Seattle Bride Magazine Best of 2009

We were very pleased to make 3rd place in the florist category (Reader's Choice) in this year's Best Of award nomination in Seattle Bride Magazine. Thank you so very much to all who have voted for Flora Nova Design!

Pick up the Fall/Winter issue when it comes out on the newsstand this weekend - we also had a full page feature on page 96 (though erroneously the magazine credited the incorrect designer for that one ...) For this article titled "Heirloom Bouquets" we designed a looser arrangement featuring garden roses, callas, hydrangea, leaves and branches in a set of 2 vintage-style vases. Quite a romantic yet contemporary composition...

Gorgeous Pink Wedding

Last night we worked at the Grand Hyatt in Bellevue on the beautiful wedding of Thuy and Barry - a wonderful couple I met at the Seattle Wedding Show last January.
This wedding was true fabulousness! The couple went the extra mile to make the ballroom look gorgeous and memorable for their 200 invited guests: fabric draping along the back and side walls, beautiful gold striped table overlays, gold Chivari chairs, elaborate pink center pieces with lots of peonies and garden roses, votive candles with detailed ribbon/wire accents, a gorgeous head table, and almost most importantly - spotlighting and up-lighting.
I can not stress enough, how important a good lighting installation is. It sure brings out the beauty of each element (maybe not as noticable in my photos below, but definitely in reality ... :) Each center piece was lit up from above and below, and lots of pink and clear up-lighting cans along the silk-draped walls combined with the gorgeous golden chandeliers in the Hyatt ball room set a fabulously romantic mood.
But see for yourself ... or wait a few weeks until I get the "real" photos from John & Joseph Photography (which will of course not compare to my mediocre photos below...)

The table up-lights, seen in this picture, illuminate the details inside the vase - it's a beautiful addition for a tall center piece.

For this wedding we mixed tall and low floral designs for visual interest. Both designs incorporated tall branches to add height and drama.

The beautiful head table - the only area where we incorporated some tiffany blue - the color of the brides maids dresses...

The tall trees behind the head table were adorned with lots of pink pomander balls and long strands of crystal beads.

The escort card table ...

And here, part of the Flora Nova team that made it all happen ... :)

Greater Seattle Floral Association

For all of you who don't know - Flora Nova Design is a member of GSFA, the Greater Seattle Floral Association. Our mission is is to "assist independent floral designers achieving career success by raising the level of education and professionalism in the floral industry". We are a great group of currently 15 design companies who get together on a regular basis to share knowledge, educate each other or get educated by leading designers, and to define higher standards in the local industry.
This past week we had 2 group events: last Tuesday we all drove out to Skagit Valley to visit several organic flower farms. This was a great outing not only to learn about organic flower growing, but also to source fantastic local farms where we can order direct. Ilearned about a lot of interesting items which I will sure try out in the future.

Our group in the midst of a rose field...

... and a peony field ...
Gorgeous David Austen Garden Roses ...

And fantastic foliage in all kind of interesting colors and textures ... sigh.

Then on Thursday we got together again - this time for a good cause. At Christopher's studio we made over 40 corsages and 40 boutonnieres and donated them to a school prom for homeless high school kids. We came up with all kinds of fun designs incorporating fun beads, crystals and other "bling". And we were all amazed to find out that between the 9 of us who came that morning, there were 9 different corsage techniques! It turned out to be fun and informative morning for everyone.

Real Wedding - Acacia and JJ

Acacia and JJ got married on May 16th at the Edgewater Hotel. - It was a beautifully sunny day in Seattle, what a treat!
Acacia chose a very Northwest theme for her wedding (which was also quite a "green" option): she wanted to use mainly ferns, mossy elements, pods, with just very little flowers in ivory creams. For the ceremony we created tall mounds of ferns in large black urns, and the tables were decorated with designs of ferns with only a few floral elements.
For her bouquet we incorporated of course also many different kinds of ferns (dagger, ming, maidenhair, etc), fiddlehead fern curls, poppy and scabiosa pods, cabbage roses, amaranthus, peonies, and scabiosa blooms. I was a little nervous at first about how a bouquet consisting of so little flowers and so many green elements would look. Acacia requested to use ~70% greens and only 30% flowers. But wow, I think the bouquet turned out fabulous!
Great photography below from Daniel Usenko - I love the close-ups of Acacia's bouquet ...

Luna and Yanda - an intimate wedding day!

Last Saturday we had the pleasure to work with Luna and Yanda on their beautiful wedding at Parsons Garden and at Canlis Restaurant. It was a small and intimate affair with just over 20 guests.
Luna started the planning process from out of town - but her clear vision and her attention to detail made it easy for me to understand what she envisioned for her wedding day. The outcome was beautiful and romantic.

Near the park entrance we attached large paper lanterns to the enormous and fabulously blooming rhododendron bush - which was in full bloom that day even in her wedding colors: lavender pink. What a nice surprise by mother nature.

The brown bamboo chairs from AA Party Rentals are a really nice choice for an outside wedding ceremony. Each chair along the aisle and along the outside had full bouquets of light pink peonies attached, which smelled heavenly.

The arch decor was simple yet striking: it was covered with green smilax garlands and then attached lots of white and green orchids to it. Strands of orchids of various lengths were attached to the top and were drifting in the breeze. Just lovely!

The long reception table at Canlis restaurant was decorated with large vases of wheat grass containing branches blooming with white orchids. More pink peonies and lots of candles completed the look.

Luna had a fun idea for the name tags: each place setting had a small bouquet of fragrant lavender with the name tag attached to it. A nice little favor idea too!

Luna was a true pleasure to work with - I will miss her. - I was again so pleased to hear that she liked how everything turned out. I was very surprised and humbled that she found the time to send me a long thank you email the very next morning after her wedding to let me know how much she loved everything. Wow! I am still blushing... :)

NYC Flowers

I have neglected my blog for a few weeks - I can't believe it's been almost 4 weeks that I posted my last blog - how lame! But I've been busy - firstly, with a packed wedding weekend in mid May, then with design help for a colleague's/friend's large event, and then a long weekend in New York City. Our trip to NY was part fun - part work. But then, the work part was at least as much fun as the rest... :)
Of course, I visited the flower markets and was able to connect with quite a few new suppliers for vases, candles, and bouquet jewels. I came back with so many inspirations and ideas - I can't wait to implement them on upcoming projects.
Of course, in NY as well as in the Northwest, it is peony season. The markets were overflowing with peonies in various colors and varieties. Something I had never seen here in Seattle, were cut tree peonies - they come in all kinds of fun colors, including yellows and oranges...
How fun is that?? Now, please note, that these tree peonies are close to impossible to get in Seattle (unless of course, you are willing to pay...), but the following pictures of peonies show varieties definitely available locally at this time. I just love the full look of double bloom peonies!
And then I learned about a few new garden rose growers and a new hydrangea variety. Look at these fun colors of hydrangea! What fabulous texture!
I need to admit, that besides flower and floral supply shopping, I also had time explore the city (and to spend a little too much at Century 21 ...). Oh well ...

Sarah Rhoads - Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of the incredible photos Sarah Rhoads took at Maureen and Vitaliy's wedding a couple of weeks ago. Sarah is truly a gifted photographer! Whenever I hear that one of my favorite photographers is photographing a wedding (and Sarah is one of them), I work a little harder to make the floral designs extra special (but sshh, that's a secret ;-).

As mentioned before Maureen, was the sweetest person to work with. Isn't she beautiful too?! I was so thrilled that she let us be part of her special day and that she liked the bouquets and designs we created for her. Only one day after the wedding I already had a thank you note from her in the mail which I'd like to share here:
Christiane! Thank you so, so, so much! For staying so late to tear down, for making another ... corsage for my grandmother and for all of your amazing work...our guests didn't even know what to say, I don't think they ever knew that flowers could be so beautiful. Everyone was so speechless. ... Thank you again, I am still in awe over how beautiful everything was...I can't stop checking out all the flowers in the pictures my friends have taken! Your biggest fan ever, Maureen

More great pictures can be found on Sarah's Blog - make sure to check it out and enjoy the the great photography of the couple.