Off To a Good Start!

Photos by Richard Wood

The 2009 Wedding Season started off with the wedding of Jamie and Eric, on March 28th at the beautiful V. Sattui Winery. I could tell from the first time I spoke to Jamie on the phone that she was a total sweet heart. Not only that, but she was totally trusting: since she was planning from out of state, I didn't meet her in person until the day of her wedding! After months of planning, I met her for the first time when I delivered her bouquet! Of course she was just as cute in person as I had imagined.

Jamie and Eric wanted a very simple, classic design for their wedding flowers, in shades of rich red and chocolate (think wine and chocolate=yum!). 

I loved the chuppah we designed for Jamie and Eric, flowing with red dupioni silk fabric.

We did a little something different for the ring bearer pillow. Their ring bearer was a little girl, and we wanted to something special, so we made it round instead of square, just for fun. I thought it looked like a little wedding cake. So cute.

And the best part? The note I received via email from Jamie, when she returned from their honeymoon:

Hi Jennifer!!

I got your text, thank you!  Eric & I just got back from our honeymoon and wanted to say thank you for the BEAUTIFUL, stunning job you did on all the flowers for our wedding!!

Everything looked so perfect... from my bouquet to the rose petal aisle... to the flower arrangement on the top of the cake... and the huppah was MAGICAL  >> I LOVED the flowers on the fountain, too : )

All of your designs .... the colors... made our wedding like a fairy tale.

We can't thank you enough, truly.

All of our guests said how beautiful the flowers were too!

I will send you the site to our photos soon : )

: )  Jamie

Awesome. Thank you Jamie and Eric for having us be a part of your wedding day.

Project Wedding Best of 2008

We got some new bling! We were chosen by Project Wedding as a "Best of Project Wedding 2008." I received their letter the other day which states:

 

"As one of the top 5% of wedding professionals in your area, your talent and professionalism has left a lasting impression on your clients and we are excited to award you this distinction!"

Aw, shucks. Thanks! I love awards! (See side bar for new fancy badge!)

Long Time, No Blog

I know. Bad blogger. But may I just say this: m-0-v-e is a four letter word. Yeah. I love my new studio, I do. But the move has been kicking my behind. And, add to that the fact that the Big Move coincided with the beginning of wedding season, and well....the word CHAOS comes to mind. So, I apologize for my slacker blogging skills. But have no fear, since I last posted, many things have happened. We have done six (yes, six!) events since then, and...there's the new studio (photos coming soon!) and much more to blog about. So, give me a chance to catch my breath here, and the posts will start coming. I swear. 

Lush Favorites, Installment #2

Kelly and Peter, V. Sattui Winery, October 14, 2007

all photos by Richard Wood

One of our favorite weddings from the 2007 season, was the wedding of Kelly and Peter.

Kelly worked in the events industry, and had recently moved to California from Hawaii. When I had my first meeting with Kelly, she told me that she had first heard of Lush when she was working at a hotel in Hawaii. Part of her job was to help Brides with their planning process for weddings at her property. She said that numerous brides had brought her a photo from a magazine ad. The same image from this magazine crossed her desk over and over. Guess what? It was an ad we used to have in a wedding magazine--with this photo. She had held on to a copy of that ad and had been keeping it in her "wedding file" for years! When she moved back to the mainland, and started planning her northern California wedding, she just knew she had to contact the florist from that ad--LUSH! 

Kelly had a clear idea of color palette: crisp greens, bright oranges, soft creams, crisp white and touches of chocolate. She had a few clippings (other than the magazine page with our ad, ha ha) which she trustingly handed over and declared--"Do your thing!" 

I loved her bouquet of green cymbidium orchids, white dendrobium orchids, tuberrose, kangaroo paw, and chocolate cosmos.

The two ring bearers carried adorable ring pillows of bright green Kermit mums, with a chocolate ribbon accent.

The focal piece of the ceremony (aside from the Bride of course!) was the stunning "arch" we created using the existing V. Sattui architecture. We covered the woodwork in the shape of an arch with gorgeous, colorful seasonal branches of sugar maple and liquid amber. We infused this with clusters of flowers in the palettes of green, orange, and some creams. When the light hit the arch, it absolutely lit up--almost vibrating with color and texture. 

The Bridesmaids, who looked gorgeous in their dresses of dark espresso and a green sash, carried captivating bouquets of bright green and orange. 

Stay tuned for the rest of the story!

Featured, Again! Project Wedding

Our second featured wedding in Project Wedding's Real Wedding series was the wedding of Marisa and Mike at the gorgeous Harvest Inn in St. Helena. Click on over to see the full gallery of images shot by the fantastic Richard Wood, of Richard Wood Photographics.

http://www.projectwedding.com/real_wedding/show/marisa-mike-st-helena-ca?page=3

The color palette of blue, varying shades of purple, cream, and soft greens was absolutely perfect for their May wedding. One of my favorite parts of the design for the day was the bright blue and purple aisle of delphinium blossoms. Who says a flower petal aisle has to be  made from rose petals? 

Featured! Project Wedding

Before I move on the the next installment of "Lush Favorites" I wanted to share some recent buzz we've been receiving. Two weddings we did have been featured on the Project Wedding Real Weddings series. Actually, both of these weddings could easily be part of the Lush Favorites series, but rather than be repetitive, I'll just post the links here to the Project Wedding site. 

The first feature we were a part of was actually the very first installment of the Project Wedding Real Wedding series. We were so thrilled to be a part of their maiden voyage, so to speak. The feature was a wedding we did out at Bear Flag Farms. We love working on this property! Once again, the talents of the beautiful Brandy Cabral of Bliss Event Productions pulled the day together flawlessly. The photographs were taken by the renown Gene Higa (gorgeous photos!). Do yourself a favor and watch the highlights video by Lorimerworks. I never knew wedding video could be so beautiful and moving.

http://www.projectwedding.com/real_wedding/show/aubrey-aaron-winters-ca?page=7

Enjoy! (Another Project Wedding Feature coming next!)

Lush Favorites Installment #1 Continued

Giselle and Brett, Continued...

 

It's sort of an unspoken understanding in the event industry, that no matter how much good planning goes into an event, something always goes wrong. Often times it is a small thing, and it can be fixed or dealt with in such a way that the no one besides the event professionals behind the scenes are even aware. But there's nothing you can do about rain. When what should have been a balmy, sunny October day in Northern California turned to cloudy skies and intermittent downpours, a few swift changes had to be made...

The ceremony that was planned to take place outside in the sunken garden at Beaulieu Gardens, had to moved inside a tent. But, still wanting Giselle and Brett to have a romantic and magical setting, we created the most stunning, lush, carpet of rose petals as their runner. 

In keeping with their "structured and architectural" theme, we made the lines of the rose petal aisle very defined. It was stunning. I heard later from Brandy, the coordinator, that it was like the Bride and Groom were standing in a snowdrift of petals. Luckily, just as the ceremony was about to begin, the skies cleared and the the front of the tent was able to be pulled back to let the sun stream in:

Congratulations Giselle and Brett! Thank you for having us be a part of your celebration!