Martha Stewart Inspired Bridal Bouquet

My client, Shailer asked me to create her bridal bouquet and matching boutonniere for her fiance. We first started with peonies, poppies and lily of the valley. I did an exclusive design for my client and showed Shailer the photos and she was sold. So we modified her bouquet. We took some inspiration from a photo she found in a past issues of Martha Stewart Weddings and although that bouquet had lilac and some other flowers, the colors and the flower combination are beautiful. It consists of coral pink peonies, orange and yellow poppies, pink sweet peas, pink Victorian roses and coral peach/pink ranunculus. It's my new favorite bouquet. If only I could keep it.
Each time I work on my orders, I develop new techniques or notice things that I could modify to make everything look better. That's why I love what I do, each time it's not the same, everything is unique and custom. Every time I touch the clay I learn a new way to do things that help me to grow and become better. It truly is an art form and every piece I create is a work of art. :)I wish Shailer and Vikas all the best on their wedding day and for many, many years to come! Thank you again for allowing me to be part the most special day of your lives! :)

My Peony Cake Flower - Real Wedding Laya & Luke

As I was checking my web stats today, I came across something posted in Abby Larson's Style Me Pretty's blog. It just so happened to be a blog post about one of my bride's wedding. Laya ordered a custom peony cake flower via my Etsy site. She sent me a picture of the cake she was planning to have recreated (inspired by a Martha Stewart Weddings cake). At any rate, it was a nice surprise to see my work featured on Style Me Pretty! Click here to see the full article (larger photos) and the work of Jonathan Hanson Weddings photography!

Nesting Newbies - For a Home Tweet Home!

My dear friend, Lea McIntosh is truly a gifted and VERY talented professional. There is no limit to what she can create! Her latest creation is Nesting Newbies, an Internet based cooking show for newlyweds who may need some help in the kitchen from cooking to creating the perfect dinner party. I have to say even for someone who can cook, even I learned a few new tricks that I've already tried and that work!(Photo courtesy of Allure West Studios)

Her first episode she shared with newbies, Tejas and Lacee Naik a delicious Italian Sausage Ragu. You have to try it because it's SO GOOD - it's tweetalicious! :) Be sure to watch the video. It's chalk full of helpful cooking tips. You can even advance and move backward in the video whenever you want to!

(Photo courtesy of Allure West Studios)
I have been fortunate to see the tapings and the work that goes into this production and it's nothing short of amazing. Lea has put together a top notch team. I'm excited to see what new recipes she develops and shares. Companies such as Christopher Ranch Garlic and Calphalon are taking notice of Lea's Nesting Newbies show. I couldn't be more proud of Lea and her team of professionals who help bring this show to life. Personally being on the set, a LOT goes into each taping and it makes for a long day, but the end result is an amazing cooking show where newlyweds get hands on experience in cooking a new dish based on the foods and ingredients they enjoy most.
I can't wait to see what Chef Lea and the next newbie couple cooks up next!

Definitely bookmark - Nesting Newbies at www.nestingnewbies.com!

My Destination France Bride's Order Complete!

Seems befitting that I finished my big destination France bride, Amanda's order today, 4th of the July. Why you ask? Because her flowers for her reception are blue and red! I've been frantically working all day every day to get flowers done. It took me 3 full days to get all these flowers done to fill 14 centerpieces of blue hydrangeas, deep red roses and rosey red dahlias, and 2 cake table centerpieces.
Here's how it all turned out. Even my husband told me that he loved the color combination and how it's out of my norm and that it was very striking. I still have to touch up with accent painting, but I am essentially done.I have lots of bouquet orders and print jobs to work on so this month will be as busy as last month. Believe me, in some ways, September's vacation cannot come soon enough! I've been working non-stop since... well, I can't remember when... that's how long! LOL.

Best wishes to Amanda and her French fiance! I'm so excited for them and happy that I could create her wedding day decor all the way from California! :)

Custom Table Card Design

My client, Sharon and I had a lengthy but very productive conversation today about her wedding day details and how she's so stressed about what she has to get done in less than 3 weeks. So she finally decided to ask me to create some of the pieces she had hoped she could do herself.

This is a sample of her table card design. I think you'll recall in a previous post the water bottle labels, place cards and favor tags I worked on. This is what I came up with for her table cards. At first we decided to do table names but given the fact that her reception is outdoors at night, it would be hard for the guests to read the table names so we agreed to do table numbers and keep with her colors and orchid stem we used in her invitations and other printed items.

Hopefully later this week I'll have her wedding program sample done. I often remind my brides to delegate what they feel comfortable having their bridal party or friends & family help with so as not to stress themselves out. Although she may have saved herself some money, I think Sharon realized that she does not need to deal with the stress. She felt so much better after our call.

I love the color combination and the orchid stem. Just so vibrant and beautiful!

Real Wedding Photos

My bride, Whitney sent me an email this morning with some photos her friend took of their wedding that took place at Beaver Lake in New Jersey. If you recall, Whitney's bouquets were red roses, stephanotis with crystals and greens and branches. We did her bouquets, Whitney's hair flowers, boutonnieres and corsages.I had no idea her dress would have a red sash so it was a real treat to see how the bouquets complimented the dresses! Whitney said she'll email me when the wedding photographers images are up, but for now, here's a sneak peek courtesy of her friend Ann! Thank you Whitney for sharing these beautiful photos!

Another Dreamy Bouquet - Ivory, Apple Green and Aquamarine

My bride Tara, came to me via a Long Island wedding forum after she saw my work via another one of my brides. She was intrigued and sent me her vision of what she wanted. Her color palette was ivory, apple green and teal. She asked if I could somehow incorporate the teal.
The flowers we agreed upon were creamy ivory peonies, champagne ivory roses, green cymbidiums and white freesia. To incorporate the teal or in this case really aquamarine, I glued aquamarine Swarovski rhinestones in the centers fo the roses. It's subtle but I think really beautiful. Not too much but just enough.
I finally worked on it last night and today. I must be getting faster because literally I finished her flowers in 4 hours tops and I assembled them this evening which took another hour. I think this is another one of my new favorites. I love the soft colors and since I didn't have rhinestone picks so I decided to take the aquamarine rhinestones I had glued them into the centers of the champagne ivory roses.

Next up is an order for hair flowers, corsages, boutonnieres and a cake topper. Once that's done I need to finish the centerpieces for my destination France bride!