SPRING FLOWERS

Every January I think to myself one more month and we will start to have flowers in the garden again. February is a time when things start to bloom, plum blossom, daffodils, tulips come up, lilac buds start to swell. Here are a few photos of spring flowers that are available now from our wholesaler.

GREEN WEDDINGS

Which is greener organic flowers from South America or conventional flowers sent from Canada or California? Since there is not an organized flower growers association in WA the farmers come from all over the state and sell at various places, which requires driving sometimes hours. Maybe the local grower down the street doesn't grow any white flowers or they aren't available since the grower is small and all the flowers are needed for the farmers market. The logistics of getting good quality organic flowers in WA when you need them in the color you require, well it makes my head spin. So here is what we do.
-use the farmers close by that can deliver to my studio, when they have product available
-make arrangements with farmers outside our area to deliver in Seattle
-use whatever we can from our own organic garden
-fill in with flowers from Canada or California preferably organic

Here is a list of our other green practices:
- we compost all of our plant waste on site
-we discourage the use of floral foam, if we do, we reuse it for some other purpose
-we rent vases and props over and over
-ribbon is ironed and reused
-bio soap is used for washing buckets
-refrigerators are turned off when not in use

Please enjoy the photos of our compost, it may be ugly but it makes the garden grow.

SEATTLE WEDDING

Sometimes I am only a small part of a couples wedding, but I like to think not unimportant. Elle and Chris wanted to stick with their budget no matter what and we did. I only make bouquets for this couple but it was a pleasure. Select photography took beautiful photos.

OH MY WHAT A WONDERFULL DAY

Megan and Chris were married on a very beautiful day this summer. The ceremony took place in Port Gambles, Saint Catherine Church. after the ceremony the entire crowd moved the brides grandparents for a night of celebration. I made the personal flowers and the large arrangement for the church in the yummy rich summer colors the bride loves. Family and friends pitched in for all the ceremony decor. Paul Dudley took the great photos.

FAIRY TALE SPARKLE

Check out Patricia and all her sparkle goodness. A must have for any would be princess.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Sometimes its hard to get photos. I am not the photographers client and after the wedding, well newly weds are just plain busy with their new life. Melissa and Christian were married in 2009 here are some of the photos.

AUTUMN ONE MORE TIME

I know we are so over Thanksgiving and on to Christmas colors, but I just found this.....autumn flowers from Quince

I found this on married and more with Michelle , just had to share it

CAKE ?

this looks like a wedding cake but its for cards. I love it, this bride thought of so many things that really made her wedding special.

MY FLOWER GIRLS

In her gloved hands she held a loop of velvet cord. Suspended from the cord was a mass of ruffly pink carnations their sweet cinnamon scent filled my imagination, the fragrance enhanced by the coolness of the floral refrigerator. Cindy, the big girl from across the street was in her sisters wedding, I'll never forget it.

VINTAGE FUN

This very fun family wedding was held this summer in a gorgeous backyard of the brides parents. So many friends and family came near and very far to join in the happy union. There was no place to park but Melody Davis of mgdavisevents dreamed up a yellow school bus that was a hit with everyone. Della Chen took the fab photos, more later.

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND FLOWERS

People ask me all the time where I get my flowers. They come from a wholesaler in Seattle or I order them on line from vendors I have used for years. But sometimes I pick them from my garden. I will never be able to grow 100 stems of white roses but I can go out and pick some chocolate foliage or maybe a few blue hydrangeas. When , like the other day I didn't receive the chocolate cosmos I ordered , they were in the garden. I also need beauty, so my surroundings are always being pushed in a way I dream of. Next door neighbors are impatient with my progress but gardens are living art and this takes time

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PORT LUDLOW

A sweet wedding for a very sweet girl.

CHOCOLATE COSMOS

Sometimes brown is the color the bride wants and there aren't that many brown flowers. So chocolate cosmos are the flowers I usually use for some chocolate color and fragrance. Yes, they really smell like chocolate. The other day I ordered some for a wedding and they never showed up, not sure why. That happens sometimes so you just go to plan B, except there aren't that many brown flowers and if you haven't ordered them they probably wont have any at the wholesaler. Luckily I had foreseen this contingency and had checked out the ones growing in my garden thinking if I had to use them I would. They were very pretty in the brides bouquet.

GREEN?

So today I was ironing ribbon for a wedding, about 30, yard logs strips. While I was ironing and trying to keep my kittens from helping me, I was thinking this is kind of a green thing to do. What I mean is I have used the same pieces of ribbon about 3 times now. Double face satin ribbon is made of rayon a totally man made fabric that doesn't break down very fast. I collect at the end of an event, roll it up and save it for next time. Re-use and it doesn't go in the garbage. Not to help full as far as the world goes but everything helps.

What do you put on top of a cake?

I was just thinking about cake, which I love. In my other life I was a baker. A real one, I got paid for baking. My friends and former employers at Blackbird Bakery made this cake. The tiny bride and groom on top were first used on the brides grandparents cake. I am amazed such a tiny precious piece hasn't been lost over the years. Hopefully it will be around for more generations.

Spring at Kiana

ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES ON EARTH

When driving through the city in the middle of the night say around 2 am it is mostly quiet. The traffic lights turn green as if by magic. No trucks are double parked blocking your way. A right turn down Brannan then a left on 6th and you are there. Put your badge in the slot, the gate comes up, you jockey for a space to park. Double parking is your only option, its OK as long as you leave the keys inside so someone can move it if needed, and they always do. Suddenly sleep has left your body, the place is alive and vibrant. It smells like flowers, they are everywhere. It is the San Francisco Flower Market. Every Mon, Wed, and Fri from 2am to 10 am the market is open for business. Two city blocks of warehouses where flower vendors and growers sell their stuff.

HOW MUCH IS A ROSE

Cost is always a consideration when purchasing wedding flowers, so how much do flowers cost anyway? Lets take the rose for example. If I go to my local grocery store I can purchase a dozen roses for $9.99 that is 83 cents a stem. I have to buy a dozen and they may not have the color I want. Grocery stores buy mass quantities from South America to get this deal, the quality is OK, not great.
When I go to my local wholesaler I have choices, I can buy South American roses for about $1.00-$1.30 per stem depending on the season and I have to buy 25. The quality is good but not the best. If I want the best quality I buy California roses for sometimes up to $1.70 per stem that is almost $40.00 for a bunch of 25 stems, wow! To get the best price, just below what I would spend at the grocery store, I place an order for 8 bunches of South American roses all the same variety. That gives me 200 stems of the same flower at about .80 cents each, which means I would need a lot of the same color. The longer the stem the more you pay. Sometimes shorter stems are not available so I end up with more expensive longer stems that I have to cut off anyway.
Quality, usually there is a broken stem(s) that more often than not gets tossed. Or maybe there is mold and they cant be used. It is really disappointing to open a package of what looks like beautiful roses and some of them are brown or grey and fuzzy. Of course this is like throwing money in the garbage. If it is more than a few stems the wholesaler will come through and have perfect flowers sent Fed ex, but they arrive the next day and that puts you behind,oh well Sometimes the desired variety is just not available and a substitution is required, so with a leap of faith and the help of your trusted wholesaler different variety is ordered some times with great results.

It is really raining which reminds me of a wedding I did for a sweet couple last year. The reception was held at Pr Defiance Zoo, a really fun place to have a reception. I had broken my leg a few months earlier and walking was still a challenge, rain was coming down all day and a peacock kept pecking at the flowers.