Friday, December 10, 2010

Twin Cities Wedding Professionals' holiday party!

I promise there's more bouquet posts in the pipeline, but I just had to take a break and say something about the AMAZING event I attended Weds night!

I've been stalking the Twin Cities Wedding Professionals group for a while now, and decided to take the plunge and attend their holiday party. The day leading up to it didn't go quiiiiite as I'd planned (it was one of those days, guys... example: left business cards at home in Rochester, tried to print some ghetto-style at Dave's instead of eating dinner, jammed his printer beyond repair, snapped at him despite his patience trying to help me, went to event with a total of nine business cards. Nine. This was not my only frustrating episode, either!) but once I finally got there... I'm still trying to figure out how to describe the event and the amazing group that produced it! Everyone was SO welcoming and I can't wait for next month's event & getting to know them better.

Among the vendors I was able to chat with that evening:
  • Dale and his fabulous Memory Box photobooth... My date Rachel and I had a rough first turn in the booth, but I'm looking forward to seeing how our subsequent attempts turned out in his online gallery!
  • Dean of Night Magic Productions was kind enough to give me a quick "who's who" of the group... and put up with my dancing skillz!
  • Emily of Mintahoe events and Lori from Veiled events put me to work packing up linens after the event (okay okay, I volunteered! It was the least I could do after they threw such an incredible party!)
  • Matthew of Complete Music & Video gave me a quick history of the group he founded.
  • Chris of BBj linens spent quite a while talking to me about the Twin Cities market, the TCWP group, and everything under the sun! She gave me the names of a few people in Apple Valley to contact, and I'm looking forward to talking to her soon about Rochester venues that are in need of her services.
  • Jennifer of Jennifer Whalen Photography captured the night and posted it all on her blog... and managed to make my dorky dance moves almost look okay! (Let's be honest, if she can do that... she is a magician.)

The whole night was a wonderful showcase of what some of the Twin Cities' most talented wedding vendors can do together. I'm so excited to get to know them better next month!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Not your mother's cascade

Cascade bouquet styles have diversified since Princess Di's over-the-top bouquet inspired thousands. Variations include the "teardrop" - a smaller, more compact cascade; the "waterfall", modern twists that use foliage, vines, or beargrass to form the trailing cascade. Sizes range from Princess Di, to the industry-standard "hip to hip (width), navel to knee (length)" scale, to tiny handheld cascadelets (yes, I did just make that up. It's my party, and I'll make up words if I want to!)  There's even the hand-tied cascade, using the natural shape of flowers and foliage to form the trailing cascade rather than a foam-filled bouquet holder keeping things rigidly in line.
My rule of thumb to keep bouquets from looking like they belong with big hair and shoulder pads? Use no more than two of the following together: cascade style, babies breath, leatherleaf fern, carnations/roses. Careful color scheme selection can be really helpful as well!

Let's start out with a few that stick close to their traditional roots...
wedding-flowers-guide.com, unknown, wedding-flowers-guide.com

Calla lilies and roses are both very classic cascade flowers, and all these bouquets are the most traditional cascade shape. Using interesting foliages and limiting the color scheme keeps these looking more modern.

bestblooms.co.nz, unknown, unknown
I looove when callas are used without much excess filler - their curving lines are stunning! A monochrome yellow bouquet keeps from looking busy despite a mixture of 4 different types of orchids, callas, and pincushion protea. The last bouquet ALMOST breaks my "no more than two" rule, but that filler isn't babies' breath! It's white trachellium, and its "clumpiness" (vs babies' breath's sprawl) saves the day.


unknown, unknown, unknown
  Lilies are another very traditional choice, but additions of peacock feathers, coiled beargrass, ti leaves, and careful color choices keep these bouquets fresh.

unknown, wedding-flowers-guide.com, stop one photography










Orchids are a dream to use in cascade bouquets - since they are so long-lasting, even without a water source, wire can be used as the "scaffolding" for a modern look. Omitting the usual water-soaked foam bouquet holder means these bouquets are literally pounds lighter, and so much easier to hold! These bouquets also show the wide variety in size possible with cascades - even just a few blooms can look natural and stunning.

all unknown
Vines are soon to become one of my favorite bouquet ingredients, I think! These use vines to help create the cascade shape, as well as add some glorious texture.

both unknown
A modern take on the tulip cascade - both these bouquets use tropical foliage, mokara orchids, freesia, and beargrass.

all images jagstudios.net
Who said flowers need to stay attached to their stems? These bouquets all create movement by removing orchids and other hardy flowers from their stems, and attaching them to wire, ribbon, grasses, or vines.

all unknown
Amaranthus, beads, or even individual blooms strung on ribbon make the most lovely natural trailing lines.

Last but not least, these three depart so far from the usual cascade I'm not entirely certain they belong in this post! I think they're all wonderful examples of what can be done with the cascade form when you think outside the box.

For another take on modern cascades, check out this post from last year on Ruffled.

While Princess Di's taste was impeccable, I'm so glad the cascade has continued to evolve!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Here she comes... (not) Miss America...

Presentation, Pageant, or Arm Sheaf style bouquets get a bad reputation from all over - ballet recitals, pageants, concerts - but they can be seriously stylish when not picked up from the local grocery store! Here are some gorgeous examples...

sandra-austoni.com
An arm sheaf from with European flair. Monochromatic colors and the similar form of callas and french tulips keeps this bouquet looking modern. I can't get enough of the flower used as "filler" here - that's a carnation, guys! Seriously!


Clockwise: petuniaflowers.com, w-weddingflowers.com, everafterplanner.com
Calla lilies are a very traditional choice for a simple arm sheaf bouquet. Varying sizes of blooms and stem curves keeps it interesting!

Clockwise: unknown, arenaflowers.com, cherishmywedding.com, arenaflowers.com,
Sticking to one flower in a monotone color palette is a surefire way to avoid looking like you've just been crowned "Princess Kay of the Milky Way". The first uses mini calla lilies, which creates a sweeter, less dramatic feel than the full-size callas; the other three make use of dendrobium orchids' long stems.

belladesignstudio.blogspot.com, heartofcayman.com
 These two are more traditional bouquets, but they still avoid pageant-dom by foregoing use of filler flowers and excess foliage.


both from dellables.com
Using unique flowers and foliage is a great way to break from tradition, and the arm sheaf style bouquet gives you the option to use flowers in a way that wouldn't  work in a more compact arrangement. These examples both make use of pink mink protea, green amaranth, monkeytail fern curls, and lily grass, the second adds a stem of burgundy cymbidium orchids and several stems of belles of ireland.


Unknown, petalena.wordpress.com
These two dramatic bouquets are possibly my favorite examples of arm sheafs done right! The top one uses just two flowers - dendrobium orchids and lime green antherium.The bottom is a mix of green paphiopedilum (lady slipper) orchids, white dahlias, fluffy grasses, and wildflowers. Totally nontraditional, unfussy, and just plain gorgeous.



See? There are soooo many ways to create an arm sheaf style bouquet without looking like this: