Real Weddings: Katie and Matt

I absolutely loved everything about Katie and Matt’s wedding. From the night I met Katie and her mom and grandmom, I knew we were going to hit it off. We spent a lovely, rainy evening in Beth Bailey’s office talking about all things flowers! Katie wanted a natural, color, beautiful palette for her wedding flowers. She also wanted to use her grandmom’s antique jars and bottles for the centerpieces. LOVED IT!

A few weeks before the wedding we all met at the Mt Washington Farmers Market and looked at some of Belvedere Farm’s beautiful flowers. We picked some really great zinnias, dahlias, hydrangeas and other treats.

Then the ordering and pick-ups started! The growers are used to getting my emails listing the flowers I need for that week. However, I don’t think they were prepared for my note requesting 1200 zinnias for one wedding!  How fun!

Katie and Matt were married at the Antrim in Taneytown. This garden was such an amazing spot for a wedding.

The bride carried a bouquet filled with white zinnias, lisianthus, dahlias, tuberose and alliums with splashes of green from the mint and sedum.

The bridesmaids carried colorful bouquets of zinnias. Perfect for this end of summer day.

I loved these pretty hangers we used for the center aisle at the ceremony.

The centerpieces were made in over 100 jars and apothecary bottles owned by Katie’s grandmom. I always love using vessels that hold meaning to the couple.

  We decorated the cake with some pretty lisianthus and sedum.

Thanks to ALL of our growers! We bought from almost everyone for this fab wedding!

Special thanks to Amy Ling Photography for providing us with these beautiful photos!  To see some more photos from Katie and Matt’s wedding, check out our flickr site.

Congratulations to Katie and Matt! Thanks for choosing Local Color Flowers. We had a blast working with you! Wishing you much love and happiness in the years to come.

Real Weddings: Anna and Matt

Anna and Matt were married at the American Visionary Arts Museum on a perfect August evening. When Anna and Matt and I met back in the winter, Anna let me know that her colors were going to be dark purple, orange and chartreuse green. She wanted a modern, edgy, unique look that complimented the personal style and the great venue.

Anna’s bouquet was made up of dark purple buddleia and asters, green zinnias, orange asclepias and beautiful Solomon's seal.

The girls bouquets were filed with green and orange zinnias, or coxcomb, purple buddleia and Solomon's seal.

The boutonnieres were made with purple statice, orange asclepias and a fragrant sprig of rosemary.

I was especially excited about the centerpieces for Anna and Matt’s wedding. We did two different table arrangements. The first one was a cube full of green hydrangeas, green zinnias and mountain mint, orange zinnias, coxcomb and asclepias and  purple buddleia and gomphrena.

The 2nd centerpiece was a collection of three vases. The first had a submerged gladiola, the second had a single orange zinnia and the third was a mini version of the cube above. They were so colorful-I just loved them!

All of the details of this beautiful wedding went off without a hitch because of the fabulous wedding planner Beth Bailey!

Thanks so much to our wonderful growers-who I STALKED about dark purple flowers for this wedding! Everything turned out so beautifully. Special thanks to Frank Hamilton for the beautiful photos and for being a great champion for Local Color Flowers. To see more photos from Anna and Matt’s wedding, check out our Flickr site.

And most of all…congratulations to Anna and Matt! I’m so glad you chose Local Color Flowers! We loved working with you!

Viva la Mexico!

I love Mexico. I've only been there once, to Mexico City and Zihuatanejo, but I loved it. I loved the food, the people, the language, the flowers.

Today Marina and I worked on a really cool gig with one of our fave green event planners, Lori Hill. The event was called Experience Mexico Meetings. It was a party of sorts to encourage meeting planners to plan meetings in Mexico. We were asked to provide 3 large banquet arrangements.

What struck me most about this event was the location. The Mexican Cultural Institute on 16th St in DC is a jewel. I felt a little like I had just walked into the Palacio Nacional with all the beautiful murals, and carved wood and tile. I actually think I was teary for a minute-I loved this building that much.

The first arrangement was a bouquet of white viburnum, purple baptisia, sunflowers, calla lilies, gerber daisies, snap dragons and stock. This arrangement stood about 3 feet high.

The second arrangement was actually my favorite. All the same flowers were used, but it stood about 4 feet high and was made in a coppery, bird bath.

The final and largest arrangement was placed on top of a glass "vase" that was filled with lemons. (not grown locally but grown on the east coast and purchased locally).

We left before the party started. Too bad, because I remember in Mexico City, folks sipped tequila with orange slices after lunch. That would have been a great way to spend the afternoon, but we had to get back to Baltimore to start preparing for a wedding on Sunday.