flower recipe

Flower Friday :: Christina’s Springtime Bouquet

0 · Sep 30, 2016 ·

To some it may seem crazy that even 18 month later, I can still remember what ingredients I put into a bridal bouquet. Mentally, I spend so much time on each of these artpieces that it makes it nearly impossible for me to forget.

Christina’s bouquet was extra special. She wanted a little touch that I’ll never forget. Loosely tucked into the backside of her bouquet were two tulilps. These tulips were each adorned with their own silk ribbon and were meant to be plucked out and presented as a gift to both the mother of the bride and the groom’s mother as Christina made her way down the aisle.

This was one of the sweetest gestures for one’s mom I’ve ever heard. And while I didn’t actually get to see the moment take place, I can still imagine mom wiping a tear from her eye and cherishing that tulip for the rest of it’s blooming life.

There’s a meaning behind each flower and while I don’t always get into the historical significance of each bloom, I do find it really interesting. Tulip represent perfect love. This type of love is an enduring love between family and partners. I made this choice untensionally, but love how perfect that symbolism is.

Beyond these extrodinary tulips, there where a bunch of other flowers in her bouquet as well, which made it so textural and luscious.

In building the bouquet, I used a couple different varieties of eucalyptus to create my base. I love the soft, blue green tones paired with pink. I seldom stick to only one variety of greens, so I also foraged some wild honeysuckle from my neightborhood. It was at the height of perfection and added leavy green texture along with it’s delicate, honey sweet frangrant blooms.

Foxglove was included next. It adds the perfect linear illusion and also an element of fun with it’s polka dotted little hoods. I had this flown in from California as Michigan’s wasn’t ready quite yet.

I started layering in some focal flowers, including ranunculus, quicksand roses and lilies. Lilies sometimes get a bad rap, but I really like them. They’re bold and showstopping. They transform throughout the day, opening more and more and making your bouquet so differnent from morning to night. I love that. And quicksand roses are my go-to’s, the perfect shade of beigy pink.

As I was layering these ingredients in, something was missing. It just wasn’t “wowing” me. Then I remembered I had two white peony blossoms left in my cooler. These flowers were from a photo shoot earlier that spring and nearly 3 weeks old. But sometimes peonies are magical in that they just seem to last forever. They were perfect.

A couple of clematis and draping tulips around the edge and Christina’s bouquet was complete.

Photography: Kelly Sweet Photography

You can see more from Tina and Chris’s Witt’s Inn Wedding here. I won’t be playing with any flowers this weekend, I’m off to other adventures. Happy Friday!!

Friday Flowers :: Spring Seaside Bouquet

0 · Apr 15, 2016 ·

Spring Beach Bouquet | The Day's Design | Ashley Slater Photography

As it so often happens, last spring I was eager to make something pretty. I wanted to stretch my wings and create. I needed to dust off my flowering skills. Editorial styled shoots are one of my favorite ways to quench this yearning.

The story was inspired by the sea. The tablescape was to appear as if it had just been washed ashore. I easily sourced driftwood and nautical touches but we all know that the flowers sometimes make the greatest impact in the overall design. You may remember the entire feature with Ashley Slater Photography here.

I remember putting the flower order together. When it’s been months since you’ve seen and touched real live blossoms, you can start to feel overwhelmed with the whole order process. I wanted it all. And I always make it a point to order something new, especially with styled shoots – that’s the perfect opportunity to try something new.

Poppies. That was my new source of inspiration. I placed an order for lots of Matilija poppies to be the star of my bouquet. There’s something about them that remind me of sea anemones. Their petals are dainty and paper thin. And in my imagination, sometimes I see them living under the sea.

The day before my flowers arrived, I was informed that my precious poppies were not available. A quick change of plans and I substituted Bowl of Cream Peonies and other gorgeous variety with a cheery yellow center – both flown in from California.

Eucalyptus is another favorite of mine to use by the beach. The blue green tinge compliments the water in the background so nicely. I’m always cautious of using too harsh of a green tone against a blue backdrop.

California grown Caramel Antike Roses (the beigey, gold garden roses seen above) are some of my go-to;s. You’ll see them in my work time and time again. The perfect neutral.

But the piece that really pulled this whole bouquet together was the blooming branches foraged from my own neighborhood. I stopped early morning to trim a few flowers and as soon as I started working with them, I realized I needed more and more. I sent my husband down the road with hedge trimmers and told him to grab as much as he possibly could. He returned a short while later with a massive pile of branches. I thought there was no way I would ever use that much, he argued that I had told him to get ask much as he could. Very true. I think I ended up using all but one small branch. They were amazing. I’m sad I don’t have a wedding the first week of May this year – although I’m not longer living in that neighborhood either.

I added gold ribbons that complimented the stamens in my peonies, as well as the touches of glimmer in my other decor, and blue ribbons to match Lake Michigan in the background. Silk ribbons are your best friends in the breeze. I can’t get over how they glide in the wind.

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Friday Flowers

0 · Apr 8, 2016 ·

I put a ton of emphasis into selecting the right flowers for each and every event. I give my brides a few visuals and ideas of what varieties I plan on using, but in the end, plans change. Sometimes I get inspired by something else. Sometimes the color, size or movement is just off in the bloom that I choose. And sometimes I kill flowers. Yes, it happens.

I love to take the time to focus on each and every bloom that passes through my hand. But when it’s wedding crunch time, I have to admit that often the focus is more on just getting it done rather than making it perfect. It’s for that reason that I make the most visual pieces first. And I do like to save the pieces that I’m most excited for until the end, this way I ensure I will stay excited throughout the entire creation process rather than becoming too weary of flowers. However, I’m very cautious about this approach.

I think it would be really neat to be able to tell the bride the story behind each and every blossom. Yet anyone who’s been a part of a wedding knows that this is completely unrealistic, the bride clearly has other things on her mind that day – even if I do not.

So I quickly hand off the bouquet, finish my delivery and then start plotting out my next event.

But I had an idea. I could share the stories here. I could tell where the flowers traveled from, how certain varieties came to be in my hands and some of the thought process that went into the selection. It would be an open and honest discussion of my flower journey. You’d know of my ordering mishaps and maybe even a couple wasteful tales. But I think in the end it would be fun to reflect back and maybe even I would grasp a deeper understanding of myself and how I work through the creative process.

Peony & Pinecone floral recipe | The Day's Design | Katie Grace Photography

Photography: Katie Grace Photography & Videography

As much as I love local flowers and talk about a lot the advantages of American grown blooms, it’s pretty amazing to think that some of your flowers have traveled half way across the world. A single bouquet could easily represent a number on continents and I’d like to start tracking that. It’s like philosophy, geography and flowers (I think they call that horticulture?) all in one little post.

And because most Fridays I either have flowers in my hands or wish that I did, this will be my version of Friday Flowers. More next Friday 😉

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1 Recipe… Endless Possibilities (Part 1)

0 · May 7, 2015 ·

Yesterday I received the most amazing flower order. I think I literally squealed when I opened the box – they were knock-your-socks-off pretty, oh my! And even though I’m the one that placed the order, it’s still like Christmas when they arrive. I don’t always remember exactly what’s in the box or sometimes I just flat out forget how pretty certain flowers can be.

Pulling out each gorgeous blossom made me think back to this fun project that Kaci of Damsel Floral Co and myself put together. As flower friends, we like to learn from one another, there’s always more to know and I love finding different ways of doing things. We were inspired by bouquet recipes — you see them across major wedding blogs, on Pinterest and always accompanied by a picture of a really gorgeous bouquet. However, I think they’re misleading sometimes. For the DIY bride, she now knows exactly what flowers to use meaning she should be able to duplicate that picture. For the less DIY inclined, they should be able to take this recipe to a florist and have them create an exact replica as well, right?

I’m going to compare it to a food recipe. You can give me a list of ingredients. You can even tell me how much of each ingredient to include in my dish. But if I’m not give any instructions with it, I won’t know when to add what and how long to cook everything. While I might be able to use some common sense and come up with a decent meal, the results could also be disastrous.

Back to flowers, if the person creating the bouquet doesn’t understand the basic style and composition, then the results might not be exactly what you hoped for. You might create 2 bouquets with the exact same ingredients and yet yield completely different results.

This was the point that Kaci and I hoped to demonstrate. She gravitates a bit more to a more classic or formal style bouquet and I tend to like mine looser and more reminiscent of the garden (although I’ve seen her create some amazing “loose” bouquets and I should probably watch out, I might have some competition!). We both use the same flowers and yet we created completely different looks.

We started the day my way, meaning I showed Kaci the basic steps I take for constructing a looser, more relaxed style bouquet. My methods usually involved starting from the outside and working my way in. So I begin with usually 3 pieces to build a frame, either line flowers or greenery, and create a tripod type shape. From there, I start to fill in with secondary blooms keeping in mind what I want my focal point to be, which is usually a giant face flower. That focal flower, which in this case were the lilies, are added towards the end and once they’re in place I will start to adjust and add a few more blooms as needed.

Fun facts: I’m always very scattered while making a bouquet… very thoughtful and purposeful, but scattered. Flowers get flung in every which direction until I find the perfect bloom and it often looks like a tornado tore though a flower shop after I create just one bouquet.

And I always keep a mirror nearby. I have to see what it would look like if I were carrying it down the aisle. I never create something for a bride that I wouldn’t carry myself.

Part 2 of this post will be coming to you next week, we’ll see Kaci demonstrate how she takes a more formal approach to a bridal bouquet using the same flower recipe. And of course more gorgeous photos from Kellie of Hetler Photography.

Photography: Hetler Photography | Floral Design: Damsel Floral Co and The Day’s Design

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