Floral Inspirations: Branching out

This beautiful branch artwork featured at the Viceroy Anguilla's restaurant is so inspiring that I had to share it with you.  

I know that branches have been overdone and overpayed but when you see something of such grandeur, you have to stop and pause.

I also love the way that it's framed which makes it even more breathtaking.  No flowers needed in this restaurant with a piece like this.

For more about the Viceroy Anguilla, please visit their beautiful site.  Viceroy was recently named as one of the best new resorts and I can see why!

Inspirations: Black is SO back

For many years, black has been out.  It's definitely back and for me, it's never been out at all.  And when you pair black with white or even blush or pale pink, what could be prettier, right?

Of course, these sugar anemones with their black center make black so so haute(hot!).  My only wish, I wish I could get anemones like these year round.


Sidebar:
I must admit that I can't remember who made these cakes...if anyone knows, please let me know so that I can give the cake maker and photographer the credit they deserve.

Floral Inspirations: Less than 5

I love to challenge myself by creating very simple and elegant pieces with less than 5 ingredients.  This is one of my favorite pieces and though it looks incredibly simple, it's one of those pieces that give me a hard time ocassionally.  I guess you could say that working with Tulips isn't my favorite.

To make this piece, you actually need to let tulips sit outside of water before designing and before you can even design, you have to "treat" the flowers and sit them in an appropriate bucket so that they lean while they drink water. If you attempt to "bend" the stems when they are straight, you may end up snapping the stems instead of bending them. Can I also say that if I could do this over again, I would not use beargrass as it is very stiff and hard to bend consistently.  Those suckers will drive you crazy as they don't always want to "form" this nice loop. And to make matters worse, often while working with beargrass, I cut my fingers.  Ouch.

Tip: It helps that the vase is curved so that the stems and the grass will form to the shape of the glass.

Try this and let me know if you think this is harder than it looks or I'm just sort of incompetant!

Floral Inspiration: Bouquets to Art 2010

For the past few years during the spring, I get to participate in the Annual Bouquets to Art.  I've written about this experience in the past so for some of you, this isn't anything new.

For me, it's definitely one of my favorite projects to do and it truly is an honor.  How many people can say that their floral designs have been displayed at the Legion of Honor or the DeYoung Museum.  It's a big deal...no matter what!

The selection process is a mystery. How the selection process works and who gets what piece of art baffles me.  All I know is that it starts on a cold January afternoon when all the floral designers and garden clubs gather and wander through the entire museum. We each get a sealed packet and a form to complete.  Each person(or group) gets to select his/her top 5 choices.  From the top 5 choices, a designer is then given one of his/her choices for which he/she must create a floral design inspired by the piece. 

For the past few years, for some odd reason, I never get any of my chocies.  This year was no exception and I didn't get any of my 6 listed pieces(yes, I picked 6 even though the committee asked for 5).

Barbara H, one of selection volunteers, called me about a month ago and basically said, you don't have a piece but how about something from William Wiley.  So that's how I got my piece this year.  I never saw it in person and through the magic of the internet I was able to get a glimpse.   

What makes the matter even more peculiar is that this year, I found out the morning of the installation which was Monday, April 19th, that another floral designer was also doing a floral piece inspired by William Wiley's Wash Doubt.  I don't think this has ever happened in Bouquets history...and honestly, I didn't care because I really like Cheryl the other designer.   She is so talented.

So without any further ado, here's my interpretation of William Wiley's Wash Doubt.

Industry News: European Flights Delay Shipments

To our clients and the many vendors out there 

Due to the volcanic ash, flights and cargo shipments from Europe have ceased meaning that certain flowers from Holland have not been able to leave Europe to the US.  The Holland flower market is losing millions of dollars a day because they cannot send any of the flowers to the USA, including our very own SF market.  I wish I could snap my fingers to get flowers here but white and light blush peonies are especially sparse as are some breeds of hydrangeas and tulips.

I'm working day by day to get a status report.  I will let you know what I can do.  Many brides will be affected by this in the weeks to come so my suppliers are trying their best to accommodate all brides especially those that want peonies and imported double tulips and other Dutch imports.

There are always solutions and plans.  For example, if we don't get peonies in white - we can sub large headed roses.  For some we can also get late blooming rananculus.  As for hydrangeas, we will source appropriately.

Just wanted to let you know that I am on top of this situation and never thought that an Iceland volcano could effect my little world - it has!

We are keeping our fingers crossed that this situation will resolve itself in the next two weeks. 

No matter what, don't get nervous if you are a bride.  Don't panic if you are vendor.  There are so many beautiful flowers in the market to choose from!  Remember, there's always a solution.

Best,

Nancy

Floral Inspirations: From the Trash II

Do you ever get pigeonholed?  I do.

Most people think all I do is create pretty, beautiful, fluffy, feminine floral pieces and weddings(and they would be correct) but most forget that I'm a trained floral designer and enjoy doing more modern pieces for home, restaurant and corporate installs.

This is another project from the trash(which I am lovin').  I rescued branches from the trash, cut a few pieces from an old curly willow branch and took the "stems" from a bunch of regular white callas to create this vertical piece.  For many of you, this might not resonate especially if you love our fluffy pieces but I think it's important to show that you can do a range of styles even if it isn't that pretty. 

To make this piece....
I took one of rectangular glass and one smaller bud vase.  I used the smaller bud vase to hold the branches.  Then I "submerged" the glass into the large glass.  The curly willow is wrapped inside the larger glass.  To finish this design, I threaded, cut stems amongst the branches.  This design is something that I created for the fun of it so I'm not going to put a price tag on it...let's just say it's priceless to me. 

Design time: 30 minutes

Floral Inspirations: Under a Canopy

Thank you to my friends at Hartmann Studios for asking me to help with their Winter 2010 Open house.  I never thought that orange, hot pink, gold, and magenta could all work together.  I guess I was wrong.

The use of a canopy creates very key focal point which is wonderful when designing a very romantic and  dramatic event.  Though I didn't know how the chandeliar would look with the rest of the over the top element, I have to say, in photos, it sure looks opulent(if only I could go back and fix those little lampshades which are not straight, I would be much much more happy!)

Thanks to Maiko, my design partner, at Hartmann for putting this together....All the linens, table tops props, and lighting are all part of Hartmann's collection, including that backdrop - oh la la.

This Bombay room really brightened up my day.

Behind the Scenes: Intern - A Peek at NLCD Mechanics

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am seriously bummed about the end of "Ask Nancy". The very last "Ask Nancy" column really shows that some floral designers including NLC do a lot of research and testing to ensure consistent quality standards and minimal mishaps. There is an incredible amount of effort that goes into the preparation of any design and event so that nothing goes wrong on the day of an event (but of course, even despite a massive amount of preparation and experience, it seems to me that something always goes wrong at an install no matter how much you prepare in advance). You try your best to be ready and just roll with the punches - think on your feet and be very creative, because you *must* come up with a workable, fast solution.

Nancy has these rustic metal pails that she uses for containers - we painted some and used them for a vignette at the Wedding University, and we're using them again this weekend. What you don't know, is that when filled, these cute little containers slowly leak rusty water.

She has a quick and easy little trick that she uses to insure that her arrangements don't ruin all the linens and cause a major catastrophe at an event. Put a plastic cup inside the pail and fill that with water instead! Simple but effective.



To be honest, I love DIY, but I would be afraid to DIY something that I didn't have full confidence that I could execute well. This is the perfect example of why to hire a professional - so you can be less stressed, confident that you have put the job in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing and will think ahead and do tests to insure that all goes well. If you are planning to do your own flowers and don't have any previous experience with it, this is definitely a good reason to think ahead and do prototypes and testing before the big day!

Thank you Michelle.  As always, we are lucky to have such a talented writer on our staff.  Though Michelle's internship is nearing its end, I have the utmost confidence that Michelle will make it in the real world.  I think more people should apprentice and develop great skills.  Despite adversities, Michelle has survived but will she make a career out of this?  Stay tuned.

Real Weddings: Wedding of the Year #1

Here we go again and we start with our favorite 2010 weddings. The first one is from Cavallo Point(it's from 2009 so I confess that it's a little late for 2009 so we added it to our Weddings of the Year for '10).

Our lovely bride Annie choose Cavallo Point in Sausalito. The colors were cerise, sunny yellow, Peonies pink, and soft white. When we first started talking, the challenge was how to make something look utterly polished, contemporary & casual, simply understated yet sweetly whimsical. Annie didn't want her wedding to look cookie cutter and we worked hard to use tissue paper products, floral patterned papers, and various ribbons to create sweetness. The contemporary casual elements came through the vases, selection of linens and colors, and the ceiling fabric design. As a floral designer, the challenge was looking for modern containers. As the event designer, the high ceilings in the ballroom and the grand outdoor lawn were my key challenges. How to create a ceremony design that could compete with the SF cityscape? How to bring the ceiling down so that it didn't look intimidating?

The solution for the ceremony, don't compete with the backdrop and create something that the guests and the camera could focus on(streamers of ribbons and flags). Add a pop of color(bring yellows) to the outdoor space.

The solution of the reception, bring the ceiling down through adding soft billowy fabrics by the incredible team at Enhanced Lighting who customized that drape pattern with less than 7 days to go.

For the complete story, to see more images and to see the list of vendors, please go to Style Me Pretty. These images were courtesy of Style Me Pretty...

The result - a happy bride + groom and a memorable event . That's why it's a Wedding of the Year for 2010.

Photography by Matthew May

Day of Coordination by Amy Nichols

Behind the Scenes: Intern - The Missing Week

Hello Brown Bag readers!


I wanted to thank the people who were so kind and posted comments when Nancy wrote something about my little accident. I didn't write this earlier because I didn't feel this was directly relevant to the blog's content, but Nancy asked me to let the readers of Brown Bag know what happened to me and why my blog posts stopped.


On March 2nd, I fainted, and when I woke up on the floor, half of my face was numb. I was completely disoriented and didn't realize what had happened, so I just went back to bed. Only after the numbness started to wear off and I tried to remember what had happened, did I realize something was seriously wrong. I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, and saw my broken glasses and blood on my face and eye (and I realized why my vision seemed blurry). I had something called a vasovagal episode, which in itself is not a big deal at all.

The problem was, when I fell, I gave myself a slight concussion, hit a nerve in my face, and fractured a bone in the orbit of my eye. My face was weird and twitchy for awhile, and I had to get a surgical consultation because they thought they would have to put a metal plate in my skull to replace the broken bone. For a week afterward, I couldn't look up or down or side to side, and they were afraid that a shard of bone had embedded itself in the muscle of my eye and was keeping it from rotating (yes, icky grossness). Fortunately, it subsided on its own (they said it was probably due to swelling) so I don't need surgery, and the bone fracture will heal itself in 7 more months (it will be permanently out of place). In the meantime, I have to suffer unexpected stabs of pain and chronic light headaches on the right side of my face until it's healed, but those are really very minor compared to the first few weeks.


(Nancy says readers like pictures, so here's a picture! This is an iPhone pic of my head CT. I was trying to find something fun and exciting about the whole situation while I was in the hospital, so I took a pic over the ER doctor's shoulder. See on the left, where the jagged grey edge extends down into the black part? That's the fracture inside my head. Cool eh?)


Next up, my first, difficult week back. Or as Nancy puts it, "Tell them how I was a total slavedriver!"

You fall down and somehow you have to get yourself up. With pressure mounting on all ends, will intern, Michelle Chang, make it through her final weeks without another setback? Will Nancy drive her to the edge of insanity? Will her health fail her and force her from finishing? It's like an episode of The Young and The Restless, will Michelle make it...Stay tuned.

Floral Inspirations: From the Trash

So last week's article on DIY sort of got to me....especially when a few brides were comparing finished design with cost of flowers.  I don't blame brides and grooms for comparing their finished product with flowers when it is uninspiring.  As a challenge to myself, I decided to share with you a design that I did with flowers that were of absolutely no value.

These flowers cost nothing...really!  I savaged these precious things from the street outside my studio (it's my front office so I wasn't foliaging from other's people's gardens), my trash bin, from a wedding that I cleaned up and from my weekly restaurant account of "old things"  to prove a point that a great design is priceless(and the vase isn't too bad!)

1 salvaged ti leaf from an arrangement - $0
1 stem of a 2 week old cymbidium that was suppose to go in the trash - $0
1 bunch of month old lilygrass from my weekly account - $0
1 succulent from the outdoors - $0
1 7 year old vase from the dust bin of our warehouse - $0

To get the flowers back to tip top shape, I had to soak the ti leaf and remove the thick "vein",  trim away old yellow parts from the lily grass, submerge the orchid so that it could rehydrate, remove bad blooms, and cut away poor leaves from the succulent.  Time: 1/2 hour.  It took me 30 minutes to think of a design and to locate the perfect vase for this design.

What I would have charged $150.00 because I think it's worth it!

By The Numbers: One Table for the Academy

I haven't done a By The Numbers post in a long time and I think the Designer Showcase table from Wedding 360's Academy for Planners + Designers would be a perfect one to do.  What do you think?

Here's what we fit in 1 14 x 28 space!

220 stems of Fuschia Phalenopsis Orchids

100 stems of magenta plum double Tulips

13 Cattleya Orchids in Magenta

13 stems of Purple Vanda Orchids

100 stems of Dark Plum Dendorium Orchids

110 Bubble Bowls

150 ft of Crystal Strands

2 Acrylic Stands

10 bunches of plum Ranunculus

48 4 inch mini bubble bowls

48 votives

12 flat bubbles to hold placecards

12 Circular frosted chargers from Hartmann Studio

2 High back white leather booths

2 Plexiglass stands from Hartmann Studios

1 New White Parson Table

1 I dream of Cake

2 New White Parsons Console

2 Arcylic Tray from Ikea

1 Bucket of mini clear crystals

24 Mini donut disks

4 Crystal Candle holders

6 Beaded votives from Hartmann Studios

2 Leather Cubes from Hartmann Studios

1 White Carpet from Hartmann Studios

120 ft worth of white sheer draping from Enhanced Lighting

3 Black Light from Spencer's

40 Escort Cards from Mira Aster

12 Bubble Menus from Mira Aster

1 Acrylic Frame from Ikea and table number by Mira Aster

2 Bolts of Fishing Wire

7 Designers

2 12 ft King's Table

3 Leather Benches by Hartmann Studios

4 Lighting Staff Members

1 Bolt of Fabric for Hand pleated Linen by Hartmann Studios

1 Devoted Intern for the Academy

3 Major design changes

1 Avatar Blue uplights

1 Bubble Gobo pattern

Countless hours of creative energy

and

a room of new friends - priceless!

Sneak Peak: What's coming up next week?

What is coming up on Nancy's Brown Bag - this modern design.  Q: What inspired it? Answer:  Trash!

Inspirations: Flower Love

Many years ago I did a table for Elle Decor's DIFFA.  I never saw the photos from the event until recently and when I see it, I still smile.

I love the combination of Hot Pink with Aquamarine - an "Easter Egg" color palette that people don't do enough of.  Thought it's been a while, I really like the chair caps and the little pearl ribbon embellishment.  The best part of the table was that I had a chance to work with Maiko Elko Gardiner of Event Couture.  Though Maiko no longers works as a wedding planner, I'm happy that Maiko is with the design team at Hartmann Studios!  Yippee.