New York Magazine: Winter/Spring Weddings Edition

The go-to guide for many NYC couples as the prepare for their wedding, the New York Magazine Weddings winter/spring edition is out in print and online now. Each designer was given a month and asked to design a bridal bouquet. I got February....love the deep purple tones! A mix of black calla lilies, purple anemones, sweet peas and hot pink mini phaleonopsis orchids and purple clematis make up the bouquet. (Unfortunately you can't see it from this angle but I used the most beautiful ombre ribbon to tie the bouquet, sigh.)

Photo Courtesy of Danny Kim for new York Magazine

 Some of my own little iphone shots taken while making the bouquet.

Real Wedding: Doug and Ashley featured on Style Me Pretty

Last week was a teensy bit busy to say the least and this week is gearing up to be another crazy one as we prep for a wedding this weekend.

In the midst of it I was thrilled to share the details of this styled shoot featured on Style Me Pretty. However I failed to post a mention of this amazing real wedding also featured on SMP earlier last week. I feel so lucky to have two features just a few days apart...yay! (Insert happy dance here.)

One of two weddings we worked on during the unforgettable snowstorm of October 2011 the wedding of Ashley and Doug was truly stunning. I loved working with this lovely couple and I'm happy to say that we've continued to work with each other on non-wedding related projects!

Enough from me....take  a look at what Ashley had to say and see all the gorgeous photos captured by Christian Oth Studio.

Image courtesy of Christian Oth Studios

Real Wedding: Sarah and Michael

I designed a wedding Memorial Day weekend at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. It was the second time I worked at the hotel but this time the reception was in the Rose Garden room rather than the Grand Ballroom. While both are lovely spaces I liked the slightly more modern feeling of the 19th floor and the Rose Garden room which was also much better suited for this smaller wedding. I'll post the professional shots as soon as I get them but in the meantime here's a peek at the personal flowers, my favorite thing to design for a wedding.

 I really loved this bouquet!! Lush, romantic white peonies, "Garden Snow" spray roses, "Juliette"  garden roses, mini succulents and peach calla lilies. The ombre peach and ombre gray ribbon were the perfect compliment to the bouquet.

 Let's just say corsages are really not my thing, I'm usually not a fan but I loved the way this turned out. I'm so happy that I didn't try and discourage the bride from her original vision for the bridesmaids. Okay to be honest I did try to change her mind, at first.

Here are my three reasons why: 1) smashed, 2) wilted and 3) beaten, all of which can happen to the flowers while they are swinging around the wrist from the old school elastic wristlet traditionally used to make a corsage. 

But not anymore, these corsage holders allowed me to create more of a flower bracelet, held snugly in place. Picture those "snap" bracelets you had as a kid. You can either tie the ribbon in bow as seen here or leave the streamers to hang from the wrist.

 

So for now I guess I'm a corsage convert...for now.

Real Wedding: Sandi and Rich

Here are some more images from Sandi and Rich's wedding a few weeks ago. I love getting shots from the couple - to see the night unfold as they did. I spoke to Sandi's mom after the wedding and she mentioned that the banquet manager commented about our use of low centerpieces. He thought it was great since so often couples go for tall designs and in the end the low worked so much better for the room, making it feel intimate and warm with the additional candlelight. Score for low centerpieces!

Wedding Wedensday: Choosing a bouquet

i'll be starting a new series called Wedding Wednesday for all things wedding related. we'll discuss how to choose flowers for your wedding, decor options ranging from candlelight to escort card table designs and discussions of all the other do's and don'ts when it comes to creating the perfect look for your wedding. i'm not sure i believe that there are any "don'ts"... it's more about doing what you want rather than what you think you should do.

today the focus is bouquets. there are so many options and i've talked about them before here, here and here.

but how do you choose??? is it by season, color, budget? do you match your bouquet to the rest of the design of the wedding? should you and your attendants carry the same thing or different colors?

here's my answer...you can do anything you want. helpful right? seriously, you should choose your bouquet with the same intentions that you chose everything else that you will be "wearing". your bouquet (maybe more than any of the other flowers) will be in most of the pictures from the day so you should love it...you should work with your designer to choose a design, color and feeling that will truly represent your wedding style.

sometimes a client will come to me with a picture of exactly what they want or at least what they think they want. some may end up with that bouquet while for others its a process of discovering that often what they thought was perfect is in reality perfect for someone else.

this goes back to choosing a designer who can understand you and your style.

here are a few things to keep in mind when designing your bouquet:

• consider the dresses, suits, the shapes, style, fabric and the embellishments. do you want to enhance these things or carry something that will be simple and subtle in comparison?
• do you want something feminine & romantic or sleek & modern?
• think about what size you want the bouquet to be, over sized full & lush or something smaller like a petite nosegay.
  
• is there any flower that you MUST have included in the bouquet? then you need to think about season...i can't tell you how many dreams i've crushed when i had to tell them that peonies are not available in the fall.
• you do not need to match your decor or the attendants. everything can coordinate but certainly doesn't need to be the same. this is especially true if the ceremony and reception are at separate venues.

keep these things in mind and you are sure to design a bouquet that you love and while you're at it enjoy the process, choosing the flowers should be fun!!

Pantone Color of the Year 2011

A few weeks ago Pantone introduced honeysuckle as their pick for the 2011 color of the year. I had been meaning to post this quite some time ago and for one reason or another it got pushed back. Ironically a client emailed me today and referenced honeysuckle as one of the colors for their upcoming event, so I thought it's time to post some inspiration!

Here are just a few ideas...

ranunculus, nerine,green snowball viburnum accented with feathers and satin ribbon wrap

garden roses, spray roses and calla lilies

ranunculus, peonies and calla lilies

And while we're talking about Pantone colors, you have to check out this over at design*sponge...love it!

Engaged??

image courtesy of paloma's nest

year after year engagements over the holidays are ever popular. my best friend's husband proposed on Christmas, hard to believe that 1 and 1/2 kiddies later (she's due in March) that is how it all began! well, actually it started about 10 years before that but let's not get technical....

it does seem like the perfect time for an engagement, there is so much excitement in the air with the holidays and who could ask for a better gift??

to celebrate all you newly engaged couples and scouring the internet for inspiration we would like to spread the love. all couples who book Blade to style their wedding floral & decor by March 1st, 2011 will receive a
complimentary personal flowers for the couple.

yes, that's right, i said free! well, actually i said complimentary but you all know what i meant and doesn't it sound so much more fun to say free!!!!

contact me for all of the details and to book a time for a consultation.
anne@bladenyc.com
or call
917-723-3577
or request a quote

*some restrictions apply and minimum order is required to receive free bouquet and boutonniere.

Scabiosa and other funky little treasures

i woke this morning with the thought of flowers...as i often do...i have that first waking, fleeting thought of flowers in one way or another. flowers i need to order for an upcoming event, how i can possibly get 300 stems of phaleonopsis when i need them or just how many beautiful interesting and funky little things grow in this wonderful world.

apparently i'm not the only one with the same thoughts...but maybe they get a little more sleep than i do.

christina over at floresdelsol talked about one of my favorites today, scabiosa stellata...not well known and completely underrated in my opinion these little pods can add THE perfect touch to many different styles of designs.

i also loved this real wedding i saw over at style me pretty and the super cool, chic and unique centerpieces using scabiosa stellata and two of my other all-time favorites, succulents and manazanita branches...throw some fiddlehead fern in there and i would be compeltely smitten...okay maybe they wouldn't look perfect in that design but i do love them!

Photo courtesy of Alderleaf Wilderness College.

it seems that more and more of my clients are interested in using these "textural" elements into their arrangements even in bouquets...here are a few i've created in the past that had a funky twist on the traditional bouquet.

would you consider using something different, even non-floral for your bouquet?
let me know!