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!

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!

Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase

LoCoFlo is excited to have been chosen to be part of the upcoming Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase on February 21.  (I’m also excited that one of our bouquets is on the event home page!)

We have never done a wedding show before. While our primary customers are brides, we have not considered ourselves part of the conventional wedding industry. We’ve been on the periphery. A niche market. Or so we thought.

Apparently, Green weddings are all the rage. Websites and blogs like the Green Bride Guide and Eco Chic Wedding are hugely popular. Baltimore Bride Magazine even did an article in their latest magazine about Buying Local. Vendors are making changes to include Green elements-some because its the right thing to do, some because Green sells.  Either way, Green is HOT right now!

I’ll update you more as we get closer (what will our booth look like? what kind of swag will we bring? what will be our raffle prize?) Right now, just know, LoCoFlo will be at the Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase on  February 21, 2010  from 1pm to 5pm at Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, College Park, MD. Put it on your calendar and come out and see us! To get tickets, click here!

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.