Christina and Ryan got married on a beautiful August afternoon in Huntington Beach at the Newland Barn. It was a cute setting with fun touches of Christina and Ryan’s love of vintage and classic.
Ivory handheld bouquet of hydrangea, tulips, anemone, ranunculus, alstromeria, cymbidium and phlox.
Christina’s girls wore brown dresses, allowing me to have a lot of fun with pops of color in purples, yellows, burgundies and antique pinks. I used mason jars hanging down the aisle as well as on the reception tables, with loose clutch collections of hydrangeas, tulips, anemone and ranunculus.
handheld clutch of yellow cymbidium orchids, pink and purple hydrangea, tulips, alstromeria and ranunculus.
Purple hydrangea in a glass globe hung at each "window" of the gazebo
Spider Mums belong to the chrysanthemum family. (Okay-how many of you just spelled out that word like Anne of Green Gables? “C-h-r-y-san-th-E-mum” – just me?) They are one of the largest blooms of the family, and come in green, yellow, white and a soft purple/pink. They are a hearty flower and usually hold their form and rigidity long after they have been cut. The bloom grows up to 6 inches diameter, and has individual florets (petals) that shoot out from the center in long rays which turn and hook or curl inward.
Spider mums have a very unique look, and can easily be used alone. For a tropical feel they can be paired nicely with orchids and cushion poms as well.
Spider mums mixed with stock and white cushion poms
Here are green spider mums mixed with Anemones from our previous Flower Focus
I’m really excited to be working on a wedding this weekend for Jeff and Kerry. Pretty shades of purples and plum, with black and silver accents. Be looking for pictures to come!
Green spider mums
It isn’t often that I do a wedding having never met the bride, but it happens on occasion. This was one of them. Gillian had contacted me, after a referral by a former client of mine who had had her wedding at Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach, where Gillian and Jeff were getting married. They lived in Cardiff by the Sea, so meeting for a face to face consultation proved to be a challenge. But through email, picture sharing and phone meetings I was able to design a beautiful wedding with Gillian. On the day of the wedding, we missed each other by a half hour, so alas, no picture of the happy couple with the flowers, but here are a few of the details:
Gillian carried an all green bouquet of Alice Cymbidium orchids, green spider mums, green tea roses, and green dendrobium, surrounded by ti leaves.
Gillian's attendant carried a white and green bouquet. Here is a close up of the yoko ono button mums, green hypericum berry, white cushion pom pons and white roses, encased by bear grass.
I hand glued turquoise ribbon, topped with a band of gold ribbon to the square vases for the reception tables.
Green spider mums
Is it a peony? This beautiful, ruffly bloom is indeed a rose. A Garden Rose to be exact. In this month of February, where “hot house” roses abound, I wanted to introduce you to a softer, more fragrant and beautiful bloom, the garden rose. Though not technically a winter flower, thanks to growers around the world and markets set up to deliver their flowers, roses are in bloom and available year round.
I meet many brides who “don’t like roses”. I get it. The “hot house” rose, is a tight, amazingly straight, and un-fragrant bloom that will be in every floral shop, grocer and Costco in the next two weeks. Although it is truly a beautiful flower, this rose doesn’t have any where close to the personality, layers and depth of the garden rose.
Roses are probably the most popular flower in the history of the English speaking peoples. It is the national flower for England and the US as well. Roses have been cultivated for thousands of years for their blossoms, fruit (rose hips), vitamin C, wood and use in oils and perfumes. The hybrid tea rose needs to handled a bit more gently than the heartier hot house rose, until they are fully hydrated. You should cut the stems at a 45 degree angle, underwater. They should be kept at low temperatures (between 32-33 F) and any damaged or browned petals should be removed.
Garden roses tend to have full round heads, with layers of ruffled petals that open beautifully. They are gorgeous stand along flowers, but look amazing with other combinations as well. They come in a large variety of colors and sizes. From the spray cluster rose to a large headed, peony-like bloom.
This is a pave cluster arrangement of garden roses, tea roses and stock.
A soft romantic bouquet of garden roses, peonies and sweet peas
Being asked to do flowers for a friend’s wedding is a huge honor. It’s personal. More intimate. There are usually a whole lot of other friends involved in it as well, which makes it even more fun. Some “old” friends, the Aprahamians, contacted me to let me know that their oldest daughter Lexi would be getting married this last July. Johnny and his brother Randy are identical twins who played bass and electric guitar with my husband Michael while we were a part of worship at Canyon Hills Friends Church. What a crazy thing time is. It naturally passes for you, but somehow you never expect it to change other people. But here we were, talking about Lexi, getting married. And what a beautiful bride she was.
Lexi loves color. What a fun palate she let me play with, from her bridesmaids’ teal dresses to the orange, red and yellow flowers to contrast. A huge thank you to Chelsea Stellar for sharing her images of this beautiful colorful day!
Lexi carried an all white bouquet of mini calla lilies, lisianthus, freesia, ranunculus, alstromeria, hydrangea and mums. 
The vibrant bridesmaids’ bouquets were made up of red, orange and yellow zinnia, craspedia (billy balls), mini calla lilies, dendrobium orchids, freesia and spray roses. 
The beautiful reception along the Pacific Ocean coast in Palos Verdes was accented by unique centerpieces, of Manzanita branches “planted” in beds of flowers, and vases of perfectly tinted teal water with floating candles, carrying the color palate throughout.
This week we’re focusing on one of my favorites : the anemone. Or more correctly, anemone coronaria. The florist’s variety, shown here is the poppy anemone. It belongs to the buttercup family and from the Greek anemos means “daughter of the wind”.
The anemone is a perennial, and is most often available in Spring, Fall and Winter. The white bloom with black center often lends itself beautifully to winter weddings. The anemone usually grows between 20-40 cm tall. The flowers are grown singly on a tall stem, with a whorl of leaves just below the 3-8cm diameter blossom. Anemones most commonly come in red, white or blue/purple.
The anemone coronaria is a flower native to the Mediterranean region, and grows wild all over Israel and Jordan. It is a beautiful “stand alone” flower for centerpieces, bouquets or even personal flowers, but also “plays well with others” while standing out among other blossoms.
Kellie and Kevin started out as hiking buddies, 20 years ago. What began as a great friendship eventually ended up as a romance. And Strathearn National Park in Simi Valley was the perfect location for these two outdoor lovers (and their dog).
My friend (and former Details client) Nicole Schussel was a cousin and coordinator extraodinaire for this wedding, and graciously sent Kellie my way. Kellie new she wanted sunflowers and pom pons, but other than that wanted her flowers to have a natural wildflower feel. She had purchased pine cones for the centerpieces, and wanted to make sure her dog had a floral collar to wear when he walked down the aisle as the ring bearer. A first for me, and sadly no picture to prove it. It turned out to be a lovely day, a beautiful venue and a long awaited dream come true for the happy couple.
Kellie's cascade bouquet had viking pom pons (like mini sunflowers), sunflowers,button and cushion poms, alstromeria, stock and lisianthus with solidago filler
A simple clutch of 3 sunflowers for each of the Bridesmaids.
The wedding took place on the green in front of a quaint white gazebo. I used a greens garland to frame the gazebo “window” with sunflowers and blooms tucked in. Clutches of sunflowers, mums,poms, stock and lisianthus hung from the white chairs along the aisle.
The reception took place inside the old barn on the Stathearn Park property. It was an incredible structure with personality and little displays of old antique machinery. The perfect setting for a laid back, fun filled party.
Nicole set the place cards in the old US Postal box at the entry to the barn.
Cushion mums tucked between a bowl full of pine cones for the reception table.
The Queen Mary. A beautiful retired ocean liner in Long Beach, Ca. I usually hire an extra team of assistants as it takes a good two hours to load onto the boat, before set up begins. The open air ceremony sites, and large, ornate ballrooms make a gorgeous setting for any wedding, large or small. The Beck wedding was my fourth wedding so far aboard this beautiful, challenging ship.
Kristi wanted a vintage 40s feel for her black and white wedding. She came to me with most of her ideas in place, and I enjoyed working outside of my normal parameters.
The reception pieces were sprays of white and black ostrich feathers. A change from my usual floral centerpiece, but quite fun in their form and feel in the Queen’s Ballroom.
Kristi wanted simple flowers, bouquets of carnations and roses. I combined the two with sprays of white dendrobium orchids for the spray on the gazebo as well.
Fun Fact I learned this summer. My great-uncle Fritz was a US soldier in World War 2 and was transported to his tour in England upon the Queen Mary (with a couple thousand other soldiers).
Welcome to “Flower Focus Friday” where each week I will highlight a different bloom or foliage fitting the season and share some great examples of its’ use.
This week I am starting us off with Dusty Miller or senecia cineraria, a hardy perennial usually found in arid climates such as Africa or the Mediterranean. It has a lovely soft grey, silver color, is very soft, almost fuzzy to the touch, and is great in arrangements and bouquets as an accent. It compliments white and cream flowers, especially in those Winter time weddings, but can also be used in contrast with bolder reds or thistle blues.
Although Dusty Miller does flower, the yellow daisy like bloom is not as attractive as the foliage, and is usually removed.
Though known for it’s Winter use, Dusty Miller is available year round. It usually grows in lengths of 8-15 inches long, so is easily used for large arrangements, bouquets or leaf by leaf in boutonnieres or corsages.
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