Baby Shower: Blue, Boys, and Britain

Afternoon Tea at a British-inspired Tea Room: what fun!

For a lovely afternoon tea celebrating the impending arrival of a baby boy, I kept it simple and let the flowers speak for themselves. Clusters of blue in varying shades dotted the rustic wood tables and looked marvelous paired with the mixed tea cups and saucers. The blue of the flowers picked up the blue in the curtains and the other blue elements of the tea room - a harmonious combination indeed!

Flowers pictured include: light and dark blue hydrangea, light and dark blue delphinium, bachelor's buttons.

Barnes Reds

Reds and greens aren't just for Christmas.

The look of vibrant, electric reds and fuschias next to acid greens is always fresh, clean, and good for any time of the year. For this corporate event, I contrasted the chocolate, coppery clothes with these bright colors.

As I have said before, a lot of different looks can work in this space, but my favorite is one that picks up on the dual, contrasting elements of hard/linear (as seen in the granite water feature, iron gate, straight lines of stone) and soft/curvy (as seen in the fabric walls, wooden floors, light stone). The glass cube (hard) with the burst of nature and color (soft) works perfectly.

Flowers pictured include: freedom roses, hot lady roses, green hydrangea, cymbidium orchids, cockscomb, hypericum berry, salal.

Out of the Blue

As I said before, blue has been very popular this year!

Just a glimpse at a few bouquets and an altar arrangement for a late summer/early fall wedding. Delphinium, often temperamental, is stunning when it's perfect - and this crop was - and the gardenias in the bridal bouquet were pretty spectacular as well.

My favorite view of this wedding is that of the altar arrangement against the stunning cobalt of the stained glass. Nothing is prettier on a clear, sunny day.

Flowers pictured include: blue delphinium, white hydrangea, green hydrangea, gardenias, white mondial roses, white spray roses, salal.

Clouds

Rather surprisingly, blue has been quite a popular color this year - and especially the specific color combination of blue and white.

Another surprise has been the resurgence of baby's breath. After years of (rather harsh) banishment from the world of 'good taste', baby's breath is back. What works best is not using it in a mixed arrangement so popular in the 70s in 80s, but using it as it grows in the garden: in dense, bush-like quantities.

The effect is pretty cool and for a hot early fall day, the look is lacy, ethereal, and natural - the baby's breath arrangements are cloud-like across the room.

Flowers pictured include: baby's breath, white hydrangea, blue hydrangea, white vendela roses.

Destination: Santa Barbara

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Santa Barbara to attend my niece's wedding, where I also was asked to design the bouquets for her big day.

Traveling and working on flowers in an unfamiliar place is not ideal, but Santa Barbara proved to be a perfect location. Many of the growers who supply the east coast are based in the Santa Barbara area, as it has ideal growing conditions (70 degrees year round, sunny days, cool nights, low to no humidity). It was so much fun to visit a grower and see the flowers cut and boxed on-site. The flowers were amazing  - waves of sweet pea, lavish dahlias (some as large as my hand), masses of garden roses. 

My niece's colors were hot pink, bright green, and navy blue and I carried this theme through not just the bouquets, but the luncheon I hosted earlier in the week as well. She got married on the beach, and I wanted the flowers to evoke the relaxed, beachy, beautiful feel of Santa Barbara. 

For her bouquet in particular, I was especially pleased to have the most stunning astilbe and scabiosa  - they both looked sort of coral- or sea urchin-esque and I loved how the finished bouquet looked against the lace bodice of her dress.

What a lovely wedding, what a wonderful week, and what a beautiful bride! 

Materials pictured include: blue, pink, and green hydrangea, trick dianthus, hot lady roses, sweet pea, bupleurum, garden roses, tibet roses, scabiosa, astilbe, ranunculus, and ivy.

Replicating my workroom in our rental property

Garden roses

Scabiosa

Luncheon table

Bridesmaid's bouquet

Old, borrowed, and blue - Mother of the Bride's bracelet

The wedding party

My beautiful niece