BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL @ 4 E. MADISON

Back in June we were thrilled to be a part of Jenna Spain's  wedding. Her color palette was so much fun--bright pinks and oranges with splashes of cool blue. We finally got the pics and I just had to post a few.

The wedding was held outdoors on a beautiful June day in the courtyard garden of 4 E. Madison. Keenan, one of our favorite designers, helped to decorate the courtyard with lush plants, pots of ferns and ivy and 3.5' tall white urns filled to overflowing with bright lush flowers. Everything was beautiful--but also fun and funky and totally "Jenna."

Needless to say, the bride was stunning and absolutely sparkled on her wedding day. Thanks, Jenna, for letting us be a part of your day!

Clay and Liz @ Baltimore Country Club

The only thing more rewarding than creating flowers for a couple I already know is creating flowers for a couple who are then kind enough to invite me to their wedding. Last weekend was quite a treat  as both Kelly, John, and I were invited to the  beautiful wedding of Liz Sherman and Clay Goodier.  It was so much fun to witness the two of them, both of whom we have known since their middle school years, become husband and  wife.

Liz and Clay are such a wonderful and playful couple and Stacy Richardson, their photographer did the most amazing job capturing that aspect of their relationship.  Check out a few of her photographs and you'll see what I mean.

Liz loves daisies so her bouquet was comprised of an array of daisy varieties. She's casual and fun-loving but the bouquet was still romantic and sophisticated and suited her beautifully.

As soon as we get more great pics from Stacy we'll show off the gorgeous arbor we created on the lawn of Baltimore Country Club in Roland Park where Clay and Liz said their vows. It was beautiful--and again, it suited her perfectly.

It was such a pleasure to work with Liz and her mom and future mom-in-law (and friend of ours) Isabelle Goodier. And as an extra bonus I even had the pleasure of running into a previous bride whose wedding flowers we had also done last fall at Baltimore Country Club. Kristina was still raving about her flowers--and we just love when that happens! What I am always especially proud of is the fact that we  can do two weddings in the same venue and get a completely different look and feel for each one. And each bride knows that her flowers were created just for her and her special day.  

Congratulations to Clay and Liz and thanks so much for letting us be a part of your day!

JUNE WEDDING AT MARYVALE CASTLE

It's hard to believe I haven't posted since April 29, but then again, it has been the busiest wedding season we have had thus far. When you add proms and graduations to the mix--it's been a whirlwind of activity. And we couldn't be more grateful--or exhausted. We have a brief respite right now, with only one wedding next weekend, so I slipped away for a few days to focus on paperwork, and all the little things you just don't get to you when you're in the thick of the busy season.

However, last weekend we had three weddings and each one was different. Jenna used vintage bottles, many in cobalt blue and we filled them with splashes of bright orange and fuchsia with a light touch of pale blue. They were outstanding in the gardens and on on the tables at 4 E. Madison where both the ceremony and the reception were held. We will post photos as soon as they are available. Bonita had a traditional Tiffany Blue and Chocolate Brown wedding with stylized clutches of GIANT local calla for her maids and blue crystal balls on crystal stands for her tables--again, beautiful. The flowergirls' pomander balls were among the sweetest we've ever made.

Jennifer, with an artistic eye, a willingness to take a few chances, and having made a huge leap of faith with me, envisioned a beautiful garden wedding at The Maryvale Castle.  When she first came to me with some of her ideas, I was very excited, but to be honest, her mom was a little skeptical. Admittedly, it is sometimes hard to imagine the look of blending a vintage garden theme with just the rights elements so that it doesn't end up looking like the set of "Sanford & Son" or a poorly done Flea Market. But Mom-of-the-bride Patti left me a sweet email this morning saying "I wanted to tell you that the flowers were GORGEOUS...Thank you so much and you were right, I would love them. I loved them so much I took four of the centerpieces...seriously wanted to take all the flowers home with me...but they wouldn't fit in my car."

Patti also took a class with me earlier this spring, claiming she loves flowers and always wanted to learn flower arranging, but I have a hunch she was checking me out to see if both her daughter and I had lost our minds and if her beautiful daughter's wedding was going to end up looking like Anthropology exploded all over the grounds of Maryvale. I can't blame her a bit, but she had nothing to fear. The flowers were stunning!

What I liked best about working with Jennifer--and what I like best about so many of the brides I work with, is that she had total faith in the fact that my vision would meld with hers. In this way, and because I got to know her and have a sense for her personal aesthetic, I was able to exercise creative freedom, and even tuck in a few surprises along the way--like the bee in bouquet that she adored but that came as a total surprise.  (He's on the right, just above the hypericum berry cluster). The boutonnieure was another fun surprise. Jennifer wanted fun and funky, but natural and garden-themed. I found a petite faux bird nest and egg and just had to work it into the bout for her groom.

The table pieces were created in vintage compotes and every table was different. Many had clusters of pieces and some featured a single piece, but the best part was tucking small surprises into some of them. If you looked very carefully you might find a butterfly resting, a dragonfly hovering, a bee tucked into a blossom, a ladybug spreading her wings--and even a cricket nestled at the base of one of the compotes.

 We had such fun creating these beautiful pieces for Jennifer and her new husband.  During the set-up we asked Katie of Chelle Paperie--who happens to be a spectacular photographer as well as a paper and printing genius and a budding floral designer-- to snap a few of these pictures. While we can't post pics of the bride and groom yet, we will as soon as we get copies from the official wedding photographer. But in the meantime, I love to imagine what Jennifer was thinking when she walked into the bridal suite at Maryvale Castle and saw her bouquets for the first time...

CIRCUS ROSES FOR SHOCK TRAUMA GALA

We recently had the pleasure once again of working with the incredible team of PW Feats. We love these guys. Not only are they professional and creative, they're a lot of fun, too. These guys don't just manage an event, they bring in all the bells and whistles that turn it into something really special, even spectacular. From gorgeous fantasy weddings to amazing corporate events, PW Feats has let us ride on their awesome shirt tails since we first opened two years ago.


Last weekend we worked with them on the florals for a Gala for Shock Trauma that was held at the Baltimore Convention Center. The centerpieces were simple bubble bowls filled with gorgeous Circus Roses. This is a fabuloous rose because it blows wide open right away but continues to last for a week or more. The more it opens the more it reveals its vibrancy. It's a stunner. We did 270 centerpieces and each bowl had roughly 14 roses in it--do the math. We had more than 2300 of these beautiful roses in our studio. They were everywhere...












 I couldn't have been more proud of our team. Every single piece was beautiful. You always worry when you're doing a lot of a single design. It's easy to get tired and adopt that "it's good enough" attitude. But our team of Debbie, Susie, Sharon and Kristen never let up and they took ownership of each and every piece they turned out.

 The result was 270 perfectly gorgeous bowls of Circus Roses that we packed up, delivered to the Convention Center,  and set up.  Imagine these flowers on black tablecloths--270 of them. I love when it all comes together and the client is thrilled with the final look. Thanks, PW Feats, for once again letting us be part of your vision!

BOB, THE STUDIO LUSH

We just couldn't stand it. As many of you know, The Floral Studio is home to Jack, our free-roaming rabbit, and Bob, our adorable fat cat. Yes, that's right--Bob cat and Jack rabbit. The two of them live at the studio, roam free 24-7, and have apparently become very good friends. It's a pretty relaxing place and Bob loves to find a patch of sun on the workroom floor and sprawl--belly up. Well, we just couldn't resist. We had to set up this photo.
What a lush...

Cherry Blossom Weddings

It's Cherry Blossom time again and we're gearing up for a cherry blossom wedding at The Peabody Library this Saturday. Last year we did a beautiful wedding with these gorgeous blossoming branches and I just had to go back and look at the photographs again for a little inspiration.

Jennifer McMenamin was the photographer at this beautiful wedding last spring and the pictures of Sylvia and Tim's wedding are among our favorites. The Floral Studio has been lucky to have collaborated with Jennifer on many weddings in the last two years and she has never disappointed. We think her work is stunning and has a way of getting at the heart of the moment.

Right now we have hundreds of Cherry Blossom branches soaking in buckets around the studio and on our deck. We're coaxing these blossoms and the timing is always tricky, but we expect to produce another magical Cherry Blossom wedding on Saturday!


If you should decide to try and force branches at home, you might want to try Quince. It has a pretty pink-salmon color that's a little unusual.  It doesn't actually bloom in clusters like most cherry varieties, and the stems are a little stiffer, but it does have a similar flower blossom and it will last a bit longer than Cherry.

Start forcing stems by cutting them from the trees or bushes, trimming some of the smaller stragglers towards the bottom of the branches (to force the energy into the buds further up the stem) and then setting them in warm to hot water for an hour. It will jump-start the process. Pick stems that have small buds just starting. They don't need to be open, or even peeking color, but you'll have more luck if the buds are starting to swell. Stay away from branches that have already bloomed unless you want a very short-lived arrangement. Once the energy has gone into the bloom, the branches are a little less hearty for cutting.

"Spirea" or "Bridal Wreath" forces nicely, too. It's a shrub with vine-like branches that bloom a little later in the spring and produce clusters of small white flowers. Dogwood is a little tougher to get going, but it is stucturally gorgeous once it blooms on some of those gnarled branches. Most fruit trees can be forced and that includes apple blossom, orange blossom, and flowering pear tree.  And many flowering vines are extremely cooperative and can be forced in the very dead of winter. Forsythia is a great choice for  an explosion of sunny yellow in the dead of winter.

Nothing says spring in Baltimore like blooming trees (and lacrosse sticks). Can't wait for Saturday!

FlORAL CLASSES

We just wrapped up two classes this past week and they were fabulous! On Thursday night we did a private class for five friends. Wine, cheese and flowers--who could ask for more on a rainy-snowy Thursday night? The pieces were beautiful and everyone had a wonderful time. 

Sunday afternoon we hosted a slightly larger class and we were lucky enough to have Katie from Chelle Paperie with us. If you don't already know, Katie is not only a talented designer of exquisite papergoods, but she's also a fabulous photographer. As a matter of fact, many if not most of my blog and web site photos are courtesy of Katie.

In any case, she enjoyed the class, as did everyone else, and she also snapped a few photos to document the fun. As you can see, the arrangements are absolutely beautiful!

The fun began with a few essentials--beautiful flowers being the most important element.

We learned about prepping and preparing various flowers--especially those fussy damn hydrangeas we all love so much.

Pretty soon we were creating gorgeous pieces in rich shades of tangerine and salmon. Huge French tulips, incredible varieties of roses, peachy-orange hypericum berries and deep rich green gardenia foliage made for some stunning finished pieces.

Everyone's work just got prettier and prettier as we moved along.

It always amazes me that as students are introduced to various flowers--as they get to know their tendencies and become more comfortable with each variety, they begin to see each flower in a different way and the building and placing of the blooms becomes more and more natural as the class progresses.

Soon everything is coming together and the students who came into class two hours earlier are often surprised by how beautiful their work is.

Everyone took home an exquisite piece that afternoon! For more information about upcoming classes shoot us an email or give us a call. Private group classes are also available and we love to turn it into a wine and cheese evening as well!

Baltimore Bridal Show

Baltimore Bride has been on the shelf for seven weeks now and we are just so thrilled to have been a part of it again this year. Chelle Paperie, Kate Beck Events, and The Floral Studio combined our talents as "artists in residence at Coppermine Terrace" to create a beautiful bridal table for a photo shoot we participated in  at The Walters Art Museum in the Sculpture Court last fall. Our design was titled "Vintage Glamour" and it was totally gorgeous, original, and fun. Katie, Kate, and I  had a great time doing it and incorporating slightly unusual  elements that you don't always think of when you're planning wedding decor. With a color palette of graphite and tangerine, we threw away tradition but gave a nod to the past with our beautiful table. A rock runner, "pewter" china, soft creamware pitchers of vibrant orange parrot tulips and ranunculus, vintage velvet chairs for the guests of honor, and bold splashes of  orange color made for a truly unique but charming and inviting tablescape.

If you want to see more of our designs--live and in living color, be sure to stop by the Aisle Style Bridal Show at The Baltimore Hilton on March 7. Featuring some of the area's finest wedding vendors and  lots of great ideas. The Floral Studio will be there and we have cute gifts for all attendees!

spring under glass

The snow is waist high, the trees are bare, and the wind is whipping around the gables of our studio. I couldn't help but wish for a little piece of Spring and then I thought of these darling pieces I made not long ago. I could just stare at them forever...

Each beautiful cloche holds its own little world nestled under glass. There are butterflies, bees, eggs and feathers. What a great way to bring nature indoors during the cold days of winter.

It makes me smile :)

WORKING IN PURPLE

We are so excited to have our new blog up. Many many thanks to Katie of Chelle Paperie and her husband Ben Kutil of Make Things Studio for pulling this all together for me. It looks like this will be a great place for me to spout off about flowers, the industry and anything else that comes to mind. It's my own personal soap box--as my husband would say--and I'm thrilled to have it.

Last week we met with a ton of new brides. Every one of them was a pleasure to spend time with and every one of them is planning a wedding with a completely unique and individual feel about it. One thing I did notice is that there is an awful lot of "purple" going on next year! But each bride is using it in a different way. Some want a purple to red palette and some want a purple to pink palette. Some are looking at true purples and others are thinking along the lines of eggplant. One caution to all purple brides--purple doesn't always photograph "true." Even under the best of conditions you may find purple looking blue so make sure you're working with a good photographer who knows how fickle this color can be.

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