all year round, but unlike the rose, has a very strong summer season. Here in southern California, the local lisianthus begin to appear around late June to early July.

Lisianthus is a beautiful flower with multiple cupped blooms per stem. They come in a good variety of wedding colors such as deep purple, lavender, white, ivory, buttery yellow, light green, and pink. You can also find unique purple and white bicolor lisianthus. What I love most about lisianthus are the delicate feathery and fluttery petals. Most lisianthus I see at the flower market have many many petals (doubles) which make the blooms larger and resembling more like a rose crossed with a ranunculus. For those brides who love soft, feathery bouquets but find peonies and ranunculus out of season in the height of summer may find a suitable substitute in lisianthus. Mixed with roses, sweetpeas, and dahlia, you can end up with a gorgeous romantic bouquet.

Read the rest on WeddingAces!

Orignally posted on Wedding Aces on February 19, 2009.

Using orchids at weddings is very en vogue! They are available in many colors and are stunning, exotic, and of course, expensive! Not only are they beautiful, showy flowers, but they are available year round, and also quite hardy – able to last through the end of the wedding when the guests have all passed out. And as another plus for those outdoor summer weddings, they are unlikely to wilt in the heat. There are many types of orchids available as cut flowers that can fit within any budget and color scheme!

Dendrobium

One of the most economical orchids are dendrobium orchids. These are the typical magenta flowers that are made into leis you might have noticed on your last vacation to Hawaii. They also come in white, green, light pink, light orange/yellow, and light and dark purple. Per stem, they are usually less than $1 wholesale at the LA Flower District with at least 5-8 blooms per stem. They form a beautiful line that works well for larger arrangements and they can be immersed in water for a modern look. As individual blossoms, they can be used as boutonnieres as well as flowers for each place setting without breaking the bank.

Oncidium and James Story orchids

Oncidium and James Story orchids are typically longer than dendrobium orchid stems. Oncidiums usually come in a golden yellow as well as more brown shades. James Story orchids typically come in gold/orange as well as burgundy. As longer stems, these orchids are great for tall, spraying and draping centerpieces. Individual blossoms are not as large as dendrobiums or mokaras, so they are not typically used for boutonnieres or for place setting flowers. But that is not to say they can’t!

Mokara

Mokaras usually come in gold/orange and burgundy shades similar to James Story orchids. They are shorter in length, but come with many blossoms per stem. The length of the stems and number of open blooms at the ends of each stem make them very amenable to bouquets. Treat them like dendrobiums as each individual blossom can be used in boutonnieres and corsages, or at each place setting on the reception tables.

…Click HERE to read about more orchids – cymbidiums and phalaenopsis – on WeddingAces !

As we all know, most weddings are held during the summer and early fall – think the months of June, July, August, and September. Though not as common, winter weddings are special in their own right and can be extraordinary with the right selection of flowers, branches, and berries particular to the winter season. The only tricky part is having décor that affirmatively states “winter wedding” and not “holiday office party”.

…Click here to read the rest of my post about Winter Wedding Flowers on WeddingAces !