Interior Design and Beautiful Things
Danielle and Joe Portelli were married in Burlingame, California in August, 2012. In an exciting twist, I did not do the floral arrangements for the day, but was brought on board as a wedding coordinator and decorator for the entrance hall to the reception room. With only two weeks to get it everything from the church programs, to favor labels, to the guest gift bags together, it was definitely a challenge!
Desiree and Jeremy were married at Crystal Springs in Burlingame, California, in June 2012. We are so grateful to Carlos Hernandez for taking such awesome photos and for allowing us to use them on our site.
The ceremony overlooked one of the most gorgeous nature preserves in Northern California, and it was important that we didn’t take anything away from the natural surroundings, so we chose to decorate the gazebo with a simple bough made of King Protea, vintage pearl strands, and an early 1900’s papier mache garland made for a theatre in London.
The beautiful bride has a love for Frida Kahlo, Day of the Dead, and vintage eclectic, and wanted to honor her Mexican heritage with a colorful and creative bouquet, as well as interesting decor.
Included in her flowers and in her groom’s boutonniere were two small, turquoise, skull stick pins that she had carefully chosen to make her day more meaningful.
We also designed a floral hair comb of bright pink roses and Dusty Miller for the bride to wear under her mantilla-style veil at the ceremony, and reveal at her reception.
For the guest sign in table, the bride had provided family photos and some very special accessories, such as a rosary, a gorgeous Frida Kahlo art book (to be used as the guest book), and a large, turquoise vase, that we filled with flowers. We created a sort of altar and added mismatched mercury glass votive holders, a scattering of spray roses, and an antique, handmade, lace table cover.
All of the reception tables were covered in different handmade lace table covers that we had individually tea-dyed to create a rustic look. We created centerpieces out of vintage silver compotes surrounded by mismatched mercury glass votive holders.
The Sweetheart table was covered in a lace tablecloth and included a set of cups, filled with succulents, that spelled out “Amor”. We added mismatched mercury glass votive holders to give it extra sparkle
The bride chose an amazing spread of candy for her guests that they could mix-and-match and take home as favors. We found a source for her on Etsy that made vintage-style adhesive labels that the guests used these to seal up their glassine bags of treats.
We also found a phenomenal Ex Voto (votive offering) for the couple to use as the cake topper.
We are so lucky to have been a part of this special couple’s day and we know they’re destined for a life of love, laughter and endless adventure!
Much love,
Melisa
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Marlene and Robert were married in Pleasanton in May, 2012, at the gorgeous Palm Event Center. We are so fortunate to have had the day, (and our floral designs), captured in the stunning images provided by Duy Ho Photography.
Changing the format of our blog meant shifting content into specific buckets. While this makes things so much easier to find, it also means that unless you’re looking, you may miss our latest work!
I can hardly believe it’s “that” time of year again but yes, yes it is indeed! Wedding season snuck up on me in the form of lovely Anel “Nellie” Resendez and her upcoming uber colorful and equally large wedding. While the actual event is still a month away, I’ve been busily testing (and re-testing) color arrangements until I come up with one that I feel suitably embodies her exuberant, creative and fun spirit. Regardless of the outcome, bright pink peonies will be the star flower in that bouquet!
I don’t usually devote blog space to weddings or wedding-related wedding-ness but I am so excited to have come across some fabulous new stuff that I had to share it.
Cathy and Tim got married at the San Mateo Garden Center in San Mateo, CA.
One of the things I most enjoy about floral design is coming up with unexpected arrangements. I have always had a little love affair with the baby artichoke as used in floral design but only recently decided that it is perfectly married to the hydrangea. Combining the two in a striking blue and white Chinese vase and popping in some blue berries and meadow grass made the whole thing feel kind of otherworldly to me. Something I would have on my own mantel or dressing table. I don’t tend to veer toward arrangements that are too soft or feminine. I like them to be weird. That’s really my number one criteria. If it’s pretty and weird, I’m sure to love it.
Made my weekly pilgrimage to the SF Flower Mart to pick up some fresh blooms for the shop. Each week I am looking for something new, something interesting, and something that inspires me. I absolutely love flowers and I love creating arrangements, but I am nearly obsessed with creating arrangements that no one else would create. I won’t mix roses and baby’s breath for instance.
Adam and Jessica were married at Ardenwood Farm in Fremont, CA.
I was introduced to Jessica by her awesome sister Melissa, who kept me calm and smiling while we worked together in a rather nightmarish Menlo Park office – but let’s save that story for another day…
