FLORAL: Spring Table Arrangement

Spring is HERE! A romantic setting of pale pink ranunculus with accents of variegated begonia leaves on a grey table cloth would be lovely for your intimate Springtime wedding. Your table arrangements don't have to be so complicated. Try simple, singular stems in a variety of missed matched glass bottles and bud vases. Not only might this idea be lighter on your wallet, it could also be D.I.Y project you could do with the help of your friends and family. To see more of this flower arrangement shoot go here.

(Images via Didi Weddings)

winter peonies

Peonies in winter? Found these three beauties at the farmers market this morning. Today is a national holiday in Italy, so I'm on "holiday" but back tomorrow for little weekly round up.....

REAL WEDDING: Kira & Bill (PART I)

Today's real wedding is not only GORG and California dreamy, but it also happens to be extra special, as it is the wedding of my best friend, Kira and her sweet adorbs man, Bill. They live in Mill Valley, CA and over the years have spent quite a bit of time visiting and exploring Napa Valley, a sort of sanctuary spot that has become very special to them. How could it not, it is super magnificent. And how can one go wrong with wine and wellness? So when it came time to choose a location, Napa was the place. And what an event it was! I don't think you can go wrong with Calistoga in September, there's really no better place for an outdoor wedding full of romance, surrounded by magical nature and days filled with sunny perfection. In addition to the locations natural beauty, this wedding was also truly out of this world fun and oozed so much love, both from the lovebirds and  guests. It was magic. The wedding was held on a private estate, outdoors on beautiful, enchanting grounds, surrounded by eucalyptus and oak trees draped in Spanish moss (seeing those oaks, felt like I'd been transported to the deep south, so pretty) The property goes on forever, with intertwining pathways that allow you to wander the various gardens, an old ruin, around a pond, to a tranquil swimming pool situated near a vine covered veranda with a huge stone fire place.  Not to mention the majestic views of the vineyard next door and the hillside (which by the way, could have easily been the countryside in Italy it's that similar) So much beauty that I’m having a hard time finding the right words to tell you just how pretty the location was.  Not only was the venue a storybook setting, the style of the event matched it too perfection! It was so fitting for Kira and Bill: rustic, modern, romantic, whimsy affair with a whole lot of mellow, happy love.  It was the grand yet intimate, elegant dinner party, where guests dined and danced under the bistro lights. It was exactly as the couple envisioned, that small fancy feast with friends and family.  But what better way to hear about the fine details then from the bride herself, who so kindly wrote about the the big day. 

In the bride's own words: "I haven't been planning my wedding since kindergarten.  I didn't pick a  date based on seasonality of my favorite bloom.  And if I'm being really  honest, there were several occasions where a quickie ceremony at City  Hall was more than just a quirky notion.  So when it came time to begin  imagining what this wedding was going to be - the only thing I knew for  sure was that I wanted it to feel like an intimate dinner party.  I'm  not one for the spotlight and this was my husband's second marriage, so  neither of us felt like a big splashy event suited us.  Since moving  from New York City to the SF Bay Area five years ago, we had spent a  great deal of time in wine country and knew that if we were going to do  this, wine country felt most relaxing and special and most importantly, a  place we wanted to share with our family and friends.  And so the  wedding planning commenced."


 

Isn't it just dreamy? Be sure to check out PART II of this 

beautiful, ridic, Calistoga wedding here and learn more on how the day all came together.

(Photography: Scott Clark)

(image: 2, 10, 11: Didi Weddings)

FLOWER SPOTLIGHT: minimal modern stems

Pick up a few of these minimal, modern, wood, flower vases for your table decor to create a linear arrangement.

So, yes, go with the loooong table instead of round.

(image source: less and more, Austrian, Vienna based label run by visual artists Leo and Hannah)

little cakes

1.)  single rose blossom cake   2.) winter marshmallow cake via style me pretty  3.) little white cake via 100 layer cake     

4.) little white cake with pink blossom via bisous chic  5.) pink cake with sugared red camellia via martha stewart  

6.) sugared freesia flower cakes via martha stewart  7.) gold cake by pink peach cake via 100 layer cake 

8.) fresh fruit cake by a simple cake  9.) fresh herb cake via frolic 10.) sugared pansy cake via lwb archives 

Little Winter Bride's fav 10 little cake round up for desert display inspiration. Which style do you heart?

I'm partial to plain cakes, topped with real sugared flowers, so I'm going with numero, 10. Imagine a whole table of un-frosted cakes of various sizes and shapes and covered with sugared flowers,  how wintery would the look! Some flowers to consider if your going the fresh route: violets, pansies, orange blossom, apple blossom, thyme, nasturtiums to name a few.

If you're not sure about a fresh flower, double check with your florist they will be able tell you

if it's toxic or not. And if that's the case, you can always decorate with sugared flowers, which 

are just as lovely and sometimes can look almost like real thing.

bake me a cake

Okay, so you've picked out the main menu delishness for your guests but now you're having a desert dilemma.

Do you go traditional tiered wedding cake, trendo cup cakes or desert spread? Personally, I'm digging the idea of a desert table with an assortment of little pretty cakes topped with fresh flowers. It could be GORG, jaw dropping. just sayin. Stop by later today to see LWB's 10 fav inspiration cake designs.

(image via house of violetta, my semi new lifestyle blog)

FLOWER SPOTLIGHT: meaning behind the petals

So you're picking out your flowers and don't know where to start. Instead of choosing your blossoms by color, why not choose the stems based on their meaning? If your a sentimental sap like me (and superstitious which I blame completely on my Irish heritage, newly adopted Italian one) this might be the way to approach the wedding bouquet. Here are a few of my fav meanings.....

• Anemone — forsaken, unfading love, truth, sincerity, anticipation
• Baby's Breath — everlasting love, pure in love
• Camellia (white) — you're adorable (this is my 2nd fav meaning)
• Clover (four leaf) — good luck, be mine
• Daffodil — regard, respect, unrequited love, you're the only one, the sun is always shining when i'm with you
• Eucalyptus — protection
• Fern (maidenhair) — secret bond of love
• Forget—me—not — true love, memories
• Gardenia — you're lovely, secret love
• Honeysuckle (yellow) — bonds of love
• Lily of the Valley — sweetness, tears of the virgin mary (let's no go there), return to happiness, humility, you've made my life complete
• Mimosa — sensitivity
• Mistletoe — kiss me, affection, to surmount difficulties, sacred plant of india
• Orange Blossom — innocence, eternal love, marriage and fruitfulness, wisdom
• Pansy (all colours) — thoughts, love and happiness
• Peony — bashfulness, shame, indignation, happy life, happy marriage
• Rosemary — remembrance, fidelity
• Sage — wisdom, long life, domestic virtue (it just has to be excused, what is this 1950? I don't think so)
• Snowdrop — hope
• Violet (blue) — watchfulness, faithfulness, i'll always be true, modesty (of course my fav)

What's your favorite flower and meaning? Your flower not on this list, for more, go here 
 I have to be honest, there are a few that I would very much like to rename, I feel like this list is a bit outdated, no? What do you think? I've already started to edit. 

(photography: Lily of the Valley bouquet by Marie Labbancz)

Special Delivery

 Since yesterday was my grandmothers 99th birthday, I thought best to send a special delivery and of course nothing cheers her up more then fresh flowers. She loves pink and green. She loves flowers and use to spend summers tending to her garden at her house in Long Island. I remember the rows and rows of tiger lilies. They were my favorite, 1.) because orange was my fav color growing up and 2.) they were tall and towered over me, they felt like super flowers. Her garden was quite spectacular.
So I emailed my new fav Brooklyn based, flower lady, Ariel Dearie and asked her if she could make something special for my grandmother. Looks like she worked her flower magic, isn't the arrangement lovely and sweet? And my grandmother was so cute on the phone gushing over her flowers: "Tank you very much for my flowers, tey're BEAUTIFUL" in her Irish brogue. (it's super cute when she says "thank you" or any TH word, as she drops the H cause she can't pronounce the TH sound)

  So, bridal peeps, if you're still hunting for a florist, ya might wanna ring this creative lady up, like now.

(photo source)

WEDDING DECOR: Greens

What to do when the beautiful flowers you've been dreaming of don't fit your budget? Don't under estimate the power of GREENS! Do use foliage for your decor. It could be as simple as this setting of ferns in gold vases. How delicate, warm and inviting do these tables look? This genius table setting created by the design team, Hey Look. 

Also, be sure to check out their latest, a Mediterranean table setting, pure, natural, chicness.

some lovely greens to consider: cedar, magnolia leaves, myrtle, ferns, seeded eucalyptus

or  green garlands

(found via ruffled)

FLOWER SPOTLIGHT: Ariel Dearie Flowers

Last week, I stumbled upon a new little flower studio (thanks to the lovely flowerette, Chelsea over at Frolic!) called, Ariel Dearie Flowers. The studio, a freshly planted seed in the ground of Williamsburg, Brooklyn creates: whimsical, free flowing bouquets and arrangements. Ariel, the creator behind this sweet studio specializes in weddings and events throughout the East Coast and in New Orleans (her childhood home) but willing to travel further. When she is not working on wedding related events, she also creates arrangements for photo shoots and restaurants. 

Imagine working with flowers all day long? Her work life sounds dreamy. Actually, magical if ya ask me.

I had a few, lovely, email exchanges with the creator and thought I'd share her personal journey on how she became a florist.

From Ariel:

"I grew up in New  Orleans, a city full of lush, overgrown gardens. My family's backyard felt like a tropical jungle; full of Banana Trees, Japanese Plums, and Wild Ginger, all canopied under a grand old Oak Tree. I had always appreciated my surroundings, but didn't realize just how much I would miss certain things until I experienced a few gray New York winters. I found myself happy to be living in NYC but yearning for more nature and green. I had done flowers for restaurants in New Orleans and New York and realized that this would be a way to bring those gardens with me. I interned briefly with the lovely Emily Thompson and then decided to leave my job and start my own Flower Studio. I haven't regretted it once!"

So, NYC/ East Coast and New Orleans brides, snatch this little lady up for your big day. Her work is srsly, enchanting. But that is to be expected, as she learned from the best.

I look forward to watching this little seed grow and flourish in the concrete jungle of Brooklyn. 

(image source: Ariel Dearie)

Flowers at Sofia Coppola's Wedding

 Stumbled across some pics of Sofia Coppola's very important guests arriving, the flowers! 

Looks like it was a flowers galore kinda of event!

Wouldn't you love to know how it all unfolded? I bet it was pure magic.

Maybe it will be printed somewhere, someday but for now we can settle for the Italian media video peek of the couple and tiny keyhole (literally video footage through a keyhole) peek of the event

(1st image, 2nd image, 3-5 images)

FLOWER SPOTLIGHT: Wild Flower Bouquet

Good morning, thought I would start off the day with this beautiful, wild flower bouquet, created by Found While Walking (a new blog in my book and a must add to daily reads) via the oh so talented, Lena Corwin

Isn't it lovely?

Stop by later today, to catch a glimpse of an enchanted forest and treehouse wedding for two

FLOWER SPOTLIGHT: Saipua's Flower Arranging Tips

Helpful tips from the ever so clever Sarah Ryhanan, creator and founder of Saipua, one the most stylish flower studio's in Brooklyn. While back home in NYC, at the beginning of the month, I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah and had a chance to visit her studio. What an amazing space and meeting Sarah was such a delight. I took the opportunity to pick her brain on what seasonal flowers would be available to use in a September wedding, as I was prepping myself for creating my bff bridesmaids bouquets. She was so sweet to give me some helpful flower tips. Grazie Sarah! 

Hopefully soon, I will have photos of the bouquets to share with you all.

It's always such a treat to meet blogsphere peeps, don't ya think?

To see more flower arranging videos by Sarah, go here and here
and for more photos of this project, ya gotta sign up here.

(video via One Kings Lane)

Flower Spotlight: Arrangement Inspiration

 

 

I'm mesmerized by the various unique flower arrangements found on house plant guru.

Makes me so happy to see a florist embracing the kind of petals that seem to get completely overlooked, Carnations and Gladioli (see image # 4 and #9) These arrangements seem to breath a whole new life in these unpopular stems.

Do you have a favorite, underestimated flower? I would love to hear from you

image 1.) Clematis 2.) Autumn arrangement 3.) Tiger Lily arrangement 4.) Carnations

5.) white flower arrangement with gold jug 6.) Geraniums 7.) wild flowers 8.) Jasmine 9.) Gladioli