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!

What girl doesn’t love her sweets? After all, it’s an essential part of our daily diet! (Of course we all do extra mileage on the treadmill to work it off…. Right ladies???? Yep… that’s what I thought….)

Bridal Showers are about all things girly. Some do special Mani-Pedi outings, some will have games like “Make a Bridal Gown from Toilet Paper Contest”,  but just about every single Bridal Shower will have (in some shape or form)…. Wait for it….. CAKE! So, why not have a cake and sweets only Bridal Shower? Talk about a bunch of giddy women on a sugar high! Watch Out!

Vines and small objects are great way to accent a table that already has a lot going for it.

Now, you can’t just have your cake and eat it too… you MUST have flowers! Have your bride-to-be pick her favorite flower or color, take a look at the location of the party, and come up with some fun whimsical placement of flowers, leaves, and objects to set the tone for your fun filled shower.

Oh, and um… please save me a piece of cake. Thanks!

Pretty Peonies

Texture and color are equally as important.

Floral highlights set the mood.

Place flowers in and around the venue to bring the whole event together

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