My Wedding- August 10, 2019- Eskridge, KS

This is my wedding- my story. On August 10, 2019, I married a man I love very much and it was a wonderful day filled with all the people I love most. Many of you know that my last ten years have been a journey I didn’t plan. But that’s life and we all have stories. The smiles in these pictures represent everything good about unexpected journeys, and being able to accept, adjust and move forward. And a special thank you to our daughter-in-law, Hannah Kraus, for capturing everything perfect about this day in photos. @hannahkrausphotography

I know I’m a florist and you would think flowers would be an important part of my day but….. I was just too lazy and honestly more interested in the food and wedding cake! I did make myself a bouquet of my favorite flower-Stock, in three colors. And I decorated our historic park bandstand with Smilax which was super fun to work with!

Martha, Larkin, Nora, Hannah, Connor, Warren, Jennifer, Maryann, Ellie, Zeb, Erica, and Ryan

Two of my favorite quotes and ones that I think about often. ““What lies behind us, and what lies before us are but tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson. and “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.”- Robert Browning.

The food was amazing. Amy and Lucas Moody. @forkluvsspoon

It was a really hot day in August and we had fun anyway! With all of our friends, amazing food, and yes, yard games including volleyball, we celebrated everything great about finding the person you love.

Wedding Flowers at The Brownstone, Topeka, Kansas →

June began with a beautiful summer Sunday wedding at The Brownstone in Topeka, Kansas. The bride and groom had a long distance relationship- from Mississippi to South Africa! and chose Topeka as the destination since it was close to her hometown. There was so much joy in the air as we set up, so many family members and friends excited to see Rachel and Reece get married.

Ceremony Arch with all white flowers and mixed greenery

The pictures above from Megan Hein Photography capture the simple elegance of this wedding. White, ivory and cream roses with blue thistle, waxflower and large mums. Also mixed eucalyptus with silver dollar, baby blue and gunni.

Brides’ Bouquet

Dusty Blues and Greens

The picture above is one I took before the ceremony. Flowers featured are roses, stock, thistle, caspia, willow eucalyptus, gunni eucalyptus, and waxflower.

You don’t have to obsess over every detail to have a beautiful wedding!…with a few inspiration photos, an understanding of the overall wedding style and some freedom to create, I’m happy to run with an idea and bring it to life!

How do you want your wedding day to feel? Start with the feeling and build your plans from there.

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!