Empress Hotel Photo Shoot

I recently received some gorgeous photos from the girls over at Two Tiny Elephants. They had asked me to do up a bridal bouquet for a photo shoot they were doing at the Empress Hotel. It's always very exciting to see my flowers in a beautiful shoot! I just can't get over the blue chair, red lips, and that dress, I love it all!! What do you think?

The bouquet was filled with local speckled hellebores, tulips, viburnum, freesia and fern.

To view this whole shoot please visit the Two Tiny Elephants blog.

Photography - Two Tiny Elephants

Invitation and stationary - Two Tiny Elephants

Dress and accessories - Blush Bridal

Hair and make-up -  Rika Kirihara

Flowers - Tara McHugh Flora

Location - Fairmont Empress Hotel

Still loving flower crowns?

Still loving flower crowns? I hope so, because I still am! I  love them big and full for the bride who wants a statement piece. Or, small and delicate for a more understated natural look. 

Here are a few pics from a recent spring photo shoot. It was a fun collaboration with the girls over at

 TWO TINY ELEPHANTS.

 (wax flower, seeded eucalyptus, rhododendron)

 

 (hellebore and pieris japonica hair piece)

Flowers: Tara McHugh Flora

Location: Ma-Luxe Studio 

Dress: White Peony 

Photography:  Two Tiny Elephants

Hair: Colin Bear

Make-Up: Ma-Luxe Studio

To see more beautiful pictures by Two Tiny Elephants head on over to their blog at http://www.twotinyelephants.com/blog/

 

Eryngium - Sea Holly

What is eryngium? Eryngium is a blueish purple thistle flower, also known as sea holly. It actually is a rare color in the flower world, which is one of the reasons why I love it! As a cut stem flower it has a good long vase life, around 7-14 days depending how fresh it is. The flower itself grows on an odd irregular shaped stem, so they don't look their best displayed on their own. But they do however compliment many other beautiful flowers.

Anemones, parrot tulip, berzelia, eryngium

 Hellebore, eryngium, grape hyacinths

 Eryngium and parrot tulip boutonniere

They are a great flower for wedding work as they don't ever wilt!

Spring Boutonnieres - hellebore and succulent

Succulents are still popular for bridal bouquets and boutonnieres, and I love them. What is kind of neat about using succulents in your wedding is that after the wedding you can carefully remove the succulent from the boutonniere or bouquet and shove it in some soil. It will take root after a couple weeks and you will have a living keepsake from your wedding day!

Top boutonniere - succulent, anemone, clematis buds

Bottom boutonniere - hellebore and sword fern

Modern Bride Victoria

At the beginning of the month, not only did I have my first wedding for 2013 but I was also part of the Modern Bride event. It was the first of it's kind, and the idea was to have a "bridal expo" that was like no other. Booths were set up though out the mall by various wedding vendors. And the day ended with a "live" wedding, in which one lucky couple had their whole wedding paid for as long as they were married in the mall amongst friends, family and strangers. 

I shared a booth with Tricia from En Vied Events.

Tricia also came up with three different "wedding looks" with her beautiful table linens and accessories which were also on display through out the mall. I added the final touch of flowers which always helps complete the look.

pink rhododendron, deep purple hellebores and white hyacinth

viburnum, everest roses and freesia

Would you get married in a mall if it was all paid for?

 

White Parrot Tulips

Parrot tulips are very dramatic, with their feathered, twisted and curled petals! I am in love with this white variety in particular. With a hint of green on the petal, they pair nicely with a green hellebore from my garden. Very fun to photograph too!

Spring Garden Flowers

I have been so inspired lately by some very talented florists in New York City. Amy Merrick and the girls at Saipua in Brooklyn have such a beautifully romantic style of flower arranging. For me when I look at their work I just want to run out into my garden and start picking. And that's what I did today.........

(Rhododendrons, azaleas, frittilaria, hellebores, plum blossoms)

Spring Yellows - modern waterfront home

The other day I had the privilege of having my flowers used in a gorgeous waterfront home here in Victoria. Leslee Farrell, a well known Victoria real estate agent hosted the open house for this beautiful property over looking Gonzales Bay. It had some incredible spaces inside, and views which my photography just doesn't really capture. The lovely food was done by the talented David Feyes of Feyes and Hobbs. I used bright yellow spring tulips,ranunculus and leaf lined vases to compliment the interior. As a floral designer it is super exciting for me to see my creations in a place like this!

(anemones, aranda orchids and pin cushion flowers)

(would you want anything but this fireplace right here?)

If I could, I would buy this house tomorrow!!



For more images of this home check out Abstract Developments Inc.

Spring is in the air!

I was intending to do a longer post tonight but I don't think that's going to happen. My 2 year old has decided to stay up late (due to a late afternoon nap) and is now happily enjoying a piece of bread as I write. As for me, I think it will be early to bed tonight, I'm tired after a busy day of helping my best friend in the garden at her new house.  What fun it was though tearing out all the overgrown branches. It is such a great time of year to be working in the garden. Time to tidy up the yard and eagerly await all that spring has to offer. A few colors have started to arrive in my garden, yellow witch hazel, pink rhododendron, and pale green hellebores!  After having a couple months with no garden flowers in the house I am excited to get snipping. And don't forget, now is the time to bring in some forsythia to force into bloom. 

My little one is finally asleep now, so time for bed fellow flowers lovers. Happy Spring!

Roses and Garden Hellebores

These hellebores from my garden are the perfect pairing with these coral pink roses. I did add a small plum branch for a little more texture. Just be careful when you bring these in from your garden as sometimes they shed their stamens, but it's so worth it because they can last almost three weeks!

Hellebores - Garden

This is a hellebore, and it is the first flower to bloom in my garden. I love to be able to pick flowers from my garden, knowing exactly how fresh it is and where it came from is pretty great!