CHEERS

I'd like to wish you and yours a very wonderful and peaceful holiday. Thank you for visiting and leaving your comments of support and encouragement this year. It means a great deal to me. I love my virtual flower loving family! We come together with a passion for all things beautiful and an appreciation of Mother Nature's most exquisite gifts - flowers. They enchant, they intoxicate and they inspire. Also, a big thank you to all the lovely couples who I worked with this year. Congratulations! May you have many happy years together and if I may....one bit of advice; comprise. Learn this word, it is the glue that binds. See you all in the New Year! More beauty awaits!

The slow color bleed

Here we are with the same arrangement - 2 days later.

Sublime

My favorite arrangement of the year is one I made with leftovers for myself.

Pinks and Reds

Okay, so I was hibernating a bit there. I am finding it hard to know what I am doing lately. Lots of things vying for my attention and my monkey mind bouncing all over the place. Here's the thing, when I am really busy with flower work it's actually easier to maneuver in life - exhausting but easier. It's easy to look at all the pressing details of a job and just do what is most important. After my annual seasonal cough and fatigue wane...I am finally starting to feel a nice groove taking place. I'm making progress. Also I'm still making flowers. Here are some recent ones. Talk soon.

Thank you

Hello fellow flower lovers. I don't have any classic autumnal floral photos for you today. Sorry about that. But I do have a fluffy pink bouquet for you to enjoy. And speaking of enjoying, I do hope you have a marvelous and delicious day tomorrow. I am giving a BIG thanks as my heart is filled to the brim with gratitude. My beloved city may have been knocked down but with all the support and love it's coming back, little by little every day. Do what you can to share the love in your community.

Be Nice

OK we can breathe now. 2013 wedding season is officially over. Year 4 is done!  Phew. I am just now wrapping my head around the numbers and taking stock as to what went right and what went wrong. The rule that rings true is "listen to your gut". Any time I did not listen to my instincts I have lived to regret it.

Next, I am taking a moment to pause and be grateful. I often jump into the next thing without stopping to appreciate how far I've come. And I've come very far. It's a strange, gratifying, exhausting and challenging endeavour to run your own business. I don't know if I'll ever feel completely comfortable...maybe that's a good thing.

Ending the "labor" part of work right when the frenzy of the holiday season kicks in is a potential recipe for disaster for me. Now is the time I want to make a ton of things, like art and crafts, food and gifts. I want to nest and redecorate, cook and give parties. I want to go to yoga everyday and get massages. And of course, I want to spend time with my husband and little girl. STOP. I guess you know where this is headed. With too many expectation on myself and for my life.....I'm headed for major disappointment and then a good old fashion dose of self flagellation. This shit is so common to me, I've been doing it to myself for as long as I can remember. Well, I'm not gonna lie. I really want to write that I am not going to attempt to do too much. But I really really want to do it all and I want it all to come off perfect! I know, I know...don't say anything.  I can't promise anything. What I can promise is that I will take a moment to pause.

I slept 10 hours last night and it was divine.

Leaving you with some Coral Charms....be kind

I Love New York

Ok so the biggest wedding of my career is quickly followed by the biggest storm of my life. I don't even know what to say about that but ...holy crap. It's been an insane week to say the least. Plus the need to scramble it together with little gas, downtown Manhattan in the dark and restrictions on the number of people per car to pull off another wedding by Saturday. But we did it. I feel so incredibly lucky that neither our home or studio experienced any damage - especially when there are so many people and small businesses suffering.

And to get up on my soap box I think it's high time for all of us to have a serious conversation about  global warming. It's here. The whole thing freaks me out and honestly keeps me awake at night. Yes, the economy is on everyone's minds but the earth, well we don't seem to give a shit about the earth. ugh...sorry, more pretty things to come. Right now I gotta get through this week and regroup. I do hope that you are safe and sound as winter approaches.

 I did a wedding at the Plaza. It was classic New York with whites and greens and lots of cut crystal and mercury glass. I worked my ass off and got terrible pictures but it happened and it was gorgeous.

Light it up

The pity party is definitely over. I did press the refresh button and I am on to the next! Thanks for your encouraging words. We rocked 3 very different yet equally lovely weddings last weekend all with the DFFD signature stamp. I was thoroughly exhausted after it all but was seriously walking on air after the Gramercy Park Hotel wedding. It was magical. I don't mean to brag (ok I do) it was everything I ever hoped my florals to be - refined, lush, sophisticated and unexpected. There was a crazy amount of thought and detail put into every piece. They were still life painting's come to life. I heard the term "cut and drop" they other day, referring to a style of designing...you know just plop it in the vase. I shuttered at the thought. As many of you know, there is nothing careless in wedding design work. Everything and I mean everything takes time and thought - from the smallest posy to the biggest urn arrangement. At least that's how I think about it. And the labor, more labor and more labor. I've been meaning to write about my thoughts on set up and stuff like that...one day.

Unfortunately, my photos suck as I ran out of time. Here is a measly sampling. I'm dying to see the pros shots. I swear it was terrific. Have a great weekend.

The ceremony was held at a gorgeous Synagogue nearby. I believe it was originally a Quaker meeting house by the layout. The Chuappah was simple and elegant with a heirloom canopy and trailing passion vine and jasmine. Double stick tape and zip ties are my favorite inventions of all time.

French Enamelware

Something else to covet over on etsy seller Attic Antic. Too sweet

Home Stretch

I'm having a little pity party here today as I stare at my computer screen. So stupid. Despite 2012 looking like my most successful year to date I am feeling caught up in the game...This is probably due to the fact that I stayed up late last night browsing around the blogshere. Normally I enjoy seeing what others are up to. You know how it goes - wedding blogs lead to flower blogs lead to garden blogs lead to cooking blogs lead to interior design blogs lead to art blogs lead to craft blogs lead to amazing woman who are doing all of the above while raising 4 kids under the age of 5 blogs. Phew. I'm exhausted. Life is not a race, I say to myself. Stay close to yourself and make what makes you sing. Yes, okay. Breathe. Seven more weddings must go down in 5 weeks time. Plus, my husband will be out of town on business for a week in the middle of all this. This is where my complusive oganizational self comes in. All those years of running that architectural firm have paid off, I hope!

Rustic and Elegant - you can have both!

I hope you had a nice long weekend. I was working and except for a few pre-wedding jitters (do they ever go away??) I was loving every minute. Every once and awhile you connect with a client and their family in a way that seems so easy and natural. That was this family. I really enjoyed bringing the floral goodness to their big day. Gary's Loft was the setting and with the added chandeliers it was all aglow in romantic soft light. And yes, yet again I was working with my favorite colors. Can't get enough of coral, pink and orange with lots of greens. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Cute escort card idea. We simply stretched burlap over a board, nailed a grid and hung the tags. 

 Gorgeous Chippendale garden roses

Glorious, magical, bountiful fall

Under beautiful blue skies on the autumnal equinox we created these flowers on Staten Island's Snug Harbor. The ceremony was held in the  newly installed Tuscan Garden. I am sucker for formal gardens, especially ones with terra cotta urns and garden figures - so I was in heaven.  As for flowers, it's really all about dahlias now. I find that's all I buy...dahlias and roses and hydrangea. It was a treat to include rose hips, mini persimmons and pomegranates. Some of the tables had lush mixed arrangements while some had tall trumpet vases with local lace cap hydrangea and russian olive branches. It was a day wedding so after a busy early morning I found myself with a Saturday afternoon off. Unheard of! Enjoy

I wanted to share some new press today. Always a treat to see the professional images and an honor to be featured on both Elizabeth Ann Designs and Style Me Pretty!

All photos by Kristina Hill

All photos by Tory Williams