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!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of of our family, friends and fans! 2009 was an exciting year for LoCoFlo. We worked on 22 weddings last year as well as a hand full of other great events including Flowermart  and Baltimore’s 1st Annual EcoBall. We met great couples, business owners, chefs and more that are committed to using locally grown flowers in their personal lives and businesses.

Like any small business we had our challenges too. Marina decided to no longer be an owner of Local Color Flowers. It was a hard decision for her-and hard on both of us for a while….but we came out better for it on the other side. Marina will still be sharing her talents with LoCoFlo as a lead designer-so watch out to see what she has in store for 2010. We will also be seeing more of designers Jen Bryant and Carla Ryon this year. Hopefully we’ll also add some new faces to the LoCoFlo team as well.

As 2010 begins, I’m looking forward to a great year! To start, we had a great article come out in Baltimore Bride Magazine about LoCoFlo and about using locally grown flowers for your wedding.

Before weddings begin for the year, LoCoflo will be setting up at their first ever wedding show, the Mid Atlantic Green Wedding Expo on February 21, 2010. I’ll also be doing my first arranging/speaking engagement for the 57th Annual Meeting of the District III Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland in early March.

Then…weddings begin! We have so many fun weddings scheduled with great couples at beautiful locations. We’re also looking forward to building relationships with several local restaurants and businesses to provide weekly flower arrangements for them during the grown season (March-October).

So Happy New Year everyone. Thank you so much for your support this past year and don’t forget to buy local this year!

Real Weddings: Lexi and Matt

Lexi and Matt were married in Ellicott City at the end of October. While it rained most of the day, it didn’t seem to diminish the joy that this beautiful couple shared on their special day.

The bride’s bouquet was full of fall colored dahlias and a few sprigs of scented geranium from Locust Point Flowers and Belvedere Farm.

Marina created a really cool, modern arrangement for the ceremony which took place at Howard County Historical Society Museum and Library. The arrangement was then moved to Rumor Mill Restaurant where the reception was held.

The arrangement was layered with dahlias, snap dragons, salvia, tuberose, hydrangeas and monkey balls.

Congratulations to Lexi and Matt!

Special thanks to Rich Riggins for the Wedding Day photos.

Real Weddings: Shauna and Mark

Shauna and Mark were a joy to work with. When I met them back in December 2008, they were excited about their wedding, but not that interested in the flowers. They had some ideas and colors, but basically they said…do whatever-just make it look nice.  We love when couples say that!

The bouquets were made up of dahlias, celosia, salvia and scented geranium from Locust Point Flowers and Belvedere Farm. We also used nandina berries from our friend Kathy York at Scarborough Farm.  The colors looked great against the girls green dresses.

The wedding was held at the Cloisters on a perfect Fall day.

Shauna had collected over 70 pieces of depression era glassware that we used for the centerpieces and to decorate the reception area. Each table was uniquely decorated and looked perfect in the space.

The cake, decorated by Jen Bryant, was covered in deep red dahlias, antiquing hydrangeas, and nandina berries.

I guess we did good! It’s always great to get a note like this from a bride!

“I think you probably know by my reaction that I loved the flowers :)  They were absolutely stunning.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, a million times thank you!  I don't know if you remember that when we first met I didn't really "care" about the flowers because all flowers are beautiful and I knew that whatever flowers we had would be lovely.  But I was so wrong. Probably because I didn't know flowers could be that pretty!!  And they smelled amazing.  The bouquets, the boutonnieres, the cake (oh my gosh - the cake!) and centerpieces - everything - just perfect.”

Congratulations to Shauna and Mark!

Special thanks to Carol Masica for the great photos!

LoCoFlo Needs a Ride

Since we started, LoCoFlo has delivered flowers in lots of different vehicles including 0ur personal cars, our friends cars, borrowed mini-vans and rented vans. Most have been adequate (Marina’s car, my car), some have even been good (Chris’s mini van, Carla’s Rogue) but none have been ideal.

I don’t  want to buy a vehicle right now (even though we need one). I already have a car. It’s just too small for most of what I need. I could trade it in, but I like my little car- especially for day to day driving.  I’m also trying to target our resources on some other things this year (marketing materials, staffing, space) Maybe when my Scion finally dies it will make sense, but right now, I’m not convinced that’s the answer. Unless…

I could buy a car  and share it with someone or several someones.  My friend Jordan shares a car with some one her neighbors. It could be a logistical challenge, but it would be less expensive and could work since I wouldn’t need the ride all the time.

I’m also looking into the Zipcars  at Hopkins. It would be convenient, it’s pretty cost effective and they have some larger vehicles. They also offer a business membership which would allow us to have our designers and delivery folks on the same account.

What do you think? Does anyone else have any other creative ideas?

Oh No…The Dreadful Bouquet

As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of the things I am doing this winter is catching up on my reading. I am about 3/4 of the way through Amy Stewart’s Wicked Plants. Its a great read for a busy time because you can read it in little bits. Each Wicked Plant has a couple pages dedicated to it. So I was going along at a pretty good clip…Mandrake…Marijuana…Oleander…Opium Poppy…and then…out of the blue…The Dreadful Bouquet.

 

Warning to brides: Do Not FREAK OUT if you see one of these flowers in your wedding bouquet. In order for the dreadfulness of these flowers to become apparent you have to EAT them-in large quantities.  Here are some of the ingredients to the “dreadful bouquet”.

Lily of the Valley: This dainty white flower with beautiful green leaves is a favorite of brides.  We love using it because it holds up well in bouquets. Apparently it contains cardiac glycosides…a toxin that if consumed (EATEN..don’t forget…EATEN) in large amounts can cause headache, nausea and heart failure.

Sweet Pea: The perky white flower sticking out of this bouquet is another favorite of brides. It’s wonderfully fragrant and has beautiful twisty greens that are great in arrangements. They also come in a million colors-making them a spring “go to” flower. According to Stewart, sweet peas are only MILDLY poisonous. Although paralysis, weakness and tremors don’t sound MILD to me!

The list goes on… tulip bulbs that cause rashes and swelling, dermatitis brought on by lilies, bleeding hearts that cause seizures, mums that serve up a dose of swollen eyes and monkshood that kill you! Who knew something so pretty could be so dangerous (WHEN EATEN!)

I think the lesson here is two-fold: 1) Do NOT eat your wedding bouquet. 2) Respect the miracles that nature presents to us. Love the earth and enjoy the beauty and mystery in flowers. They are more powerful than you know.

Real Weddings: Erica and Dave

Erica and Dave were married on a beautiful Sunday in May at Gramercy Mansion. With their family and friends surrounding them, the couple enjoyed a day full of joy and love.

Erica carried a bouquet of purple stock, white tulips, succulents and lily of the valley.

The grooms boutonniere was made up of a little succulent, an allium and a few sprigs of rosemary.

Erica’s friends looked great in shades of purple. They carried bouquets of white tulips, white and purple stock and grape hyacinths.

It was a  pleasure working with two such great people. Erica and Dave and their families were so wonderful to work with and plan with. We really enjoyed the time we spent with them. Much love and happiness to Erica and Dave as they begin their new life together!

Thanks to Roman Grinev Photography for these beautiful pictures.