Chartreuse, Aubergine & White Blooms @ Robert Hall Winery

Easter weekend we had a fabulous wedding at Robert Hall Winery along with some of my favorite professionals - the foundation to any great event. First, Robert Hall is really a beautiful venue with so many options for weddings and they have gone out of their way to provide excellent value to their bridal packages. My gal pal Jennie over at Trumpet Vine Catering provided artfully presented food with her usual epicurean flare. Kramer Entertainment provided grooving tunes AND lighting for the caverns (did I happen to say they are now doing lighting??!!). Amber Karson Event Planning handled all of the planning from Washington DC - she rocked it! And the incredibly talented Allyson Magda of Allyson Magda Photography captured these images and shared them with us. Every time I get photos from Allyson - it is like Christmas - images are everything, incredible images - priceless! Thank you to all for being the excellent team players you are and coming together to bring Chris and Buffy a fabulous wedding day.

Ode to Peonies

I'm in love again! Of course, every other week I fall - I'm easy - what can I say? I fall hard and am usually totally enraptured - the smell, the feel, the look - oh my! Blooms of course... this week the focus of my complete affection: PEONIES!

Probably the most asked for bloom from my brides - even in August - everyone loves their full, feminine and voluptuous form. There, frankly, is nothing quite like them - and sadly, such a limited bloom time. They're special - they need the cold of a good winter freeze to bring forth their glory in the spring.

This is definitely one of the most memorable flowers from my childhood. My mother grew them along the cool side of our home as too much sun can weaken their delicate stems. I remember trying to hurry their bloom along, peeling back the outer skin of that tight round head - to coax out that big fluffy burst of petals - and the intoxicating fragrance.

My bride this week has taken the peony and run with it - though we are only designing her personal flowers for her - she has stayed true to her love of peonies - and has kept the high visual impact that they provide - simple, clean and bold using shades of pink blooms for the bridal party, against black cocktail dresses - amazing. Though a huge pink peony on the groom's lapel is probably not appealing to the groom and his men (I'm not sure that even George in all his masculinity could pull that off) - we have selected some fabulous ranunculus in hot pink to cluster for some dynamic boutonnieres (don't get me wrong, that still requires a secure dude!).


Peonies have been around for about 4000 years and probably originated in China with the Chinese name "Sho Yo" meaning most beautiful. In Japan they have been a long held symbol of prosperity. Some incredible myths come from the Greeks - all surrounding this incredible plant and it's blooms. During the middle ages in Europe, the peony's healing powers were considered a "panacea" for almost every ailment. Ok - sorry I am a complete history dork - but if you want to find more information on this lush bloom's history, check out these sites:
La Pivoinerie, Munkin Nursery, Tulips Talk

Boutonnieres - Beauty for the Guys

These are a few examples of some really fun boutonnieres that we done for recent weddings - the possibilities are really endless. Super fun to match the flowers with the tie or pick up some funky element that ties the lapel flowers into the rest of the wedding or the surroundings.


I think these beat the single rose pinned to the lapel and time!

Peacock Tablescape

One of my favorite work activities is creating a tablescape for a dinner party or wedding head table. Coming up with a combination of linens, flowers and elements that create an experience - I just can't get enough of it. The possibilities are truly endless and it just takes one little thing to get me headed down the path of no return.

In this case it was a dinner gathering at our office and studio - and my beloved peacock feathers. When I announced the colors to my mates at the office - there was a slight hush and a look of "OK?! here she goes again". But, the evening of the gathering, once the linens and feathers were in place - they got it.

Bright turquoise chair ties, eggplant napkins and chartreuse linen with elegant golden lace overlay, accented with regal gold candlesticks and urns. I especially liked how there was a "lightness" about this combination - sometimes if you rely on the darker colors, it can come off as really heavy and overdone.

Many thanks to my incredibly talented crew at Mike Larson Inc. for some wonderful photos as always. And, one of our steadfast linen sources BBJ Linen for their donation of our whimsical combinations. You always come through and we love you for it.

Wedding Ideas & Resources Abound

Since I only have a wedding on Sunday this week, I had an extra day to meander around on the web finding some really incredible blogs by incredible people and thought I would share with you my favorites.

In addition to some really fabulous flower, bouquets and decor ideas - the photography on these sites is really breath taking. Even if these photographers are not in your area - taking these pictures to a photographer that you are interviewing would really give them a good indication of what you are looking for.

Several of these blogs have just broken ground in the last week - so there is some wonderfully fresh perspective here and a whole lot of inspiration. Enjoy!

One of my favorite San Fran designers - nancy liu chen design provides wonderful inspiration and information on her Brown Bag Blog - addressing in particular what goes into the cost of wedding flowers.

Daily Candy - just launched this week, Daily Candy Weddings! Now you can have wedding candy everyday too.


My favorite find of the day: The Bride's Cafe or TBC - amazing photography here of stunning brides and beautiful ideas - I had to go through all 37 pages before going to bed last night.

Launched just the other day: San Francisco Style Unveiled. And, in a fantastic follow up to our Earth Day entry - check out 101 ways to be eco-chic.




And last but far from least - my steady go to: Style Me Pretty.

Gorgeous Green Weddings - The Ultimate Demonstration of Love

In honor of the best Mother of all - Nature, I have compiled some great little tid bits on creating beautiful weddings while consciously making earth friendly choices. In an effort to live more consciously myself, I have started noticing everyday little practices, that make a big difference, and have started adapting them to our weddings in an effort to help brides feel great about their wedding day and the impact it will have on our environment.

These are a few of my favorite things that we are currently doing to honor the environment:

• composting all green waste - stems, leaves and all the extras that don't wind up in your bouquets get composted on our production property
• recycle containers - constantly. we have a vast selection of containers including glass ware, iron urns, wood boxes, silk boxes and candelabras. we repeatedly use these containers, saving each of our brides the expense of purchasing these items, but in effect sharing them.
• spread the love - in an effort to share the beauty we have a program where we will pick up any left over flowers from your wedding at the end of your celebration and deliver them to be enjoyed by others either at a retirement / rehabilitation center or at the local women's shelter.
• buy local - as much as possible we work with local growers to cut down on our carbon impact in shipping flowers in. though availability is our guide, we are always happy to provide brides with a list of locally grown and readily available choices for their blooms.
• in cases when we do import blooms from out of the area, all cardboard and packing materials are recycled.

A few other fabulous ideas that I've come across include purchasing and personalizing napkins and linens for your wedding - and then you have wonderful linens for your home following the wedding. This also provides a beautiful style statement for your guests as they enjoy your celebration. Personalizing shopping bags that can be reused over and over by your guests are great favors. I love the gift of tree seedlings, seed packets or bulbs as a favor as well.


Resources: Green World Project, Earthly Goods, Plant a Memory, The Knot.com,

Happy Easter - Blooms

Though I have a hard time getting excited about a visit from the Easter Bunny - I do get completely crazy excited about all that blooms at this time of the year. The possibilities influence our design approach with everything - the emergence of color after a dull winter - the spring green of tiny sprigs. There is no other season that touches spring. Some of my favorite spring delicacies are the periwinkle grape hyacinths, double Angelique tulips paired with bright green Bells of Ireland. Rananculus is especially robust at this time of year too - amazing.

Bill over at the SLO Country Club asked us to "spring up" his Easter Brunch this year - and with hundreds of new ideas swirling in my brain - I settled on a fantastic idea that I gathered from renowned Belgian designer Nico de Swert. The brilliance - taking an idea or element that is old and gathering creative dust - and refurbish it - into something new and wonderful. In this case - the dreaded grapevine wreath. By mussing it up, adding some moss and some "egg shell" vases - it is a whole new fabulous thing... a nest - or in this case the base for a profusion of some glorious spring blooms.