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This weekend’s wedding was a dream. It took place at Rancho Del Cielo, perched atop a hill in Malibu overlooking the ocean. When I handed the bride her bouquet, I got to hear the words I love so dearly, “I’m gonna cry!!!”
If you stepped into my cooler last week, you would find:
local pink garden roses and plump tulips…
While chatting over tapas at Lola Gaspar, Trista Lerit handed me a cd of images from the vibrant winery wedding we did together months back. Even though this wedding took place as spring was blooming, the jewel tones are so PERFECT for Fall, and I couldn’t resist revisiting this wedding. Especially since the weather is feeling more brisk and autumnal and I’m starting to drink hot tea instead of iced. That definitely means Fall is near. I welcome it!
My big sis Jenny-lyn married James in Hemet, CA last month. James is a pastor in Hemet, a little town near Temecula, in the middle of the desert. In August, temps reach over 100 degrees easily, and it’s dry as a bone. You can imagine that this influenced my flower choices greatly.
The task before me: to create fun, funky, flirty arrangements that would hold up in the desert, for a wedding of over 350 people, on a very modest budget. Also, I was to be the matron of honor, and deliver a witty toast, at that!
Picture this - It’s August in California and it’s 100 degrees. You’re transporting flowers to a big hotel, and the loading area is in a boiler room of all places. You pray that your flowers survive the moist, sticky heat as you wait for the teeny tiny elevator to arrive so you can bring your flowers to the reception… two centerpieces at a time. This happened to a colleague of mine who is an amazing photographer and graphic designer, but who also dabbles in the floral arts occasionally. This experience left her traumatized.
I’ve been there, too! A few weeks ago, my assistants set up an outdoor wedding in 103 degree weather. The bride’s favorite flowers are orchids (yay! sturdy!) and dahlias (uh-ohhh). My sharp assistants followed my instructions carefully and added the dahlias to the arrangements at the last minute. Except the ceremony started an hour late , and by then the blazing sunshine had taken its toll! Of course, my girls brought extra flowers along and fixed the arrangements just in time. Everything looked beyond gorgeous, but you can imagine the stress levels!
Any couple getting married in the summer months in California is ultimately taking a risk, not only with flowers, but with melting cakes, running makeup, flattened curls. I got married in August, so I totally understand! But I owe it to my clients (and my own sanity) to take the following precautions to minimize the effect of heat on delicate flowers. I can’t do miracles, but I do all that I can do to make sure that even if I look like a sweaty mess by the end of the day, my flowers still look fabulous.
1. Choose Wisely: I create my floral recipes and place my orders about 2 weeks before the wedding. When I do that, I check the weather forecasts. If it looks like it’s going to be sunny and/or hot, I try to choose sturdier flowers for outdoor arrangements. If a bride LOVES delicate flowers like dahlias, tulips, or gardenias, I’ll try to reserve those flowers for indoor arrangements or handheld bouquets that can stay in vases indoors until the last possible second.
bromeliads, orchids, and china berries- virtually sunproof
Photo by The Image is Found
I always ask my brides which flowers they love, and which flowers they absolutely don’t love. Roses are almost always mentioned. Most brides see their lovable qualities- their gorgeous spiraled petals, the insane variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, their sturdiness in all kinds of weather, and their relative affordability (I can’t think of a more bang-for-your-buck flower out there.). But there are some brides who consider roses to be a little “same-old”,”traditional”, or “bleh”. Perhaps they just want to explore the hundreds of other more unique flower possibilities before they settle on the old stand-by. I totally get it.
These are the roses that excite me every time I pick them up from the mart. These are the varieties that have reignited my love for roses and have converted my most anti-rose brides into rose lovers.
1. Polo:
A creamy white rose. Love their cup-like shape and ruffly texture.
(Photo by Tony Florez Photography)
Last week was a bit of a challenging week (still recovering from my sister’s wedding last weekend), but today has been wonderful so far. The highlight? A mockup with one of favorite brides and one of my favorite coordinators which ended in tears by the bride (HAPPY tears of course!) I cannot wait for Aaron and Barbara’s fantastic flamenco inspired wedding coming up. There will be tapas, flamenco dancing, flirty black lace, embroidered linens, espresso beans, and luscious red and wine florals.
To go with my good mood, here are a few happy arrangements captured by Jasmine Star during our Anytime shoot. Thanks Jasmine!
Welcome to Part 2 of Jenn and Chad’s Cotolot Vineyard wedding. Tony Florez caught them strolling through the grape vines…
Napa? Temecula? Sonoma?
Actually, somebody’s home in Orange County. Can you believe it?
Jenn and Chad had the most vibrant, lively, joy-filled wedding at Cotolot Vineyards, a private residence in Coto De Caza complete with a vineyard, wine tasting barn, grassy meadow, and more. Coto is filled with so many amazing estates, but Cotolot Vineyards, owned by the groom’s gracious relatives, absolutely takes the cake. While we were setting up, I couldn’t help but daydream a little bit about being the queen of Cotolot.
The inspiration for Jenn and Chad’s wedding was wine tasting- the rich green and purple color of grapes, the rustic feel of a vineyard, the intimate and festive atmosphere of a boutique winery, with a bit of glitz and glam added to the mix.
The wedding was perfectly executed by one of my favorite planners, Kerrie Underhill of Platinum Weddings by Kerrie. The fabulous Tony of Tony Florez Photography was there to capture every detail beautifully. I swung by his immaculate studio in Corona Del Mar today, and he was kind enough to give me a cd with over 1200 glorious images. I had so much trouble choosing just a few to share with you.
Meet our gorgeous bride, Jenn.
My friend let me chop down a ton of beautiful green apple branches from her overloaded tree. They are so shiny and bulbous, and look so sweet in this weekend’s centerpieces. I can’t reveal too much, but here’s just a glimpse at what my designers have been up to the last few days.
It involves the aforementioned apples…
My nephew-in-law just married the gal of his dreams in a shady meadow under a perfectly clear Oregon sky. This was definitely a homemade affair on a super tight “college kid” budget. Joe stepped in as the photographer (thank you to my friends Jasmine Star and Trista Lerit for their last minute pep talks!), I pulled together some simple florals, and a friend cooked enough chicken pesto pasta to fill all our tummies. I do love me a fancy fete, but sometimes two lovebirds surrounded by family and friends under a big tree is all you really need.
On the plane ride up, I was a little nervous about doing florals in a strange city with no real workspace, recipes, tools, assistants… but upon entering the laid back city of Eugene, I couldn’t help but chill out. Eugene is sometimes called a “little Berkeley”, where college students, coffee shops (I’m talking REAL coffee), trees, native gardens and bikes rule. I was whisked back to my Berkeley days and felt right at home there. In fact, if the weather was ALWAYS as sunny and fresh, I might be tempted to leave California behind. Alas, I don’t like sporting the drowned rat look 80% of the year. 
The big adventure of our trip: We decided to pick flowers from a U-Pick flower field at the base of Mount Pisgah instead of going to a wholesale mart. Imagine a magical place where you can come with your clippers and fill your bucket with whatever wildflowers catch your eye! It was pure bliss. Not to mention the whole scene was beautiful beyond words. Thank you to the folks at Sparhawk Farms for being so kind! We paid 4.00 per handful, and 6 buckets FULL of wildflowers was only 50.00. I personally think the farm was very generous with what they consider a “handful”.
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Kristin Brancaleone, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Vendor: Floral Designer
Website: The Treasured Petal
About Me: The Treasured Petal is a reflection of my love for scrumptious flowers, yummy textures, colors, ribbons, and all the other girly splurges that being a florist allows me to enjoy on a daily basis. Although I don't discriminate when it comes to flowers, my two favorites would have to be cattleya orchids and gloriosa lilies, which I carried in a ginormous bouquet on my wedding day. When I'm not crafting wedding florals and consulting with brides, I am usually at the dog park with my dogs Pesto and Basil, cooking healthy vegan dinners, watching Seinfeld with my husband Joe, at Bible study, or scouring craigslist for antique furniture to fill up my new house. I am also kind of a home-body and really love sipping tea in my pajamas while working my way down my google reader blog list!
