fresh touch

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Wedding Bouquet Preservation Fail

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Sadly, I receive emails like this fairly often, “Our fridge broke when we were on our honeymoon and my wife's wedding bouquet died! She was hoping to have it preserved.” Sometimes it’s a fridge mishap or the preservation process doesn’t end up looking as beautiful as anticipated. If you’re in that boat, I can help!

Dustin was the one that sent me that email and I was happy to help him recreate his wife’s beautiful bouquet in time for a Christmas gift. This elegant bouquet was made up of the elegant Gardenia and some greens. Simple and gorgeous! I found some exceptionally realistic fresh touch flowers that were perfect, since they were the focal point!

Curious what makes them fresh touch flowers? Click here to read more about fresh touch flowers.

Here’s the original bouquet- so simple and so classy! Image by photographer Tim Ryan Smith.

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“After our wedding, my wife put her bouquet in our refrigerator because she was hoping to have it preserved. We returned from our honeymoon to a broken fridge and the bouquet had completely rotted! Erin was able to recreate the bouquet beautifully and it’s actually hard to tell that the flowers are not real. Erin is professional, transparent, and a pleasure to work with. I am sure my wife is going to be ecstatic when she receives the bouquet on Christmas. I highly recommend using Love is Blooming!”
— Dustin | New York

If a preservation fail is part of your story, let’s rewrite the ending together. Contact me today to get a quote on a custom bridal bouquet recreation in silk flowers.

Realistic Roses for a Beautiful Custom Silk Bouquet

Many brides have hesitations when it comes to the idea of using anything but fresh flowers.

If it's not in your budget to spend a fortune on arrangements for your wedding, then realistic roses and custom silk wedding flowers might be the answer for you.

Bride Kristin had ordered flowers for her May destination wedding through me.  She mentioned to her cousin, Stephanie, that she had custom silk wedding flowers and it piqued Stephanie's interest.  I met with both brides and got to show Kristin the flowers I had already picked up for her arrangements.  

Stephanie and I talked through her ideas and played around with some stems I had on hand. She showed me pictures of bouquets and flowers she liked and we worked on some design ideas together.  Stephanie's must have's included realistic fresh touch flowers for her entire bouquet and LOTS of bling. Her classic color scheme of red and white suited the flowers she chose and the final products are stunning.

Bridal Bouquet of Fresh Touch Red Roses and Calla Lilies with rhinestone sprays, bouquet jewel and rhinestone wrap on the stems.

Bridal Bouquet and Bridesmaid Bouquet of white Calla Lilies with rhinestone wrap on the stems.

Toss Bouquet of white Calla Lilies and preserved Baby's Breath with rhinestone wrap on the stems.

These flowers are show stoppers, and the best part is that Stephanie got the flowers of her dreams with all the bling she could ask for and for a fraction of what fresh flowers would have cost her. 

Now when that spotlight hits Stephanie as she walks down the aisle (did I mention she was going to be lit by only a spotlight?) Stephanie and her bling-y bouquet will both be shining.

If you are interested in finding out how realistic silk wedding flowers compare to your fresh flower quote, fill out the free bridal checklist today.  Thanks again to Stephanie (and Kristin for the referral) for allowing me to create your beautiful flowers.

Using Broaches in a Bridal Bouquet

Before I talk about this beautiful broach bouquet, I need to reminisce about summer. See, it's a chilly -4 degrees this morning in Minneapolis and since the sun is shining, it made me think back to this past summer.  Remember summer, those glorious days of not having body parts freeze upon exposure?  Anyways, this summer was especially busy for me as we were in the process of moving out of our house and getting ready to move into our new one.  But weddings keep happening despite anyone's major life events.  That's the beauty of this job, I can work without effecting my family and you still get your flowers ahead of time.  Ok, back to this summer....

The finished bouquet.

Jill contacted me on behalf of her friend Jaime who was the bride-to-be.  Jill had a picture of a Calla Lilly cascading style bouquet with multiple broaches in it that the bride liked.  I asked a little more about bride Jaime and basically learned that she was suuuuuper laid back and didn't really care a whole lot about the flowers, hence Jill ordering on her behalf.  I also learned that some friends and family were providing broaches to be included in her bouquet--what a sweet idea.  So Jill dropped off the broaches and I got to work recreating the look that worked Jaime's budget. When I got the bouquet- I noticed a few were colored broaches.  I asked about it and Jaime apparently didn't care at all--cool as a cucumber!  So I incorporated those without Jaime batting an eye. I used Fresh Touch Silk Calla Lilies, my most popular seller.

Jaime only had one real request and that was that we used burlap to wrap the stems on her bouquet.  Pretty simple request to fulfill!

Burlap adds a nice touch to the handle of any bouquet.

Naturally, I suggested that a matching Groom's Boutonniere would be a good touch which was something Jaime hadn't even thought about.  She loved the idea of having something for her man, so I put together a simple, yet classy matching boutonniere.  Jaime didn't love the burlap alone on the groom's bout so I added a layer of shimmery, sheer white ribbon to give it a little shine.  With all that glam in Jaime's bouquet, we couldn't leave the groom's boutonniere looking too plain!

Did I mention that all of this took place in about a month's time?  Jill and I communicated almost entirely over e-mail, including pictures of the bouquet in progress, and we were able to collaborate on a beautiful wedding bouquet for her friend in a short time frame.  That's the beauty of silk flowers!  You (or your friend as was the case) get a voice in seeing your vision for your custom wedding flowers come to life whether you have a year or a month.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in hearing more about, take a minute to fill out the Free Bride's Checklist for a quick quote and to start the conversation.  Stay warm!

Red, White & Yellow Designer Silk Wedding Flowers

One of the best parts about working for myself is that I have the easy choice of putting the interest of my brides first.  I spend a lot of time talking, designing, and meeting with my brides and we get to know each other over several months and sometimes years.

Jessica contacted me in 2008 and through a series of events her wedding was postponed.  I was delighted to hear back from her when her life was in a place where they were back on the wedding planning train and I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of it.  I designed, contracted, and  purchased all the flowers for her big day.  I received a sad email a few weeks later that due to a medical emergency her wedding was being called off.  I was heartbroken for her but wished her well.

A short time later, she emailed me back saying that this marriage was a priority and they were going to be doing a small backyard wedding with friends and family.  We worked together to adjust her designs and instead of doing big and over the top, they were having one attendant each.  I was more than happy to work with her to make her dreams a reality.

The beautiful bridal bouquet: red Orchids, yellow and ivory Callas (yep- they're fresh touch silk wedding flowers!)

The bridesmaid bouquet - so classy!

The bouts for the guys:

Jessica, if you read this, I wish you happiness and health in this exciting new phase of your life.  Thank you for coming back and sticking with me - blessings!

Designer Silk Wedding Flowers | Deb Part 1 | Modified Cascade

If you've ever tried to reinvent the wheel, then you'll probably know where I'm coming from on this wedding bouquet. Deb came to me with a glamorous vision for her May wedding. One of the ideas she had was for a new take on the tried and true cascade bouquet. She passed along a picture of what I've come to call a "modified cascade" bouquet and got excited about working on this design with her.

Deb wanted cohesiveness between her silk wedding bouquet and her bridesmaid bouquets, but she wanted the glam factor to be kicked up a notch for what she was going to carry down the aisle. After several meetings, we had chosen the exact flowers going into the bouquet and then worked on this beauty until it was just perfect. Take a look at Deb's modified cascade in purple, white, and silver:

A closeup of lower details:

Fresh touch Roses, Callas & Gardenia in white. Hydrangea, Violets, Orchids, and Lilac in varying shades of purple.




The curly silver wire gave this bouquet an element that you wouldn't otherwise expect in a bridal bouquet while the rhinestones in the bouquet and on the handle gave it the sparkle and shine Deb really wanted.

If you are looking for a unique take on more traditional wedding flower designs, silk wedding flowers are the way to go. Not only did Deb get to choose every flower that would go into her arrangements, but seeing them ahead of time reassured her that the colors and flowers would be exactly what she had envisioned for her very unique bouquet.

Check back tomorrow for another feature on this amazing wedding!

Bold and Beautiful - Part1

As you may have noticed, purple has been a recurring theme in many of the weddings I've done this year. There have been all sorts of beautiful shades showing up in the flowers--lilac, lavender, aubergine, and eggplant. My brides and I have found all sorts of ways to match their color choices, and if you haven't guessed by now, I'm about to show you another wedding featuring purple!
Nikki, another local bride, came to me with a fun and bold color palette. Her girls are going to wear "tangerine" and she also wanted some purple and lime green thrown into the mix. We went back to the ever popular button mums for the lime factor, found some beautiful fresh touch orchids for the tangerine twist, we hunted down some delicious rich daisies for our purple accent, and then included green and white roses to fill everything out.

These flowers were fun, splashy, and full of zest, just like the happy couple.

Coming up next: Personal flowers.

Hot Trend: Duchess Rose Composite Flower



Composite flowers are being revived as a hot new trend! A Duchess Rose is a composite flower made up of the petals of 2 or more roses. I recently created this beautiful Duchess Rose for Yvette in Illinois. She is celebrating her anniversary and giving herself the wedding she never really had. Not wanting to carry a big bouquet, but wanting to set herself apart, she searched online and found the composite flower to be a perfect solution. I used 5 designer "Fresh Touch" pink garden roses to get just the right fullness. Yvette could have chosen an exposed or ribbon-wrapped stems for a handle, but she opted for a classy bouquet holder. The "Twist" style had clean lines and an antiqued gold finish, which will complement but not distract from her fancier gold dress.

For brides who want something unique, simple, and stylish, a composite flower might be just the ticket.
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