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: 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.

Faux Flower Boutonniere

I came upon an Etsy seller, Woomi, about six months ago and I immediately fell in love with her faux flower boutonnieres.  She used to have many more for sell, but the ones that she has left in her shop still showcase her amazing ability to mix color and textures.  I mean, just look at this gorgeous boutonniere.  The feather is a great touch.  I think Woomi does a great job of creating work that has a modern, simplistic feel while still staying romantic.  Lesson from Woomi: don't be afraid to incorporate nontraditional pieces into wedding work!

"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.