Sunny NW Wedding

 

[dahlias, lady’s mantle, saffron, astrantia, fountain grass, veronica,

ferns, mint, roses, delphinium, jasmine]

A gorgeous sunny day. A lovely and convenient venue. A great group of people. A considerate and delightfully planned event. Jordan and Janae planned everything down to a T - for a reason! They are sweet, thoughtful and really fun, and wanted their day to be the same. And not just their wedding - their whole relationship is like that! I loved working with them at watching them take care of each other and find ways to make sure the other felt loved, at all times. So good! You two are such a joy!

The venue: Riverview in Troutdale

The photographer: Jess Harvey Photography

[couldn’t resist slipping in a photo of the bride & groom with the hottest groomsman -my husband, of course- and myself, enjoying a beer between the ceremony and reception. Cheers!]

From Bramble, with Love

I know all you haters out there were hoping I’d pass up Valentine’s day since I already mentioned the holiday this year. Sorry, I can’t help it.

And not just because I am a floral designer, of love flowers, or have an awesome significant other. I… kind of like Valentine’s day. I don’t like the greeting card frenzied, red food dye overloaded, sit in a jam-packed restaurant parts of the day. What I like is that we have a day where people are expected to say I LOVE YOU. Some people think the expectation takes away the significance, but I say if it takes a fake holiday to get you to say it, then at least you’ve said it. Saying I love you is like saying I’m sorry. It takes practice. (Too bad we don’t have some sort of weird holiday to say I’m sorry - greeting card people’d better get on it!) But for real - I know that if you only show your s.o. you love them on one day of the year where you HAVE TO then it’s not real and you’re a jerk. But if you’re someone who has baggage about the phrase, hasn’t have much practice with it, or is just plain awkward this is your big chance to get in on one of the best phrases in the world! 

Well, I’ll get off my soap box now. Actually, one more thing: I think the way to make this fake holiday better for everyone is to make sure to say I love you to as many people as you can.  Especially if you s.o. is awesome (or you are awesome) and do those sweet things throughout the year. Take time for someone else!

This year I experimented with a Victorian Posy style bouquet. Something of a theme and variation. We were going for antique and romantic with a little wild and unexpected. 

Recap & Confessions

January was supposed to be my recap month. My time to reflect and consider and plan. During the first week of January I love reading bloggers posts on their previous year and it simply amazes me  that they’re able to make it through the holidays AND do all of their pondering in enough time to blog about it by the first week of January! Can I say I’m not up to that level of organization? I just wanted to end January with some sort of year in review blog post. And, well, it’s February. Looks like that didn’t happen.

The first half of January really was productive (then I got some sort of flu and laid in bed for the second half). I think I could have posted what I learned and some of the good year in review type stuff, but I got caught up in needing to do a little more analyzing, and get my tasks and goals a little more in order, and do something a little better and more interesting, like having a year in review photo post. Are you seeing a trend here? Unhelpful and somewhat incapacitating perfectionism, anyone? Yeah, I think one of my personal and business goals this year should be “take yourself a little less seriously”. Especially since one of my other goals is to make smaller goals than last year (this is surprisingly incredibly difficult for me). (Note: smaller goals does sound kind of bad, but there are good reasons! Mostly related to our commitment to working at our church this year.) 

So, without further ado, editing or thinking, here are my top three learned “dos” and “don’ts” from 2011:

Top 3 Dos:

-Clean workspace FIRST

-Take photos of EVERY project

-Do accounting RIGHT AWAY

Top 3 Don’ts:

-FREAK OUT

-Try something NEW the day of

-Forget coffee

It’s not rocket science and it’s not glamorous, but learning happens continuously and without request or permission. I don’t know what I was hoping to learn in my first real full year as a floral designer, but I’ll take any lessons I can get. It was a good, full year and I more than met my goals. This year’s goals are pretty practical (though they have yet to be turned into tasks and are thus, currently unattainable - I’m on it!) and I have high hopes for an interesting year - learning life lessons along with increasing my practical and creative realms. Hello 2012! 

Now I will leave you with some images of a wild, winter bouquet in welcome of February and the rest of the year:

Jess's Romantic Wedding

Back in July I gave you a very small sneak peek of Jess’s wedding. The only photos I took were in the back of the Jeep during delivery. They are a bit jumbled up as one might expect of a car full of bouquets. But the flowers were so lovely I still go back to those photos.

Then last week Jess sent me some of her professional photos. Eee! From what I can see, the photographer really captured the romantic look Jess was creating for her wedding. The venue was a bed and breakfast with a flower-filled yard and gazebo - if that gives you any idea of how sweet and romantic this wedding was! I can’t even tell you how thrilled I was to meet Jess and hear her vision for her special day - soft pinks, creams, sage, that would be set off by navy. LOVE it so much!

Jess was so great to work with, and had such a great vision for her wedding… it was absolutely wonderful to be a part of dreaming up flowers and bouquets with her! I love working with all types for flowers, and often gravitate toward flowers that are less expected and a little more wild, but there’s a romatic in me that needs only the slightest hint to get rolling. Then I’m gushing garden roses and peonies all day long. 

Enough of that - on to the photos!

[photos by Dina Chmut Photography]

the museum is art

In our efforts to do a better job of saving [for adult things aka house/dog/child/etc] the husband and I have gotten rather serious about free things once again. Last week’s culture and entertainment: fourth Friday night at the Portland Art Museum. I was desperate to see the Titian - what a huge relief it was when I realized it was coming down two days after free night! Having spent two and a half years in the Art History program at PSU, the museum is like an old friend. I have missed my cheap student pass greatly these last three years but still make a point of visiting as many of the gorgeous exhibitions they host - thank goodness for free night. 

As luck would have it, we arrived just as a tour was starting! A unique tour, given by the head security guard: he showed us his favorite (and least favorite) pieces, as well as some of the cool places visitors normally don’t go (because they’re not allowed, and, in some cases, because they just don’t know they can). It was awesome. I hope you can have a similar tour someday when you visit!

On to our Titian. She was exhibited under a warm light in a small, dark enclave - hopefully keeping her cozy and feeling at home, having recently left Florence. I hadn’t expected the crowd and small line to get a closer look. Or the awkwardness of being in a small, dark space with 20 strangers, bumping your arms and blocking your vision. But the overall atmosphere did function to highlight how special this piece is, and how exciting it was to see it in person. The jpeg below is sort of tragic - I thought of leaving it out, but figured most of you wouldn’t bother clicking the link. I wish I could describe the exquisite details and the deep, rich colors - it gives me shivers to remember it. Were I still a student (or bought a pass this year) I would have gone in an off time and sat on that bench for long enough to really savor it. But I went free night on her final weekend, so I sacrificed prolonged viewing for a relived memory of Europe and moments in front of other popular (possibly overly so) works (aka trying to snatch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre).

It was a lovely experience.  

[La Bella (Woman in a Blue Dress)]

   Now for the rest of the museum: 

[the hallway is art: architectural + lighting = sculpture]

[a lucky focusing problem in the museum public library - this place is freak-out cool]

[the elevator is art! light and kid’s fingerprints]

[the green room and green room wall covering]

[the trustee’s boardroom is art: windows, lighting, view]

[the museum-goers are art - or at least they don’t see a problem becoming part of the art by LEANING ON IT. whew. I was a bit aghast, if you can’t tell.]

 [myself and my dear Anna, trying to look seriously important, standing in the boardroom]