Vow Renewal Bouquets

I was recently contacted by my client who is having a vow renewal and going on a Disney cruise. She wanted to know if I could create a bridal bouquet for their vow renewal as well as two petite bouquets for her daughters to also carry down the aisle.

She asked me for white cymbidium orchids. Her original wedding bouquet contained these orchids as well as white dendrobium orchids, but she was having purple orchid leis so she wanted me to incorporate purple orchids to match. 

 I have heard from past clients who get married on cruises that it's very limiting as to what they can get in terms of fresh flowers and they are not allowed to take the flowers off the ship and preserve them when they disembark. It seems unfortunate that this isn't allowed, but it's a great market for clay flowers. This way the bride can keep her bouquet forever!

 I'm almost finished with a big wholesale order and I've got a bunch of invitation orders I'm working on. I also worked on some watercolor background designs for one of the companies I work with, which was a departure from what I normally do, but I have to admit I enjoyed it.

Single Stem Peonies for Bridesmaid Bouquets

It's been a very hectic couple of weeks working on several orders and projects. Last week I finished an order for 5 six inch single bloom ivory peonies for a client back East. She wanted each of her bridesmaids to carry one on her wedding day. The dresses the bridesmaids will be wearing are French blue but we went with Navy blue since I couldn't get her an exact match on the ribbon.

There's something so lovely about one single bloom that has so much character! I also played around with the assembly of the petals which I think I like better than previous peonies I've made. It's always a learning process. One thing I've learned is that I can't be afraid to experiment!

Mother's Day Tea....

 My mini teapots are such a hit, that one of my repeat clients asked me to make a trio of a teapot and teacups for her mother for Mother's Day. She really liked the vibrancy of my all ranunculus teapots, but wanted teapots and teacups. She later saw my mini daffodils and asked if I could add that. So I decided last night to make them and instead of doing all ranunculus to have the yellow flowers be daffodils. I think they came out super cute.

 I'm not sure I will have time to make more arrangements for Mother's Day, but maybe this weekend I might squeeze out a few. I've been trying to maximize my day which means less time on Facebook and more time in the studio. Lots still to accomplish but feeling less stressed as I accomplish more throughout the day!

Lots of hard work and multiple tries....

 I am not sure if you recall my mentioning that I was working on an order of 10 bouquets, 11 boutonnieres and 3 corsages. Well, that order is finally all complete. Sometimes between what the bride wants and what I understand what her needs are might be two different things. I think the lesson learned is I need to ask my clients to be more specific about what they want. 

At any rate, lots of hours of adding additional flowers to make my client happy. Granted, in the end, they bouquets look so much better than the original ones. Just hoping the bride is happy with the end result. I know she was very happy with how her bouquet turned out after all the changes and additions and I'm happy and relieved about that. :)

Here are some photos of the boutonnieres...

And the wrist corsages...

I still have a lot of orders to fill and new orders coming in both for summer weddings and wholesale orders. Lots to do...

More Mini Teapots for Mother's Day

One of my former brides who I did her wedding bouquet, boutonnieres and corsages for asked me if I could make Mother's Day gifts in the mini teapots. Unfortunately these aren't for sale. I am hopeful I might get some more up next week in my Etsy shop but I have to also focus on my brides who's orders need to be completed and shipped.My client basically had color combinations so we did 3 teapots. I really like the lemon yellow one. I decided to add lily of the valley to break up all the yellow that was in the arrangement and add a touch of greenery to offset the monochromatic colors. It contains, hyacinth, ranunculus, roses and daffodils as well.

The light pink and yellow one has poppies, ranunculus and plum blossoms.The red and pink one has ranunculus, peonies and apple blossoms.

Special Request with Special Meaning

It's been a long time since my last post. Needless to say, my large order which I thought was done needs some more modifications per the bride's request. I'll share photos of that when the project is completed.

I did however want to share some pictures of a project I just completed. My late mother-in-law's, best friend, who we love dearly, asked me if I could help her with her only granddaughter's wedding. Her granddaughter is marrying a wonderful man who has Scottish roots so they want to honor his heritage. They asked me to make Scotland Thistle. When I looked it up, I figured no problem, I can figure it out. LOL. I finally had a chance last weekend to start working on it. I tried a couple of different things, but this was my best effort. Granted I feel I can still improve on the thistle, but I think it is close enough that it will remind them of Scotland's national flower.Working on some Mother's Day gifts for clients and some custom orders. More photos to share in a day or two.

Custom Arrangements

While I can't elaborate too much on these custom arrangements, I just thought I'd share photos.

The first one is a full vase of blooming pink hydrangeas. With all the rain we got, it was definitely a bright spot in my day when these were finished. Just looking at them makes me happy.The other arrangement is full of pinks and corals in this lovely teal colored ceramic vase. Another bright and cherry Spring arrangement.
The next week or two might be light on posts as I have a huge wedding order to complete. 10 bouquets, 11 boutonnieres and 3 corsages. Once they are done, I'll have lots to post about.

New things on Etsy

In the midst of photo shoots and orders, I've been trying to list a few new things on Etsy. I hope to get a chance to work on some more teapots, but wedding season is officially upon me and I have to make sure to focus on my brides.

I was able to create some more gardenias with the gold and silver handwired rhinestone sprays as well as one with some velvet millinery leaves.I also had some heirloom roses left from a previous shoot and decided they'd look pretty in this vintage French inspired pink and black tin.
Check out my Etsy shop for the latest in hair accessories and gifts for Mother's Day.