Garden Wedding - Victoria, BC

My first post for the new year highlights a special wedding from this past summer. On a warm and sunny July day, my best friend Kendi married an incredible guy named Ken in a beautiful garden here in Victoria, BC. The venue was a private residence. The property was full of winding garden pathways that toured you through a mix of fruit trees, lavender and poppies. With no sit down dinner, guests were free to explore the property while drinking, grazing from food stations and playing games on the lawn.

My daughter was the flower girl so I was very excited to make her a beautiful flower crown. The ring bearer carried the sweetest old book (Kendi is a big reader) tied up with twine along with the rings.

The great room of the house was used for the bar, speeches, eating and dancing!

All the wedding signage was painted by a girlfriend on old cedar fence panels. All the chalkboard signs we made from thrift store paintings. We sprayed them gold and used chalkboard paint over the existing painting.

Kendi and I punched out beautiful paper tags and then they were tied to beer and wine glasses in hopes people would use the same glass all night.

Instead of the traditional guest book we thought it would be fun to have guests write down "words of advice" for the couple.

I just had to share this fun shot of the groom and his best man shortly before everyone started arriving! Nothing like a refreshing swim before you get married.

So I have to say that this was a first for me. I have never before been a maid of honour, or a bridesmaid for that matter. But I most certainly have not been the maid of honour AND the florist before. It was actually lots of hard work and had moments of stress but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Who needs to spend time on hair and make up when there are flowers to be done? Priorities of a florist! I will say though, all the hard work aside, it is very special to be able to create and share my talents with the people closest to me. Especially my best friend who has always been one of the biggest supports for my business!

(for more bouquet photos check out my blog post here)

(spanish for "with you")

Garden Rose Bouquets

My best friend's wedding. What can I say, it doesn't get any better as a florist to have carte blanche. She knew she wanted soft and romantic, and I knew I wanted to use garden roses! 

In her bouquet I ended up using three different varieties of roses, white peonies, dusty miller, yarrow, and some eucalyptus.

A special detail was the heirloom diamond pendant borrowed from her mother-in-law which I hand stitched onto the ribbon. And don't you just love her jewellery? The fine, simple gold bracelet is my favourite!

I was also lucky enough to be the maid of honour and the only one in the bridal party, which meant I got to make myself whatever I wanted! Here is my bouquet being held by a girlfriend of mine, and doesn't it look like it was made for her?

Love you Mrs. Henderson!  xoxox

More on this wedding coming soon......

In my home - Spring tulips

I am most often drawn to vibrant rich colors, but these pale yellow tulips I just couldn't resist. And the fact that they were a "double tulip" made them even more irresistible. The more they open, the more spectacular they are!

Oh ya, and the silver poodle Marley, he is pretty spectacular too!

Summer bouquet - Hydrangea and scabiosa

This sweet summer bouquet has blue hydrangea, a mixture of succulents and purple scabiosa through out. It's been finished with some burlap and a lace ribbon detail.

  The boutonniere is a small succulent and dusty miller leaf finished with burlap.

Cream Roses with Dusty Miller

Last year I admired many floral bouquets online which used 'dusty miller', but it is something that I rarely see for purchase. I then started noticing it growing in various yards around the city. I then started getting urges to take my scissors out on dark evenings and snip from over grown plants in my neighborhood. BUT, don't worry I didn't do any trespassing. I just bought a couple plants at the garden center and planted them in pots around my yard. Problem solved. They didn't get as big as I'd hoped but maybe next year. I was able to snip a few pieces here and there and enjoy them in the house for Christmas. I just love the color of the silver leaves and not to mention the velvety feel. And paired with cream, a perfect combo I'd say.

My plan for the spring and summer is to plant as many flowers as I can in pots on my deck and over at my in-laws house (my mother-in-law has a few raised beds I can use). Usually when I purchase flowers for a job, I have two options. Local flowers (which mostly seem to be grown on the mainland) and imports (Columbia, Costa Rica etc.). But I would love to be able to offer my clients garden flowers someday for those who are more concerned about pesticides etc. My latest blog obsession and inspiration is http://floretflowers.blogspot.com/ Check it out if you want to see the life of an organic flower farmer outside of Seattle! Are you concerned with where your flowers come from and how they are grown?