A Special Day Designs DIY Sacramento Lake Tahoe Wedding Flowers: 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

White calla / purple dendrobium / reed / gyp / baby's breath Lake Tahoe wedding

Here's a inspiration design post for Erica, who is getting married next summer at South Lake Tahoe. She is out of state and planning a Lake Tahoe destination wedding, so we are doing a wedding flower consultation by email. She loves a clean and sophisticated look, but needs to consider her budget. She also likes the simple look of my Just Gyp bouquets. Her colors are royal purple and sage green, a great color combination!

via flickr, Nicole Radtke ("*nike*" photostream)

This horsetail reed has a similar look to bamboo....I love how it is kind of rough looking next to the delicate gyp (baby's breath) - rather ying and yang, masculine and feminine, edgy and ethereal.

via A Special Day Designs by Monique Wilber, Shingle Springs, CA -- Lake Tahoe Wedding flowers

The bouquet above has a modern look as it doesn't have a lot of different flowers in it. The gardenias are not in the budget, but other white flowers could substitute. I love the green sisal sphere and the explosion grass!

via A Special Day Designs by Monique Wilber, Shingle Springs, CA -- Lake Tahoe Wedding flowers

Here are some callas, not many, but stylized and chic (above). The budget won't allow gardenias, and Erica is not a fan of roses, so we can substitute there. I love the green sisal wrap (also comes in purple!).

via Floral Design by Jacqueline Ahne blog

The photo above is my inspiration for the reed and dendrobium orchid dangles...love love love Jacqueline Ahne's design work!

Now, imagine the dangling dendrobium orchids in purple (they won't be this pink-ish):

via 123RF

via A Special Day Designs by Monique Wilber, Shingle Springs, CA -- Lake Tahoe Wedding flowers

A Just Gyp bouquet for the bridesmaids, imagine with reed dangles and a wrap in your colors, as above.

via Wedding Flowers and Reception Ideas

A reed and gyp bout for the guys, above...

via The Knot

Not quite what I had in mind, but what a calla and gyp could look like together...or, another option:

via The English Garden

Okay, use your imagination: make that white tulip a white calla, and think of the green dendrobium orchids as purple!

via My Bouquet blog

For the ceremony marker arrangements, I was thinking curly willow as above, or straight sticks with horsetail reed (the reed is the first photo in the post), in a solid green or brown eco mache container, with dangling blooms.

These are the eco mache containers....they can be colored to match your wedding colors, or used as-is.

Another option is the photo below, which has the curly willow (or straight sticks and reed) in a clear glass cylinder:

via My Bouquet blog

With "sticks", the design will be straighter, not so twisty, like this (but with reeds, not the tall grass) but with dangles:

via A Special Day Designs by Monique Wilber, Shingle Springs, CA -- Lake Tahoe Wedding flowers

With my big tall glass rental cylinders, it will look like this:

via A Special Day Designs by Monique Wilber, Shingle Springs, CA -- Lake Tahoe Wedding flowers

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Nestldown Eco Inspiration Board for Ashley in Peach and Rust / Sacramento Wedding Flowers Florist

Here's a special inspiration board for Ashley. She and Brandon are getting married at Nestldown, in the Santa Cruz area. The venue has a very eco, natural, and forest feel to it...which is why she contacted me! So Ashley, here's to you:

Nestldown, via Rebecca Stark Photography

The ceremony location does not need much enhancement. Hanging flower globes, like these:

Hanging Glass Flower spheres, via A Special Day Designs, Shingle Springs, California

Two curly willow tall cylinders for the BACK of the aisle, behind the last row of chairs, like these:

via A Special Day Designs, Shingle Springs, California

For the bouquets and personal flowers, Ashley is thinking of peach roses, rusty and /or burgundy mums, and leucadendron, like these:

via A Special Day Designs, Shingle Springs, California

Leucadendron is usually seen as in the top of this photo; but look at how pretty they look with their petals reflexed!

via Wedding Bee

A wood slice for the ringbearer? Or a moss pillow?

via Scott Andrew Studio blog

via Simply Natural blog

For the reception, three sizes of cylinders on a wood slice. Imagine, instead of the wood flower, a bird's nest to go with your theme. The tallest with submerged delphinium and a floating candle; the medium with either swirled peach tulips or twigs (not submerged); and the short cylinder with a short pillar candle. The delphinium can have several stems in the cylinder, if you'd like it "thicker" than below, for example:

via Floral Festivities blog

via An Octopus' Garden

Sunday, October 31, 2010

European Style Cascade Bouquet with White Gardenias, callas, and roses / Placerville Wedding Flowers Florist

European style cascade wedding bouquet by A Special Day Designs, serving Lake Tahoe, Placerville, El Dorado County, and Sacramento

My passion in floral design is a modern and streamlined look. I spend many hours poring over the internet, seeing what's new and exciting in floral design. When great designers come to town, I take classes to continue my education, and go to design seminars.

I was fortunate this month to attend the California State Floral Association yearly convention, and when I saw that they were offering a class with Tony Alvarez AIFD, CCF, and Reina E. Sumabat AIFD, I signed up. What a great class! Tony and Reina taught us some great techniques and gave me some great ideas, and I learned a lot of construction techniques.

Yes - flowers from an educated floral designer will cost you more than DIY flowers, or flowers you buy over the internet that are shipped on a hot or freezing brown truck. But you WON'T be seeing the streamlined, modern cascade like the image above arriving from them, either. It's your one special day - there are no do-overs. You can't drop-ship the artist.

Keywords: Shingle Springs wedding flowers, squaw valley, Placerville wedding flowers, Placerville florist, Lake Tahoe wedding flowers, El Dorado Hills wedding, alternative wedding, eco-chic, nature wedding, white roses, Sacramento, florist, Folsom, Cameron Park, gardenia, stephanotis, Coloma, eco, modern, streamline, European

Friday, October 8, 2010

To DIY Wedding Flowers, Or Not? / Placerville Sacramento Lake Tahoe wedding flowers florist

via Green Bride Guide

Okay, so I love this photo from Green Bride Guide. Now, this looks like a backyard or park wedding, and someone's mom is DIYing the wedding flowers. You know that I'm all for that, in fact, I sell bulk DIY wedding flowers to Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, and Placerville area wedding couples. Take a look at that look of frustration, or "what am I supposed to do next?" or "how the heck am I going to attach the flowers to the arch???" or "the wedding starts in 15 minutes and I'm not dressed and I'm very much perspiring and I'm not anywhere near done!"

Here's the difference between DIY wedding flowers and paying a floral professional: lean in closer: psssstttt: they are professionals, trained, with schooling, they do this all the time and so are experienced, and you are paying the floral designer more for their skilled LABOR. When you DIY, you are cutting 1/3 to 1/2 the cost because you are providing labor.

As long as you don't expect perfection, then DIY may be for you. As long as you can roll with the flow, and not get bent out of shape on your wedding day, then DIY may be for you. DON'T, and I have to say it again, DON'T DIY if you only get your venue a 1/2 hour or hour before the ceremony or reception. You can't do it. It's very difficult even for pros when the venue is cranking out the weddings and only give you a 1/2 hour to get in. There's one place in Sacramento that I am thinking of, and we had to wait in our cars on a hot day with the air conditioning running for over a half hour while the venue shooed out the guests from the wedding before, we had to rush setting up the ceremony site, started decorating the bar area as guests for our wedding were arriving, then madly dashing about the reception area, rushing the venue to change out the linens so we could get big, abundant centerpieces up (I was helping another designer). We barely made it. If I ever have to work that venue again, I will be adding the cost of at least 3 assistants to get it done on time.

Seriously, if you are going to DIY, it's great if you can get a venue that gives you a half day, full day, or overnight to prep it. THAT's the way to go to DIY wedding flowers. KISS - Keep It Simple, Silly! Don't let changes in plans keep you from having great memories. Really, it's all about celebrating a new stage in your life with the people you love, right?

If you need bulk DIY wedding flowers in the Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, or Placerville area, or surrounding counties, please contact me by email: monique@aspecialdaydesigns.com . You can get the same flowers that I get, and I will quality control them for you. I'm better than the box stores and it's safer ordering from me than some unknown website. I'll condition your flowers properly so that they are fresh for you.

Of course, if after reading this post and looking at that picture, you don't want to DIY wedding flowers after all, LOL, contact me! I do custom floral design too! Go to my website at: http://aspecialdaydesigns.com .

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Eco Tuscan Winery Inspiration for Cristy / Rustic Chic / Placerville Wedding Flowers Florist


via Para ti Novia

Love what Para Ti Novia said about the above photo: "Instead of using all traditional flowers, the bride used large vases of plants as well as potted herb plants and cookie jars filled with river rocks and herbs to complete this rustic chic look. The look is very evocative of French and Italian provincial weddings in which evenly smelling herbs and plants like lavender are used instead of traditional flowers."