Part Two: Josie and John’s Magical Wedding Day

I’m so happy to share these professional photos of Josie and John’s wedding day on May 14, 2022 at Clover Cliff Ranch. All photos are by Lifeleak Visuals and they are beautiful!

I loved this combination of flowers. Coral Charm peonies, butterfly ranunculus, larkspur, delphinium, roses, feverfew and white daisies. It was like a fairytale meadow. All the colors of the rainbow.

And this smile!

My favorite part of the professional photos is seeing the wedding come to life with family and guests and all the happy faces. My couples spend so much time dreaming of how all their plans will come together, and I truly love being a part of the process, and seeing the final results.

This last photo is my favorite. This is how I pictured the reception flowers in my mind. This is what I thought Josie was imagining as well. This photo is when I know I did a good job and can put away my anxiety that happens when planning every wedding! Thanks for following along with me on this blog and please know how much I appreciate any referral you want to send my way.

How It's Made- Wedding Flowers Edition

I wonder if you’ve wondered what goes on in my floral studio the week before a wedding? I thought I would share some photos that explain my job as a wedding florist and give you some insight into what happens behind the scenes. Never a dull moment!

It starts out pretty calm. My studio is relatively clean and organized. The trash is empty and the flower buckets are all clean. I love this feeling. This is Monday. 

On Tuesday I pre-fill all the buckets with water and flower food so I am ready for flower delivery on Wednesday. I also check all my supplies- tape, wire, floral glue, ribbon, vases. I will not have time to run to town and purchase these things anytime later this week!

Wednesday is the big day! My wholesaler delivers all the flowers I spent so much time choosing for your wedding, and puts them in my cooler. The next step for me is to make sure I got everything I ordered, in the right colors and quantities. Seems like that should not be a problem, but I work with Mother Nature. Sometimes flowers are smaller than I expected due to extreme weather where they were grown. Sometimes the wholesaler will substitute for something else that may be way too pink when I needed blush. Sometimes the flowers looked fine in their protective wrap but are in bad condition when I open them up. Luckily I work with some great growers and wholesalers that help me get everything I need even if they have to come back on Thursday!

Designing with flowers

Red roses

Eucalyptus greenery

Thursday and Friday are my work days. I need to prioritize from your order what can be made two days before the wedding and what will need to be made the day before. In general, bouquets are made Thursday because I want them to have the very best flowers from each bunch, and because they are stored in vases with water so they will last longer. Boutonnieres and corsages need to be made on Friday because they do not have a water source. 

As you can see by these photos, it’s at this point my whole studio looks like a flower explosion. I’m not neat or careful about where the stems and leaves end up. I have little piles of greenery and flowers everywhere, and I’m constantly moving buckets of flowers in and out of the cooler. Controlled chaos.

When I have the bride’s bouquet done, I “try it on”.  If you look you can see my arm in this photo. I stand in front of the mirror with it and look at it the way a photographer would, looking for holes or things that just don’t sit right.  

When the corsages and boutonnieres are done, they all get bagged and labeled. I have learned over the years to triple check everything I do. I get the names of everyone receiving flowers from the bride, make the labels, and check the list against the actual order, just to make sure nothing gets overlooked. 

And then it’s wedding day! For an average wedding, it takes about 45 minutes to load my vehicle. The bouquets are in vases loaded in special crates. Everything else is packed strategically so nothing gets crushed. (It should be noted here that strategically packing a car is not my forte’ but I’m getting better!) In the summer, I have the AC on full blast. In the winter, I have to make sure everything is covered in plastic. And then I drive like my grandma the whole way to the wedding! I am always so happy and relieved to empty my vehicle and get positive feedback on my work. The anxiety that has built up over the last week is all gone when the bride tells me how much she loves her bouquet.

Here are the top five things that motivate me during wedding week:

1.) Country Music on Alexa while I work. (Weirdly this is the only time in my life that I listen to country music).

2.) LaCroix

3.) Dot’s Pretzels

4.) Friends that help me on big weddings. (It’s lonely working alone).

5.) The music I’ve been listening to as I deliver the flowers: Jason Mraz, Classic Rock, and Hamilton the musical!

I really love wedding flowers! Please refer me to all your friends- wedding weekends are filling up for 2022!

Spring, is that you?

I admit I’ve been hibernating/hermitting for the last few weeks. Everything is strange and weird and different and I like things to stay the same. Not my best quality. All my 2020 customers are dealing with hard decisions every day and I don’t feel like I have any good advice or insight to share. Our whole floral industry is on hold- from the growers, to the shippers, to the wholesalers. No one knows the answers to any of the hard questions. So I just kept quiet. But then I decided to get some fresh air/fresh perspective and pull some weeds. And guess what? Spring came in the middle of a global pandemic! Some things do stay the same and I couldn’t be more grateful! So here are some pictures of better things to come, especially in my little flower garden world. These are all things I have used in your bouquets and will again for all my future brides. Happy Spring!

This one is new from late last summer and I can’t wait to use it. Stairway to Heaven- Jacob’s Ladder.

Sweet little fine foliage plant that turns silver gray as it grows into a mound- Silver Mound Artemisia.

I know it’s hard to tell but this shrub’s leaves will turn dark burgundy as they grow. The perfect bouquet accent for fall weddings.

This is a peony! I am so excited to watch this grow and bloom. One of my favorites!

Purple Hyacinth- I don’t get to use this flower very often as it blooms in early spring when I don’t have many weddings. But it blooms with many flowers on a stalk and smells heavenly.

And of course Tomato plants! I don’t have a huge garden anymore but I always plant at least a few tomatoes in my flower beds.

I know that to others these might just be pictures of dirt and leaves, but I see more. Gardening is a hopeful hobby. In my mind, I can always see the great things to come. So I walk through my spring flowers every day looking forward to what summer will bring. I am hopeful for summer and fall weddings and I will be ready to help you plan your wedding flowers, or make changes and updates when you need to. Hopeful, faithful, positive and optimistic. These are the words I use most when things are hard and they definitely apply to gardening and pandemics!

Rustic Boho Fall Wedding at Mill Creek Lodge in Alma, Kansas

The weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor fall wedding. The setting was too. The wedding of Abby and Dayton Allen was held on October 19, 2019 at a beautifully restored barn/lodge venue on Mill Creek in Alma, Kansas. Abby’s idea for a rustic boho wedding was pulled together with vintage carpets, macrame, bolo ties, and fall colors including burgundy, blush, forest green, and burnt orange with lots of copper accents.

Big copper mums, peach carnations, hanging amaranthus, pepperberry, orange waxflower and agonis were used to adorn a pumpkin for the entry.

The groom’s boutonniere was a single brown cymbidium orchid with waxflower and copper wire.

This might be my favorite part of the decor. Dayton built a rustic tepee frame for the ceremony backdrop and we added the florals. Pampas grass, rust, peach, and burnt orange flowers with lots of mixed greenery including agonis, ruscus, and silver dollar eucalyptus.

Why do the girls look way more serious than the boys? Good question that only the photographer may know the answer to! Aren’t these photos beautiful? All by the amazing Hannah Kraus Photography. And another favorite detail of Abby’s inspiration is the hoops for the bridesmaids with mixed greenery, fall flowers and succulents.

This beautiful bouquet checked all my boxes- garden style, lots of texture, vibrant color palette and interesting florals. I loved the way it turned out and think it captured Abby’s dream of a rustic boho wedding.

One more thing that made this wedding so very special- Dayton and Abby are family- and it was a joy and an honor to be the florist for their beautiful fall wedding. I wish them all the very best in their new life together.

If you are newly engaged and want to talk about pretty flowers with me for your 2020 wedding (or 2021!) just hit the Check My Date button at the top of this page! I have some AMAZING couples booked for the new year but I’m looking for some more! Are you one of those couples? I would love to get to know you and talk about your wedding. And if I was your florist and you are seeing this give me shout out if you loved your wedding flowers. Thank you so much!

What happened in Waco.... →

I just got back from the Team Flower conference in Waco Texas. I signed up in November for what I thought would be a warm spring vacation where I could learn more about wedding floral design. I was wrong twice! Waco had record-breaking cold temperatures last week with lows in the 20s, and I learned much more than floral design!

Ceremony Back Drop

This was a three-day conference and I arrived late. My plan was to drive the eight hours on Sunday, but Kansas had to have one last winter blizzard so I left Monday instead. The first session I attended that afternoon was Large Scale Installations by @bowsandarrows. I watched them install this entire ceremony back drop in 30 minutes!

Poppies and Ranunculus

I also attended sessions on Creativity, Flower Farming, Client Communication, Embracing Change, Hiring and Managing a Team, and Art and Creativity. There were 250 retail florists, studio florists and flower farmers in attendance. 

The last day of the conference we walked in to this amazing flower bar. Buckets and buckets of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen all in one place! This session was about a non-profit organization called Full Bloom @thefull_bloom. They come in after your wedding or event and repurpose all the leftover flowers into vase arrangements for hospitals and care facilities. We made over 300 arrangements to be delivered in Waco and it felt so good to be a part of something like this.

Poppies and Ranunculus

Anemone

Arrangements ready to be delivered

The final event was a design competition by 17 participants who volunteered to share their talents. The shapes, textures, use of colors and design principles were inspiring to say the least.

So what did I learn besides floral design? I learned that I do things differently than a typical retail florist shop and so do the other 249 people who attended the conference. I learned that I am part of a movement among florists to be more intentional about our love of flowers and more attentive to our customers. I like being different and following my heart when it comes to designing. I love following all the old-school design principles and mechanics, but I can do that with tons of energy and creativity in a sustainable way. I love what I do and now I embrace being different!

My Values:

I will always make your wedding flowers customized to you. I will double-check every detail, your likes and dislikes, things that are important to you, to make sure what I deliver is perfect.

I will stay true to my style- natural, garden, organic, original. 

I will recycle, re-use, and reduce waste when possible, and use all resources wisely.

I will use local flowers when possible, and always include something from my garden in your bouquet- a blessing from me to you.

I won’t do any weddings that aren’t a fit for me personally.

I love teaching about flowers- design classes, plant names, color choices, blogs.

I will obsess about flower choices for your beautiful wedding.

And of course I shopped all things Magnolia while I was in Waco!

I am a Flower Nerd (and you can be one too!) →

I really do love flowers. I grew up vegetable gardening with my dad and flower gardening with my mom. I got my college degree in biology. I volunteer as an Extension Master Gardener in my community. I pride myself on knowing the names of everything I grow and use in my bouquets. I know how each plant grows and where they grow best. I might even know the Latin name. I am a Flower Nerd and I am proud of that!

But not everyone is like me. When it is time to think about wedding flowers do you know the names of flowers you love? Or just know how you want your bouquet to look? Today I want to help you be a Flower Nerd so when you have that consultation with your wedding florist you will both be on the same page. Win, Win!

The flowers you most likely see on Pinterest are what a florist might refer to as premium flowers. They are most beautiful in their own season (i.e. peonies in May), sometimes difficult to acquire, and always more beautiful than everyday flowers. Yes they are slightly more expensive than what you would spend on yourself normally, but this is your wedding. Your goal is to only do this thing once, so feel free to splurge just this one time. 

Ranunculus  This is a beautiful flower with many layered petals and it comes in several colors- pinks, orange, yellow, purple, variegated and more. Ranunculus are at their best from January to May. They are available most of the year except the hottest months of the summer (end of July, August & September) when some varieties become difficult to obtain.

Anemone  This is the flower that looks a little like a poppy and has a contrasting center. The most popular color is crisp white with a black center, but other colors include bright red, pink, magenta, purple, and blue. Anemones are typically in season from October through May.  

Garden Rose  These beautiful flowers look nothing like the standard rose you normally see. Their ruffled layers make them a perfect substitute for peonies and they have a lovely rose scent. David Austin in England is a famous breeder of these roses which have the character and fragrance of old garden roses and the colors that brides love today. Peach, pinks, blush, coral, pale yellow, cream, reds and white- so many options and all incredibly beautiful. And they are available almost any time of the year!

Other flowers I love to include in bridal bouquets are things that add texture. You know from my photos that my bouquets are never boring. There are flowers like scabiosa, astilbe, thistle, stock, dahlias and celosia that add depth, color and character. If you look closely at the bouquets in these photos you will see herbs and berries like fennel, elderberry and blackberry, all from my garden. I always add something that I have grown to your bouquet as an added blessing from me to you. 

There is so much joy in flowers, and for me part of the joy is getting to know each flower personally. I hope I have encouraged you to learn a little more about what you want in your bouquet, or maybe even to start your own flower garden, so you can be a Flower Nerd like me!

Picking Wedding Colors

Do you know the 2018 Pantone color of the year? Ultra-violet! But what does this mean to you or your wedding? And what is Pantone Color anyway?

Lyon/Pachar Wedding, photo by jennsportraitphotography.com

Pantone Color is a color-matching system used primarily in the printing industry, as well as in the manufacture of paint, fabric and plastics. Each year the company holds secret meetings with representatives from around the world to choose a color of the year that reflects what's going on in the world. This year's color, Ultra Violet, wasn't chosen because it's regal, though it resembles a majestic shade. It was chosen to evoke a counterculture flair, a grab for originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking, according to Pantone Vice President Laurie Pressman.

So what does this have to do with your wedding? Everything and nothing. It will be high-lighted in all the newest blogs and magazines for brides, and everywhere you shop. But the color you choose for your wedding should be something you truly love. Choose a color that makes you happy, has a special meaning to both of you, or the color of your favorite flower. You will never regret making decisions with your heart instead of following the crowd on Pinterest or Pantone.

So what are your wedding colors? I would love to know what you decide!