First weddings of the season - Spring 2010

Today will be the third wedding of this beautiful spring.  It is at Caspers Wilderness Park on Ortega Highway.  Such a beautiful setting and especially this time of year.  A challenging wedding because the park rangers would like me to use only native plants or flowers to the park or another alternative "plastic flowers".  WHAT???  Could you imagine ME giving a bride a bouquet of plastic flowers!  I think they call them silks now, and well, that's just not my cup of tea.


Here is what we came up with.

 This was the grooms BestWoman, his sister.  I was surprised to find this out, but the boutonniere looked great with her beautiful tweed suit.

I think this boutonniere is my favorite that I've ever done.  What do you think of it?

 The ceremony location at the Visitors center of Caspers Park. 

The reception was held at The Ramos House Cafe in my hood, down the street.  I love doing weddings in SJC.

 In March we had a few weddings.  Candice & Mike's wedding was at Franciscan Gardens.

 Glamelia or Couture Rose Bouquet.

***NOTE***  These are pictures that I took, not from a professional photog, so I know they are not that great and maybe don't do the flowers much justice.






Then there was the adorable Arlene & Jojo.  Budget savy couple that didn't even have room in their budget for flowers!  What to do?  Rochelle, the site manager at Franciscan Gardens suggested they call me.  I helped them to create a super chic centerpiece that they could afford.

Bridesmaid bouquets that were cute and inexpensive.

And, well, we went all out on the Bridal Bouquet of course!  Her dress was stunning, and maybe my favorite so far.

Sweet story from this wedding.  Joe is a musician and wrote Arlene a song after their first date.  Arlene wanted it for their first dance, Joe said no because he had other plans to surprise her with it another way.  He was going to sing it to her during dinner.  While setting up with his brother and a violinist friend from out of state, the keyboard died.  There was no other way to perform this song, the keyboards were the main instrument.  I overheard what was going on so I offered our good ole Costco keyboards for them to use, and I live right around the corner, so we jumped in the car and 15 minutes later they did a quick sound check and saved the day!  I love when we can provide more than just beautiful flowers.


Happy Easter to you and remember the real reason we celebrate this wonderful holiday.  I'm thankful that He died on the cross for all of us.
Blessings to you.      ~Stacey

Beautiful San Juan Capistrano

I am lucky to live and work in one of the most beautiful and unique cities in Orange County.  I live in the historical district of SJC known as Los Rios.  It is the oldest established neighborhood in California with homes still standing that were built in the 1700 & 1800's.

A great spot for wedding photos!

  O

  
We built our home in 2000 and love being a part of this great community.  Brides love to come over, and we meet in my consultation suite, which is located behind my garage.  I remodeled what has been a rental, office for my husbands contracting company and catch-all-junk room.  I love the way it turned out.

San Juan Capistrano's Mission is known as "the jewel of the missions".  It is one of the most beautiful and serene places I've ever visited.  Many brides that get married in SJC choose to head over to the mission for special photos.

These photos by:  Christine Farah Photography  Other photos by:  jshippleyphotography & Mathew Morgan Photography

I hope you get to make it here sometime and if you do, please stop by and say hello!  The swallows will be here soon!  ~Stacey

How much do flowers cost?

It is the first question asked by inquiring brides.  To be honest, it's a hard question to answer.  Every wedding, bride, style, season, location, and colors are unique and different.  Designing flowers for a wedding is something that I don't take lightly.  It can be one of the most challenging and rewarding elements of the big day.  After all flowers play a very important role in a wedding, right?  The personal flowers end up in almost every photo of the bride, her bouquet is an accessory as important as hair, makeup, shoes, even the dress!  A good floral designer always wants to see a photo of the brides dress.  Not all bouquets look good with all dresses.

Please do not be afraid to tell your floral designer your budget for flowers.  That will give her and idea of what she has to work with and steer you in a direction that will work with that budget in mind. 
I also like to ask a bride what are the three most important elements of your wedding?  That also lets me know how important flowers are to her.  Everyone is different, here are the typical answers:

Bride:
1.  Photos
2.  Flowers
3.  Location

Mother of Bride:
1.  Food
2.  Flowers
3.  Location/Cost of event

Groom:
1.  Bar
2.  DJ/Entertainment
3.  Honeymoon

Flowers are usually always in the top 3 most important elements on the Brides and the Mothers lists. You can see where the groom likes to spend his money.

Flower and decor trends are always changing.  Today, brides are looking to be more simplistic, not so over dramatic with floral decor.  The word Anthropologie comes up often, which I love.  It seems as if this style would be less expensive, but usually is not.  Purchasing different styles of containers, antiques, and props takes time and money.  On the day of the wedding, set up takes longer, and many sites don't allow vendors in too early.  All of these scenarios need to be considered when selecting your table decor.  Many of the blogger styled shoots (like the photo below) are styled just for a photo shoot, or to help give brides great ideas.  Much easier to come up with this decor for one table vs. 10 to 20 tables.

 

 Styled by:  http://www.joythigpen.com/Photos by:  http://tecpetajaphoto.com/

With all that said, you're still asking....How much do flowers cost??  I like to "start" with 10 to 14% of your overall budget should be set aside for flowers.  Again, it depends on many different factors.  I love to work with all budgets.  I feel every bride has the right to have beautiful and well cared for flowers.  A design that suits her and makes the day unforgettable. 

Cheers to you and your wedding!  May it be filled with floral love!

Fave Photos of 2009

Here are a few of my favorite photos of 2009:

 

Both of these gorgeous photos taken by Studio 6.23. 

Location:  LaJolla, CA

 

I loved this photo so much I used it in my ad for a brochure

for Franciscan Gardens,

a wedding venue that I work at often.

Photo by the talented Justin Hulse of Hulse Photography.

This is the same wedding as the first set of photos, but a different photographer.

The shoes, the flowers, the color combo - LOVE!  

Photo by:  Jeremy of Lucero Photography 

 

Two daughters and their father. I love how he looks so proud

and strong for an emotional day ahead.

The bride Kristen has become a photographer herself and I see good things coming from her, 

check out her website:  InGrace Photography 

This photo shot by:  Jose Zakany 

ONE MORE......

 

I love this photo for so many reasons.

1.  Beautiful couple

2. Beautiful flowers

3.  My delivery truck is in the photo!

Yes, this is my delivery truck for local weddings.  How lucky am I to have such a cool delivery truck.  Many of my brides have loved to use it for a photo op.  My wonderful father and classic car collector, surprised me with it this June.  He bought it because it matched my business card colors.  How cute is that!

Photo by:  jShippley Photography  His website is awesome!

Today is Superbowl Sunday, have fun everyone and be safe.  Go Saints!!

2009 favorite of the day.

This was my highlight of 2009.......drumroll......meeting Martha (freekin) Stewart!

I know....THIS was your highlight??  Yes, indeed it was.  Well, I did go to Hawaii in January to visit my in-laws, help a friend with the birth of her baby.... but Martha Stewart is someone I've admired for many years.  I believe it is because of her, women all over this country have become better in someway, shape or form.

It was a great day, I was a complete messed up, bumbling fool when I got up to meet her.  I had brought along with me my prized cover from a special addition of Martha Stewart magazine "Wedding Issue".  I started buying the wedding issues before they started Martha Stewart Weddings magazines.  I showed it to her and thanked her for all she has taught me and that I've been providing flowers for weddings over the last 13 years.  The magazine was from Spring of 1997.  I was hoping she would sign it, but had to follow her rules and sign only the cookbook she was promoting.  I bought three.  Got all three signed, handed her assistant some info on my company and a great venue I need her to see. 

She still hasn't called.

Oh well, I'm so glad I got to meet her and talk with her, even if only for 60 seconds. 

2009 favorite of the day.

2009 favorite of the day.

This bouquet was for an October wedding at The Villa in San Juan Capistrano.  It is my favorite bridal bouquet of 2009.  Kelly was stunning in a dark blue gown on her wedding day.  She LOVES blue thistle so we incorporated into every area of the wedding.  Hydrangea, blue thistle, double white tulips, lizianthus, helibore, magnolia leaf and a market find called cobra lilies.

 

Photos courtesy of Leslie @ Clickchicks Photography 

Happy New Year, finally....

Photo by: JShipleyphotography.com

Well, I noticed my last blog was about 6 months ago. Since then, I have done over 25 weddings. I've noticed the importance of social media for business and decided maybe I would try a little harder to keep up with this whole blog world. I have started Twitter, and I've noticed a significant boost in hits on my site.

I still wonder....is anyone like potential clients looking at this, or is it just other like business owners and bloggers?

I'm very excited and made a decision to become a preferred vendor of the very popular Wedding Chicks Family. I am huge fan of Amy, and look forward to being a part of her success.

Eventhough its the end of January, Happy New Year and looking forward to taking you on my journey this year.

My next post I will highlight some faves from my 2009 weddings.