Soft Pinks and Fresh Mint ~ Florida Shoot for Mag Rouge

These gorgeous photos are from a stylized shoot that was the genius brainchild of Summer Watkins of Grey Likes Weddings and captured perfectly by Ryan Ray Photography. The concept behind the shoot was a southern Florida vibe with fresh greens, soft pinks, navy blue and white stripes, and wonderfully patterned fabrics that all tied in with each other. Summer did an amazing job with the styling. I've never seen a concept like this, much less put together so seamlessly. The style direction for the florals were Southern in feel, pink, and to have the bouquets tied in navy blue and white striped ribbons. When I was thinking Southern, I thought anything too large and bohemian would be out. When I saw the dresses Summer picked, I wish I had gone a little crazier with the design. But, all together, the shoot is stunning and I'm proud and honored to have been a part of such an awesome team. The other super exciting part of this shoot was that it was featured in Mag Rouge's 4th edition, called their "Festival Issue". We're in there with some of the best in the industry, as the magazine is full of crazy beautiful imagery, by impressive talent. So, please enjoy these stunning images from Ryan Ray and Summer Watkins and check out the Mag Rouge issue, you won't be disappointed. ;-) 

This dress just makes me sigh... hmm. And that bride has to be one of the most incredible looking women I've ever seen. Her hair, by Diana Lopez, was insane in person. I would so love to see a bride actually rock that style.

Could the groom be any more handsome? It was cute watching these two interact.

The flowers used were peonies, garden roses from Rose Lane Farms, pink scabiosa, bridal protea, cymbidium orchids, maidenhair fern, hosta leaves, and fresh mint (a little nod to Southern sweet teas). I picked up the ribbon at my favorite spot in DTLA, Michael Levine, and I love the way it visually plays with all the other patterns Summer picked out.

Isn't this invitation suite by Paper Made Design fantastic? After hearing of the qualities pineapples hold for many people in the South, I appreciated it that much more. (my post last week had pineapples in it too.) I also loved how the roses I just happened to get at Rose Lane Farms, matched the ones on the invite perfectly. Happy accident.

I created a couple small arrangements in antique silver sugar bowls. I also put the extra bout's in a footed silver compote. It just felt so appropriately Southern to me.

 

So, I made a total 5 bouquets for this shoot. This last one came from taking several of the smaller bouquets apart on site, and making one large bridal bouquet. I couldn't see what I was doing (I typically look in a mirror when I design) so I wasn't sure how the exact shape was turning out. When I got this image back and saw that the bouquet, at this angle, looked like a heart, I was pleasantly surprised. I was hoping nobody thought it was intentional, but then again, a heart shaped bouquet is kind of cool. Especially when it's unintended. Lol.

The bout the groom chose was one I made out of a garden rose, bridal protea, and mint. I also made a few out of cymbidium orchids paired with mint and little heads of scabiosa.

This shot doesn't have any flowers in, but it's just so editorial and breath taking, I had to include it. It also showcases Amy Clarke's beautiful and soft make-up treatment. The whole team on this shoot was wonderful and I hope you enjoyed it.  Happy Wednesday!

Vendor Credits

Photography: Ryan Ray
Styling: Summer Watkins of Grey Likes Weddings
Flowers: Nancy of Oak and the Owl
Stationery: Elaine of Paper Made Design
Wedding Dresses: from The White Dress in Corona del Mar
Hair: Dianna Lopez
Make Up: Amy Clarke
Hair Accessories: Renee Pawele

Post Wedding Celebration at the Marion Davies Guest House

I had the complete pleasure of creating flowers for a party at the Marion Davies Guest House in Santa Monica a few weeks ago. The clients had eloped several months earlier and wanted a party to celebrate with their friends and family. In coming up with the overall design aesthetic I worked closely with the Bride and her mother, and they were definitely two of my favorite clients. They both were so much fun to work with and trusted in my ability to make them something beautiful - which is a wonderful feeling and allows for greater freedom in what I do. The main direction I was given was that the Bride wanted a palette of fresh, summer colors, and wanted them to be lush and beautiful. Nuf' said... The Bride's mother wanted to incorporate a Deco feel because of the history of the house, and she and I had a great time collaborating on what that would look like. 

Because of my background in interior design, I loved this project even more. The Marion Davies Guest House in Santa Monica is SOO beautiful. Exactly what I want in a house of my own. Classic and timeless with gorgeous architectural details, open floor plan - given the time it was built, and lots of molding and wood paneling. You can check out more details on the house here. It's part of the Annenberg Community Beach House and is such a prime location for events. I also loved working with Gigi, the venue coordinator. She was a dream to work with and made install and strike seamless. 

This was the grand arrangement for the Dining Room. Most of the containers I used were from my collection of etched mercury glass, except for one and I'll point that out. The flowers used for the large arrangement were dinner plate dahlias, African marigolds, pee gee hydrangeas, maidenhair fern, bay branches, and two types of berries that I'm not sure of their names. The tall branches had lethal 2-3" thorns on them and were called "cottoneaster" and the smaller, more abundant berries, were called a "fruiting olive".

The Living Room mantle was an important design feature for both the Bride and her mother. They wanted to have a real conversation piece that had the deco feel we were trying to incorporate. We went back and forth with a few ideas, but when the Bride's mother mentioned including pineapples because of their meaning of "welcome and hospitality", I thought a "still life of sorts" (exact words from our emails, lol) would be a great addition with flowers on the mantle. The clients loved the idea and let me go for it. I used pineapples, grapes, oranges, lemons, limes, pears, and figs. I also used marigold heads along with the fruit. The Bride also wanted lots of candle light, so I filled in that amazing fireplace with hurricanes, and put a few more along with mercury glass votives on top of the mantle.

I also went out to my favorite rose vendor, Rose Lane Farms, in North Hollywood, because I really wanted to use old fashioned English garden roses for this event. Lynne, the owner, cut me special varieties in creams, whites, and golden yellows.  I also used coral mini amaryllis and maidenhair fern in this low arrangement. The vase is from the 1940's and was a wedding gift to my grandmother. I thought it fit in perfectly with the aesthetic and I knew where it was going to be placed (up high and out of the way), the type of party it was going to be, and that the vase would be in safe hands - so I felt comfortable incorporating it into the still life. I love being able to occasionally use pieces from my families past that have such history. 

I did a low centerpiece for the coffee table in the Living Room. It includes dinner plate dahlias, garden roses, spray roses, pee gee hydrangea, fruiting olive, bay leaves, and a few marigolds. I've recently made the official decision that I'm going to tape all my low, wide mouthed, containers. I'm tired of reconstructing arrangements on site and not being able to get the original design back that I spent so much time on originally. So, if anyone is wavering, I say go for stabilizing... There's only so much time to fluff on site. ;-)

Ugh, that fireplace... I have to have something like that in my future. It's just so beautiful. I'm totally smitten with those caryatids.

 

I did one final small arrangement for the side table where the desserts were going to be placed. I used one of my favorite etched mercury glass containers for this piece. Some day I'll be a little less enthused by mercury glass, but right now I can't get enough of it.

So I know I said I would be posting every week and I'm two weeks late with this post. Lol... It's been crazy around here with the end of the major wedding season. I have one more December wedding and hopefully holiday parties, but I'll be much more on top of emails, posting, etc. I have so much material to share that I'm excited to get it all out there. So, here's to best efforts and most likely a post every week. But to my 2013 brides, I'll be on top of emails by the end of the weekend!

Cheers!!