Baltimore Beards Are Here!

You’ve seen them in the Baltimore Sun and on social media, but now you can get the full story about our Baltimore Beards project.

At the beginning of the year, when we were making plans for 2014, Irene mentioned that it would be fun to do a project with floral beards. We’d seen some photos on Pinterest, but thought it would be fun to put a Baltimore spin on the idea. So, we pulled in our friends from Balance Photography and 9 of the best beards we could find and Baltimore Beards became a reality.

Since we weren’t sure what to expect (how would the material stay in? how long would each beard take? would it be weird to be up close and personal in someone’s beard?) we started with Eric.

Even though he has a short beard, the plant material stayed in pretty good without any extra support. For the heavier flowers, we used eyelash “glue” (it washed out with water).

What would you think if this guy was delivering your wedding flowers?

Once we got the basic technique down, we could really start to get creative.

Our first “round” of beards arrived right on time. Like us, I’m sure they didn’t know what to expect, but they were amazingly willing to go with the flow.

Greg was first. Greg is vegan and a military veteran.  He had an amazingly long beard that lent itself to a long, crazy, trailing design. We accented the design with a beautiful, “black” lily from Hendricks flowers. For the longer beards, we used bobby pins to attach the larger, heavier flowers that wouldn’t stay in on their own.

Stacy had just started interning with us, when we threw her into the deep end!

Not surprising, our photographer, Nathaniel Corn of Balance Photography got in on the fun too. He took a break from shooting to get his beard done by Carling.

Artist, Matt Muirhead was next. Matt’s design didn’t stop at his beard, we also included some natural eyebrow magic.

Our last “beard” of the morning was Paul Masson, lead singer of Baltimore’s Great American Canyon Band.

Obviously, Paul had a great look for our project! Paul’s lovely wife Krystal, (of the Great American Canyon Band and Esther and Harper) also got in on the fun. Now that’s some Baltimore hippie love!

Irene scoped out some great spots for our group shots including this Charles Village alley and pocket park.

The afternoon “beards” were just as much fun as the morning ones.

Jim Hickey’s beard was our most “floral” beard.  Jim, lead singer of the Solicitors, really got into the shoot.

Artist John Podles got a “green” beard. I especially loved the piers japonica down at the bottom of his beard.

Finally, our last “beards” of the day were Adam and Slippy.

Adam, also of the Great American Canyon Band, rocked his floral beard, including a gigantic orange poppy!

Slippy, one of Baltimore’s favorite bartenders, (currently at Dylan’s Oyster Cellar),  had an epic floral beard AND ivy head crown.

We ended the shoot at one of our favorite neighborhood spots: Charles Village Pub.

This was seriously one of the most fun days at LoCoFLo ever! Thanks to everyone who was a part of the shoot!

To see ALL of the Baltimore Beards photos, check out our flickr album.

Happy Summer folks!

Just Like I Imagined

For years, I imagined LoCoFlo having a home of it’s own where we could have plenty of fabulous space to work. I day dreamed about space to have consultations and pop-up markets and open houses and design classes.

Well, this weekend, it was just like I imagined. Friday, Carling, Irene, Laura Beth and I worked on a variety of fun projects including 2 weddings, arrangements for Kale A Rama, Lululemon, Apothecary Wellness and…the BGE guy (yes-the bge guy came to read the meter and ordered flowers to take home at the end of the day!).

(thanks to our friends at Balance Photography for photos of our kale arrangements!)

Saturday, we opened up the garage door while the Waverly Market was in full swing and sold herb and succulent gardens.

We also chit chatted with lots of friends and neighbors who stopped by to see what was inside “that green striped building”.

Finally today, we hosted our first design class in our new space! It was so much fun welcoming folks in to try their hand at floral design.

All of the arrangements turned out so beautifully! Here’s one example of a finished arrangement.

Spending the weekend working is pretty awesome when this is the kind of work you get to do!

Real Weddings: Shauna and Brent

Shauna and Brent were married on a beautiful September day at one of my favorite venues: Historic London Town and Gardens.

Shauna carried a classic white bouquet made with locally grown dahlias and scented geranium. A beautiful, jeweled broach added a pop of color to the bouquet wrap.

The wedding colors were shades of orange, gold and green. The style of the wedding was rustic and natural. (My favorite colors and style!)

The guys boutonnieres were made of small succulents, orange gomphrena and a little splash of white statice.

Two lush ceremony arrangements were placed on the deck where the couple said their vows. The colors looked so vibrant against the blue of the sky and the Bay.

Sweet, pint sized mason jars filled with dahlias and zinnias hung from the ceremony chairs. A great added touch for the center aisle.

The reception tables were decorated with potted herbs, succulents and in this case, salad greens.

Even the cake got gussied up with flowers! Orange dahlias and zinnia added a great pop of color to this classic, beautiful white cake.

We’re so grateful to all of the growers that provided flowers for Shauna and Brent’s wedding including: Locust Point Flowers, Belvedere Farm, Plant Masters and Wollam Gardens.

Special thanks to Nathaniel and Rissa from Balance Photography for these beautiful photos. I can’t  tell you what a joy it is to work with this super talented couple.

Finally, congratulations to Shauna and Brent. Wishing them a lifetime of happiness.

Video Blog: LoCoFlo at the Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase

Last weekend Local Color Flowers attended the 2nd Annual Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase at the University of Maryland. Put together by lori hill event productions and Balance Photography, the Green Wedding showcase brought together loads of green vendors and designers that showed off their wares to couples that were interested in fabulous green products and services. Check out the video to get a glimpse of some of the show’s highlights.

The green wedding showcase marks the official start to the season. We headed out to pick up some beautiful spring flowers including: tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, stock, lilies, star of Bethlehem, calla lilies, pussy willow, curly willow and Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick.

Jen and I had a great time putting together these unique, Spring arrangements-some traditional, some not so traditional. All beautiful!

Even though it was cold and snowy, it was great going out to Farmhouse Flowers, Locust Point Flowers and Plantmasters to visit with the farmers and pick up flowers.

Looking ahead to this new season, we’re excited to bring you more photos, video and stories about the work we’re doing, the farmers we work with, and the fun we are having! I hope you’ll check back soon!