Peonies

Friday Flowers :: Flowers on Film

0 · Jul 14, 2017 ·

I haven’t arranged wedding flowers in nearly 6 weeks. After the initial exhaustion of a long, yet exhilarating wedding day wears off, the itch almost immediately comes back to create something new. I start dreaming of better combinations, new shapes, unique color palettes and ways to incorporate what’s naturally found in my world.

After my last wedding, I had some of the most glorious peonies left in my possession. These beauties were nearly the size of my head and I couldn’t bear to see them go on living without being captured. I would love to photograph all the lovely things I see around me, but my camera skills are surely lacking. Thankfully, Emily Jane Photography came to the rescue to preserve this moment in the summer when leftovers found love again, paired with local treasures and an antique glass bowl.

Peony and Iris Centerpiece | The Day's Design | Emily Jane Photography

The recipe may have started with these beautiful white ruffles, but I couldn’t resist the bold iris that were standing tall in my yard. Their muted plum and yellow tones sang to me. I suppose they must have been growing there last summer as well, but for some reason I didn’t notice them. This year they were all I could think about.

From there, I added some cappuccino ranunculas that I had hanging out in my cooler. Their dark centers and plum rims were the perfect connector. Also sourced from my yard was a few branches of mock orange. If you could smell this post, then you’d understand why I love adding these delicate little blooms into as many arrangements as possible. A couple small pink and yellow columbine made their way into this piece and then I finished it with a few roadside weeds, in shades of soft lavender and a pop of yellow.

I don’t know where the ranunculas came from, but other than those mystery blooms, this arrangement was completely American grown. Peonies from the west coast and everything else was Michigan made. My favorite kind of recipe.

Purple Wedding Flowers | The Day's Design | Emily Jane Photography

Peony Centerpiece | The Day's Design | Emily Jane Photography

Local Wedding Flowers | The Day's Design | Emily Jane Photography

Photography: Emily Jane Photography

Happy Friday!

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!!

Real Weddings :: Ryan & Jen

0 · Nov 20, 2015 ·

Peonies, black and white stripes, gold accents… and that’s just the start of Ryan and Jen’s stunning day. Jen is so stylish, chic and GORGEOUS, making her day beautiful was a piece of cake. And I love how even though their celebration took place in a classic club location, the way it was photographed almost makes it seem like they eloped into the woods – with 22 of their closest friends (the largest bridal party I’ve seen to date), but when you’re as sweet as these two, it’s easy to see why they’re so popular, they just radiate love.

Cheers to Mr. & Mrs. Reidsma!!

Photography: Katy O’Dell Photography | Floral Design: The Day’s Design | Ceremony & Reception Venue: Thousand Oaks Golf Club | Bride’s Dress: Bianka Bridal

Original Recipe :: Peonies & Pinecones

0 · Dec 15, 2014 ·

People tell me all the time how limited they feel when it comes to winter flowers. It’s as if their imaginations just can’t see what’s not in bloom staring at them right in their face, or in their backyards. Perhaps this attributes to the low number of winter weddings, sometimes you just have a hard time finding beauty in all the grey and the muck.

I think peonies are one of these forgotten winter flowers. It’s often assumed that they’re a springtime bloom, so only available during that time. While this is true in Michigan, it is springtime in other parts of the world and today it’s possible to have flowers shipped all around the globe while still keeping the costs low. So let’s beat the winter blues and remember that we can create beauty all around us, we might just have to search a little beyond our own gardens.

Today’s recipe includes a couple springtime favorites (peonies and ranunculus), combined with some winter greens (magnolia leaves, seeded eucalyptus, and foraged cedar greens), a variety of roses which are available for most part all year (amnesia roses, lavender and white spray roses) and then head on out to your back yard for a couple of pine cones – which I think are extra lovely when gilded gold (a little dusting of spray paint should do the trick).

Photography: Katie Grace Photography | Flower Recipe & Design: The Day’s Design

Are there any flowers you’re missing this season?

Floral Design 101

1 · May 17, 2014 ·

One of the perks of being married to a GRCC employee is being able to take classes for free. Did you know that Grand Rapids Community College offers a Floral Design class? This useful tidbit of information had been passed my way so I thought sure, why not? What have I got to lose?

3 hours of flowers for 5 days. That’s all the class entails. I thought I could be a college student for a measly 5 days. Oh boy, there are reasons why people wait until after schooling to have kids, who was I kidding? It wasn’t even a stressful or demanding class but let me say, I am so happy my sister was able to come and spend a few days with me. What a Godsend! It was like having a nanny this week. A-MAZ-ING.

So anyway, the downside of the class was that it’s all artificial flowers. The school just isn’t equipped for fresh – no coolers, sinks or other necessities for fresh. But design basics are pretty interchangeable so not all was lost. The curriculum itself is very basic. I mean, extremely basic. But I’ve never had any formal training whatsoever, so I actually found it pretty entertaining. And then there’s the fact that I always look at arrangements and say “Oh, I can do that” but I never actually push myself to do it. This forced me to take that step and really prove that I can do it. Some tasked ended up being a touch more difficult than anticipated, I was given rules and couldn’t just grab and create whatever I wanted. This idea of boundaries threw me for a loop, but I conquered something in myself and it made me very happy.

I’ve never thought of myself as completely traditional. While I like balance, I don’t always like symmetry. My first task was to create a traditional floral arrangement – rounded, with one central flower and equal flowers all the way around. I managed to make something lovely. Mission accomplished.

Next was the contemporary arrangement. Less is more was the motto here. That’s not always an easy motto for me to live up to. My instructor said that the contemporary arrangement is usually something that would be described as “interesting” and leave one wondering how they could make that, where as a traditional the reaction would be comments on how pretty it is. I personally have always thought of contemporary arrangements as slightly on the strange side, extremely clean and angular and definitely not my style. But I was able to create something that brought my earthy, natural style in and paired it with a more modern shape, placing it in an industrial textured pot. And yes, I was the student picking up sticks along my walk on the way to class. Mission #2 accomplished.

Task 3 was architectural. This was a concept that I was completely unfamiliar with. Arrangements that fit into this category might include the pyramid, topiaries, pomanders, the “s” shape or horizontal arrangements. I chose the “s” shape, which seems to be something that I already did, just didn’t realize it. I always created arrangements in this shape to create balance and movement – I love finding out why things look good to me!

It’s funny the things you learn even in the most basic environments. I seldom pass up a chance to educate myself, even if I did find myself surrounded by a group of college students using this as an “easy A” to satisfy a necessary elective. I was able to practice and experiment and it was fun – sometimes you just need to get out of the house to get inspired!

Speaking of getting out of the house – I leave tomorrow for North Carolina! I cannot wait to meet some new flower friends at Kelly Perry’s workshop. I need to pack – Team Flower, here I come!!

Peonies

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