Sacramento Weekend Farmer's Market

It's been a really long time since I had the chance outside of class to do some arranging on my own, and I've got to say that I really needed it.  My confidence has been low and it really helped to sit down in the comfort of my own home and just enjoy the process.  I traveled up to Sacramento to the X Street farmer's market and grabbed some purple amaranthus, green and purple-tinged hydrangea, white dahlias, and calendula flowers (which looked like a flat marigold to me, and the Internet tells me that it is indeed a type of marigold!).  I got a badly-needed visit with my God-sister, made her a quick arrangement, had lunch, shivered on the way back with the AC on full blast for the flowers, and commenced the arranging.
In my last (and final!?) flower class, I really grappled with enjoying anything that I made.  I also realized that I really shy away from arrangements with any type of, well, height.  Whenever I tried making taller or wider arrangements, the end result looked unfinished and like it was full of holes.  To say the least, I felt like crap every time I left class.  I decided to try to start fresh on my own, get some flowers that jumped out at me (and oh, the hydrangeas always do), and have a day of enjoyable arranging.  I decided to work on small, grouped pieces.  I'm comfortable with smaller arrangements, and heck, I can get really confident at these and work up from there.
I borrowed mason jars from my Mom and used a cube vase I had from past weekend arranging.  I'm happy to say that I enjoyed myself.  I'm working back up my confidence, and hopefully my skills.

And here are some single views.

I'm in love with the dahlia in this one.

The amaranthus to the right is bugging me, but for the sake of progress, here we go!

The following is my favorite.  I really like the combination of dahlias with the amaranthus and hydrangea.  It's a combination that I'll have to remember.

 

I'm sorry, I can't help it.

All in all, it was a lovely day.  $21 dollars spent for flowers--I got 5 small arrangments, plus the 1 that I made Micaela out of it.  I'd say that's pretty good.  It was all worth it to have a good flower experience that was calming and enjoyable.  Here's to enjoyable practice, practice, practice.

Wedding Lab Madness

One day a few weeks ago, an acquaintance of Carol's came knocking at Carol's front door asking for some help with her daughter's wedding flowers.  Carol replied that she no longer did weddings, but she had a whole class of students who would jump at the chance to do a wedding--and so tonight about 15 people crammed into our floral classroom and proceeded to arrange like crazy.  There were 30 large centerpieces, all of the personal flowers, plus pomanders and more.  All together 400 people are going to be attending this wedding on Saturday.  To say the least, I think we were all surprised at what a huge event it turned out to be!  There were roses, calla lilies, hydrangea, bells of ireland, gyp, leatherleaf, gladiolus, waxflower, heather, hypericum, amaranthus, snapdragons, larkspur, and oh my god the list goes on.  It smelled amazing in that room, though it was hot with all of us designing our brains away. 
Carol assigned me to the bridesmaid's bouquets, and to be honest, I was petrified.  I was definitely slow at first, but I picked up momentum and got some greatly appreciated help from another classmate.  I loved how they turned out and I wish I could see them on the big day.  The bride herself along with bridesmaids and family members helped out--and they were extremely lovely people.  I know the wedding will be gorgeous and perfect.  And so now, here follows a crazy amount of pictures.  Darn the iPhone for taking blurry pictures, it does not do the flowers justice. 

Two of the bridesmaids' bouquets.  Let me tell you, they smelled amazing.

Like the fancy beakers we used to hold the bouquets up?

Had enough of these?  Okay, let's go on to all of the other gorgeous arrangements done by my other classmates and the bridal party.

Blurry boutonnieres and corsages done by two very talented classmates.

I really especially loved the groom's boutonniere.  Look at that detail.

One of the many centerpieces.  I love the colors.

More centerpieces!

And the Bride's bouquet...with Crowning Glory.

Birdseye view of the Bride's bouquet, minus the Crowning Glory spray this time.

The Bride's toss bouquet.  The Bride said it was just too cute to have to toss!

Another gorgeous centerpiece.

And lastly, a fraction of the centerpieces lined up in the back lab storeroom. Holy moly!
All in all, it was an amazing night and though I felt like I definitely was too slow I know that practice makes perfect and I'll get there.  Here's to lots more practice.  Thank you, thank you to all of the family for letting us do your flowers.

Floral Design Class: Take-Home Bouquet

In our Fundamentals class (which yes, I am taking after the Advanced class, but they were offered out of order!) we practiced cutting with our floral knives this week and got to create a take-home bouquet that we wrapped in tissue and cellophane.  I had a weird mix of flowers in my bouquet, but I don't know, I kind of like it.  The poor sunflower and hydrangea were nearing their end, but the combined colors of the dalia, larkspur, and spray roses had a cool effect.  I also got to use some bupleurum greens.  I really love the look of these and I will seek them out when I get brave and venture out to the San Francisco Flower Market.

And here's another view from my iPhone, which creates some awesome, warm light.

Floral Design Class: Wedding Flowers

During the beginning of the summer Delta offered a Wedding Flowers workshop that I jumped at the chance to take. It was a packed class with lots of ladies looking to do flowers for their own weddings, so it was fun to hear about all of their ideas.  We had four classes where we learned about the varying parts of doing flowers for a wedding and we got to make a wedding bouquet and a centerpiece.  Carol brought in all white flowers for the bouquet and I think all of the ladies in the class squealed when we saw them.  We were all saps.  She had roses, hydrangeas, carnations, stock, peonies, alstroemeria, and--as an expensive treat--we all got one stephanotis each.
This was my first try at a bouquet with the Oasis bouquet holder, and I've got to say that I prefer a hand-tied bouquet.  Hand-tied bouquets look so much more natural, and while the Oasis holder will help it to last longer, I think the holder just takes away from the overall look and feel.  Here is the bird's eye view.  It looks like a star!  I'm sure if we all had more flowers our bouquets would come out much fuller, but everyone did a great job and it smelled amazing in the classroom.

And here's a side view.  I used oregano to fill in the gaps since we didn't have enough flowers to fill our bouquets entirely out, but I kind of like it. 

Another week we got to do a small wedding centerpiece.  Carol brought in classic red and white flowers and tall vases for us to set our pieces on.  I didn't get a picture, but it was a nice chance to see how adding height to an arrangement can really change it.  I wasn't in love with my outcome, but I'm sure with practice I'll find what I like best.

"Coastal Feeling" Wedding Bouquet

I am in love with this bouquet, care of Floral Verde LLC in Michigan.  Janet, the owner, does such an amazing job of combining well-known flowers with unique additions, like the bunny tails.  It looks so soft and the colors just melt together.  Plus, that eyelet material just adds a feminine touch that is perfect.  I am in love, Janet!  Amazing work.