More from Veronica and Bill's Wedding

Part of bringing the outdoors inside was Bill's one non-negotiable...the curly willow branches. See exhibit A above...they were a great added touch!

The tables were a true labor of love - each one different and unique it its own way. Bill provided the tree stumps for the centerpieces, Jessie lent the old mason jars, and friends all over helped us gather an impressive collection of assorted cans.

An apple green ribbon cinched neatly around the cans and bouquets and boutonnieres tied everything together.

Veronica and Bill...The Red Hot Chili Pepper and the White T-Shirt

The Loft at Watermark Community Church is a great blank slate for a reception. It was important to me to take a "before" photo because Veronica and Bill (yes Bill too - he is very creative!) had a truly unique vision for their wedding and reception in November of 2010.

The light was key because they were getting married on Saturday morning with a brunch reception (YUMMY by the way...Festive Kitchen...kudos) to follow, so pulling back all the drapes on Friday afternoon during the set up gave us an accurate preview for the next day.

With the anticipation of close to 300 guests, this was a truly a feat for my team (amazing friends who quickly self-proclaimed themselves as the "worker bees") to take on during the infancy of my flower hobby. The "after" photo speaks for itself - our goal was to execute Bill and Veronica's vision of bringing the outdoors inside into the reception.

Birthdays are my Favorite...

I love Birthdays because they are unabashedly joyful celebrations of people I love. Once a year it is YOUR day and everyone knows it. My good friend Abby's husband Chris, asked me to use my new-found hobby to bless his wife for her birthday last year. Thankfully Chris doesn't know anything about flowers and let me do whatever I wanted.

With this new freedom to play with color, I began to try new ways to use color (see above) - through new flowers, new pigments, and new vases that added a fun punch to the arrangement.

Abby and Emily - thank you for being born!

To all the Mommies...

So...many of my friends are new Mommies now. They are my heroes - truly patient and self-less. The white and green roses above were a welcome home gift to Abby, Mommy to Graham and wife to Chris, a big kid in his own right but that is a different converstaion for a different time.

Friendly tip - using a wide banana leaf inside a vase covers all the stems...and any mistakes I may have made.

Emily is a colorful friend and co-worker at Fossil. This arrangement looks like it is smiling - I LOVE LOVE LOVE peonies and Emily conveniently had a baby during peak peony season so lucky me. The orange-ish pink roses and hypericum berries tied everything together effortlessly, much like Emily, Mommy to Jack and wife to Dustin, who seems to do it all without breaking a sweat.

So I had to save the best for last - I hail from Houston, TX...not China like many of you have presumed. You know who you are. For a typically warm and balmy Thanksgiving last year, I did an experiment with short and tall flowers in an arrangement for my Mom, Irene. Initially the tulips were shooting out intentionally, and she loved it...but beware, I quickly learned that tulips are one of the few flowers that continues to grow after cut.

Friendly tip - when creating an arrangement (with tulips) that you'd like to "maintain its original form" for more than day, try to only use tulips entirely, or your arrangement will...explode of sorts. The tulips will shoot out from the rest of the flowers day after day and the recipient will either be dumbfounded, or just plain annoyed that they have to trim the arrangement to keep it from looking crazy.

Well, Jessie was crazy...

I call it crazy, some call it faithful. Either way, Jessi stepped out on a ledge and entrusted me to help her execute her vision for a rustic romantic wedding and reception in June of 2010. She was precise in her instructions for the affair to NOT look precise.



We used tons of wildflowers - in plum, lavendar, eggplant, indigo, fuchsia - with giant peonies and antique-y hydrangea - and pops of lime green - to keep it natural and simple. It was like running through a field, a day of picking berries and flowers and throwing them into old jam jars for an impromptu picnic with friends ...and it was beautiful, just like the bride.

The bouquets were out of control - flowers spraying out of everywhere - color exploding. Jessie added a beautiful crystal broach to dress up the twine we used on her bridal bouquet, and all the bridesmad bouquets, as well as all over the reception as well. The twine was eclectic and natural - an easy way to create an effortless yet unique look.

The boots were worn the rest of the night...perfect for dancing.

The reception was equally boisterous - jars filled to the brim with flowers hanging from a giant wheelbarrow, galvanized watering cans pouring flowers out like water on the sign-in table and Candy Bar Station...basically flowers bursting from everywhere.

Each table was unique and special - no two alike - Jessie's quest to claim every mason jar in the state of TX and likely OK as well, created a truly magical and rustic look. The candle votives are small jam jars, as are the water glasses. Every detail had Jessie's undeniable touch.

I love that we tossed multi-colored rose petals at Jessie and Jason's exit from the reception - really fun with a kick of humor - just like the couple.

The weddings all started with one bouquet...

People often ask me how I started arranging flowers for weddings - I am a person of routine and structure by nature - NOT the creative sort. But it all started with Lori Lou's wedding. She wanted ONE beautiful white bouquet, ONE boutonnierre for her dashing groom David, and ONE white peony for each of three amazing sisters and flowers girls to carry down the aisle. The rest just snowballed after that. So I guess I owe Lori and David a big THANK YOU for finding each other

Hailey's Bridal Shower

Here are three arrangements that I did for a wedding shower for my friend and co-worker Hailey. I used white hydrangea and white mums to make this monochromatic arrangement.

Hydrangeas and mums are good flowers to use when you want to fill a lot of space with a small amount of flowers.

Friendly tip - these white pots can be re-used for potted plants afterwards - two gifts in one!!!