French Farm Inspired Photo Shoot!

Over the summer, I was so fortunate to be part of a totally amazing, creative, gorgeous photo shoot with lovely ladies from Jill Andrews Gowns and the uber-talented team of Lindsay and Shane from Readyluck!

The flowers we created for this shoot were very simple and natural. They added color to a mostly neutral palette.

The bouquets were made up of larkspur, baptisia and some wild weeds.

The tablescape was so much fun to create and it looked stunning with the fading sun.

The first centerpiece was a simple jar of late blooming lilacs.

The second arrangement was filled with larkspur, lilacs, allium and wild greens.

 

Thanks to Talmar, Plant Masters and Farmhouse Flowers for these beautiful blooms!

To see more from our French farm inspired shoot, check out 100 Layer Cake’s blog post and  LoCoFlo’s flickr site.

Real Weddings: Leslie and Michael

I love clients that love flowers! Leslie was a joy to work with leading up to the wedding day. She was super excited about the flowers – and so was I…which is the perfect combination!

Leslie looked stunning at her wedding. She carried a garden style bouquet filled with dahlias, lisianthus, salvia, beauty berries, eucalyptus, lavender and mint.

We lined the center aisle with these overflowing chair hangers. They were filled with mint, lavender, eucalyptus, tuberrose, ageratum and dahlias. They were perfect for adding great, natural fragrance to the ceremony.

 

Leslie collected an eclectic assortment of glassware for us to use for the table centerpieces. They ranged from a vessel that looked like a disco ball to a vintage measure cup. While each table had the same types of flowers, they were each unique as a result of the beautiful selection of vessels.

 

We had such fun working on Leslie and Michael’s wedding. Thanks to the great folks at the Josephine Baker Parks Center and to Chris at Ridgewells Catering for making set-up so easy!

Thanks to our amazing growers for always working with us to get just the right selection of flowers for each individual client! Flowers this week were provided by Wollam Gardens, Locust Point Flowers, Talmar, Farmhouse Flowers and Belvedere Farm.

Thanks to Erika Freber Photography for these beautiful photos!

Special thanks to Leslie and Michael for choosing Local Color Flowers! Wishing you much love and happiness in the years to come.

LoCoFlo in Vermont

Michael and Rob are getting married this coming weekend in rural Vermont. They wanted to bring local boutonnieres with them for their most special day. They wanted something that wouldn’t wilt and looked seasonal.

 

I made these matching boutonnieres out of broom corn, winterberry and my prized poppy pods!

Side note about the poppy pods: Locust Point Flowers tried for the first time this year to grow poppy pods for us. While they worked, it was a small harvest-only 50 stems. I dried them and have been hoarding them. Saving them for special occasions. What better special occasion than Michael and Rob’s rural, Vermont Wedding!

I also made a curly willow bouquet for the “flower girl” (a woman my age!) with ribbon to tie the rings to.

Congratulations to Michael and Rob on their marriage! Looking forward to seeing photos from the big day!

Spreading the Buy Local Love to the Homeland Garden Club

Speaking to local garden clubs is a great part of “job”. Garden club members are so much fun to talk to. They love flowers and flower arranging and they are always up for a little fun!

This month, I was excited to be invited to he Homeland Garden Club to speak to their members about LoCoFlo, what’s available locally in the Fall and how they can purchase locally grown cut flowers.

The members were enthusiastic and had lots of questions about HOW we do what we do!  I think they especially liked seeing all of the flowers/foliage/non-flower fun stuff I brought with me.

Of course, I couldn’t come empty handed! I brought some great fall flowers for the members to raffle off at the end of the meeting. They said they were going to use the proceeds to start saving for a road trip to Wollam Gardens! Woo hoo!

If you’re interested in having Local Color Flowers come speak to your garden club, you can email me at ellen@locoflo.com

Pumpkins and More Pumpkins!

This past weekend was all about PUMPKINS! White pumpkins to be exact. The idea was to use the pumpkins as the vessel for the centerpieces. For Saturday’s wedding at Historic London Town and Gardens we used deep, Fall colors with contrasting silvery greens. The pumpkins were filled with dahlias, dusty miller, eucalyptus, coxcomb, beauty berries, winterberry, gomphrena and curly willow. They looked great on the burlap runners.

 

We also had some small potted succulents, gourds, dahlias and curly willow on the reception tables to compliment the pumpkins.

Sunday’s bride also chose white pumpkins for her centerpieces. While the style was the same, the color scheme was totally different. Antique white, cream, dusty pink, lavender and silver green created beautiful, soft seasonal arrangements.

These arrangements were filled with dahlias, eucalyptus, dusty miller, tiger grass, coxcomb, beauty berry and gomphrena.

My favorite element of this weekends weddings had to be the hanging pumpkins we used for Sunday’s ceremony. When I first met with the bride and her family, the idea of hanging pumpkins came out of my mouth before I fully thought it through. Once it was time to make them-my big concern was-would the hold or would they be too heavy and come crashing to the ground.  They worked like a charm! I bought smaller pumpkins for the hangers, cleaned them out and put a jam sized mason jar filled with flowers inside of it. I then made two small holes on either side of the pumpkin near the bottom. I strung a heavy gage, bark wrapped wire through the holes making a hanger. That was it! They were awesome! I would highly recommend these little babies for a Fall wedding next year!

Thanks to all the growers who provided us with such beautiful flowers this week including Farmhouse Flowers, Wollam Gardens, Locust Point Flowers and Talmar. Special thanks to Richardson Farms in White Marsh for providing us with an entire van full of white pumpkins. Thanks to Eric, Carla, Tiffany and Heather who helped clean ALOT of pumpkins and make these beautiful arrangements.

Special thanks to Meredith and Ian and Lauren and John for choosing Local Color Flowers and for allowing us to be super creative with their wedding flowers!

If you’re interested in a pumpkin arrangement this Fall or for you Thanksgiving centerpiece, let me know. I think there will be more pumpkins in our future!

A Very Special LoCoFlo Weekend

The big news this week at LoCoFlo is that Jen had a baby! As of Thursday, Jen was planning on coming in to work on Friday-even though it was her due date. I was already feeling like I was living on borrowed time with Jen-so I was quietly excited that she was coming to work on Friday (because she’s AWESOME!) No such luck for me! Jen went into labor Thursday night and had a beautiful baby girl, Edie Adele, on Saturday morning!  Congratulations to her and Dave and Coleman and Lucas! I’m so excited to welcome Edie to the LoCoFlo family!

Even though Jen wasn’t around, Heather and I had a great time creating flower bouquets and arrangements for two beautiful weddings this weekend.

The first wedding we worked on was Nicole and Pete’s. Nicole wanted sunflowers with a mix or orange, brown and green accents. We used dahlias, zinnias, amaranthus and lots of eucalyptus. It was a beautiful palette for a mid-October wedding.

We also worked on Leslie and Michael’s wedding which took place at the beautiful Josephine Baker Parks Center in DC. What a beautiful venue-made even more beautiful by the sunny, Fall day we had on Saturday.

The bride chose white, green and shades of purple as her colors. She also wanted splashes of light yellow and deep red to compliment the colors inside the building. The bride’s bouquet was filled with dahlias, lisianthus, salvia, lavender, mint and eucalyptus.

Each of the tables had unique arrangements made in eclectic vases that the bride collected from thrift stores and from her own collection.

 

The ceremony chairs had beautiful, lush, flower hangers filled with mint, lavender, lemon basil, salvia, ageratum and dahlias.

After the weddings were finished, I did a few more deliveries to St. John’s in Mt Washington and Apothecary Wellness.

We had a truly, beautiful weekend! Thanks to our growers and to the wonderful couples and clients who chose Local Color Flowers.

Now…to keep and eye out for FROST!

September’s “You Deserve A Bouquet Today” Contest Winner: Diana

 

We are so thrilled this month to be celebrating a very special woman!  Diana’s family and friends submitted 3 nominations for her this month. Here are some of the great things people had to say about Diana:

My sister, Diana, is a ray of sunshine always brightening other people's day.  It would be a great brighten her day and surprise her with a bouquet just in time for her October 4 birthday. 

-Diana’s sister Trish

Diana is a beautiful caring amazing woman and mother. Being a mother of 4 is busy enough, but when one of those 4 has extremely special needs it can be daunting. Di faces each day with such an uplifting and positive outlook, she is an inspiration to all who know her. She deserves a special treat!

-Stephanie

The third nomination was the winner!

My sister has 4 children and one of her children, Tucker has special needs. She has tirelessly cared for him through many difficult times and has advocated for him for the past 14 years. She remains optimistic and loving through it all and is always willing to share a laugh or tear!

-Diana’s sister Cynthia

Being a mom is hard work. Sometimes a bouquet of flowers is the perfect way to remind a hard working mom of how appreciated she, how valued she is and how inspiring she is to so many people.

Congratulations Diana! I’m so glad that Local Color Flowers could share some beauty with you today! You deserve it!

Nominations are being accepted for October’s ‘You Deserve a Bouquet Today” Contest. Check out our website to submit a nomination.

Fall Wedding Fun!

This past weekend LoCoFlo worked on some great weddings and events! I was lucky to have tons of help from Jen-our nine month pregnant designer as well as Jo, and our new design assistant Heather.

The first wedding of the weekend was filled with beautiful, seasonal flowers including dahlias, zinnias, amaranthus and scented geranium.

Next was our Botany themed wedding. The centerpieces were made in beakers and test tubes! Loved them!

Saturday afternoon I drove out to Thurmont to deliver flowers for a beautiful farm wedding. The venue, Mathwig Farm was just gorgeous. A beautiful farm/barn with a great view of the valley.

Karen’s bouquet was filled with dahlias, lisianthus, beauty berries, eucalyptus, dusty miller, wheat celosia and gomphrena.

The girls bouquets were also filled with dahlias and lisianthus-but also included some pretty ageratum and amaranthus.

Angel and Matt’s wedding on Sunday was SO MUCH FUN to work on! We loved putting together their flowers and loved getting to work with Kamber at Sticky Fingers. The dahlias stole the show in all of these arrangements!

Finally, as the weekend came to an end, we delivered this arrangement to Apothecary Wellness for their front desk.

Thanks to Jen, Jo, Heather and Eric for all of their help this weekend. Thanks to our fabulous growers! Thanks to all of wonderful clients for choosing Local Color Flowers!

Raising the Jar!

The simple mason jar has become a hugely popular, versatile and festive vessel to hold cut flowers. What began as a jar for canning fruit and vegetables, is now a staple for many floral designers. I love mason jars. I never get tired of them. Whether it’s a plain, quart sized Ball jar that you can pick up at Eddie’s or an antique, blue, half gallon Ball jar found at the Baltimore Bottle Show…I love them.

This year, the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers are having their national conference in Reston Virginia. Each year, the conference hosts a design competition, inviting growers and designers alike to try show off their flowers and designs. This year, the ASCFG has stepped up their game. They have tweaked the competition and are now hosting the first ever “Sustainable Floral Design Competition”.  All entrants are encouraged to use locally grown flower to create their own take on The Mason Jar.

I’m super excited to participate in the fun-filled competition. Not only and I excited for the challenge to use all locally grown materials on November 7  but I’m also excited to bring along some of my favorite jars to show off.

Here are few of my favorite mason jar arrangements we’ve done in the past that I’ll use for inspiration.

I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures of all the cool designs I see! Can’t wait!

October is Here!

September flew by! We did 13 amazing weddings in September with really wonderful couples. Each one was unique and challenging and exciting and beautiful!

With September over, October is here and it’s by far my favorite month of the year (oh yeah…and  it’s my birthday month!). The colors and flowers we get to work with are incredible. Lots are deep, vibrant reds, oranges, golds, greens and browns.

For the first weekend in October, we worked on a wedding at the historic Belvedere Hotel for a great couple: Eleni and Peter. The wedding colors were white, burgundy, purple and green. The bouquets were filled with dahlias, scented geranium, eucalyptus and beauty berry.

The church arrangements used the same  dahlias as the bouquets in addition to salvia, tuberose, and hairy balls.

The table centerpieces were floral wreaths with table number/candles in the center.

In addition to Eleni and Peter’s wedding, we also delivered alter flowers to St John’s in Mt Washington. Our new design assistant Heather worked on these beautiful Fall arrangements.

I’m really excited for Heather to join our team. Look for her next week selling flowers at the St. John’s Day and Harvest Festival on October 9! Stop by and say hi!

Finally, we delivered some fun Fall arrangements with a little bit of everything  to Apothecary Wellness in Federal Hill.

Thanks to our great growers for all of their hard work in September. Looking forward to another great month before the frost sets in.