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Friday Florals

The downside to working with flower frogs is that things tend to move around in transport. The upside is that sometimes when you remake them, you like the second version more than the original. I made this arrangement for a styled lingerie shoot yesterday and when I pulled it out of the truck late last night, it had sadly fallen victim to both the hot studio lights and Seattle’s notorious potholes. I tossed in a few leftover stems this morning while waiting for my kettle to boil and turns out that I think I like this version better than the original…

seattle floral and event designer spring flowers

today

seattle wedding flowers by finch and thistle event design

spring weddings

…are my favorite. If I could do my wedding over again I would forgo the (sort of) guaranteed late summer sunshine, pick an indoor venue and have this bridal bouquet…

finch and thistle, stephanie cristalli, seattle wedding floral designerThanks to the lovely Stephanie Cristalli for the sneak peek from today’s shoot. More to come…

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

I am so thrilled to have a shoot I designed and styled featured on my favorite wedding blog, Style Me Pretty, today! Huge thanks are due to Angela and Evan Photography for stunning images, Iwona Konarski for the lovely ombre stationery, Teryl Hawk for gorgeous hair and makeup, Melanie Backschies of Plum Cushion for the beautiful coordinating pillows, Baked for the cute and delicious wedding cake, our models Caleb and Chelsea for braving the cold, and Wine and Roses for allowing us to shoot in their barn.

Finch & Thistle on Style Me PrettyCheck it out here and tell us what you think!

 

So many people and so much preparation goes into putting together an editorial for a magazine like Seattle Met Bride & Groom.  From a design and styling standpoint, there are usually weeks of preparations – sourcing props, planning the design, ordering flowers, putting together the arrangements and lots of running around picking everything up. Then the shoot itself is a hive of activity with editors, art directors, photographers, fashion stylists, and hair and makeup stylists. As promised, here are a few behind-the-scenes images from the latest issue of SMBG…

hair and makeup stylists, photographers and fashion editors at Seattle Met Bride & Groom shoot

Jewelry Closeups…This shoot was my first time styling jewelry and accessories and it was so fun but very twiddly work. It took about an hour to style each scene. Ever wondered how they get the closeup shots of jewelry and details that SMBG is known for?

bridal jewelry and details Prop Styling…I bought or borrowed all the props from vintage stores, friends, Ebay and Etsy. The larger items (tables) and vases were from my personal collections.  I am obsessed with antique dress trimmings and a family friend has a huge collection. I also loved the Charles and Diana souvenir wedding biscuit tin that a friend of my mum’s dug out of storage!

books, teacups and biscuit tinsFlowers...It was the perfect time of year (March) for Spring blooms in royal hues – jasmine, anemones, ranunculus, hellebore, mock orange and Amnesia roses. I got to use all my favorite flowers in this shoot!ranunculus, jasmine and anemone bouquet from cover of Seattle Met Bride & Groom

flower details from Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom Royal ShootAnd perhaps my most favorite part…the jewelry and accessories!

jewelry from Seattle Met Royal Shoot Be sure and check out all the hats and details in the Summer/Fall issue of Seattle Met Bride & Groom!

painting with watercolors

ranunculus and amnesia roses in blue ball jarpastel ranunculus, anenomes and amnesia roses

I’ll let you in on a secret. My client desperately wanted pink and green parrot tulips but there weren’t any to be had. These white and green ones were too lovely for words but they just wouldn’t do. So I dyed them. Yep. Spray painted just the white tips with the palest pale pink floral dye. My fingers too…watercolor painting indeed.

Coming soon…

to a newsstand near you…

anemone and ranunculus bouquet

pink on black

When my new black amethyst glass vases arrived in the mail this week I could hardly wait to put them to work displaying the new lovelies blooming in my garden. But wait I did. What a crazy week! Appointment after appointment, email after email, open houses, meetings…phew. Add on house guests descending en masse and five dogs taking over every inch of the house and come Friday morning I hightailed it to the flower markets, dying to get out of the madness!

I was looking for peonies but it’s been a long, cold winter in the Northwest, so while there were a few hot pink ones to be had, they were a bit sad looking for $5 a stem (yes, wholesale!) I settled for ranunculus instead because, really, they do look like baby peonies and then I came home and raided my garden for hellebore and cherry blossom. I love the contrast of the blush and hot pink against the black vases and how they are currently hard at work brightening up my living room, stealing the spotlight from five terriers and their never-ending dog hair…

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