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

As vendor bids come in and your wedding budget gets more and more difficult to balance, I’m willing to bet you’ll think to yourself “I could make that for less!”  I wholeheartedly applaud a DIY wedding, but let me be the first to tell you—kid, it ain’t easy.   When my husband and I wed last October, we funded the wedding ourselves on a very limited budget.  It was DIY from top to bottom, including the ceremony, decor, even the food! One of the places I was able to save a ton of cash was on flowers, and here’s how I did it:

1) Shop where the florists shop: Search online or get friendly with a local florist to find out where they source their flowers from.  If you’re a Bay Area Bride it’s the San Francisco Flower Mart.  Go several months before your wedding to start building a relationship with a vendor whose flowers you like. Your vendor will be more honest and accommodating if you’re a familiar customer.  After a few practice bouquets or centerpieces, and a little calculation, get a quote on what the flowers will cost and schedule a pick-up date and time.

2) Keep it simple: For your centerpieces pick one or two colors and florals for your blooms then add a little greenery. Buying direct from a floral supplier means you can get more flowers for your money, as you are providing the labor yourself. Use clear floral tape to construct a grid over the top of your vases, especially wide-mouthed vases. The grid will give your arrangement added structure and stability.

3) Throw a party: Enlist the help of as many friend as you can comfortably fit in your work area.  Put some to work de-thorning and trimming flowers while others make grids and start arranging.  Provide mimosas, snacks, and a little music to make the afternoon more fun.

5) It’s all in the details: Narrowing blossoms to two types of flowers and colors leaves you room to add special details without making the final look too busy.  This could mean incorporating table numbers into your floral arrangement in a unique way, or adding a touch of ribbon.  Here I used wide ribbon around the edges of pots that were all the same size and color, but had different raised patterns.  The ribbon covered any bits of tape that overlapped from my grids and really brought the look together.

6) Get Your Timing Right: Even with help, this process will take you longer than you think.  Time yourself from start to finish on a sample arrangement, including cleaning and trimming, then multiply it by the total number you want.  Give yourself a cushion on top of that to avoid stress.

7) Cool Off: Keep the flowers well-watered in a cool place until they are ready for their big moment! Make sure in advance that you have boxes for transporting your arrangements. On your wedding day, enjoy!  All of those compliments about how beautiful things look?  They’re the reward for all of your hard work.

Succulent Wall Gorgeous and Green Events

I was on my way to rendezvous with Guitar Fred, my fiance, when I walked by a cute store that beckoned to me with a wall of succulents. Yes, a wall. My jaw dropped and I wandered in and to the right, I saw a wall of jewel-toned vintage glass and plenty of fine white milk glass (which is what we’re using in our 10/10/10 wedding). I then realized that this was the new retail shop for Gorgeous and Green Events by Pilar Zuniga that I had heard about from fellow brides!

I have admired Pilar’s work from afar and I was excited to get up close and personal. Brides — if you’re looking to bring inspiration you see on Style Me Pretty or 100 Layer Cake to life, you must stop here. If you decide to DIY, you can purchase or rent pieces from Pilar. Or, just hire her! The following is my interview with Pilar.

Q. How did you get started?
A. I’ve always been crafty and creative and grew up doing floral design with my Aunt, but I really jumped in to wedding and event design with my own wedding. My husband and I wanted to plan a celebration that would be sustainable and not as polluting as most weddings and events. So, I did a lot of research and started to become my own green wedding expert. After helping a few friends, I decided to start a business.

Q. What do you love most about designing events? What inspires you?
A. I love being creative. A full day of work will go by and I won’t realize it, because I get to use my brain and make things with my hands, it’s what I love. I try to get inspired by the people I work with and their stories. Of course, I also get inspired by living things, plants, flowers, animals, the forest, etc. I also like most things vintage, so I’m partial to the 1940’s and 1960’s and everything kitchy about old eras, like Candy stores from Willy Wonka or Diamonds, Pearls and Silk and Black and White movies from Hollywood.

Gorgeous and Green Events Boutique

Q. Why should couples consider working with an event designer?
A. Because we usually have good ideas! And we can help you create the wedding of your dreams in your budget range. My area is green weddings and events, so I help make the event and decor sustainable as well as beautiful.

Q. What sets you apart?
A. First, the sustainability factor. I truly work to make all my floral designs and decor sustainable and eco-friendly, and I’ve learned a lot about being green so I can help folks stay green in other aspects of their event. Second, I try to work with just about every budget. I’m super transparent about costs and for folks on a budget, I try to work creatively and smart to help them get the look they are going for within the price range they can afford.

Q. What’s your favorite part of a wedding?
A. My favorite part of the wedding is the getting ready part. It’s so fun to watch people get their outfits on and get prepared for the big day. Everything starts to come together and there’s so much excitement in the air.

Q. What’s your favorite place to find unique or vintage pieces?
A. Well, I like visiting the Alameda Antiques fair, but prices can be a little high there. They do have some cool items. I also have some secret places around the Bay that I visit regularly to find vintage gems to stock in my store.

Q. What can’t you leave home without?
A. These days, my travel mug filled with tea. I need the caffeine in the morning and I have always love tea and the ceremony of making tea and sweetening it just right.

Q. Just for fun: what’s surprised you most about being married?
A. What’s surprised me most has been the level of support I’ve gotten from my husband, he truly is a life partner.

{All photos by Vera Devera with permission from Pilar}
Pilar Zuniga, Gorgeous and Green Events
A Certified Bay Area Green Business
510.599.3616
www.gorgeousandgreenevents.com

If you are looking for extraordinary centerpieces, expect the unexpected from Tina Vietmeier, founder of Urban FarmGirls.  I ran into Tina in 2009 at the Inner Sunset Farmer’s Market.  While one of her specialties is custom container gardens set in amazing handmade pots, I was drawn to one of Tina’s other top sellers—her sustainable wreaths.  Tina weaves together moss, succulents, air plants and more to create one-of-a-kind living wreaths.  I’m in love with the idea of keeping a wreath alive.  It’s so sad to see cut flowers droop, or be limited to dried flowers alone.  Why not place one of Tina’s wreaths on each table at your wedding, and fill the middle with pillar candles of varying heights?  When the festivities are over, these amazing centerpieces would make lovely gifts for the people who’ve helped you most.

Tina has worked with brides in the past to create custom centerpieces and decor for their big day.  She can even create unique bridal bouquets and boutonnieres with succulents and air plants.  Prices for the wreaths start at $45 for 8″ hearts, then go to $75 for 8″ rounds.  10″ rounds are $85, 12″ rounds $95. Larger sizes like 14, 16 or 18 ” wreaths start at $175 and can go up to $350.

Are you looking for a unique favor idea?  Try gifting your guests with a 3″ starter pot filled with a succulent starter plant. Urban FarmGirls has them in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and styles starting at $8.

Call it “Recession Chic” or “Decor on a Dime.”  A lot of brides are looking for ways to save money on their weddings. This could mean DIY (I was on overly ambitious bride—we did everything from the decor to the food ourselves) or simply some savvy shopping to stay within a budget. When I went looking for inspiration on where to buy unique wedding decor most bridal blogs repeated the same stores:  Ikea, Michaels, Save-On Crafts, Anthropologie (Anthropologie can be very pricey—check the sale section). I love all of these places, and bought from most for my wedding, but here are a few Bay Area locales you might not have spotted that are prime for saving you cash.  Warning: none of these are glamorous places to shop. You have to have a keen eye and creative mind, but when inspiration strikes you can see past the junk and find something terrific.

1) Kamei Restaurant Supply:  Kamei is a restaurant supply store with depth.  Whether you need to outfit your bar, buy water pitchers, tongs, white dishes or serveware, their prices can’t be beat. With a creative eye you can find inexpensive ways to turn restaurant supply staples, like teapots or sake bottles, into beautiful vases and centerpieces. And you can get great prices on white takeout boxes to package homemade favors in. (Kamei: 525-547 Clement Street, San Francisco, (415) 666-3699)

2) Chinatown: Chinatown is terrific for finding favors and decor, if you know what you are looking for.  Best bets are bamboo, vases, lanterns, and favor boxes. I recommend the Far East Flea Market Liquidation Center (729 Grant Avenue, San Francisco), but you have to have a discerning eye to find the right items. The rest of the cheap imports leave much to be desired.

3) San Pablo Flea Market: One woman’s trash is, well, mostly trash but a few real gems. I won’t lead you astray on this one—it’s a junkyard. But if you’re willing to take your time, and deal with the dirt and grime, you can find some great items. With absolutely no digging I found dozens of glass milk bottles, vintage postcards, fun beaker sets for you science buffs, and lovely silver trays that just needed a good polishing. (San Pablo Flea Market: 6100 San Pablo Ave, Emeryville)

4) San Francisco Flower Mart: Many of you must know about the San Francisco Flower Mart, but if you don’t, allow me to blow your mind. The San Francisco Flower Mart is where many of the city’s florists get their blossoms, and after 10am it opens to the public. It has every conceivable type of flower and floral arranging product you need in a warehouse of pop-up shops and permanent storefronts. Some stalls only cater to the wholesale crowd, but catch the retail stalls after 10am (don’t dawdle, many close just an hour or two later) and you’ll be sure to find spectacular blooms. Cultivate a relationship with a seller. Not only will that warm up their sometimes frosty salesmanship, but the seller can tell you when prices will drop, what flowers are in season around your wedding date, and suggest affordable alternatives to create the look you want. Hiring a florist? Make a sample bouquet with flowers from the Mart so you don’t have any surprises on your wedding day. (San Francisco Flower Mart: 640 Brannan Street, San Francisco)

** Everything you see on the table at the top was purchased at one of the above shops. The milk bottles were $1 each at San Pablo Flea, the tall vase is a placemat I got for $1 at Far East Flea Market then wrapped around a vase and filled with 99-cent bamboo from there as well.  The white vases on the right are sake bottles from Kamei, as is the silver votive, all for about $6-$7 total.  The flowers were around $12 at the Flower Mart, but the amount shown is only 1/6th or less of the quantity that bought me.  The rest of the flowers I gave to a neighbor.