Weddingbee PRO

We are having so much fun in the studio this week. Many of my favorite flowers are currently available in the market, including snowball viburnum, lilac, ranunculus, jasmine vines, double tulips and so many more.

When I see great products I get all excited.

We, florists and floral designers in the Bay Area, are so lucky because we have a great flower market where there are plenty of offerings to meet a wide range of needs. The San Francisco Flower Market offers a wide array of cut flowers as well as plants and foliage. We are very fortunate.

Need flowers and not in the Bay Area? Not to worry, Torchio Nursery, one of my key suppliers told me that they ship flowers all over the US. Their client list includes Ariella Chezar, Artfool and many other East Coast florists.

Sean of Torchio Nursery helped us get peonies, jasmine, geranium, ranunculus, double tulips, sweet peas and garden roses this week. As a wholesaler, they carry a broad range of goods from local growers as well as from Holland. It's great working with Sean because he knows I'm really picky about my flowers, and he always has a good solution for me. Some of our peonies are a bit tight so he is looking to get me more by tomorrow morning. I know he will pull through -he always does. As a premiere wholesaler, you do pay a premium for the flowers but it's well worth it because he can source things that many of the more moderate wholesalers can't.

For roses, I go to Americana. John Gomez Sr., owner of Americana, brings in some of the best roses I've ever seen. His quality is hard to surpass. They also carry garden roses (a favorite) and are expanding with other flowers like carnations, orchids, long callas and hydrangea.

Suzy Hawk, my rep at Americana, goes the extra mile. They have delivered flowers to me when I was in a bind, and Suzy has been known to even clean my roses for me. She's one of the foremost experts on all things floral. She helped me pick out Titantic, Sweet Akito, Vendela and Rosita Vendela roses this week. Americana can also ship, so you don't have to be in San Francisco to enjoy these beautiful roses.

The arrangement in the pictures was for my bride, Melinda, who had a classic, garden wedding over the past weekend. Her wedding featured beautiful pinks, soft whites and natural pale greens. This gorgeous, soft, loose arrangement for the place card table worked because of the amazing garden flowers.

The focus of this arrangement is the rose and ranunculus. We especially love using the pink ranunculus, because they are such delicate and feminine flowers. They are full of personality. Within the pinks there are various hues. This particular ranunculus has a deeper pink tip with a black center. It's really lovely.

If you've worked with ranunculus before you know that they have very soft stems, so when you place them in Oasis foam you have to have very sturdy hands. If the stems are too soft they won't work in this arrangement.

The jasmine in the arrangement adds a soft, delicate feel. And who doesn't love those green “snowballs”.

To make this arrangement you will need:

2 bricks of Oasis foam
1 container -I used a silver tapered vase
Waterproof tape
Floral knife
Floral sheers
1 bunch of jasmine vines
1 bunch of medium length domestic viburnum (imported ones from Holland won't have the same effect)
1 bunch of domestic lilac (imported ones from Holland won't have the same effect)
2 to 3 bunches of ranunculus in hues of pinks
1 bunch of extra tall double tulips or peony tulips
6 to 8 stems of “Titantic” imported roses
3 stems of “Vendela” imported roses
3 stems of “Geraldine” roses.
1 bunch of scented local geranium
1 bunch of light pink stock

Start by creating your line with viburnum and stock. Then add lilac, roses and geranium. Finish with jasmine, ranunculus and tulips. This is a one-sided arrangement, so we filled the back with foliage. The key to this arrangement is to create shape and make sure to not make the shape too compact so allow some of the flowers to droop. Let the flowers like the jasmine flow naturally and place the ranunculus on the sides. If the tulip heads are drooping down, don't fight it.

Note: This arrangement can retail anywhere between $200 to $300. The cost will depend on the price of the container. This container I sourced out of LA at Basket World. It's a wholesaler, so it might be hard to find. Many wholesalers do not have websites and are unlisted.

Enjoy!