Anniversary Bouquet | Recreated in Silk Flowers

One of the greatest benefits of silk wedding flowers is that you get to keep them for the rest of your life!  But if you chose a fresh flower bouquet to carry down the aisle, take comfort in the fact that you could someday have your bouquet recreated in silk to treasure forever.

As I mentioned yesterday, I received a phone call a few months ago from Bob, a local guy who was trying to pull off a wonderful anniversary surprise for his wife. Bob and I met so he could show me pictures of the bouquet his wife carried at their wedding. He wanted to give a traditional gift and when he looked up what it would be for a 12th anniversary he found that it was silk. He got the brilliant idea to have her bouquet recreated in silk flowers. Genius right?!

These are the pictures he sneakily scanned and gave to me to use to recreate the lovely arrangement:

And here's what I created:

This was such a fun project!  Bob could only chat with me by text so that his work-from-home wife wouldn't accidentally see his email. I was able to text him pictures for approval and set up the pick up for a few days before he gave her this thoughtful and romantic gift.  Bob was kind enough to text me after he had given her the bouquet and said she, "loved the flowers!" and, "she couldn't believe how much they actually looked like her bridal bouquet."  He also said, "You scored me some huge points for that one, which is really hard to do as a guy!!!"  Awesome, right?  Glad to help, Bob!

If you are looking for an anniversary gift, this is the perfect option. Contact me to find out what it might take to have a bouquet recreated.

Tomorrow I've got a testimonial from Bob about his experience working with me.  Thanks again to Bob and his wonderful bride for letting me share their touching and inspiring anniversary story.

Sneak Peak | Personalized Bouquet

A few months ago I received a very interesting phone call that resulted in what you see here.  Check back tomorrow to hear the whole romantic story!

Destination Wedding Flowers | Stargazer & Tropical Wedding Flowers Part 2

Sometimes coming up with coordinating boutonnieres and corsages can be a little tricky when your theme flower is just too dang big.  Such was the case for some of Kali's flowers.  But that didn't mean no one could wear a boutonniere or corsage.  We simply took a look at the bouquets and choose smaller flowers that were equally as tropical and equally as beautiful.

Groom's Boutonniere: white Orchid, small pink Orchids:

 Groomsmen Boutonnieres: green Orchid, single pink Orchid:

Fathers' Boutonnieres: single green Orchid:

Kali's teal accent color was based off a Starfish pin she had bought for each of the mothers and grandmothers.  She wanted to incorporate them in their wrist corsages as a keepsake from the wedding.  Sweet, right?

Grandmothers' Corsages: green Orchids, pink Orchids.

Mothers' Corsages: green Orchid, pink Orchid, purple Orchid

They were just lovely and thoughtful to boot.  Thanks again Kali for trusting me to create the perfect beach wedding flowers from my studio here in Minnesota.

Destination Wedding Flowers | Stargazer & Tropical Wedding Flowers Part 1

As more brides are braving the idea of a destination wedding, they are also beginning to think more outside the box on some of those "all inclusive" packages of destination wedding flowers.  One of the most common concerns of my destination clients is that they weren't given much choice, if any, when it came to their wedding flowers.  If you are anything like me, then perhaps you too would want to know exactly what you are paying for.

That's where I come in!  I met with Kali to talk about her destination wedding and her vision for her flowers.  She definitely wanted a mix of bright colors and flowers that had a tropical vibe.  Her number one request was that the bouquets included a Stargazer Lily, her favorite flower.  So with a feel for her style and a whole list of possibilities I set out to design the perfect flowers for Kali.

Bridesmaid Bouquets: Stargazer Lily, Rose buds, Orchids (green and purple), Mums:

Cascading Bridal Bouquet:  Stargazer Lilies, Orchids (green, white and purple), Rose buds, Mums:

Does that baby make you want a frosty beverage and a beach chair in the sand or what?!  Check back to see how we did the boutonnieres and corsages, including a cute starfish detail.

Peonies & Orchids Bridal Bouquet: Bouquet Replica

While we are on the Peony and Orchid train, let's take a look at this sweet little duo I put together for local bride, April.

April got in touch with me last spring about doing a bridal bouquet and boutonniere for her May 2013 wedding.  She had a picture she sent me and knew exactly what she wanted.  I was able to replicate her vision and this is what we came up with!

The bridal bouquet consisted of white/blush pink peonies, magenta peonies, and white and softer pink orchids.  I tied it off with the ever classy white satin ribbon and used the same ribbon on the groom's boutonniere which was a single orchid.

Like the look of peonies and orchids together?  Check out Peonies and Orchids Bouquet  and this other Orchids Wedding Bouquet to see another take on this vibrant combination.

Thanks April for choosing me to make your dream design come to life!

Ice Blue Winter Wedding | Bouquet Embellishments

Like I mentioned in the last post, winter weddings are magical!  There are lots of directions you can take it, red and green, silver and white, red and gold, etc.  But this wedding was white, ice blue, and shiny!  We found a few other ways to make this wedding stand out in a non-snow flaky, evergreen, ornament kind of way.  And the moms were on board too.  In fact they were not a fan of the traditional mother's corsages so we did small clutch bouquets and wrapped the handles in rhinestones for a wow factor.  They even chose different flowers (Calla Lilies) from what was included in the bridal party arrangements.  I loved it and so did they!

The bridesmaid bouquets were a pared down version of the bridal bouquet--peonies and orchids, but no roses.  I added in the ice blue rhinestones and we further dressed up the handles with the ice blue ribbon and a band of rhinestones at the top and bottom.  Charming, right?

Another adorable touch to this wedding were the flower girl pomanders. These small ball of roses were the perfect size for the mini maids and we used the ice blue ribbon and rhinestones to have them match the bridal party.  Adorable!

This wedding was nothing short of beautiful!  Whether it was the moms willing to go out of the box, the bride's willingness to try something new for the flower girls, or using bling to get that touch of color, it came together in a wonderful winter way.

Thanks again Melissa for trusting me to work in those special touches of color and make your flowers unique and lovely!

Ice Blue Winter Wedding | Peonies & Orchids

Here in Minnesota, we got a beautiful snowy weekend.  It was picture perfect and great for building snowmen!  I thought it would be fitting to showcase a wedding of all white flowers, to match the beautiful snow outside my window!

Late this past summer I had a consultation with bride Melissa, her mother, and her mother-in-law.  We came up with some lovely designs, despite the warm temps, for her December wedding.  Her color was ice blue and she wanted to incorporate the color in her arrangements in some form or another.  When you have a unique color that is not easily found in nature, then you have to get creative in trying to figure out how to include it in the arrangements.  Once again, we turn to the ever dazzling, ever popular, and ever awesome bling!

I found some beautiful ice blue rhinestone clusters to spread throughout the bouquets and they were perfect for getting that hint of color without going overboard.  The bridal bouquet was a beautiful white creation with peonies, roses, and orchids.  We added on a family heirloom broach and encircled it with a soft ring of Dusty Miller.  It was stunning!  But you can see for yourself...

The toss bouquet: 3 peony buds and dusty miller:

Check back tomorrow to see more of how we dressed up this wedding to reflect this magical time of year!

Rustic Beauty- Succulents in Wedding Flowers

I've been itching to do a wedding with a significant amount of succulents and I finally got my wish.  When local bride Katy contacted me, she told me that she really wanted to include succulents for her up north wedding.  I was more than happy to oblige!  We did a variety of succulents for the different boutonnieres and then really went all out for her teardrop cascading bridal bouquet.

Cascading Bridal Bouquet: Peonies, Succulents, Orchids, Seedum, Fern Curls, Millet, Dusty Miller.  Chocolate satin ribbon with twine detail.

A big thank you to Katy for allowing me to create with abandon.  And a huge hug to my big brother Jon of 3104 Studios who shot these artsy fartsy images for me.  Gorgeous right?!

Lesson learned | Placing value on a florist with great customer service

Rebekah and I had an initial consultation last spring, and as is sometimes the case, she decided to go with a different florist for her wedding flowers.  Her budget was tight and she was looking for ways to stretch her dollar even further.  I totally get that – in this economy everyone's budget is tight.  No hard feelings and no judgement from me!

So I was surprised to hear back from her just a few weeks before her wedding date.  Things had not panned out and the florist she had chosen didn't turn out to be a good fit.  Rebekah had specified that she wanted "a little greenery" and the bridal bouquet ended up being mostly greenery with literally only 5 flowers....5 FLOWERS!  After talking through some things we came up with a plan B and I got to work to make it happen before it was her wedding day.  Her colors were pink and blue with Stargazer Lilies, blue Roses, ivory Calla Lilies, and Stephanotis in her cascading bridal bouquet.

Toss Bouquet:

Bridesmaid Bouquet:

Jr. Bridesmaid Bouquet:

Bridal Bouquet:

We added a nice contrasting detail to the handles of all the bouquets and did a criss-cross wrap using ivory ribbon over either blue or green satin ribbon.  The bridesmaids were alternating blue and green ribbon so the ivory criss-cross gave a cohesive look as all the girls stood together.

So here's your lesson for the day: not all silk flowers are equal.  Here at Love Is Blooming I strive to bring the most beautiful, most realistic, and highest quality flowers to each bride's arrangements, no matter what her budget.  One of the most advantageous reasons to choose silk is that I can show you exact examples of flowers that will be in your arrangements so you can touch and see exactly what you'll be ordering.  If you find yourself in a budgetary pinch, opt for simpler corsages and boutonnieres in favor of getting the main bouquets that are as close to your vision as possible.

If someone promises you the world for a price that seems to good to be true, it probably is.  And this goes for any vendor you are looking to hire for your wedding, look at their past work and see for yourself.  Save yourself the time and disappointment and go for as custom as you can afford.  Ok, off my soapbox I go and back to work.

Malibu Sunset | Blue & Orange Wedding Flowers

Does that title make anyone else think about your 90's era Barbie dolls?  WHATever! (said with a valley girl accent)

Kristi and I met for her consultation and she reminded me that we had met waaaaaaaay back in January of 2010 at the Maple Grove Bridal Expo.  Her future mother-in-law had been the one to organize the whole shebang and had kept my contact info. Kinda gave me the warm fuzzies.

Kristi's had a unique situation for her orange, Malibu blue, and ivory wedding.  She really wanted a fresh flower bouquet for herself but wanted to use the more budget-friendly silks for everything else.  Though this is a less conventional route, it's not at all a problem!

When it came to the actual flowers, she wasn't picky about the type, but really wanted to find flowers in the Malibu color. I searched through my many resources and found these pretty, full-petal daisies in the perfect shade. The roses were a shade of orange that wasn't too harsh and really complemented the Malibu flowers. We tossed in some Stephanotis for a hint of ivory and finished the bouquets up with silver satin ribbon.  Beautiful!

Bridesmaid Bouquet:

Toss Bouquet:

The boutonnieres and corsage matched in color, but we chose a different flower for the father's and mother's just to set them apart a little bit.

Groomsmen boutonniere & Ring bearer's bout:

Father's bout & Mother's corsage

Thanks again to Kristi for choosing me after all this time – glad to know my work was memorable!

Cream and Green Wedding Flowers

Elise contacted me back in 2008 about working with her, but various things in her life kept pushing back the planning.  Finally her big day was on the calendar and in the works.  We started working together again to come up with new options as her ideas had evolved over time.  She had originally been planning a Robin's Egg blue and brown wedding and then started leaning more towards the bright lime green and brown.  She finally settled on green Hydrangea and Cream roses and it was beautiful.

Bridal bouquet:

Bridesmaid, Jr. Bridesmaid, Toss bouquet:

Mothers' corsages:

Grandmothers' corsages:

Boutonnieres:

Thanks again to Elise for coming back to me after all that time!  So happy things came together for you and that you are enjoying married life!

Destination Wedding Flowers | Coral & Silver Wedding Colors - The Wedding!

When I was working on yesterday's post, I snuck a peek at my email and was delighted to find a nice little note from Whitney and some pictures from her wedding. I love when that happens!

The Bridesmaid Flowers:

The Dapper Dudes:

Whitney with her girls:

The all important marriage license signing!

Beautiful bride Whitney!

"Everything went great! Thank you, my flowers were perfect!"

-Whitney

Again, thank you Whitney for choosing Love is Blooming for your wedding flowers.  I enjoyed working with you on the design process and finding the perfect flowers for your beautiful destination wedding

A big, hearty thank you to Tati Biermas for these beautiful images!

Wondering what some others have to say about using Love Is Blooming for their destination wedding flowers?  Check out these stories:

• Jayme
• Bridget
• Carly

Coral & Silver Destination Wedding Flowers

I think it's only fitting that my next post is about those beauties you see up above here.  A fresh and pretty coral and silver destination wedding with Calla Lilies and Peach Blossoms - love it!

I met with Whitney and her step mom to come up with designs for her destination wedding flowers.

She wasn't really sure what she wanted but she knew her girls were wearing vibrant coral dresses and wanted to somehow bring that into the arrangements.  When we met, I showed her sample stems of the ever popular fresh touch Calla Lily and she was sold.  She loved that they looked fantastic and even felt real.  She still wanted to bring in the coral color so I found Peach Blossoms and spread them throughout the bouquets for a delicate and feminine look.  Add on some silver satin ribbon, a small band of rhinestone wrap and they turned out to be elegant but fun bouquets for a beach wedding.

Whitney chose the same style for all the boutonnieres, a single calla, a few peach blossoms, and satin silver ribbon.  However, she wanted her dad's bout to stand out from the rest, so we added a small section of rhinestone wrap and it was instantly dressed up.  Manly but awesome, right?

Likewise, we did the corsages the same, but that little touch of rhinestones on her mother's corsage made a huge difference.

So if you are looking for a way to set apart certain arrangements, don't feel limited to changing flowers. 

Bling is a great way to say "hey, look at me, look at me!"  Keep that in mind when designing your wedding flowers.

Check back tomorrow to see some photographs from Whitney's big day!

New year, new look!

It is only -10 degrees outside my front door and I'm coping by gazing at a beautiful picture from a destination wedding.

Must. survive. frigidness.

Since I'm housebound (no one leaves unless the ice zombies are knocking), I decided it was time for a new look on the blog. Not only that, I have been working furiously on a whole slew of blog posts complete with beautiful wedding flowers pictures galore.

Since it is a new year, there are new trends hitting the wedding universe as we speak. I found a list of 20 things that some influential wedding bloggers are predicting to be major trends for this year. How many of these will you be incorporating into your wedding?

Destination Wedding: Silk Wedding Flowers for Mexico and Back

As you read yesterday, Jayme had her Mexico destination wedding back in May and had the experience of traveling with not only her dress, but also her beautiful silk wedding flowers. It's not as scary as it sounds, trust me!  This is often a destination brides #1 concern when planning to include silk flowers for their wedding.  So take a look at these babies fresh off the plane and tell me that they don't look fabulous!

So here's how I typically do it - I rent a time machine, I set the clock for... just kidding.

I've done it two different ways, both with great outcomes. The first is to recruit some trustworthy friends and/or relatives you'll be flying with to pack them either in their carry on luggage or I've even packed them in large gift bags. The second way is I have the bride bring her carry on suitcase and we pack them when she comes to pick them up. This is often the best option because, more than anything, the flowers are packed exactly how they'll fly and it gives my brides peace of mind.

Jayme's resort package included the bridal bouquet and groom's boutonniere and you can see the lovely clutch calla bouquets that her maids carried down the aisle. She wasn't exactly sure what her bouquet was going to look like, but she wanted to make sure she had some bling on it. So she purchased a section of rhinestone wrap to add to the handle the morning of the wedding.

Barefoot is so romantic!

Back in Minnesota, Jayme and her new husband hosted a reception for those family and friends who weren't able to be a part of the Mexico ceremony.  As she thought more about it, she decided she really wanted to have a bouquet for her Minnesota reception that was similar to her Mexico bouquet.  She called me up again and we got back to designing.

Her simple handtied bouquet was made up of ivory Calla Lilies.  We wanted this bouquet to mimic her Mexico bouquet in another small way, so we added the rhinestone wrap and called it done.  Charming right?

Jayme was a friend of Carly's and had heard how she used silk wedding flowers for her destination wedding.

And here's what Carly had to say about the process of working with me. Thanks again to Jayme (who was such a gorgeous bride!) for trusting me with bringing your ideas to life for your wedding and reception.  Congrats on your new marriage!

Bridal Review: Destination Wedding & Silk Flowers

Local bride Jayme says:

Erin did an amazing job designing my wedding flower bouquets! I had a Mexico destination wedding and reception and a reception in our home town as well. The silk flowers traveled great and still look amazing after our double wedding festivities! Erin was always quick to respond to all my emails and was very quick in designing my bouquets, even when I made decisions last minute:) She was so friendly and had great ideas that tied in with our wedding theme and colors. I would recommend Erin to anybody and everybody!!! Thank you so much Erin for all your help with our wedding!!

Thanks to Jayme for trusting me with one piece of your long distance celebration.

Tomorrow I'll be featuring Jayme's wedding day photographs to see how all our designing and planning translated into her destination wedding and hometown reception arrangements.

Pink, White & Blue Summer Silk Wedding Flowers

Pink and blue seem to be a timeless combo when it comes to custom wedding flowers.  It's soft enough with the right amount of punch for a spring or a summer wedding. And silk wedding flowers are a great choice because the colors are available year round. Here we did a summer take on it with blue Hydrangea, dark pink Daisies, and a little hint of white Stephanotis tossed in for good measure.

Bridal Bouquet:

Bridesmaid bouquet:

Toss bouquet:

I love the brightness and the fluffy texture of the different flowers.  These would be great in a church or garden wedding during the spring or summer.  What do you think?

Daisy Wedding Flowers | Sunset Color Scheme with Daisies

Sunset colors are hot right now so I wanted to share a recent wedding incorporating them and the classic summer daisy wedding flower, the Gerbera Daisy.

These beautiful orange and magenta Daisies are perfect for an outdoor wedding, a sunset wedding, or even a church wedding.  You can't go wrong with Daisies!

Bridal and Bridesmaid Bouquets:

Boutonnieres:

Mother's corsage:

Grandmother's corsage

Thanks to Melissa for bringing this fun and summery design to my studio!  Best wishes on your wedding day!

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!

Thrilled Bride Shares Her Feedback on her Designer Silk Wedding Flowers

Remember Rachel's beautiful cascade bouquet for her January wedding?  If not, check out this blog post featuring the flowers, and this blog post with some pictures she sent over.

Rachel was kind enough to send me her thoughts about working with me and her experience with designing custom silk wedding flowers.  I wanted to pass it along because sometimes it takes hearing it from someone else to feel confident when deciding on wedding vendors for your big day.

"Working with Erin was amazing and I'd recommend her to anyone and everyone! I'll admit I wasn't completely sold on silk flowers, but since we were having a December wedding we thought it would be for the best. And I'm so glad we went this route! Erin had creative ideas and she was very flexible with working within our budget. The best part was being able to see the pictures as a work in progress - you would definitely not be able to do this with real flowers. Erin took my ideas and ran with them to make gorgeous bouquets that I couldn't have even dreamed of. Some of our guests even commented on how real the flowers looked!

If you're looking to use silk flowers, Erin is definitely your gal. She's quick to respond to inquiries, she's fair with her pricing, she's flexible, helpful, and very friendly."

Thanks again to Rachel and her new hubby for choosing Love Is Blooming.  Want to hear from more of my happy brides? Hop on over to my recommendations page and see what the other gals are saying.