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…aaaand it’s fall

Today is the first day it really feels like fall in Seattle. We made it all the way to October 11 before the sky turned grey and the fog drifted in from the Puget Sound. I finally had a moment to step outside and notice the jewel colored leaves littering my garden in just the prettiest way and the illustrated pumpkin spice lattes in the Starbucks window across the street. Mmm pumpkin spice…that reminds me to buy some of those lovely heirloom gourds Jello Mold Farm is selling at the market this week…

I have been slacking on the blogging. Truth be told, I just haven’t had time to even look through the photos of this summer’s weddings and now the professional shots are slowly trickling into my inbox. Those are so much better anyway and so my fall/winter resolution is to share images from a wedding or shoot every few weeks for the next few months. I was lucky enough to work with some amazingly creative couples and shockingly talented photographers this summer. I can’t wait to share with you what we came up with…

chantal andrea, starbucks pumpkin spice latte, bryce covey, pumpkins, fall, wedding, design sponge*image credits clockwise from top left: Chantal Andrea Photography, Bryce Covey Photography, Melissa Guzman via Pinterest

Just wanted to share a couple of images from Friday’s beautiful wedding at the gorgeous SODO Park. I’m a huge book worm so it was wonderful to work with the bride on a vintage book theme in a tribute to her just-this-minute-earned PhD in English. A

fabulous venue, Angela and Evan behind the cameras and a stunning bride and groom…I can’t wait to share more details with you soon.

vintage bridal bouquet SODO Park seattle
SODO park chuppah decor seattlebook pages guest book ideatall pedestal centerpiece jewel tonessimple book centerpiece with bud vases

F&T Fall Internship

floral and event design internship se
<div style=Hi friends!

My wonderful intern, Julie, is heading back to school and I am looking for a fall intern to help out with weddings and special events from mid-August through December. This would be an ideal situation for a student or new graduate seeking experience in the floral and event planning world and the schedule would work well for someone who works another job in the evenings. Studio days are usually Wednesdays-Fridays starting around 9am (dependent on our event schedule). The perfect candidate will have floral experience and/or a design background but we can teach the right person.

We all do a little bit of everything around here so you should be fine with getting dirty and doing particularly unglamorous things like hauling boxes, washing buckets and polishing silver. In exchange you will learn the ins and outs of an event business, help style photo shoots, create favors and design boards and learn to create the lovely, organic arrangements we are known for.

You must be reliable and available on certain key weekends in August and September. Must be able to stand for long periods of time, lift objects up to 30lbs and have own transportation, computer and a sense of humor. Experience in photography, editing, blogging and social media a major plus. There will be occasional early mornings, late nights and possible travel. Our studio is in West Seattle and we design and produce events all over the state. Most importantly you must like dogs (or at least tolerate them) as the two terrors, um, terriers, like to check in on our progress regularly.

Tasks could include:
Processing flowers
Installation/tear down of events and loading/unloading of vehicles
Cleaning the studio and organizing supplies after an event
Picking up rentals and craft materials
Creating visual displays or crafting favors
Ordering supplies
Delivering and setting up flowers
Creating and implementing an event timeline
Assisting on photo shoots and styling gigs
Writing blog posts and updating social media sites

Interested? Please email rachel{at}finchandthistleevents.com with the word INTERNSHIP in the subject line. Please include a short resume in the body of the email and attach or link to a portfolio, blog or design project. Please also answer the following questions (succinctly – no essays please!):

Where are you from?
Where do you live now?
Why are you interested in this internship?
Do you have any floral experience? If so, what?
What project or design piece are you most proud of and why?
What’s your favorite flower?
Favorite hobby?
Unusual talents?

Our Georgetown styled engagement shoot is featured on Wedding Chicks today! Take a look at the full gallery for lots of details and more of Chantal Andrea’s beautiful portraits of our lovely couple.

Wedding Chicks wedding inspiration blogcoral and turquoise styled inspiration shoot engagement wedding seattle

Long Live Gin and Tonic!

All the fun British details from this Diamond Jubilee party on Bainbridge Island yesterday had me feeling quite patriotic over the weekend. Lots of Union Jacks, commemorative tins from M&S, tiny flags in the Pimms, festive flowers and classic British food – sausage rolls, flapjacks, victoria sponge, tea sandwiches…and chicken curry. Obviously. The Queen was there and Will and Kate put in an appearance over by the bar. As you can imagine there were lots of fascinators and hats among the guests and even a tiny corgi wearing pearls.

coral peonies and pink garden roseslarge urn arrangementenglish victoria spongecutout queendiamond jubilee commemorative tinfloral centerpiecepeonies ranunculus garden rose centerpiecepink tree peony jubilee commemorative tincoral charm peonycorgi wearing pearlspoppies and peony centerpiece

Welcome Design*Sponge readers! Thanks for stopping by to take in some more details from the engagement shoot that is featured on my favorite design blog today. What a fun shoot! I worked with some of my favorite Seattle wedding pros and even a past client of mine (more on that later)…

gold mason jar bouquet design sponge

It all started (as they often do) with a Pinterest board which you can see here. I picked my favorite colors and my favorite flowers and one of my favorite restaurants and worked from there. I called up my friend Sally who happens to be the creative dynamo behind Seattle based design firm LaHappy and enticed her into designing an invitation suite. She, of course, killed it. I mean, seriously, gold sparkly paper? Beautiful calligraphy in NEON pink? A vintage floral illustration envelope liner. Swoon.

pink, turquoise and gold invitation design spongepink calligraphy invitation design spongepink envelope with gold calligraphy design sponge

Then we needed a photographer and I turned to another lovely friend, Chantal Andrea. Chantal has an incredible eye and her stunning portraits and moody journalistic style was ideal for the bohemian look of the engagement shoot. The team was almost complete. Almost.

seattle engagement styled shoot design sponge chantal andreaseattle engagement shoot design sponge chantal andreaseattle trailer park mall georgetown design sponge chantal andrea I really really really wanted an ombré cake and I knew just the person to ask. One of my brides from last summer is an amazing vegan baker. The dessert table at her wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty and pinned all over the place. Her new company Kerissa Bakes is already making a name for itself and I can personally vouch for the fact that the ombré chocolate cake and the polka dot almond cookies she made for this party were absolutely delicious. There wasn’t a single piece left over at the end of the night. Not a crumb.

ombre coral and turquoise wedding cake design spongecoral and turquoise wedding dessert table design sponge

Then there were the flowers. I’m obsessed with garden roses and jasmine so those were a given. Then I got incredibly lucky and scored some green centered ranunculus at the market. I’d seen them before on the cover of Martha Stewart Weddings but never in person and they were just gorgeous. Beautiful colors and frilly petals and wonderful black centers. Wow. So I spray painted some vintage vases and mason jars gold and got to work.

romantic organic pink and yellow floral arrangement garden roses design spongepink orange and yellow floral centerpiece design sponge polka dot confettigreen ranunculus bouquet centerpiece design spongepink and yellow napkins and small gold centerpieces design sponge

This shoot was filled with DIY projects of which the fabric tassels and the crepe paper chandelier were my favorites. I found the tutorial for the fabric tassels on Pinterest (and my advice is to save yourself hours by buying a rotary cutter for $20) and talked my husband into helping me twist the crepe paper garlands while he watched ESPN one evening. I loved how they looked hanging from the restaurant’s wrought iron chandelier.

fabric tassel garland backdrop design spongetwisted crepe paper garland chandelier design spongebrass and gold tabletop decor design spongegold and turquoise jam mason jar design spongestyled engagement shoot seattle design sponge chantal andreaAnd then there was a party…

seattle engagement party design sponge Seattle Vendor Credits –
Photography: Chantal Andrea Photography
Floral, Prop Styling and Event Design: Finch & Thistle Event Design
Stationery: LaHappy
Desserts: Kerissa Bakes
Venue: Via Tribunali Georgetown

The Melrose Market Studios shoot we designed and styled back in April is featured on Wedding Chicks today! Please take a look at all the pretty, soft vintage details here and leave us some love in the comments section!

rustic, soft, pastel, romantic wedding bouquet by finch and thistle

LBoL: New, Edgy, Budget Wedding Photography

Two local photographers I know and admire have set up a new photography business, Lightning Bolts of Love and asked me to help them with flowers for their website shoot. I was thrilled to work with them both on this new venture and am super excited to see a different look and style of photography come to the Northwest. Take a look through the images below and if you are looking for an edgier take on the typical wedding look, give Kip Beelman or Jeramie Shoda a shout via their website: www.lightningboltsoflove.com.

green and white parrot tulip bouquetfeather orchid red boutonniereseattle bridal bouquet peonygreen and white parrot tulip bouquetseattle wedding photography floraledgy wedding flowers seattlefinch and thistle boutonnierepunk wedding flowersseattle wedding flowersboutonniere wedding flowers seattleseattle wedding photographer dark edgy different

Grow, Cook, Eat

Two summers ago, I worked with my friend Willi Galloway and photographer Jim Henkens to style a photo shoot for Willi’s book, Grow, Cook, Eat. You may remember that I posted some behind-the-scenes images from that shoot here. Well Willi’s book came out at the beginning of this year and is already on its third printing! It’s a beautiful book with helpful gardening tips for growing all kinds of fruits and veggies and recipes for eating all parts of the plants. I could not be more proud of my friend and encourage you all to pick up a copy at your local Anthropologie, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Amazon and select local bookstores.

gardening book by Willi Galloway prop styling by Finch & Thistle

Partying Mad Men Style

We’re back from our amazing trip to Africa! I’ll share some pictures when I’ve had time to catch up on the hundreds of emails and voice mails that were waiting for me back at the office, but in the meantime here’s a set of pictures guaranteed to mak

e you smile.

Back in November we did a 1961 Mad Men themed birthday party for a client on Mercer Island. Decorations consisted mainly of smoking accoutrements: candy cigarettes, bubblegum cigars, cigarette holders, chocolate cigars, vintage glass ashtrays etc with a few flowers thrown in here and there for good measure! I scoured estate sales and thrift stores for retro decor and worked with Kip Beelman to set up a fabulous photo backdrop so guests could do the twist with Sophia Loren. DJ Tony Schwartz played hits from the 50’s and 60’s that kept guests on the dance floor and he was assisted by Shake Bartenders who provided the smoky signature cocktails. The amazing spread was catered by Ristorante Doria and the bold polka dot and jewel tone linens came from BBJ. If only Don and Betty had put in an appearance…

mad men 60s partyretro party invitationretro record coastersseattle event designercandy cigarettesbreakfast at tiffanys costumeretro party
glassbaby votives and retro flowersretro cook bookitalian foodtrifle and carrot cake

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