If you haven’t been to Café Du Nord in San Francisco, it’s a classic SF joint that hosts all sorts of awesome bands and events. With its dark woods, and red accents, it has a very speak-easy/ prohibition era feel to it.

Crimson colored Dahlias were the flower du jour! Other flowers that the bride wanted included: Crespedia (Billy Balls), Succulents, and Fig Branches. I threw in a bunch of white/green Hydrangea, and some green filler to help fill in the gaps. (I hope you’re all memorizing these plant names, as I will have a pop quiz at some point…. )

Dahlias, Billy Balls, Fig Branches, and Hydrangeas

The main arrangement was tall as it was going to be the centerpiece to the buffet.

A tall arrangement as the main centerpiece

Totally Succulent!

The Bride asked for a small bouquet that she could hold on to for some of the special moments at the reception. She was provided with a classic Nafis Designs yogurt tub holding vase for the moments that she didn’t want to hold on to her bouquet.

A bouquet with a lot of texture

A Succulent Bouquet and a Billy Ball Boutonniere!

The Groom received a small boutonniere made of a couple of Billy Balls, a Quail feather, and a sprig of green filler.

Billy Ball Boutonniere

After all the arrangements were complete, there were enough flowers left for an accent arrangement that could either help amplify the table centerpiece, or could be set aside as a separate arrangement.

Accent arrangements always come in handy

Accent arrangements can always be paired up with centerpieces for extra umph!

I was introduced to a bride that was looking for a bouquet and a few other arrangements by a great San Francisco artist whose mother owns a flower distribution shop at the SF Flower Mart. (If you ever need fantastic roses, you MUST check out “Sunshine International” )

The bride and I spoke over the phone a couple of times, and we went through her special day. The wedding was going to be intimate, with a total of 6 people attending (including the bride and groom) in the foothills of Mount Tamalpais.  The bride had antique blue Hydrangeas in mind as her dress had silver accents on it and she felt that the blue hue would look nice against her dress. She also mentioned that she likes non-traditional flowers, as she’s not a very traditional person, and was adamant that we use the signature Nafis Designs yogurt tubs wrapped in wax paper as her vases! A truly low cost, environmentally friendly wedding!

Total material cost: $80.00

Shopping list: Antique Blue Hydrangeas, Green Hydrangeas, Fig Branches, Sedum, Bells of Ireland, Star of Jerusalem, White Roses, Scabiosa  Seed Pod.

The bride’s bouquet was made up of Star of Jerusalem flower, Sedum, Green Hydrangea, Blue Hydrangea, and Scabiosa Seed Pods, and was wrapped with light silver satin ribbon at its base.

The Groom’s boutonniere was crafted with three Scabiosa Seed Pods and some interwoven silver wire.

There were enough flowers left over for three really full arrangements that could be used as alter pieces, and or table arrangements.

Once again, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get some great looking flowers that will leave a lasting impact in your wedding photo album!

Tip of the day: If you want Hydrangeas to be in full bloom for your event, place the flower head in cold water and watch the blossoms burst open!

This wedding was a true pleasure to work on. The bride, an Architect by training, and the groom, a Landscape Architect, had a great eye for design and knew exactly what they were looking for, yet were totally open to suggestions and changes to help their dream wedding come to fruition.

At our first consultation meeting, the bride said to me: “I’m so torn, because I want a really streamlined, modern, and architectural wedding, but then again, I’ve been dreaming about the big white poofy wedding since I was a little girl!”

Every bride has a favorite flower, or at least a flower that really speaks to her personality. This bride’s was “Billy Balls”, otherwise known as Crespedia. It has a Canary yellow color, spherical head, and tall slender stem that gives it a lot of character.

The colors were Yellow and Grey; a fantastic combination for this young couple’s modern wedding at the San Francisco Art Institute (http://www.sfai.edu/). The greys worked in concert the modern concrete architecture of the building, while the yellows added the right touch of color to help soften everything, and a hint of white helped bring in the classic white wedding feel.

With the main flower in mind, we started to chat about all the other flowers that would complement the Billy Balls while keeping everything modern, fresh, yet classic. Our list quickly became: Billy Balls, Brunia, White Freesia, White Star of Jerusalem, Fiddle Sticks, yellow Mini Calla Lilies, and Curly Willow.

The Bouquet: Modern, streamlined, yet full of texture and spunk.

Soft and hard textures helped this bride's bouquet be the ultimate cross between modern and classic!

The Boutonnières: A couple of Billy Balls, a sprig of Brunia, and a Fiddle Stick made the boutonnières fun and also made them pop for all the men in the bridal party.

The Corsages: Classic

The Bridesmaids Bouquets: Calla Lilies, and Billy Balls completed the bridesmaid look. Simple, sophisticated, and a fun!

Hip, young, and fresh!

The Altar Piece: At our first consultation, the bride already had a vision for the altar. She wanted tall branches with Billy Balls attached to them for her altar piece. Two large vases, 100 lbs of tumbled mirror from Builders Resources, a bundle of Curly Willow and a couple bunches of Crespedia later, we placed the altar pieces on two stressed wood pillars that the groom had hand made himself and it was ready to receive the lovely couple and their entourage!

The groom's hand crafted wood bases were perfect for the glass and curly willow altar pieces

An Altar with a view!

After the ceremony, the altar pieces were moved to to flank the bridal party table