Reality floral design

Today I had a challenge.  I had to make 2 medium buffet arrangements, 2 centerpieces and 4 small cocktail pieces on a very slim budget and the client wanted something that would make a statement.
I bought 2 stems of large cymbidium orchids, 2 bunches of spider mums and 5 large varigated leaves.  I had on hand some small white mums and eucalyptus greens.

I used everything - I cut a varigated leaf in half down the stem and used it to line the centerpiece vases and filled the vase with mums and some individual cymbidiums.  For the buffet pieces I used two of the large leaves and 1/2 of the cymbidium stems.  The small pieces consisted of just one mum and one cymbidum.   I love to use masses of flowers but sometimes it is fun to see what I can do with only a few elements.

Glass flowers

This is a bouquet of glass flowers owned by a friend.  There is some history here but I have to admit I don't really remember it,  I am just so taken by the object itself.  What a great wedding bouquet for just the right bride.

Dinner Party

I love this table linen.  It was the perfect choice for a gloomy winter night and I wanted the colors in the arrangements to work well with the brightness of the cloth...I used some beautiful rust and peach colored roses, lime green leucadendrom, yellow alstromeria gardenia leaves, red hypericum berries and green pitt. 

Early spring....I hope

A little piece for the hope of an early spring.  Beautiful parrot tulips in cream and peach, peach and pink spray roses, orange pincushions and a wonderful varigated grass. 

Weekly arrangements

Every Monday I deliver arrangements to a couple of schools nearby.  It is a fun exercise, I have a lot of latitude in the design and I try to do something different each week.  These are two of the most recent.  The first is a piece with two monstera leaves and a cymbidium stalk in a wonderful curved vase.  The vase itself it so dramatic that it didn't need much to enhance its appearance.    The second piece has a wonderful piece of grapevine perched on the top of a vase with parrot tulips woven within the lateral roots. 

Holton weekly

Every week I make a little arrangement for the front desk at Holton.  I get to experiment and try new things.  But some weeks I just put together a simple little piece that lets one type of flower speak.  I love this collection of yellow and orange ranuculus in this simple pottery urn. 

Party centerpiece

I just happened on a photo of a piece I did this fall.  I love the colors in this arrangement.  The
palette is mostly based on the creamy pink proteas on either end. 

In addition to the proteas, I used Suez pink roses, grey brunia,  limey yellow spray roses, chamomile, white astrancia, tan scabiosa pods, seeded eucalyptus and varigated pitt.

Christmas party, early December

A few shots from a recent Christmas party.  This is an elaborate affair and one that takes a lot of planning and set up but is very rewarding when finished.   I generally do pieces for almost every room on the main level of the house and I try to do something different and unusual if possible.   The trick is to make a party of this size look warm and inviting and not corporate.

Dinner Party

Tonight I did some arrangements for a dinner party.  The house is very serene and calm with a cream and apricot palette and the flowers were to reflect that spirit.  I used cream hydrangeas,  tan spider mums, Vendela, Versilia and Cinnamon roses, pale yellow tulips, yellow hypericum, sword and baker fern and varigated pittosporum in an antiqued metal container.  For the entry piece I added some deeper color flowers and a little blue eucalyptus. 

Show with Danica

This weekend I went up to Rochester NY to participate in a show with my friend Danica.  She is a photographer with a studio in an old fruit canning factory overlooking the railroad tracks.

Last March we had some conversations about this show - I was thinking about how to combine weaving in my floral work and she was weaving images in her photography.

We picked a date and last weekend made it happen.  I recreated the woven dome and this time used orange mokara orchids to showcase.  The other photo shows a little woven midolino arch that sits between two white bubble vases from IKEA.  I put orange callas in that piece and loved the way they followed the arc.

Tonight's dinner party

Tonight I did a few arrangements for a little dinner party.  The house has a lovely soft palette of cream, apricot and sage and I followed that palette for the flowers.  I did however, inject a few drops of acid green in the centerpieces as I was working today just to see.  I loved that color story but decided to deliver a softer look.  I used Cumbria roses, white hydrangea, yellow celosia,  dark orange mums,  lambs ears foliage, eucalyptus berries and varigated pitt.  I left out the acid green spider mums!

Landon Reunion

A large buffet arrangement for Landon's reunion weekend. I had some pieces of birch bark and alternated them with a bark ribbon to create a tree trunk inside the glass riser.  I used ilex berry branches on the top and surrounded them with a wreath of white hydrangea, roses, kangaroo paws, mums and magnolia leaves.

Granger dinner

Some photos from the dinner at Granger House last week.  I used gold Combo and pink Suez roses with hypericum berries, grevillia foliage, green pittosporum, red photinia tips, gold kangaroo paws and red maple leaves.  I am using my vintage silver more and more - it is really what people seem to want these days.

Maya and Jon's wedding

Maya and Jon got married on 9/22.  This wedding was one of the most creative I have had the pleasure to working on.  I have been collecting vintage silver plate and sterling pieces for years but have had little use for them.  Maya and her mother came over and selected many pieces from the collection as well as other metal containers for the reception flowers. We collected 14 different pairs of candelabras as well.  Maya chose farm tables with no linens in different sizes.  On the small square tables we put a pair of candleholders and 2 bunches of herbs - lavender, rosemary and sage tied with a grey ribbon.  On the longer tables I made 2 arrangements in different silver containers.   I used blue veronica, Quicksand and Amnesia roses, lavender, pink and white astrancia and dusty miller foliage.
I spray painted goblets with blackboard paint and wrote the table numbers in chalk on them.  Mercury glass votives filled the tables as well.  We hung glass votive holders from the trees around the tent and laid oriental rugs to create a runner for the bride to walk on.  Lots of lovely details for this wedding.

Leah and Carson's wedding

Yesterday Lean and Carson got married at Woodend in Chevy Chase, MD.   They lucked out, the weather was threatening but the rain held off and they were able to have their ceremony outside.

The color palette was cream and a range of peach colors for the personal and ceremony flowers and peach, brown and green for the reception flowers.  It was all seasonal and pretty. 

We used Cinnamon Bliss, Vendela and Pink Finesse roses alone with peach sprays for the personals, and Flame callas, Leonides and Coffee Break roses, peach roses, green hydrangea, eucalyptus sprigs, chocolate Weigela foliage and peach hypericum for the reception flowers.

Stephanie's wedding

Last week was Stephanie and Peter's wedding at Woodend.  The color scheme was was autumn reds with one white rose to symbolize the full moon.  I used flame callas, red roses, red ranuculus, red hypericum berries and chocolate weigela foliage.    Wheat sheaves tied with gold cording stood on the buffet tables and a tall candle stood in a bed of cranberries and nuts. 

WOLA event at the French Embassy

Last week we did the arrangements for an event at the French Embassy.  The tablecloths were dark raspberry, the seat cushions are pumpkin and the napkins yellow.  I used orange pincushions, flame callas, orange and raspberry roses.

For the tall buffet pieces, I made a tower of horsetail and added a cascade of flame callas and calla leaves coming from the top and down the front.

Sample for Maya

Maya and Jonathan are getting married in two weeks.  The vibe is vintage chic.  I am so happy to be using my collection of sterling , silver plate and other metals to create small vignettes on either end of long farm tables.  For this sample I used Quicksand roses, dusty miller, blue veronica, burgundy artichokes, blue thistle, purple alliums and lavender.  I love Quicksand roses - they take on a great coloration in every arrangement.  They are perfect in this palette.

Holton luncheon

Today, I used the same palette of flowers from last night's event for centerpieces for a luncheon.   I used a half of a monstera leaf cut along the vein for a vase liner and I like that look - you can see the stems through the holes in the leaf, but it is ok in certain instances.  The tips of the leaf stick out of the top of the vase but can become part of the composition. 

I added some dark burgandy in to these arrangements for a little contrast. 

Holton Opening party

I have been doing the flowers for the first party of the season at Holton for years.  This year I found some wonderful lime green/yellow/cream cymbidiums and worked with that palette.  In addition to the cymbidiums I used green brunia berries, Jade, Eskimo and Limbo roses, calla leaves, green celosia, green mums and cream anemones. 

centerpiece sample

A photo of a sample for a wedding centerpiece - fuschia gerbers, green mini cymbidiums, lavender roses, purple lisianthus, green button mums, and baby green hydrangeas.