Real Weddings: Amanda and Kevan

Amanda and Kevan were married on a perfect summer evening at Black Ankle Vineyard.

I loved meeting Amanda. When we met, she really only had two request for her flowers-she didn’t want anything formal-and nothing that looked like “prom”! She wanted everything to be very natural, with lots of greens and herbs.  She wanted the flowers to compliment the beautiful scenery at Black Ankle.

Amanda’s bouquet was naturally shaped  filled with mint, eucalyptus, basil, asclepias, lisianthus, crested celosia and zinnias.

The girl’s bouquets were bright, colorful and looked great against their apple red dresses. The bouquets were filled with sedum, basil, asclepias, crested celosia and zinnias.

Vases of flowers were placed throughout the vineyard to add vibrant splashes of color to the natural surroundings.

The couple was married under this arch decorated with bunches of lilies, basil, mint, eucalyptus, crested celosia and lisianthus.

Doesn’t this make you wish you were at this wedding! So FUN!

The happy bride!

Thanks to Black Ankle for…just being fabulous! Thanks to our growers for these beautiful flowers! Belvedere Farm, Locust Point Flowers and Talmar..you guys ROCK! Thanks to Web Wright and WEB Photography for the beautiful pictures. To see more photos from Amanda and Kevan’s wedding, check out LoCoFlo’s flickr site.

Thanks to Amanda and Kevan for choosing Local Color Flowers! Congratulations to the happy couple!

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!

Vote For LoCoFlo to win a Mobbie!

LoCoFlo is SO excited to be nominated for a Mobbie Award! The Mobbie Awards are given out by the Baltimore Sun to recognize Maryland’s Outstanding blogs. We’re nominated in the ART + DIY category and listed as: Local Color Flowers: Adventures of a Green Flower Designer.

Mobbie winners are determined by the number of votes they get from readers, fans and friends! If you like the LoCoFlo blog, and want to vote for it- click on this link and vote! Voting runs from November 2 through November 12. You can vote once a day for the next 10 days!

You can also help LoCoFlo’s odds of winning by “telling a friend” or sharing the voting link with your friends! The Sun has links that make it easy to do on the voting site. Feel free to spread the word or post the voting link on Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks for your support! Vote LoCoFlo this election day!

LoCoFlo Visits Epiphany’s “Petal Pushers”

Yesterday, I spent a lovely afternoon with the “Petal Pushers” from Epiphany Episcopal Church. This talented group of flower arrangers volunteer each week to buy the flowers for-and create-beautiful arrangements for the alter and the sanctuary. Many of them were trained at that National Cathedral in DC. They have a classic yet natural style which fits in great with the setting.

My great friend and grower Kathy York from Scarborough Farm was greatly missed-but I loved visiting with her Aunt Sue-the ring leader of the Petal Pushers!

This Saturday, the Petal Pusher invited some “newbies” from St James in Parkton to learn some of their techniques. The ladies practiced making small alter arrangements.

After lunch, the ladies got their seasonal creative juices flowing by making “pumpkin sandwiches”. I was happy to bring a variety of locally grown, seasonal flowers for them to use including dahlias, millet, snapdragons, zinnias, plume celosia and mexican sage. Thanks to Locust Point Flowers, Bridge Farm Nursery, Wollam Gardens and Pahl’s Farm for the flowers!

The pumpkin sandwich is created by cutting a pumpkin in half, placing a piece of wet floral foam between the two halves (like a burger between two buns) and then filling the middle with flowers.

They turned out awesome!

Thanks to the Petal Pushers for inviting me to share in a fun afternoon of flower arranging!

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!

October 23: A Sneak Peak at the Flowers

Here in Maryland, the first frost of the season means the end of the year for many cut flowers in our area.  As of today however, October 29th, lots of growers are still saying NO FROST!

The great weather week meant a plethora of beautiful flowers for the 4 weddings we did this past weekend.

The first wedding was a DIY wedding for a great couple who lives up nears Kingsville, Maryland. Jay and Kellie picked up locally grown, cut flowers, in buckets of water, that they and their friends would arrange themselves. Using LoCoFlo as a source for their flowers, meant that they could pick their colors (dark red, oranges, greens, browns) and style (branches, berries, peppers, cut flowers and foliage) and let us go to the growers and pick out the best, prettiest things for them. I can't wait to see what they created!

Our second wedding of the weekend was a small wedding for a lovely bride and groom.Vangie's bouquets were full of dahlias, amaranthus, mint and eucalyptus. They smelled awesome!

Renee and Steve's wedding started out as a DIY wedding. The plan was that we would bring the flowers to the bride and her friends and they would make all of the arrangements. We would stay on to "consult" while they were working. While I love this option and think it's tons of fun, the bride ultimately wanted a little less on her plate the day before her wedding. The bouquets were full of...guess what...dahlias! Deep purple, orange, white and green. Perfect for a sunny fall day.

Katie and Tom's wedding took place at the Elkridge Furnace Inn. The girls bouquets and centerpieces were extra special because they included fresh magnolia leaves and dried crepe myrtle from the bride's mom's garden all the way from Georgia!

   We did some other great pieces for friends this weekend too!

 

As a fitting end to our busy season, Jen, Marina and I all got to work together for the day. We had a great time, cracking up laughing, make bright, beautiful arrangements and planning for the year ahead.

Real Weddings: Callan and Jerry

Callan and Jerry were married on a gorgeous Sunday morning in September in historic Mt Vernon Park. I can't lie, since it was in the park, Eric and I dropped off the flowers, went and had breakfast and then watched the ceremony from a nearby sidewalk. Everything was just beautiful! A perfect Baltimore wedding!

When I first met with Callan and Jerry back in the winter, Callan told me she wanted to incorporate daisies in all shapes and sizes in the wedding. She also told me that the " theme" of the wedding was "a Bicycle Built for Two". Who couldn't love that! I told Callan that daisies were probably not in season in early September-but not to worry. We would pull together lots of "daisy looking" flowers to fit in with her theme.

Callan's bouquet was filled with white and yellow gerber daisies, zinnias, dahlias daisy mums and asters. We also added a few splashes of mountain mint.

The girls bouquets were similar and looked great against their dresses.

The reception took place right across the street from the park at the Peabody Court Hotel. The centerpieces were made up of eclectic pieces that Callan had collected including antique books, loose tea tins, tea pots, tea cups, colorful glass goblets, salt and pepper shakers and more. While each table was unique, they all looked perfect together!

    

As if all of these creative touches weren't enough, Callan and Jerry also had me decorate their "bicycle built for two" With cut flowers and tulle bows-what better way to ride off into the sunset!

Thanks to all of the growers who provided such beautiful flowers for this wedding including Belvedere Farm, Farmhouse Flowers, Locust Point Flowers and Talmar.

Special thanks to Lindsay MacDonald for the beautiful photos. To see more photos of Callan and Jerry, check out Lindsay’s blog or check out LoCoFlo’s flickr site!

Congratulations to Callan and Jerry-an adorable, creative, loving couple! Thanks for letting LoCoFlo share in your special day!