Spring? Summer?

It is spring right? Well it sure feels a lot like summer today and the day has only just begun. I really love the spring and wish it would stick around for a bit longer before those long, hot summer days kick in. They can be equally as enjoyable but I'm just not ready yet...
Anyway, on to the flowers. I headed to the market today feeling like I needed to find some local lilac. You know the kind that smacks you in the face with it's intoxicating aroma? Yes, that kind. With big beautiful flowers that seems so full and lush that they may break right off the stem. Well unfortunately I didn't find any. There was some sad little bits here and there but nothing that made me say yes! you were just what I was looking for. Maybe it's still a bit early in the season or perhaps I was just a little late in the morning but either way I had to shift the gears in my mind and choose something else for my weekly design.
I sort of stuck with the purple idea but added a little lime green for a fresh, crisp feeling. I mixed some tropical flowers, some springy blooms and some aromatic herbs and here's what I came up with....

Choosing Wedding Colors

With so many choices how do you know what wedding colors to choose? Should you choose based on season, on trend, on what you love or what someone else tells you that you should love?

My answer will always be to choose what you love. Yes, it can be cool to be on trend with the color of the year (the choice for 2012 is lovely by the way) and it is nice to choose something that suits the season. However, if you don't love the "it" color or if your chosen wedding date doesn't match your favorite season should you be committed to settling for something that is less than perfect for you? I say absolutely not!

Choose combinations of color that you love, that reflect your own personal style. Keep in mind that there are different ways to bring in accents of color. The color palette can have subtle or even slightly more drastic changes from one element of your wedding design to the next. I agree that there should be some consistency throughout, but this doesn't mean you won't have an opportunity to creatively weave your chosen color palette throughout the entire design.

Still unsure of what direction to go? Check out Design Seeds where Jessica creates amazing color palettes that will surely give you the inspiration that you are looking for.


Leave a comment and share some of your favorite color palettes!

Inspiration: Jewel Tones

People often ask where designers get their inspiration. For whatever reason I have a hard time answering that question. I think it's because I find inspiration anywhere and everywhere but even this one surprised me.

As I sat in a pint sized chair with my son as he delighted in his first attempt at finger painting I watched the colors came together and thought, wow, it's simple and so obviously childlike but how beautiful.

By the end it looked a little something like this.

And I was inspired to create a  Pinterest board reminiscent of the combination of jewel tones. You can check out here.

                                                  Source: indiapiedaterre.com via Anne on Pinterest

Where do you find your source of inspiration?

Real Wedding: Lorelei & Michael

Remember that freak October snowstorm we had last year? I'm sure that Lorelei & Michael will never forget the weather on their wedding day. Although they avoided the snow for their City Hall ceremony which happened just a few days before the day of the reception at the 3 West Club was a much different story. I really enjoyed working with Lorelei on creating the right look for her wedding, she came to me with great ideas inspired by her love of travel and work with the Peace Corps. She still had a world map that had traveled with her from place to place decorating her walls. We mounted that on foam core and used it for the escort cards. Lorelei gathered many travel themed props to use and I scouted a few more from the local flea markets. Gold mercury glass vases and metal bowls were used to hold the flowers. Each table had multiple vases and the props were used throughout.
I especially love the entrance display where Lorelei displayed wedding pictures of loved ones which was especially fitting since she wore her grandmother's wedding gown that had been redesigned to best suit Lorelei.

 Lorelei's bouquet was a mix of white ranunculus, white calla lilies, astilbe and gomphrena with accents of green lily grass.

 

 Entrance display with vintage suitcases, maps, globes and a vintage camera were combined with brown bottles and gold mercury glass bud vases filled with white tulips, green fern, anemones and gomphrena.

  Map of the world with place cards.

 Each table had a different assortment of travel props with flowers.

All photos courtesy of Karen Cunningham.

What worked best about this wedding was that the "theme" seemed effortless and was not too overdone or forced in any way. You can include your personality, your hobbies and interests, the parts of your life that you are passionate about without overdoing it. It's important to find the balance between a personal theme and "kitschy".

Fresh and Green, foliage arrangement

There are amazing greens and foliage available at all times of the year and I think that they are often overlooked and more often thought of as "filler". This is sometimes true in poorly designed arrangements that have a mix of many cheap flowers along with heaps of cheap greens. I decided to create an arrangement using only greens/foliage.
I love the fresh feeling of this design, the layers of texture and the way it makes me feel like I can just breath a little deeper. Weird? Maybe but it's true.

Here are the ingredients.

 UMBRELLA FERN

Huge fan of umbrella fern and that's pretty much all I have to say about. LOVE THEM. Check out this post over on Design Sponge for some more info about them.

 LEATHER LEAF FERN

I know, check it out, me, the self admitted flower snob (sometimes) is using leather leaf. But I promise you'll see that used sparingly it can add a nice bit of texture and volume to the arrangement, key word = sparingly.

 

GARDENIA LEAVES

The waxy deep green of the front side of the leaf paired with the light tone of the back is great contrast, adding just one more layer. 

 PHILADENDRON LEAVES

These leaves are available in sizes ranging from mini to extra extra large. 

FUN BUN LEAVES

They are called FUN BUN's, how can you not love them? They come in a few different sizes as well.

Put it all together and you'll get a little something like this.

Simple, fresh and clean. Don't disregard the impact that all green arrangements can have, even for a wedding. You can create similar looks on varying scales and it would look amazing!

Valentine's Day - Beyond the Rose

As a floral designer you can have mixed emotions about valentine's day. You can either look at it with a sense of dread knowing the craziness that is sure to come or you can look forward to the energy that comes with knowing you have so many people anxiously awaiting to give or receive this simple expression of love. I prefer the latter.

And contrary to the tasteless opinion of one particular big market florist, it's not just romantic love (and that's giving a little class to the real message they were sending).

Remember everyone this valentine's day and send them a little love. Think beyond the traditional red rose, PLEASE, I beg of you. Be open to other flower options, there are many and they are all beautiful.

I'm are already taking orders for Valentine's Day and will be up until February 13th. 

To ensure quality and delivery we will not be taking same day orders. 

send an email anne@bladenyc.com

give a shout 917-723-3577

Studio Sale - Event and Floral Rummage Sale