Petal Talk Flower Trends for 2011

Wedding flower color trends for 2011 are primarily going to be earthy tones with accents of contrasting embellishments.   Shades of champagne, blush, apricot, and butter-cream will intertwine for romantic-vintage style wedding.  Natural embellishments such as champagne ostrich feather or white stones create an earthy appeal to the decor.  By adding simple adornments of antique lace sashes around the vases, or wrapping the bouquet with an elegant brocade ribbon will add the finishing touch for a vintage look.


Vintage Bridal Bouquet

Another rising beautiful color palette is celadon, lilac, and slate.  Flowers that are naturally celadon are chestnuts, hydrangeas, lady’s mantle, lady slipper orchids, roses, hypericum berries and greenery to name a few.  Lilac is a soft purple tone that gives earthiness and color to the designs.  Creating softness against the lighter celadon blooms.  Slate adornments that create a misty look are incorporated for a refreshing feel.

Celadon and lilac bridesmaids bouquet

Winter Wonderland at the Bridal Extravaganza September 2010

With all of the splendor and anticipation, the past weekends Bridal Extravaganza was a complete success!  We here at Blossom’s decided that we would not take any wedding the Saturday before the event, so we would have ample energy and spunk to create stunning works of art to showcase!  I spoke with many of you who are looking for floral that is unique and fresh and I enjoyed hearing all about everyones vision for their special day!  Tons of great ideas out there for sure!

So many of you asked for photos of the bouquets and table set up that we showcased, so I though it prudent to write a Blog post and include them here!

White manzanita tree adorned with crystals

This classic bouquet is a favorite with winter Brides.  A combination of red “Freedom” Roses, burgundy “Black Magic” Roses and “Claret” Spray Roses, clutched together and wrapped with satin ribbon is simple and elegant.  We used swarovski crystal accents to create the feel of “ice” in the heads of the roses and on the handle.

Gorgeous Garden Roses accented with variegated Pittosporum

This bouquet was one of my favorites!  It has a very Christmas time feel.  I created it by starting with gorgeous David Austin Garden Roses in ivory, Red “Freedom” Roses and variegated Pittosporum greenery to give it that fresh garden picked feel.  The variegated greenery gives the bouqeut texture and interest.  You could modify this design to be more “Christmassy” by incorporating seasonal greenery such as Cedar, and holly.

Winter White Bouquet

Classic white bouquet can not only be used for a winter wedding, but is a great choice any time of the year.  We started with white Hydrangea, and tucked in some “Vendella” roses, Rannuncullus, Greesia and finished it off with some silvery seeded eucalyptus.  I love the texture and bounce the seeded Euc. creates.

Blue Hydrangea, garden roses, spider mums and babies breath

What is a winter wonderland without a blue and white winter bouquet?  We finished off this bouquet with a simple ribbon wrap in white satin, and painstakingly attached swarovski crystal swirls on the handle for that finished look.

Picasso Mini Calla Bouquet

It always amazes me how this simple cluster of “Picasso” Mini Calla lilies ends up being one of the favorite bouquets at the shows.  The bi-colored blossoms are deep purple in the center surrounded with ivory edges.  We decided to let the flowers to be star of this bouquet and wrapped the handle with slate gray ribbon.

Royal bouquet for a Princess Bride

This bouquet would be perfect for a Ball Room Princess to carry on her most important day!  Use the Picasso mini calla bouquet for your bridesmaids, and the picture is complete.

There are many more photos from the Bridal Show, so if you don’t see what you were interested in here, please feel free to email me and I will send it to you!  blossom@blossomstx.com  Have a wonderful week!

Erin’s Green Affair at Spicewood Vineyards

Erin and I met at one of the wonderful “Weddings Unveiled Austin” Bridal Showcases that was held at the Palm Door in downtown Austin about a year ago.  Her style was sheek with a very natural European flair.  We really enjoyed creating her floral after planning for such a long time.  It was awesome to see all of her vision come to light.

Erin chose a garden full of floral for her bouquets and table centerpieces.   Her Bridal bouquet was the first item we created using; David Austin garden roses, Tiny succulent plants, Escimo Roses, Peonies, Hydrangea, Belles of Ireland amongst a myriad of others.

Erin's Bridal had so many differnt flowers and cute little succullents

The handle on Eriin's bouqet was simply wrapped with ivory satin ribbon. When we arrived at the church, we also wrapped it with a hankercheif that belonged to her mother, and a locket that was her father in laws.

Erin didn’t want to deviate from her boquet style too much for her bridesmaids, so we simply included a few lavender “Cool Water” roses into them for a splash of color.

These were very fragrant and perfect

Bridesmaids bouquets

Erin’s wedding was held at the gorgeous Queen of Angels chapel in Spicewood Tx.  Erin wanted the church to look lush and festive, while not being to overbearing and stuffy.  We created urn arrangements in the pave style that were set on top of altar tables at the back of the church.  After the ceremony was over, Erin’s family removed theses arrangements for use on the bar at Spicewood Vineyards.

Classic stone urns were adorned with a pave of white and green garden style floral

Here is a shot that I captured of the altar area.  Although the church was very far off the beaten path, I believe it is a hidden treasure!  What a jewel.

Gorgeous natural light and fantastic decor in the Queen of Angels Chapel

When I was researching to create the right look for the pews, I found this wonderful 4″ double faced satin ribbon in moss.  Although it was a bit pricier than I was used to spending, it was so worth the end result.

I couldn't wait to get this ribbon tied and onto the pew arrangments.

Hydrangea and garden roses were tied onto the pews with 4" moss green ribbon for a lush garden feel to the aisle.

Once the wedding was completed, the party began.  Spicewood Vineyard was only a short drive from the church.  Anna, the coordinator at the vineyard is a detail oriented organizer.  She doesn’t miss a beat on reception day!.   As the guests entered the event center, there was a table that was covered with moss, and rocks.  The idea is that each guest would write a wish on the rocks and Erin would have them as a momento from the wedding to cherish.   We accented the rocks with open floral heads, little succulents in galvanized metal pots and votive candles.

Sign the rock guest book table

Guest book table instructions

The table designs were three different looks.  First we designed a cluster style arrangement of vases that were wrapped with birch paper and green raffia.  Each vase had a single type of flower and they were arranged around an empty vase in the center that was a bit taller than the surrounding vases.  The center one was for the bridesmaids to place their bouquets into once they arrived at the reception hall.  These were surrounded with votive candles for accent.

Clusters of vases with hydrangea, hypericum berries and stock.

The second design was a white milk glass container filled with a pave design of garden style floral.  These were also surrounded with votives.  I love the dusty miller and open roses they are very soft and fragrant.

Urn style centerpeice

The final arrangements were our favorites here at Blossom’s.  We started with 30″ tall cylendar vases that had a base of moss and rock inside the vase.  Then we placed a curly willow branch or two that had white Dendrobium Orchids attached to the stems to make them appear to be flowering branches.  On top of the tall vase we placed a pave of  Hydrangea, garden roses, hypericum berries, freesia, stock, Brunia Berries and filler flowers.  The bases of these arrangements were surrounded with potted succullents in galvanized metal pots as well as votive candles.

These were our favorite centerpeices

I just loved the little succullents! They are so cute!

I loved the room when it was finished!

Well, there you have it!  I know it was a long post, but thanks for sticking with me!  Well worth the time!  See you all back here really soon!

Blossom’s First DIY Bride

Donya, our Bride along with  her friends and family had a great time in the studio designing  centerpieces for her Wedding with a little help from Blossom.  Creamy white Carnations, and green “Kermit” poms were used in abundance to create the 18 wreaths for the guest tables.  The “Do it Yourself” concept allows a bride to come into the studio and design her own floral with help and is budget friendly.

DIY party

Once the centerpieces are completed, Donya had the option to take them home with her and place them on the tables herself, or store them in our large walk in floral cooler.  She chose to store them in the chilly environment and have us deliver them to her ceremony and reception site.  Here they are sitting pretty and waiting for their final destination.

Carnation and pom cernterpieces in the cooler waiting for the big day.

The  reception was held at The Mansion at Judges Hill.  We have had the joy of working with the awesome staff at the Mansion and are always excited at another chance.   The tables looked exquisite with navy blue and lime green table runners.  The Carnation and pom wreaths were placed around tall colored glass bottle vases that were adorned with silver beaded sprays jetting from the tops.  These were fun and economical centerpieces that looked far more costly than they were!

Festive DIY centerpieces!

The team made 18 wreaths at the DIY party, and when we were setting the tables, there were only 17… What to do with the last one?  Celia, a Blossom’s floral Designer,  came up with the fantastic idea to suspend the last arrangement around the squatty sweetheart tables vases for a unique twist on the design.  Way to get creative!

Cute squatty centerpiece

I have seen many candy bars in my days, but I liked this one so much, I had to share it with you.  The apothocary jars were filled with lime green and navy blue candies of all sorts.  Before we called it done and left the Mansion, Celia and I decided to help the family of the Bride finish up the presentation.  I think we ended up with a sugar rush!

Candy Bar

Three differently inspired Weddings.

The end of April brought three very different Weddings to Blossom’s. Chasity was initially to be married next year to her sweetheart in the army. After he was deployed to California the wedding was moved up so Chasity could join him and live on base.Chasity chose a color pallet of white and purple. A royal classic feel was accomplished with white  roses and purple Lisianthus wrapped with deep purple ribbon.   The groom picked up the flowers from Blossom’s and was very nervous and excited. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect for her Wedding day.

Chasity’s Bouquet

White Roses and Purple Lisianthus

The Taylor Mansion was the perfect backdrop for Alison’s Wedding. The bride was inspired by a European design she found in the latest Brides magazine. Parrot Tulips, Sahara Roses, Nerine Lilies and white Freesia were used to create the lavender feel. The brides bouquet was hand tied with a  baroque ribbon embellished with sequins.

Sahara Roses

Lavender corsage

Alison's Bouquet

The weekend was topped off  with Jeni’s Wedding at the Terrace Club. The bride was inspired by the sunset and wanted her flowers to reflect its beauty. Red Dahlia, orange spray roses, hot pink Tulips,peach  Roses, yellow Gladiolas ,hanging Amaranthus and succulents were just a few of the flowers used to accomplish the brides dream. Blossom’s decorated the stair path to the outdoor ceremony site with chiffon and greenery and incorporate the chiffon and sunset floral at the ceremony location.The cake table was decorated with the brides toss bouquet and the head table was scattered with rose petals and a vase to hold the brides ceremony bouquet. The centerpieces were striking with orchids, river rock and a colorful floral array.

Boutineers with succulents

Sunset inspired bouquet

Ceremony site

Toss bouquet decorating cake table

Head table prepared for the Brides Bouquet

Exquisite center pieces

Stacey’s Wedding

Blossom’s was honored  to be a part of Stacey’s wedding this weekend at Green Pastures. The day was beautiful and sunny, perfect for the ceremony which was held in an outdoor gazebo and looked stunning surrounded by white chairs.  The brick isle had a  heart and scroll shaped design of pale pink and ivory Rose petals. The brides bouquet was a mixture of pale pink spray roses, freesia and blush pink Peonies. The same flowers were carried over into the centerpieces with pink Hydrangea and babies breath added to the exquisite silver bowls. The head table was designed with a vase surrounded by pale pink Roses and pink Hydrangea waiting to receive the brides bouquet which was designed by her Grandmother .

heart shaped rose petals

Ceremony Gazebo

Vase ready to receive brides bouquet

Pink Roses and Hydrangea Centerpieces

Beautiful Weekend Weddings

We had two extraordinary weddings this weekend even with the cloudy weather.  On Friday Angela walked down the aisle of Villa Antonia. The bride originally planned to hold her ceremony outside but moved to the beautiful interior of the Villa. A single iron cross which was rented from Macino iron works stood at the front of the aisle adorned with rich red flowers including Roses,Dahlia and Cascading ivy. The isle was lined with red rose petals and the contrast to the white interior of the Villa was striking.

Aisle lined with red Rose petals

Iron cross adorned with red Roses,Dahlia and cascading Ivy

Colorful centerpieces

On Sunday Casey was married at the Zilker Park Clubhouse over looking Lady Bird Lake and the beautiful skyline of Austin.The rustic open air club house was tented to protect from rain. The flowers chosen by the bride had a colorful wild flower feel and included Purple Iris, fresh lavender and bright yellow  Asiatic lilies.A mixture of candles and iron were used giving a rustic yet romantic feel to the beautiful setting.

The brides bouquet

Candels and Iron

Pom-Poms and Luminarias

Joyous bursts of color dance above a table, imparting a cheerful radiance to a rehearsal dinner or casual reception. The dahlialike pom-poms appear to float in the air; in reality they are hung from the ceiling with monofilament. Echoing the vibrant hanging puffs, pom-pom napkin rings in citrus shades adorn each place setting. Square glass vessels in various sizes line tables. Covered in sunset-hued tissue (cut to size and secured with double-sided tape), they cast a soft glow.

How to Make the Pom-Poms
You’ll need tissue paper and 24-gauge white cloth-covered floral wire.

Hanging Pom-Poms
1. Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.

2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

4. Tie a length of monofilament to floral wire for hanging.

Napkin Rings
With just a few changes, these follow the same steps as the hanging pom-poms.

1. Stack four sheets of tissue. Cut a 10-by-5-inch rectangle, going through all layers. Make 3/8-inch-wide accordion folds.

2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, slip over center of tissue, and twist to secure. Trim ends of tissue.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

4. Bend wire into a loop to fit around napkin, and twist end around loop to secure.

Thank you to Martha Stewart Weddings!

The duties of the father of the groom before the wedding.

Being the father of the groom is a special and momentous occasion even though your son doesn’t don a veil and white dress. However, don’t be surprised if many wedding party duty lists still neglect to mention the father of the groom. This isn’t because you don’t have any responsibilities, it’s because your duties tend to be out of the spotlight and somewhat thankless tasks which you have probably grown accustomed to as a father.

In addition, today in more modern thinking groups the father of the groom may be asked to be quite actively involved. Many couples realize that a marriage blends together two whole families and therefore actively involving both sets of parents is a good idea. This sets a great tone for future relationships if the two families learn to communicate effectively and work together during the planning of the wedding.

Your first role as father of the groom may take place before the wedding is even officially on the cards. Your son might appreciate some advice and moral support when it comes to proposing. Assuming the lady in question says yes the next nice thing to do is personally welcome her into the family. Then you should organize a get together with the bride’s parents.

Traditionally the groom’s parents normally host and pay for both the engagement party and rehearsal dinner. They often pay for the boutonnieres and brides bouquet and contribute money toward they honeymoon and grooms attire. It is quite common these days to get together with the bride, groom and brides parents and offer to pay for a portion of the reception. Especially if you would like some say in the guest list.

Some of the little tasks you need to complete include; consulting with the bride and groom on what you should wear, provide contact details for the groom’s relatives, play chauffeur by transporting items or out of town guests to wedding events and propose the first toast at the rehearsal dinner.

As father of the groom your help might be appreciated when it comes to organizing the bachelor party. You can ensure that your son has a good time and that the best men don’t do anything that could get too out of hand.

The father of the groom is often expected to give a speech at the wedding reception. Your speech should demonstrate proudness at your son’s accomplishments, compliment the bride, thanks guests and welcomes the in laws. It is also quite common to dance with the bride or bride’s mother. If you have contributed a good deal of time and or money you may be asked to stand in the receiving line.

It is a nice idea to remain behind with the bride’s father as the last to leave on the wedding night. He will most likely appreciate a helping hand with ensuring everything is sorted.

One of your most important tasks prior to the wedding is simply to be there for your son. Be a sounding board and if appropriate offer him some advice on what you have learned about marriage.

Some couples have both sets of parents stand for them at the ceremony before they take their vows. If you would like to be actively involved on the day you could ask to do a reading, quote or poem at the ceremony or take on an MC role announcing the wedding party, events like the first dance and speech givers.

Whatever sort of role you take on as father of the groom it is a proud time to enjoy. Know that your help is needed and appreciated even if it doesn’t attract as much attention as other roles in the wedding party do!

Winter Wonderland !

As I was sitting here at my desk this morning, dreaming up some ideas for the winter season, I was thinking about how money is so tight for everyone around the holidays.  Add planning a wedding on top of that, and it can be overwhelming to think that you need to budget money for flowers?  Some of us say, oh forget it, there is now way I can justify spending $400 or $500 on flowers!  Well, you really do not have to.  Remember that you and your Fiance are the most important people at the wedding, and whether you are haveing a traditional day with Bridesmaids, Groomsmen and your entire family, or just you and he at the courthouse, you can have fantastic flowers for less than $100.00

Here are the detail about the package!  I hope this inspires you to seek out some fresh florals for your special day!

“Winter Wonderland Package”  $95.00
Includes:

• 1 Bridal Bouquet designed in the European hand tied style of 24 Roses.  The bouquet will be accented with a small amount of greenery and adorned with white satin ribbon on the handle.  You may chose the color of the bouquet, however it may only be one color.
• 1 Grooms Boutonniere designed in the Classic design style.  It will include 1 Rose to match the Bridal Bouquet a tiny sprig of greenery and a ribbon wrapped stem.

Winter Wonderland Bouquet

Winter Wonderland Boutonniere

I will be available to provide delivery service for an additional fee if necessary, however these will keep very well in your fridge overnight if you would like to pick them up here at my studio, that can be arranged as well.

Call me soon to reserve your “Winter Wonderland” Package 512-696-1425

Best Wishes
Blossom