Farmer’s Market Design Class at Local Color Flowers

Our first Farmer’s Market Design class was a huge hit! What could be better than a design class focused on locally grown flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables…with local snack…and visits from farmers?

As folks arrived, they were greeted with snacks and coffee from some of our favorite farmers market vendors including Zeke’s Coffee and Chez G. Once everyone got acquainted, the class started with a welcome from Laura Beth of Butterbee Farm.  We were super excited for folks to meet some of the growers who grew the flowers for our class.

After I demonstrated some of the design techniques we would be using, including using chicken wire instead of floral foam and how to use fruit and vegetables in arrangements, the students were ready to begin.

     

First they chose their vessels and they they chose their flowers.

   

Midway through the class, we were lucky enough to have a visit from John McKeown of Locust Point Flowers,  another one of our amazing farmers as well as Mr. Reid, of Reid’s Orchard, who grew the grapes we used in our designs. It was great to hear about flower and fruit farming in our region.

Toward the end of class, it was time for tweaking arrangements, gentle critique and final flowers before we took photos.

Finally, the finished products!

  

 

 

Thanks to everyone that came out to our class! Thanks to all the farmers that provided our flowers including Butterbee Farm, Hillen Homestead, Capital Flower Growers and Locust Point Flowers.

Special thanks to the AMAZING Ana Isabel Photography for these amazing photos.

To see more photos from the class, check out our flick page.

To sign up for our next Farmer’s Market Design class, check out our Class Page.

Real Weddings: Jayme and Merissa

I met Jayme and Merissa at the Cloisters Open House last February. They seemed excited about local flowers and about LoCoFlo’s style. A few months later we got together for coffee and discussed their ideas for flowers and decor. These ladies has wonderfully creative ideas that I was super excited to be a part of .

Jayme and Merissa were married at the Cloisters on a warm October afternoon. We used a plethora of orange and white dahlias for the bouquets. They matched perfectly with the wedding party’s dresses and Converse sneakers!

 

The centerpieces were some of my favorites of the year. Low, white footed bowls filled with orange and white dahlias, locally grown apples, millet, broom corn, hairy balls (that’s what they’re called!) scented geranium and nandina berries.

 

The wedding and reception was full of great details showcasing the couples creativeness and their love for each other.

 

Thanks to all of the growers that helped make this wedding so special-Wollam Gardens, Locust Point Flowers, Belvedere Farm, Bridge Farm Nursery, Reid’s Orchard and Breidenbaugh Farms.

Special thanks to LoCoFlo designer Jen Bryant who put the centerpieces together!

Thanks to Lovestruck Photography for the amazing pictures!

Congratulations to Jayme and Merissa! Wishing you much love and happiness! And thanks for repurposing the centerpiece apples into a delish treat of spiced apples! They were awesome!

New Growers for LoCoFlo

This has been a great week for LoCoFlo! On Wednesday, I went  to Annapolis to the Mid Atlantic Growers meeting. This group of growers meets in the winter (November, January and February) to discuss best practices, share upcoming flower orders, listen to speakers, get trained on new techniques-and mostly just TALK about growing flowers.

Somehow…I get to go to these meetings even though I’m not a grower…which is AWESOME!  I learn so much in these meetings about new flower varieties, new design techniques and more. I also get to meet new growers that are close enough to Baltimore to sell to LoCoFlo.

This month, I especially enjoyed meeting and talking with  Madgie from M and M Plants in Montgomery County and Suzanne Montie from Red Chimney Flower Farm in Bowie.  I’m excited to have set up a phone meeting for next week with Wenfei Uva of Seaberry Farm.  I was also encouraged to hear about some young growers buying land and trying to make the transition from regular job to flower grower. The more people growing flowers locally the more options we have for our clients. So keep growing! Finally, through the magic of Facebook, I got connected to Plant Masters in Montgomery County. Check out their Facebook page to see beautiful photos of their locally grown flowers.

I’m so excited for 2011-to visit new farms and buy from new growers!

Real Weddings: Annie and Josh

Annie and Josh are a wonderful, socially conscious couple that we had the privilege of working with this summer. I loved getting to know them through our in person meetings and their TWEETS leading up the wedding! Annie and Josh  had fun, creative, eco-friendly ideas for their wedding party flowers and centerpieces.

Annie’s bouquet was made up of hydrangeas, lisianthus and mountain mint.

  It was wrapped in beautiful, antique lace provided by the bride.

The ceremony pieces were modern and unique and filled with hydrangeas, gladiolas, hanging amaranthus and lisanthus.

In addition to using locally grown flowers for the ceremony and bouquets, the couple wanted to incorporate locally grown fruit and veggies into their centerpieces. Annie and Josh provided an eclectic mix of glass bowls, urns, and stands for us to fill with locally grown fruits and veggies.

Orange and green tomatoes with an orange dahliaNectarines and yellow tomatoes with white zinnias Yellow plums with pink zinnias Donut peaches with pink dahlias.

 

Patty pan squash with pink zinnias.

I have to say, I think these were some of my favorite centerpieces! The colors were so vibrant, each table looked unique and all of the fruit and veggies were donated to the Capital Area Food Bank at the end of the evening! What could be better!

Thanks to our flower and produce growers who provided the flowers, fruits and veggies for this wedding including: Belvedere Farm, Locust Point Flowers, Reid’s Orchard and Breidenbaugh Farm. Thanks to Classic Creations Photography for the photos of the couple. To see more photos from Annie and Josh’s wedding, check out LoCoFlo’s Flickr site.

Thanks to Annie and Josh for letting us play a small part in their special day. We wish you all the best!

Fruity Options for Wedding Centerpieces

LoCoFlo loves using the best locally grown, seasonal flowers for our clients special events. But flowers aren’t the only thing that go into these creations. We often use berries, foliage, fruits, veggies and more to add color and texture to our designs.

This year, we had several opportunities to use fruit from Reid’s Orchard in Pennsylvania. Mr. Reid has the most amazing fruits and vegetables (for both eating and designing). I especially love shopping at his stand because I get to visit with two of my favorite farmers-Katie and Anna Maunz!

In August, we created centerpieces for a wedding in Virginia with over 100 pounds of produce from Reid’s. These centerpieces were definitely a conversation starter-both amongst the multicultural staff at the hotel and the guests! 

For the couple’s sweetheart table!

All of the produce from this wedding was donated to the DC Food Bank at the end of the night!

Just a few weeks ago, we used some great green apples in these lush fall centerpieces for a wedding at the cloisters. (These apples made their way back to me  this week as a gift of spiced apples from the couple!)

What would a Fall wedding season be without a seasonally inspired centerpiece of gourds, pumpkins, apples and pears.

Besides using herbs for boutonnieres and bouquets, we often add sprigs of herbs to the place settings to add a little color and fragrance to the table.

 

Fruits and veggies also made their way to favor tables as well. Here are two examples of LoCoFLo brides that had us set up a Locally Grown Farm Stand full of local produce and reusable grocery bags for their guests could  take home with them.

For sure, LoCoFlo gets to work on some of the coolest, most progressive, creative, socially conscious, beautiful weddings around!

Thanks to Reid’s Orchard, Breidenbaugh Farms, Martin’s Farm and Pahl’s farm for the beautiful produce and herbs!

August 15, 2010: A Sneak Peak at the Flowers

Three weddings in the last three days!  This weeks weddings were so much fun-so unique, so creative and so colorful!

Our first wedding of the weekend was Shelley and Bynum’s wedding at the Howard County Conservancy. Shelley wanted a super colorful, seasonal bouquet.  We filled Shelley’s bouquet with orange zinnias, dahlias and coxcomb, pink zinnias, dahlias and celosia, yellow zinnias, purple gomphrena and a little splash of mountain mint.

Our second wedding of the weekend was Megan and Lee’s Baltimore themed wedding in Fells Point.  I LOVED her cake and cake topper!

Our last wedding of the weekend was Annie and Josh’s wedding down in Arlington. Annie and Josh are a really wonderful couple who wanted their centerpieces to be full of local fruits and veggies that they were going to donate to the DC Food Bank at the end of the night. Over 120 pound of local fruits (from Reid Orchards) and veggies (from Breidenbaugh Farms) were used in these beautiful centerpieces.

(tomatoes…in case you were wondering)

(plums…with zinnias)

(a martini glass for the bride and groom’s sweetheart table with zebra tomatoes, gomphrena, white statice and salvia)

Thanks to all of our growers and suppliers this week including Belvedere Farm, Bridge Farm Nursery, Locust Point Flowers, Talmar, Reid’s Orchards and Breidenbaugh Farm.

Thanks to to all of the LoCoFlo designers, deliverers and helpers. LoCoFlo loves you!