French Country Romance

Words cannot describe how happy I am for my brother, Iven, and my new sister-in-law, Megan, who recently wedded this past summer! The wedding was held at Auberg du Pommier,  an elegant yet low key French restaurant in uptown Toronto. The couple asked that their floral arrangements be "simple and romantic", which goes well with the ambiance of this charming little uptown restuarant.

Here is one photo of the beautiful couple and their unbelievely adorable nephew, more photos to come!

Buttery Yellows and Creamy Whites

Johnny and Angela are just about the cutest couple we have ever met! Angela's bubbly personality and Johnny's calm demeanour compliment one another so well. Barry and I not only take joy in their company as friends but also enjoyed working with them on their wedding flowers.

Their wedding took place on a sunny August day. The couple chose a palette of soft and bright yellows, creams, and whites, which could not be more perfect for such a sunny day.

Peonies were on Angela's wish list but it was not available at this time of year, so we substituted with garden roses, which also gave that lush, round, multi-pedal, look with an equally incredible scent. In addition to garden roses, Vendela, Latina , and Limbo roses were the main flowers used for the arrangements.

To enhanced the brightness and freshness of the overall summery look, green mini hydrangeas were also used.

Soft pink roses and mini callas were added to the Bride's bouquet to incorporate Angela's favourite colour- pink!

The combination of flowers yielded a fresh lemony-buttery-creamy palette of  yellows and whites and newly weds could not be happier with them.

 

 

 

Bright Tangerines and Greens

It was our greatest pleasure to work with event planners Jennifer Jones and Marielle Gedeon from My Sugar Events on bride, Carolyn's, personal flowers. Jenn and Marielle communicated the bride and groom's vision so clearly that it made the consultation process effortless.

Carolyn's wedding took place last fall. She chose a beautiful fall-inspired pallette of brown and tangerines. Like most brides with a timeless sense of style, she requested for an elegant white rose bouquet.

For Carolyn's bouquet, I used Vendela roses and green cymbidium orchids. The orchids injected colors into the otherwise all white bouquet while keeping it sleek and classic. I also added crystals to the middle of the orchids for small touches of sparkles as she walked down the aisle.

For the bridesmaids' bouquets, I fully embraced the fall colors by not only using orange blooms but also incorporating corals, bright pinks, yellows, and greens. I especially love the textural and color contrasts between the fringed Free Spirit roses (in tangerine orange), fuzzy cock's combs (in coral and pink), and sharp-edged dahlias (in a deep yellow). 

Another spin on my classic Vendela bouquet.

I strategically placed the orchids in random clusters so that it looks more interesting.

The bridesmaids' bouquets' bright colors contrast the colors from the bride's bouquet. I created cohesion amongst them with the green orchids.

To keep costs down, I substituted some Cymbidium orchids with  Singaporean orchids in the bridesmaids' bouquets.

My absolute favorite of them all- the ring bearer's boutonniere where I used Dahlia buds and a small bloom of Singaporean orchid. It is so sweet!

I rarely do 'behind-the-scenes' photos because I am so messy when I work, but it was such an amazingly warm day to work outside that I was compelled to share the memory with all of you =)

Luxe Purple Wedding

 It has been a while since I wrote, that was because Barry and I had been keeping busy with our own wedding (we're married!). Before I write about our wedding, I would first like to share about Wendy and Ricky's regal, purple, wedding, which we were glad to be part of.


Wendy is a self-proclaimed princess bride who loves luxurious colors, jewels, and ballgowns. When she showed me her wedding invitation, which was presented in a scroll, I knew I needed to design arrangements that fit the luxurious, regal, feel of the wedding.

To achieve the feel without breaking the bank, I suggested using two large arrangements at the altar, which created visual impact at the church plus doubled as decor at the head table of the banquet hall.

Amnesia roses, Cool Water roses, and Vendela roses took centre stage at this wedding. Mauve, red-violet, and pastel purple Dutch tulips, fringed tulips, and freesias, were also incorporated in the bouquets to give them rich textures. The results were beautiful and the couple could not be happier with them (Wendy happily blamed us for distracting her during the ceremony, she couldn't keep her eyes off of the altar arrangements!)

The bride's bouquet (photo by me)

Photo by me



Photo by me

 

Unless otherwise stated, all photo credits go to James Relunia

Fresh Summer Lime Green and Pink Wedding

Christine and James have been good friends of ours for years and we could not be happier when they told us that they were engaged! For their wedding, they chose a bright pallette of pink and lime green, which went well with the fresh feel of their summer wedding. We used flowers from the same pallette for the bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces.

For the church ceremony, however, Christine wanted designs that are more simple and neutral as their personal flowers already have such vibrant colors. To do so, i used large quantities of baby's breath to create two large, airy, cloud-like, arrangements on the altar and also adorned the pews with small "clouds" of baby's breath. The baby's breath created impact without competing with other colorful elements of their wedding.

It was a delight designing and arranging for James and Christine. We would also like to give +++ credits to our friends who chipped in their manual labor to make this happen: Jess, Iris, Gloria, Persis, Jack, Lewis, and Shermeen, you guys are awesome!



Christine loves to wear pearls, the pearl-topped button mums is a nod to her personal style.

All photo credits go to Rok Choi Photography http://rokchoi.com/blog/

Made in Hong Kong

I spent most of my childhood living in Hong Kong so I make a point to visit annually. One of my favourite places in Hong Kong is the Flower Market. I enjoy going in the early morning to watch people unload buckets full of flowers that are not readily available in Toronto (oh the choices they have, it's incredible!)

Being a florist, I cannot help but to pick up a few bunches of flowers whenever I visit the market. However, unlike my home in Toronto, my parents' home (where I stay) does not have vases. Despite that, I still bring home flowers whenever I go to the market (nothing can stop me!). I simply use alternative vessels around the home to hold my flowers.

Here I used my parent's tea cups. These could make fabulous centerpieces for a brunch or lunch reception for a wedding or a bridal shower.

I wish there is Scratch n' Sniff for all of these!

These mini peony buds had to be put on hold. I awaited patiently for five days until they bloomed.

 

 The buds finally bloomed so I created a peony version of my first arrangement.

Test tube Baby Callas

I came across these oversized test tubes on a trip to Hong Kong and knew I wanted to use them in an arrangement. While being distracted from writing a history paper (I was a Master of Nursing student at the time), I became inspired and came up with a way to showcase the test tubes in a floral arrangement.

The pictures of the arrangement became an instant hit on facebook. And through facebook, the arrangement  helped me reconnect with my long-lost high school friend, Rowena. Rowena asked to purchase the arrangement for her new condo, since then, we have been keeping in touch.

This is another reason why I love to arrange flowers, not only is it fun and allows me to use my creativity, it is also a channel through which I can connect with people.

 I rarely use silk flowers in my designs but using silk flowers in home decor is a more economically-sound choice. This can be easily transformed into a fresh flower arrangement by subsituting the silk callas for fresh flowers.

So what was supposed to be a small break from writing my paper turned into hours of sketching fun.