On the Edge of the Water

One of my favorite things about this job is other people’s imaginations. To hear about what a client has dreamed up, and then to bring that vision to life, is a never-ending challenge. And I mean that in a good way. Mollie threw me two delightful challenges with her February wedding to Rob:  First, she wanted a big, juicy, asymmetrical, gorgeous floral hair crown. Second, she wanted a presentation bouquet. You know, the kind you carry in the crook of your arm, like a dancer — which Mollie is.

The floral hair crown was not entirely daunting, as I’d been recently tasked with creating a couple of them for styled shoots (see blog post). But still. This was a real wedding! For Mollie’s, we went for full romance — big blush garden roses and delicate white ranunculus, intermixed with smidges of reindeer moss and other textural delights. The presentation bouquet was a little more challenging, as it became more unwieldy to hold as I continued to add flowers to it. Every now and then I’d stop to rest it in the crook of my own arm and look in my studio mirror. Did I look like a dancer? A bride? Not exactly, but I knew Mollie would.

I loved the muted, sea-inspired color palette that Mollie and Rob chose — perfect for the Edgewater Hotel on what turned out to be a very rainy day. But with all that candlelight and love in the room, it couldn’t have been warmer or cozier. (And the gorgeous photos by Maurice Photo are here to prove it!)

Black leather and pink garden roses. Could there be a cuter/sexier combination?

(Just as lovely without the jacket.)

Blue belles!

Rob is ready!

And a flowergirl makes three!

Candles started out at the church, and were transferred to the edge of the Edgewater dance floor.

Now DANCE!

Tall birch arrangements flanking the sweetheart table started out at the church.

Twinkling birch branches

Congratulations, Mollie and Rob!

Wall + Flowers at OSP

The other day I discovered that the beautiful blue wall of waves in the Olympic Sculpture Park’s Paccar Pavilion is no longer! (I know, where have I been?) Made me realize just how attached I’d gotten to that gorgeous backdrop by Sandra Cinto, for celebrations of all kinds. Of course, the geometric, richly hued piece that took its place is also very cool — but I thought I’d share this wedding from the wave days in honor of their passing.

Plus, the photos that Barbie Hull took from this wedding are AWESOME!!! Wow, did she ever capture all the vibrancy of summer — and all the textures that I so love to play with. Garden roses unfurling next to scritchy scabiosa pods. Maidenhair fern trailing gracefully from playful groupings of ball dahlias and zinnias. The coral, orange, soft yellow, white, and green color scheme that the bride and groom requested was the perfect counterpoint to the blue and grey tones of the venue. It’s a florist’s dream when colors come together like this.  Added bonus:  Holly-Kate and Company on hand to make sure everything went flawlessly.

(And if you missed the blue waves, you can at least see a fascinating video showing its installation here.)

Ivory spray roses and dahlias, green zinnias, and maidenhair fern for the bride.

A little waterfront canoodling

How cute are the bride and groom with their pre-wedding beers?

Scabiosa pod and hypericum berries for the groom

Pops of color for the bridesmaids

Here comes the bride…

Centerpieces do double-duty on the aisle

An escort card table arrangement

Centerpiece detail

Maidenhair!

Grand Homeyness at the Olympic Sculpture Park

Weddings are about balance, in so many ways. The balance of vision and budget, organization and surrender, intimacy and public witness. Maia and Kevin came to me with their own specific balancing act for their August wedding:  to make the modern, sophisticated Olympic Sculpture Park feel homey and welcoming for their down-to-earth families. This was a seriously stylish couple. They would have looked right at home in any high-falutin’ setting – but I appreciated that their first priority was making sure their own vision found harmony with their guests’ comfort level.

Color and texture were the keys to this assignment. A vibrant palette of hot pink, coral, yellow, green, and hints of orange would establish a summery, playful, celebratory feeling. We decided to incorporate lots of greenery – big sword ferns, trailing clematis vine, fruiting raspberry cane – so that the arrangements had a feeling of Northwest wildness about them. And of course the flowers themselves – dahlias, leggy sweet peas, zinnias, bee balm, garden roses – were flowers that many of the guests probably grew in their own gardens.

Looking at the photograph that Karen Obrist captured of all the guests in the PACCAR Pavilion, I have to say that people look very much at home. (And aren’t all her images just awesome?) The super-tall centerpieces float above their heads like cheerful beacons, directing this couple to a life of love and happiness amongst their friends and family.

The bridal bouquet, with sweet peas, raspberry, garden roses, dahlias… and more!

Romantic, dramatic arrangements for the altar

The sweetest little clematis vine

Closeup of a centerpiece

The bridal bouquet in action

Colorful arrangements lined the terraced stairs

One style of tall centerpiece…

….and another

There is no such thing as “too tall” in the OSP!

• Design and Coordination: Very Important Events
• Table linens: Creative Coverings
• Photography: Karen Obrist Photography
• Cocktail Band: $4 Shoe
• Reception Band: The Nines
• Flowers: us, of course! (Floressence)

Spring on the Seattle Waterfront

Lauren and Aaron, who just got married on a beautiful May day, were one of the sweetest couples I’ve ever met. Back in the fall, I invited them to attend Get Hitched Give Hope — where Aaron pulled out all the stops by bidding on and winning a special gift for his bride-to-be. (They also bid on and won personal flowers for their wedding from yours truly.) The excitement in his face — and hers, when she knew something sneaky was underfoot — stayed with me through the months of thinking about and then designing their wedding flowers. I wanted to give them that same feeling of joy and excitement on their wedding day!

Their vision for décor came in part from an article on sea-life inspired floral design in Seattle Bride magazine. I had created a centerpiece and some boutonnieres for that shoot, and the talented Alexa Johnson of Fiore Blossoms had designed a gorgeous bridal bouquet. Lauren loved the sea fan and the fully blown spray roses of that bouquet, but wanted lavender tones in her scheme, which we pulled in through freesia and sweet peas.

The table centerpieces balanced their wish for full floral abundance with a quirkier, more beachy look. Half the tables were beachscapes on matte ceramic trays, with driftwood, air plants, succulents, sea fan, beach glass, and simple arrangements in glass bottles and jars. The other half were big lovelies with all our favorite spring flowers (ranunculus, hyacinth, freesia, to name a few).

When I brought Lauren her bouquet that May day, she smile was just as sparkly and contagious as it had been at the prospect of Aaron’s secret surprise. I wish them both a lifetime of that joy!

Deep teal dresses were lovely on the waterfront

Sea fan adds a unique element to the bridal bouquet

The reception was held at Seattle Marriott Waterfront, and Jenny GG made great use of the surroundings in her fabulous photographs of the day!

Hot and Foxy

It’s hard to believe right now, but there was a day last summer that was very HOT. How hot, you ask? So hot that when I stepped out of the air-conditioned van and onto the Fox Island property where Ashley and John were to be married, I could hear pine needles crackling with the threat of combustion. I could smell the salty seaweed toasting itself on the shore. I could see the water evaporating right out of the petals and stems of a van full of flowers.

Will they last???, I had to wonder. (Referring to the flowers, not the couple.) Of course they did! The girls’ bouquets were an eclectic mix of color and texture:  unusual mini-gladioli in a gorgeous salmon color, and odd, green finger-like flowers that I cannot remember the name of from the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, our neighbors in Georgetown. Dahlias, poppy pods, maidenhair fern, and (somewhat surprisingly) ranunculus – to name a few more.

Ashley was probably wearing five times the garment-weight of anyone else there (especially the shirtless high school boys, enlisted to help with last-minute grunt work) – but every time I saw her, she looked happy, beautiful, and… happy! I took a break from working on the curly willow arch to watch her and John spy each other through the shade of trees. Being witness to those moments, on a day like that, really does revive me.

Rebecca Grant of New Creations Wedding Design was a genius in the design and coordination of this wedding, and Rubin Photography captured it all most beautifully.

Ashley and John kicking their feet up

Northwesty little boutonnieres

A beautiful range of coral tones for these lovely maids

Ka-pow!

Umbrella fern shows off the reason for its name

Karamel Antike roses with umbrella fern

Arch detail

A free-standing curly willow arch

Ashley spies John from her spot in the shade

Thinking Pink

Something happened last summer. All those somber chocolate, mysterious eggplant, and renegade taupe tones got shouldered aside by…. PINK. Seemed like every bride who came through the studio decided it was okay to embrace, in some way, her inner girly-ness.

We loved it! Pink can do so much more than it’s often given credit for: whisper, flirt, shout, lounge, allure. This August wedding at Salish Lodge embraced pink’s full range of expression. The sweet bride, Jennifer, was a true flower lover. She wanted the rich textures of garden roses and Cafe au Lait dahlias, the delicacy of bleeding hearts, the fuzzy weirdness of amaranthus. My kind of bride!

Jennifer had a vision for embracing NW-inspired design elements without sacrificing sophistication or femininity. We created a wild arch of curly willow for the balcony ceremony, but tamed it with soft, trailing flowers. Lichen branches in the head table centerpiece might have been scavenged from the forest floor, but the little clusters of flowers in their crooks were soft, delicate, and intentional.

Katy Griffiths of Vows did an amazing job of pulling together the vision through lush table linens, a sexy soft-seating lounge area, and countless other details. Kristen Honeycutt is the artist responsible for the gorgeous images below.

¡Viva la rosa!

Garden roses and Cafe au Lait dahlias: a favorite combination!

Lush pinks and whites preside over the guest book table

A curly willow arch adorns the balcony at Salish Lodge

The stunning balcony at Salish Lodge

Bleeding hearts reach gracefully over a lushly textured pink table linen

Silver and pink linens were an elegant foundation for the lush florals

Little floral clusters perch on lichen branches

The head table features a dramatic centerpiece in pinks and whites