I don’t know if it was the change of scenery that brought about my whole new perspective on lilacs or perhaps I finally learned to open my eyes to the world around me – but either way, it seemed that the lilacs were unbelievable this year. It seemed like every time I turned around, I saw another bush, they were lining the highways, I was coveting someone’s yard and I stayed in complete awe of these breathtaking, purple blossoms.
Ashley Slater contacted me toward the end of May for one of her couples looking for a bouquet for an engagement shoot. Building a bouquet like this is one of my favorite tasks. With a small floral order, I am able to source flowers and approach the creative process in a much different way. I didn’t new mass quantity of flowers, just a handful of each bloom.
I instantly knew that lilacs would be my starting point. They were at their height of perfection and I couldn’t pass them by. The only problem was I don’t actually have a lilac bush, I just see everyone else’s as I’m driving down the road. And unfortunately I couldn’t find anyone selling them roadside or at the farmer’s market.
I did, however find what appeared to be vacant property on a low traffic area of road that had a glorious bush. I pulled over and helped myself. I don’t call this thievery, I consider this saving a flower from an underappreciated life. (And if this happened to be your property, I do apologize but know that your flowers lived to their fullest potential and made one bride-to-be very happy plus I’d be really happy to pay you for the blooms).
I let these Big Rapids lilacs steal the show, keeping the rest of the flower recipe pretty simple. I added a few Quicksand roses – which are one of my absolute favorite shades of blush and a few Little Silver spray roses. Both rose varieties are South American grown because sometimes you just need to represent the other half of the world with your floral compositions. A few California grown black Scabiosa were added in just a little extra depth to the bouquet. And finally, I purchased Jacob’s Ladder plant locally, which I trimmed a few pieces from for some added texture.
The icing on the cake, however, was when I got the pictures back and realized that the photo session took them to a lilac grove and there was a blooming fuchsia tree in the background which added the most perfect shades of pink to complement Mucki’s bouquet.
Photography: Ashley Slater Photography
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, don’t be afraid to add a bouquet into your engagement session. There’s no such thing as too many flowers. And nothing brings a smile to a girl’s face like a bouquet of beautiful blooms.
