Herb Wedding

This past August I had a really fun request from a bride who was getting married at the beautiful Sea Cider Farm. She wanted an all herb wedding. Everything was to be herbs, including her bouquet! I was very excited to do something different and even more excited to source everything from local gardens. A herbal wedding is such a "green" concept. Everything can be grown in your garden or neighbour's garden, and after the wedding day you can dry some of the herbs for a keep sake or throw the rest in a batch of stock! The timing for this wedding was perfect to be able to catch a few herbs in late summer bloom. 

(bay leaves, rosemary, oregano flowers, variegated thyme and mint, parsley flower and purple sage)

Amy Merrick and Floret Farm Workshop 2013

A short while ago I went on a small adventure down to Washington to spend the weekend with a bunch of flower loving women! Two of my favorite bloggers Amy Merrick and Erin Benzakein were co-hosting a weekend floral workshop and it turns out I was just one beautiful ferry ride away.

Seeing Erin's farm in real life was really cool! I have been drooling over all her flower farming photos for years and just to actually see the whole operation and how it runs was fantastic. She is amazing with what she pumps out on 2 acres!

The coveted Cafe au Lait dahlia....

We spent the first morning cutting buckets and buckets of flowers which we then later turned into beautiful hand tied bouquets. A friend of Erin's was generous enough to let us use her beautiful 1906 barn for the workshop. The setting was idyllic. 

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Amy Merrick)

(Student work)

I absolutely love Amy's loose style of flower arranging. It is much harder than it looks and it was a real treat to be able to just watch her in action! She really wanted us to be thoughtful with flower placement and to give each flower enough space.  

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Student work)

(Student work)

It was truly a memorable weekend. The food, wine, location, company were perfect. For our final night we spent the afternoon dressing the barn for the most magnificent salmon dinner. Linen runners, tree branches, hop vines, the table flooded in candle light and fruit. And of course lets not forget all the beautiful guests adorned in our flower crown creations. I will post a link to some professional photos once I receive them. My photos would not do it justice!!