Ariella Chezar is far and away one of my all-time favorite creative people ever of all time. Ever. Her work is one of the reasons I fell in love with weddings, and every time I see a photo of her flowers, it’s like a little gift. And if you feel that way, too, then you’re really going to love this: Ariella is hosting a floral design workshop in Maui!

The three-day class will focus on color, choosing the right flowers, and of course creating jaw-dropping arrangements and bridal bouquets; plus a field trip to a flower grower, and a party to wrap it all up. Be sure to check out all of the details right here.

Remember Serena and Matthew’s wedding at Haiku Mill…?

The workshop will take place at Maui’s Haiku Mill, February 22 – 24. If you love Ariella‘s work as much as I do, and you want to learn how to create floral designs that look like they grew that way, then don’t miss this chance to learn from the ultimate flower goddess herself. And if you don’t know about Ariella’s work (impossible!), then head over to her website immediately and immerse yourself in all the gorgeousness.

Top image by Meg Smith. Ariella Chezar is a sponsor of Snippet & Ink.

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

I know that flowers tend to just die after the wedding (which totally stinks) and that a lot of people consider them a waste of money…but flowers are one of my favorite things about weddings, and they are something I’m willing to put a little bit of money into. I mean, when else are you going to have an excuse to carry around a gorgeous bouquet all day!?

The florist I’m meeting with was highly recommended to me by a friend, and I can’t wait to see what kind of work he’ll be able to do for me on our very limited budget. Luckily, my favorite centerpieces include lots of greenery and filler, so that should help us stay within budget and still have gorgeous flowers!

Because the venue has very dark stained wood paneling and nice, neutral beige walls, we have decided to stick with a very natural color palate for the flowers and the wedding.

Here is some of the inspiration I showed the florist…

I love the shape of this arrangement.

Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Gia Canali

I’m hoping our centerpieces will have the fullness and texture of this centerpiece…minus the pink! I promised Mr. Opossum we would not have a super girly wedding.

Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by The Nichols / Design by 36th Street Events

I really love the colors in this arrangement. The only thing I would add is a little bit of a contrasting color.

Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Gia Canali

This arrangement is a little bit of a curve ball, but I truly love all the greenery! What can I say, green is a favorite color of mine! The only thing I would change is the color of the large flower in the middle.

Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Heather Waraksa

And last, a centerpiece I have loved from the first time I saw it! I think I’ve literally had this saved on my desktop for two years. Once again, I love the greenery, I love the colors of the flowers, and I think the fruit is just interesting and different. And I don’t even mind the container in this image. I think it adds a really nice contrast. (I’m all about contrast.)

Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Aaron Delesie

For the bouquet I want the same elements. Right now, these are my favorites.

Image via Once Wed / Photos by Braedon Photography



Image via Once Wed / Photos by Braedon Photography

Did you bring inspiration images with you to your florist meeting(s)? What did yours look like?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Wrapping things up, ten of my favorite flowers from this year’s inspiration boards…

Originally posted in Board #510: French Lace, photo by Jose Villa.

Originally posted in Board #512: Coming Up Roses, by Ariella Chezar.

Originally posted in Board #521: Lucky in Love, from Martha Stewart Weddings.

Originally posted in Board #520: Love in the Outdoors, from Brides.

Originally posted in Board #536: Elegant Autumn Picnic, by Amy Merrick.

Originally posted in Board #522: Romantic Black & White, by Saipua.

Originally posted in Board #519: Love and Lilacs, photo by Tara Whittaker.

Originally posted in Board #524: Southern Comfort, by Ariella Chezar.

Originally posted in Board #529: Pretty Preppy Stripes, from Martha Stewart Weddings.

Originally posted in Board #533: Strawberries and Gingham, from Martha Stewart Weddings.

See all my other favorites right here!

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

There are tons of paper-flower tutorials out there. I Googled around a bit and also used an Offbeat Bride thread on paper flowers to find a few I liked. My process for picking which flowers to make was pretty much:

1. Look at paper flowers. Decide if I like how they look when complete, knowing that they will probably not look as good when I do it.
2. Look at the tutorial. Does this seem like something I can reasonably expect I will be able to do?
3. Will it require buying a bunch of stuff I don’t already own and will never use again? How expensive is said stuff?
4. Try making one and see how it turns out.

So far I have made quite a few of these two types of flowers. I might make another type or two as well, depending on how much time I have. I used the tutorials I linked to, but I do have some advice beyond what the tutorials say based on my own experience.

For these guys I didn’t do the distressing or glitter stuff because it’s not my style. I bought this punch from Amazon. I hot-glued pipe cleaners to the bottom so they can be arranged into a bouquet at some point. And I just used a Q-tip with the end cut off to curl the edges.

My yellow roses in progress

For the other flowers, I cut out petals for each flower (using one full page for each flower) and asked Mr. Cannon to help with the crumpling step. It gave me one less thing I had to do, and he was more than happy to crumple so he could get involved without having to get too creative. I also left a little space in the middle of each of the flowers to feed the pipe cleaner through to give them stems.

Some blue flowers

I’ll post a finished bouquet when I finally have one—and I might add some more flowers to my repertoire before then. If so, I’ll link up the tutorials and show you how it’s going.

Is anyone else forgoing real flowers?

All images personal unless otherwise noted

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Remember my devious plan to elicit tears from our wedding guests? (Quick update: it involves old family photos, sentimental flowers and trinkets.)

I had everything except for the flowers and so turned to our florist to add a few additional blooms to the procurement list. She loved the idea but my chosen flowers are springtime blooms in our area; the likelihood of them being available (read: reasonably priced) would be slim. She suggested I look for silk versions of a calla lily, peony and pansy. While not resistant to using silk flowers, I was skeptical about locating all three. Sure, the calla lily and peony would be a snap, but pansies? I’d never seen a silk version before.

Off Mr. PaC and I went: me to Michaels, him to neighboring Lowes. Imagine my surprise when pansies were the first silk flower I found. With the option of purple or yellow to boot! Two bunches of purple pansies found their way home with me.

For Mémère

There were also several options for calla lilies. I almost bought an off-white one until spotting the crisp white ones.

For Mr. PaC’s grandmother

Finding a suitable peony was tougher. None of them fully represented the “bomb” type of peony flower or bubblegum pink color of our family’s specimen. All the store carried was the “full double” bloom. So I settled on the one below because… it’s close enough to make the point. And the family members who know the difference will appreciate the gesture.

(what I got vs. what I wanted)

I was still holding out hope that my mom’s peonies would bloom during our wedding week and we’d have the real deal. Alas, it was not meant to be. Mom texted this photo yesterday:

“Look what’s blooming – they couldn’t wait for your wedding!”

Even with a late start and partial-sun location, they’re peaking now. Three weeks early. Their fleeting beauty only lasts a week. Better to know now that we’re using the Plan B silk blooms.

Big thanks to my florist for tipping me off on the seasonality of the blooms and suggesting the use of silk flowers (for so many practical reasons).

Are you using silk or paper flowers to supplement your flowers?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Kate Holt of Flowerwild and Rebecca Stone of Duet Weddings teamed up to create this floral photo shoot for Martha Stewart Weddings. I love the modern bohemian twist they gave it (how cool is that urban greenhouse?). Photos by Jose Villa.

Loose bouquet of orange and copper cymbidium orchids, oncidium orchids and passion vine tendrils.

Bouquet of cattleya orchids and green anthurium, tied with hand-dyed silk ribbon.

Arm bouquet of maroon and chocolate oncidium orchids and white passion vine.

Cascade bouquet of green cymbidum orchids, pale green phalenopsis orchids, ladyslippers and vines.

Simple bouquet of snake’s head frittilaria, sword fern and wild grasses, tied with vintage trim.

Full bouquet of orange weber parrot tulips and foraged trumpet vine.

Photography: Jose Villa

Florals, styling: Kate Holt of Flowerwild

Styling, coordination: Rebecca Stone of Duet Weddings

Location: Hatfield Orchids

Hair, make up: Team Hair and Makeup

Wardrobe: Swift Vintage

Jewelry: Wish List

See even more from this shoot over at The Bride’s Guide!

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

My godmother, Michaele Thunen, is one of the most talented people I know, especially when it comes to flowers, and my bridal bouquet was her wedding gift to me. Though she wasn’t technically a “vendor,” she’s a perfect example of what happens when you hire wedding professionals that you trust to take your initial inspiration and direction, and then use their discretion and talent to create something wonderful.

top {L: wild green bouquet} {R: bouquet with vines}
bottom {L: warm white rose bouquet} {R: gardenia bouquet}

These are some of the photos I shared with Michaele – I knew the general shape that I liked, and that I wanted all white flowers with some greenery. I mentioned to her how much I love lily-of-the-valley, gardenias, and vines. Michaele and I discussed that paperwhites seemed like they would be a good seasonal addition, and dusty miller was a nice way to incorporate the gray that was part of our wedding’s color palette. Also, any gifts I’ve ever received from Michaele are always tied with the most beautiful ribbon, so I knew she would pick something beautiful to embellish my bouquet.

bouquets by Ariella Chezar

Ariella Chezar has been a huge inspiration for me since long before I started my blog, so of course I drew inspiration from her flowers for my own wedding. Though I knew peonies, garden roses and clematis (some of my favorite floweres!) would be unavailable for our wedding in December, and though pink and peach weren’t the right colors, these two pieces really conveyed the overall feel and texture that I wanted for my bouquet.

photo by Elizabeth Messina

Somehow, Michaele brought together all of the different pieces that I loved, and created my dream bouquet – I absolutely fell in love with it. She even found peonies in December! My bouquet included peonies, paperwhites, gardenias, lily-of-the-valley, dusty miller, and passion vine, and was all tied up with two types of beautiful silver ribbon from Britex. I absolutely trusted that Michaele would make something gorgeous, so after I’d shared my inspiration with her, I left it up to her how to bring it all together. And I’m so glad I did, because not only was the result absolutely perfect, it was also a delightful surprise on my wedding day.

Elizabeth Messina is a sponsor of Snippet & Ink.

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

One of the hardest things about being a DW bride-to-be is that I don’t get to see every single detail beforehand and I really have to trust our wedding planner to understand my vision and make executive decisions. This is insanely difficult for a Type-A, control freak, perfectionist like me!

While we were in LA for Thanksgiving, we were trying to think of a wedding related activity we could do that was (1)low stress and (2)low pressure.

Since my FMIL was really excited to help with the wedding planning  we decided that we should go to the Los Angeles Flower Market. As I’ve mentioned countless times, I am not a huge flower person so I don’t really know what I like outside of orchids (which I LOVE).

This is what I learned:

1. When you look at flowers have a plan! This place was huge and it definitely more than a little overwhelming. Most of the stores carried the same flowers so it was really about finding flowers that I wanted to see in person and figuring out what colors/sizes they came in.

2. I love ranunculus. They are like a smaller, tighter peony (sort of?)… before I get too excited, I need to ask my wedding planner if they are even available in Costa Rica.

3. Peonies are HUGE! I didn’t realize what a big flower the peony is…they don’t have them in Costa Rica so they aren’t really an option but it seems like if someone was DIY-ing their flowers, a few strategically placed peonies would go a long way. They are also all pretty closed still at the flower market so it would be important to figure out how far in advance you need to get them so they are in their full glory on your big day!

4. I dislike hydrangeas. They are definitely great filler flowers and super affordable but they just aren’t my style. Of all the flowers, they also seem to be the most wilt-y. That being said, I have definitely seen a lot of arrangements with hydrangeas that I do love so…. we’ll see.

5. I still LOVE orchids. They are just so fabulous and elegant.

6. Last but not least, I love mums. I especially love the China mum. Look at how huge and gorgeous this flower is!

It turns out that I also don’t really know the difference between mums and dahlias. Sigh. So much to learn and so little time!

Were there things you learned about flowers and your own taste once you saw the flowers in-person? Do you have any advice or suggestions about flowers that will hold up in the Costa Rican heat and last all day?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

I am florally challenged. I use descriptions like: “that thing with the ruffly petals that has greenish leaves.” I mean, how could you not know what I was talking about? I struggle with transferring a bouquet of flowers from their plastic sleeve to a vase, and usually end up with an arrangement that would make Picasso proud. Mr. Tartlet kindly keeps mum, shakes his head, and proceeds to repair my trip on the failboat (toot toot). Fact: if it’s green, I will kill it.

(source)

While the above photo was taken from another soul who lacks a green thumb, I did call home to ask if Mama Tartlet would send a picture of a baby cactus I had killed and kept because it had somehow fossilized in the pot (archaeologists, I’m you’re worst nightmare). Her response wasn’t “what cactus?” It was “which one?” ::facepalm::

Needless to say, DIY flowers is SO not an option. When it came time to meet with florists, I saved them some time (and me considerable embarrassment) by bringing along some totally steal-worthy inspirational photos. I discovered that I have a penchant for lush and soft textures. The fuzzy, cabbage-y leaves in this bouquet are just begging to be touched!

Suthi Picotte via Style Me Pretty

I also like the addition of non-floral accents, like the bitty blueberry-ish clusters in this small arrangement:

Suthi Picotte via Style Me Pretty

The wild looking filler in these centerpieces seem perfect for achieving a rustic, elegant look!

Aaron Delesie via Style Me Pretty

Michael and Anna Costa via Style Me Pretty

I met with a number of florists who all had gorgeous portfolios, but really clicked with Liz of The Parsonage. I’ve found that it’s truly important that a vendor meshes well with our personalities, and we absolutely heart the ones (like Liz) who took the time to learn more about us as a couple. In addition to having an infectious, bubbly personality, Liz was willing to integrate decor I had acquired on my own (like the numerous glass cylinders and votives I shared in my previous post). Y’all know how much I love candlelight! She also understood my desire to max out the floral fluff without breaking the bank, and I really felt like she was as invested in our wedding as we were.

On Saturday we’ll see Liz for the first time in nine (!) months to finalize the details. For the gals with wedding dates coming up, I really wasn’t sure when it was appropriate to schedule this meeting. So, when 2011 rolled around I simply sent her an e-mail and asked! I’m terribly excited, but also extremely nervous to see how things turn out!

How did meetings with your florist go?

This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

To wrap things up, ten of my favorite flowers from 2010 inspiration boards…

Originally posted in Board #451: Cotton & Blue, 1/4.

Originally posted in Board #476: China Cabinet, 4/13.

Originally posted in Board #452: A Taste for Timeless, 1/5.

Originally posted in Board #456: Juliet and Blue, 1/19.

Originally posted in Board #458: Orchid & Silver, 2/1.

Originally posted in Board #469: Nest and Petal, 3/10.

Originally posted in Board #487: Summer Honey, 6/23.

Originally posted in Board #467: Bold as Love, 3/8.

Originally posted in Board #495: Champagne and Cake, 7/21.

Originally posted in Board #507: Pink and Green Gets a Makeover, 11/1.

Favorites 2009: Flowers
Favorites 2008: Flowers
Favorites 2007: Flowers

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.