Stargazer Wedding {Part three}

I can't believe I forgot about the rest of my pictures from the Stargazer Wedding at St. Ignatius!

I Dropped off the florals at her Hotel room and was greeted by her beautiful Bridesmaids.
Had to take the bathroom bouquet shot!

That room was packed by the time I got there. I couldn't even fit in the room but I had to get a few shots where I could! Building a portfolio is no easy task :)
I made her a last minute Orchid Hair piece but I couldn't get past the stylist and florist and parents and 5 bridesmaids to take a picture :(
So I jumped on this bouquet/shoe shot.

Then luckily I was able to get one of her facing forward with her bouquet


I had to take a picture of the boutonnières in the hallway, too.
I feel really bad because she ordered 14 boutonnières and I thought she just had a big party plus ushers. She was a pretty laid back bride so I didn't question it. But when I got to the church all the men AND women were wearing them! I was horrified that instead of wearing corsages, the mothers and sponsors were wearing boutonnières! WAH! I will never take for granted that a bride and groom may not know the difference again.

The center Orchid bout was for the groom to match her bouquet and her hair piece.

The it was off to sit in traffic to make it to the church across town.
St. Ignatius is BEAUTIFUL!

Her lovely ladies waiting to be cued down the aisle with the bride looking on.

Now its her turn, see the hair piece? Yeah I can't either...pfft :P

She was so cute and nervous, I could hear saying to the coordinator
"OMG, I'm getting married, OMG,OMG,OMG!"

Then we were off to the Hyatt in Union Square.
Again in traffic because not only was it the sweetest day{according to the calendar}
But it was also the famous Nike Women's Marathon in SF.

My lovely friends came to help out, one because she wanted to help me out, the other because she's considering going into the event business and was curious to see how much work is really done on the day of. I hope I didn't scare her because as usual the day was hectic
BUT!
We made it everywhere we had to be and everything looked good :)
The funny thing is they have the same name so every time I called one they would both answer and or come over to me, hehe.

Here they are working on the centerpieces.

Simple Ikebana inspired glass cubes filled with three stargazer flowers, buds, and curly willow.

Decorating the cake was left to me.
I was especially nervous because you can't mess up buttercream.
That's why usually the cake person insists on adding flowers and I always leave the flowers for them.

Also, the bride is a cake decorator.

Yep. That's her day job. A cake decorator.

You can imagine the pressure I'm feeling right???

But in the end, I did ok.
Here was the toss bouquet, I didn't want them to be completely broken when she threw the bouquet across the room by using only stargazers, so I used roses and lilies.

Then it was time to go....

{And they lived happily ever after}

Stargazer Wedding{The Saga Continues}

Okay.
The wedding was two weeks ago and the remaining Stargazers are still opening!!!
They are fighters I tell ya! Look at them???
I made a huge arrangement out of the buds and half opened buds
and they continue to open and stay alive.
Although they are beautiful, I don't want to look at another stargazer for a long long time, lol! They were extremely difficult to open and I got what I needed but it was stressful! SO DIY Brides thinking of Stargazers, make sure you get them AT LEAST
5 days in advance. I purchased 18 bunches on Wednesday for a Saturday wedding and I got 110 flowers to open for me out of almost 180 stems. That is one bud per stem and they have three buds on each stem that may or may not open. So plan accordingly.
Ok, off my soap box.
But they do make lovely pictures :)

Pink Stargazer Wedding {Part Two}

I did finally get them enough of them open!
Here are some pictures before I get started in my next project this weekend.
I will post more later!

The Ceremony was at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco

The ceremony was at the Hyatt In San Francisco in Union Square.

The lovely Bride!

Stargazer Wedding {The Flowers}

Sorry for my lack of posts:(
I have been busy with a wedding that took a lot of of me!
I had to fight with some stubborn stargazer lilies to open for me....those stubborn ladies.

Here is a picture that I wanted to share because a lot of people think that working with flowers is all roses(no pun intended). We have to get up early to go get our flowers, spend time conditioning and stripping them, designing, then transporting, and then setting up.

Oh and did I mention cleaning? Lots and lots of cleaning!

So it's a good thing I love it. :)
I would rather spend 12 hours in my workspace with my flowers and my Ipod, than at an office from 9-5 any day.

*sigh*

So if you don't hear from me right away after a wedding, it's because I'm exhausted.
Thinking about the day, the designs, the whole experience.

ANyWho!


Notice the picture above? The lilies are SUPER closed? It's Wednesday.
Out of 40 stems, almost 110 buds in each bucket, you can see that only
6-8 PER BUCKET are open for me.....
This is now Thursday.

By Friday I had about 40 open.
Mind you by the time the wedding comes I need to have a minimum of 110 open.
UH-OH.

But on the plus side aren't these Dahlias the loviest shade of pink ever? Aren't they huge?
My camera does not do these justice...

So a little warm tap water and some table sugar in a bucket and to bed I go!
Maybe Saturday I will get my 110 minimum........

Pink Stargazer Ikebana Wedding

I am going to finally get my pink wedding. I have been looking to complete my portfolio with a pink wedding and it has eluded me......but! Noe I get a chance to have a pink AND an Ikebana style wedding. Yessssss! I of course had to mock up a few arrangements to show my wonderful clients and took the opportunity to show my sensei, Soho, the arrangements so she could give me some feedback.

Here are two samples of the brides maids bouquets placed together.

One is mixed with pink and a deeper shade of pink for more depth.

This one is the same all around for a monotone massed look.
{look at the flowers/color minus the buds, I couldn't bring myself to cut them off just yet.}

EEK! I like them both, what do you think???

Here is the first centerpeice idea for a pink Ikebana inspired wedding.
Very simple arrangement of pink stargazer lilies and a touch of curly willow.

I didn't have a clear glass vase and I'm afraid to fall in love with this perfect green vase, but it was the perfect size.

Here is the one in a black container.
It has a small Kenzan and after talking with Soho about it, it actually is better off in foam for a day of event. It has Pink stargazer lilies, a bit of pink larkspur, and horsetail.


Here they are side by side for comparison!