Real Wedding | liza & eric

The bride and I met more than a year ago to start planning the flowers for her wedding. She was the first bride to book with me in 2008 for her 2009 wedding, and her wedding date 6/27/09 turned out to be one of the two most popular wedding inquiry dates for us this year. We had to turn down so many weddings for this one wedding, so it goes to show it pays to book early. =P

The wedding took place at the beautiful sun-beaming Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton - the ceremony in their outdoor oval terrace and the reception in their Grand Ballroom. Chic, black and white - linens, chair covers and sashes, completely accented by our red-delicious perfectly round balls of blooming roses and carnations. Also are dahlias, tulips and hypericum berries found in the bouquets and galvanized buckets along the aisle. A quick peek from my camera:

Real Wedding | sharon & carter

Happy and vibrant were the 2 words the bride used often when we initially talked about her wedding flowers. These two words slowly translated into rich hues of hot pink and cantaloupe orange, with pops of lime green.

My creative juices completely poured out for this wedding. It was truly unique because it was the first time my good friend from high school (the groom) and my husband's good friend also from high school (the bride), were getting married. They crossed paths themselves initially in college, then through the years, with my husband and my help (we like to credit ourselves forever for this union), the two finally started dating. I can still remember the time when they were telling us how they finally got together, and the four of us happened to be sitting on these couches at Macy's. I will never forget when he told me how happy he was - like Tom Cruise jumping on the couch on Oprah. And now, the two were getting married.

So I had to give them my all and more. Pink calla lilies, tulips, hydrangeas, with cantaloupe roses, dahlias, and pops of cymbidium orchids, snowball viburnum, AND KUMQUATS! Ribbons, ribbons, and ribbons tied the theme of these vibrant colors - thick hot pink ribbon outlining the aisle runner sprinkled with orange rose petals, pink and orange ribbons on the lip of the altar vases, ribbons wrapped around the guestbook and centerpiece vases. Because they were working with a budget, using these ribbons was an inexpensive way to add so much color and vibrancy, while using minimal flowers - all to set the stage at Kohl Mansion in Burlingame with the reception following at Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae.

Here are a few teaser photos from my camera, can't wait to get the photographer's pictures!

Real Wedding | catherine & dan

The wedding this past Saturday at Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park really reminded me of why I love what I do. It was a beautiful outdoor setting with the perfect weather - not too hot, a little sunny, with a tiny breeze. I will never forget meeting with this bride at our initial consultation, she said "I didn't come here to chat, I came to buy some flowers!" Needless to say, she signed with me on the spot.

The photographer promised me his team of three will definitely take pictures of all the details, but I can't wait for them, so for now, here are a few teasers from my little point-and-shoot camera:

Real Wedding | wennie & dave

Ceremony St. Regis San Francisco (Conservatory, Level four)
Reception St. Regis San Francisco (Gallery Ballroom, Level two)
Photography Martin Lam Photography

Real Wedding | lisa & keith

Ceremony Sts. Peter and Paul, San Francisco
Reception Marines' Memorial Club, San Francisco
Photographer Cohn Frankel Photography

Events | Floral Presentation at the College of San Mateo

I've always wanted to give back to the school that's given me so much - College of San Mateo - the school that's taught me the fundamentals of floral design and where I received my certificate in Floristry in 2003. So when asked if I would like to be a guest speaker for their monthly meeting, I immediately said YES! I've been bursting with so much knowledge from the past 5 years of being in the business that I wanted to share it all with all the new aspiring students!

I wanted to do my program that's focused more on the practical, everyday techniques of wedding design, instead of designs that are so "out there", (although inspiring) it's not applicable to everyday wedding design. While demonstrating and explaining the techniques, I also talked about the wedding business as being a business, making sure the students know that it is beyond designing - the realistic side of the flower business.