Feathers and Flowers

There is nothing that adds dramatic movement and structure to a wedding bouquet or arrangement.  Feathers can be subtle and barely there or over-the-top.  The look is up to you. 

 

A subtle use of feathers add lightness to this arrangement made for a luncheon for Omaha Performing Arts.

Ostrich feather make a dramatic centerpiece.

Feathers are a great way to add black to a bouquet.

Pheasant feathers are the perfect fall accent.

 

Jewelry Bouquets

Vintage jewelry, swarovski crystals, old buttons... any of these can be used to make wonderful non-traditional bouquets that can become treasured keepsakes, as beautiful on the day you carry them down the aisle as they are when you pass them on to the next generation.  

Bouquets can be made up entirely of jewelry or they can have fresh flowers added along with the jewelry.  The flowers can be removed after you come back from your honeymoon and the bouquet rearranged for display. 

These bouquets are totally unique and personal.  You can customize the color and style and request to have jewelry or buttons of your own added to the bouquets, which can be a fun remembrance of someone special.  Or you could have each of your bridesmaids choose a piece of jewelry to put in your bouquet.  What a fun bridal shower idea and I would be happy to give you ideas on what kind works best.

Here are pictures of two bouquets that are available for purchase. Can't wait to start the next bouquet!

Boutonnieres can be designed to match the bouquets.

Perfect for destination weddings as these can be shipped. 

Wouldn't this be fun for a theme wedding?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bridal Fairs January 2011

January at Avant Garden Floral is always a lot of fun because we really enjoy bridal fairs. Yesterday was especially great because we got to do both the Fremont show, (this was our third year), and the Columbus show, (our first year).  

The brides, grooms, and their families were all so terrific and I love getting inspiration from all of their fun, new ideas.  The colors they are choosing for this year and next spring sound gorgeous; eggplant, chocolate, watermelon, teal, marigold, lime, charcoal, ruby, frost,  YUM!  These ladies are also anxious to incorporate some really creative elements and themes into their wedding, which as designers is perfect.  We love the challenge of something new. 

We created two really different looks at each bridal fair so I thought I would share some of the pictures.  If you have any questions please let me know.  It would be great to hear from you.  

Fremont Bridal Fair 2011

Columbus Bridal Fair 2011

If you have any questions please let me know.  It would be great to hear from you. 

Club 1000 Kansas City Wedding

I am thrilled to have been asked to do a wedding in Kansas City this spring at Club 1000.  It is a gorgeous venue that has huge windows that overlook the city.  White chairs, white walls, beautiful wood floors, and terrific lighting, plus the permission to use real candles both in the ceremony space below and the reception space that is upstairs.  It is the perfect elegant blank slate for designing a personalized wedding look.  

The bride and groom and the bride's mom and I have been working on ideas for quite some time.  (Her wedding folder is starting to burst at the seams.) They are so creative and are excited about all the looks that we can achieve with flowers and candles.  Her colors are lavender, plum, and granite with touches of a lovely spring green.  The bride wants to use callas and so when I showed her these picasso calla lilies it was love at first site. 

One of the most important items that we have been working on this week, mostly by email, is the ceremony space.  We are planning on lining the aisle with rose petals and candles and the family has purchased some lovely crystal candlesticks to use at the front of the space.  The front of the ceremony space is made up of three large white boxes, so the sky is the limit on what we can use as the backdrop for the wedding and all of the lovely wedding pictures that will be taken there.  I have sent the bride and her mom some sketches of ideas. I will let you know what we come up with.

Vintage Jewelry Bouquets

My mom, daughters and I have been working on a fabulous new bridal bouquet that is a bit non-traditional, but gorgeous and fun and will last forever.   The bouquets are made up entirely of vintage jewelry.  It is a spectacular look that is starting to pop up in pictures from weddings around the United States and Europe.  It offers a unique twist to the traditional bouquet of flowers, where the brooches, earrings, rings, and jewels take the place of perishable blooms.  It is a wonderful way to preserve your bouquet and have it as a keepsake that can be handed down from generation to generation. 

We have been having a great time finding these gems in lots of places and have enough jewels to make two bouquets that will be displayed at the Fremont and Columbus bridal fairs, and the Omaha bridal showcase in February. 

Here are some pictures of just a few of the jewelry pieces that make up these bouquets.  Most of the bouquets have well over 40 pieces.

We will have pictures of the finished bouquets in a later post.

These bouquets will be for sale when they are finished, but we would also love to design a vintage jewelry bouquet for you that matches your wedding colors and style.  (The great thing is no two are the same, they are as unique as the pieces that are put into them.)  We can also add real flowers to the bouquets for your wedding ceremony and then take the real flowers out after the wedding and redesign the bouquet for you as your keepsake.  Maybe you have a brooch from your grandmother, or your mom's earrings that she wore on her wedding.  We would love to add those to your bouquet too.

Flowers for the New Baby

A new year and lots of new babies in the Omaha area. We are thankful to have one of these new little bundles of joy in our family, as my oldest daughter and her husband had a wonderful baby boy in November.  I am in love with being a Grammie.


One of my favorite arrangements to make is a welcome bouquet for a new little baby girl or boy. I love using toys as the vase. Teacups, little barns, purses, jet airplanes... That way Mommy can enjoy the flowers and has a keepsake for her new little addition and it doubles as a gift that baby can be play with when they get a little bigger.  They make cute scrapbook pictures too.  

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to make one of these joyful bouquets for baby Xavier. We chose a cute little dump truck as the vase for the bouquet and lots of cute baby boy colored flowers. 

Here are a few other baby gift arrangements that we've put together.


A jet airplane for Baby Jett. 

 

A basket of puppies for a baby shower.

Great Grandma brought this container to be filled for baby.  Peter Cottontail had a pretty garden of peach, yellow, and green flowers to hide in.

Baby Reagan had a cute zoo animal theme for her baby shower.

A baby book shower had us designing a "very hungry caterpillar".