As a few kind souls pointed out, I jumped the gun a little on announcing my inclusion on the Elizabeth Anne Designs Wedding Library. I'm happy to say that my name is now officially up there, as of tonight!. Thanks to Ami and Rebekah (again) for including me in this great resource! Feel free to stop in and write a review of your experience working with me and give other brides an insight into the world of designer silk wedding flowers.
8-8-08 Wedding! One month to beautiful custom bouquets.
Congratulations to Love Is Blooming bride Valerie who got married Friday on lucky date 8-8-08! Valerie's theme was all about purple and classic roses. She wanted to set apart her bouquet so she chose all purple roses for herself and a matching clutch bouquet for her daughter to carry. The bridesmaids had creamy open roses in the posy style.
Valerie was really a fan of the ballerina wrap on the stems but didn't want too much purple. I used sheer ivory ribbon as the base for the two purple bouquets and laced them up with a shimmery sheer purple ribbon. The bridesmaids had the opposite ribbon configuration as a way to bring a little more purple to their bouquets.
Valerie also ordered two special corsages for the mothers. I made them with a matching open cream rose and a bud, accented with purple rock cress, purple ribbon, and the ever popular *bling* rhinestone picks.
Valerie was on a short time-table and ordered her flowers within a month of the wedding. No sweat though! We had plenty of time to work on the design, gather all the flowers and construct each arrangement.
One of the most important aspects of this whole process was Valerie's input. After I created the base design for each of the three bouquet styles and the corsages, I e-mailed pictures and talked with Valerie about the size, shape, color, and construction of everything. For her peace of mind, there were no surprises in the finished product. She was extremely happy with the results and glad to have another item checked off her to-do list.
Congratulations again Valerie, I hope your wedding was special and memorable! Thanks for letting me be a part of your big day!
Wedding Resource: Blogs - Love Is Blooming on Alltop
If you are looking for some fresh ideas, look to the world of wedding blogs. Trying to wade through the wealth of sites and information can be a little intimidating, but thanks to sites like Alltop you can find a lot of great resources in one place! I am happy to announce Love Is Blooming is the newest addition to the site! Alltop is a fun place to, at a quick glance, check out the wedding blogs of all sorts of fine folks. You can see that Elizabeth Anne Designs is a resident there, as well as another of my favorite new blogs:The Brides Cafe.
I've found Alltop to be a great place for inspiration as there are so many ideas pouring in. In just a few minutes of browsing you can find unique stationery, suggestions for guests about dress etiquette, unique favor ideas and tons more. So with that, I say, dive in! Find what inspires you and make it yours!
Wedding Resource: Elizabeth Anne Designs Library
I am excited to announce Love Is Blooming's addition to the wedding library for Elizabeth Anne Designs. It is a great resource for finding recommended photographers, venues, planners and other wedding vendors. If you haven't checked out their blog, Ami and Rebekah are both delightful and helpful as they share about all aspects of wedding planning. Check out the vendor review page to read about other brides' experiences and suggestions, or to write about designing your flowers with me! Kind of like the little change tray by the cash register, "Take a penny, leave a penny," were all in this together!
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.
Wedding Colors: How to Choose and Use
Color plays a huge role in the theme and design of your wedding. You may get ideas from seasonal colors or from designs on websites or in magazines. Whatever your inspiration, be sure to make the most of your color scheme.
Last night I watched this video from The Knot and was really excited to pass this on. Don't be afraid to vary tones within a color, like when the video suggests exploring the various shades of purple. Using a color wheel is another good way to head in a creative direction.
Here's a list of some of my favorite color schemes to date:
-Spring green and hot pink
-Burgundy and olive green
-Cream, pale pink, and pale green
-Deep purple, green, and orange
-Spring green and navy blue (courtesy of that great table set up in the video)
A creative way to bring colors into your bouquets is the use of embellishments. Ribbon is a great way to add in an accent color or two. Rhinestones add not only sparkle but can also add color. Feathers add a very unique touch and an air of sophistication.
Whether you want your colors to be bold and vibrant or soft and romantic, each little touch will build on your theme. So, immerse yourself in color and enjoy the feeling you get when you see all your details perfectly presented.
Last night I watched this video from The Knot and was really excited to pass this on. Don't be afraid to vary tones within a color, like when the video suggests exploring the various shades of purple. Using a color wheel is another good way to head in a creative direction.
Here's a list of some of my favorite color schemes to date:
-Spring green and hot pink
-Burgundy and olive green
-Cream, pale pink, and pale green
-Deep purple, green, and orange
-Spring green and navy blue (courtesy of that great table set up in the video)
A creative way to bring colors into your bouquets is the use of embellishments. Ribbon is a great way to add in an accent color or two. Rhinestones add not only sparkle but can also add color. Feathers add a very unique touch and an air of sophistication.
Whether you want your colors to be bold and vibrant or soft and romantic, each little touch will build on your theme. So, immerse yourself in color and enjoy the feeling you get when you see all your details perfectly presented.
Customer Review: "People couldn’t believe the flowers were silk..."
Hi Erin-
The wedding on June 14 went off with out a hitch... it was the perfect day, but went by too fast! The bridesmaid bouquets looked awesomely stunning up against their dresses, and I absolutely loved my bouquet! I attached a picture of me and my girls. People couldn’t believe the flowers were silk, when they touched the daisies and roses they said they felt real! I have told two brides-to-be about you, I highly recommend them to worked with you because the process was easy and stress free.
Thanks again and hope you are having a good summer!
Jennifer and Shawn W.
St. Francis, MN
How to Avoid Wedding Flower Surprises
I was just reading the blog of Masterpiece Wedding Planners and they provided this pretty comical video of one of their wedding adventures.
Two things stood out to me as I watched:
1. The brides' bouquet looked similar to one I created recently; seen here:
Pink and Cream Peonies and Phaelonopsis orchids
2. The bridesmaids bouquets were not right the first time!
(Though props to Melissa for dealing with the florist's mistake and keeping her client happy when everything seemed to be falling apart.)
All this to say, I am proud that none of my brides have ever been surprised by their bouquets. Colors, flowers, styles have all been approved beforehand and they get to give input during the actual construction of their flowers. It is a fun process for everyone involved, and it gives brides the chance to help create each beautiful arrangement.
Even though things may not go perfectly smooth with your big day, you really can have peace of mind when it comes to your designer wedding flowers.
Photo Finish: Vintage Wedding Flowers
I'm pretty sure there's no better feeling than seeing my work "in action," so to speak. These shots, provided by their photographer, are some of the best shots I have received from brides I've worked with. I literally almost fell off my couch when I saw this first one.
I met with Amy and Nathan at a local Caribou for a chat about how to get a vintage look with the flowers. Their ceremony was being held at Minnesota's Varsity Theater and they wanted every detail to reflect their theme. They also were planning on using Peacock feathers for boutonnières and wanted them also to be in the bouquets. We worked together to find the perfect colors and flowers to flow with the atmosphere of their site and tie in with the feathers. What we came up with turned out wonderfully which is why I am happily gazing at these pictures -- what a picture-perfect couple. I can't help but feel like I'm looking back in time with the finger curls in Amy's hair and Nathan's dapper pin-stripes.
The great thing about this job was that Amy and I had the chance to work closely to figure out how to get everything to come together. We reworked the design until we found a way for the feathers to show their face in just the right way. That's one of the benefits of using silk flowers, we had the chance to collaborate together to find perfection.
Thanks to the happy couple!
I met with Amy and Nathan at a local Caribou for a chat about how to get a vintage look with the flowers. Their ceremony was being held at Minnesota's Varsity Theater and they wanted every detail to reflect their theme. They also were planning on using Peacock feathers for boutonnières and wanted them also to be in the bouquets. We worked together to find the perfect colors and flowers to flow with the atmosphere of their site and tie in with the feathers. What we came up with turned out wonderfully which is why I am happily gazing at these pictures -- what a picture-perfect couple. I can't help but feel like I'm looking back in time with the finger curls in Amy's hair and Nathan's dapper pin-stripes.
The great thing about this job was that Amy and I had the chance to work closely to figure out how to get everything to come together. We reworked the design until we found a way for the feathers to show their face in just the right way. That's one of the benefits of using silk flowers, we had the chance to collaborate together to find perfection.
Thanks to the happy couple!
Customer Review: "I was the person that said I would never have silk flowers..."
"To be honest, I was the person that said I would never have silk flowers for my wedding day. However, Bryan and I decided on a destination wedding and I wanted 3 completely separate colors for bridesmaids and I wanted each to carry a bouquet of flowers that matched their given dress color.
When Erin had first met with me, she was honest by saying those colors were typically hard to find but she would do everything she could to match my dresses. Sure enough when I met her in February, she had matched colors perfect! We tweaked them a bit and added some tropical flowers for flavor to Erin’s recommendation. Even after meeting with a few other floral places, the quality of the flowers Erin used completely beat out every competitor. If I had to do it all over again, I would start with Erin! I, my bridal party, friends, family, and outsiders at the wedding were all amazed that my flowers were silk!
I probably wasn’t the easiest customer to work with as I had trouble making up my mind and changing my mind along the process. Erin worked with me to create, tweak, and to change things whenever I asked. Thanks Erin for making the most complicated part of my wedding the easiest."
Bridget H.
New Brighton, MN
Inaugural Post
Welcome brides!I am excited to start off this blog to coincide with my launch of my freshly expanded website. It has been a really great Spring so far, and I am excited about the buzz my business is generating. I am honored that you are checking things out and I am eager to help you design the flowers for your perfect wedding!
I want to say a special hello to the 4 new brides that decided to have me design their flowers in the last week. Can't wait to see what we come up with together!
I have to give credit for the artsy header to my good friends the Niebelings. They were good sports while I dragged them around a local park looking for the perfect shot to let the flowers speak for themselves. Thanks you two!
I have to say, I've been putting off doing this for a while, but I have a renewed vigor for blogging lately. In the past, I've seen great articles on wedding trends, flowers, and other interesting design tidbits and thought, "Gee, that would be perfect to talk with my clients about." And now, I'm here, I'm ready, I'm doing it.
My hope for this blog is to make more information accessible to my clients, post progress updates and pictures, have a venue for feedback, and just a fun place to delve deeper into the world of wedding flower design!
I love hearing your comments, so please feel free to interact with my posts. It's easy to subscribe, and any and all questions are welcome! And please keep checking back for exciting things to come!