Flower girls are so precious, and they deserve precious accessories! These tiny accessories provide a big range of creativity and specialization for us- think wearing, carrying, and overall dazzling your guests. Whether the little ladies have wands, floral halos, or baskets (just to name a few), we can customize them to any style or color (and sparkly BLING! too!).
You can check out the “Details” section (or “Deets” if you are cool) for more examples of wands, halos, pomanders, and other super special items for little people.
In this post, Amanda is creating a flower girl basket accented with dusty miller and silver and pink ribbons. Dusty miller , or “dusty” as we call it in the biz (we’re on a first name basis; you should probably be jealous), is a velvety soft leaf that helps tie in silver and gray colors. The ceremony and reception were at the Fort Worth Zoo (pics and post soon!) with the bride’s colors focusing on soft pinks, whites, and soft grays.
Enjoy the inspiration!
step one: Starting with a basic SMALL white handled basket, Amanda gathered enough dusty leaves to cover the bottom portion. She laid out a pattern to determine how many leaves she would need and the best way to arrange them. Once they are attached, it is very difficult to move them, so having a game plan ahead of time saves frustration in the long run.
step two: Amanda applies floral glue to the back side of each leaf and attaches it to the outside of the basket (in the pattern she determined earlier). This glue is magic stuff! It is very strong, holds together a variety of items, and is delicate enough not to burn or warp the flowers. It goes a long way and dries fairly quickly too. Magic, I tell you! (I am completely ignoring the fact that any mess MAY have been made…)
step three: The handle needed a little more pizazz, so Amanda selected a thin silver satin ribbon to wrap the handle of this basket. The silver complements the wedding color palette and looks great with the streamers and ribbons (last step). She chose a side and hot glued the beginning end of the ribbon the inside of the basket. This will be hidden once it is full of petals. She then carefully wrapped all the way to the other end of the handle, cut the ribbon, and hot glued it to the inside of the basket as well.
step four: A wider piece of of the silver satin ribbon was attached to the top edge of the basket to soften the edges and provide a pretty trim piece. To hide the end of the ribbon, Amanda folded over the edge to create a seam and glued it directly under the handle. Here, it will be disguised by a bow and ribbon streamers.
step five: Amanda cut lengths of ivory, pink, and silver ribbons in varying widths. She tied these to each side of the handle to create streamers. Finally, a wider silver bow was tied to each side for a finishing touch.
Voila! An adorable piece for a sweet little girl!
Photo Courtesy of Andrea Polito Photography
And because I can’t resist… Here is one of the cheek-pinchworthy ringbearer and his floral pillow…
Photo Courtesy of Andrea Polito Photography
On a dreary and FOGGY day like today, what is a better pick-me-up than bright florals from a brunch wedding?!?
We had the absolute pleasure of designing the flowers for Catherine and Ben’s big day! Working with the endlessly talented Paige Chenault of Paige Chenault Events, Catherine and Ben were married in a ceremony at Highland Park Presbyterian, then celebrated in an elegant, fun, and fresh brunch reception at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. How adorable!
Enjoy these gorgeous photos from Erin Woolsey of EE Photography!
Now, if that doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what will!
Happy Wednesday, y’all! I’ve got a really cool company for you to check out: Planning for Dudes.
(And I don’t promote a whole lot of things,so you know this has to be stellar).
But before I tell you what a truly awesome concept this is (with a great group of people running it), I have to tell you some engagement stories.
Story 1:
A few years ago, I made friends with a beautiful, intelligent, and extremely talented designer. Not too long into our friendship, she told me how she and her (ex) boyfriend had been going through a rocky patch, when they decided to head to Starbucks. Barely into their coffee, he dropped to his knee, handed her a ring, and asked her to marry him. When she bent down to whisper in his ear, “Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else,” he jumped to his feet, raised her arm in the air, and yelled to the gathering crowd, “SHE SAID YES!” …They ended their relationship fairly soon thereafter.
Check out this Starbucks Proposal done right! Courtesy of Green Wedding Shoes and Bride Mikaela
Story 2:
Last year, we took some friends of ours to lunch in Galveston. On the way home, the male half of the couple turned to his girlfriend, opened a blue ring box, and said “How ’bout it?” (Better than his planned Jack-in-the-Box fast food proposal…) They are still engaged and madly in love, but she teases him endlessly for being so ill prepared and decidedly un-romantic.
Photo of Courtney’s ring, courtesy of my awesome iPhone (sarcasm.)
So, how do these stories tie into Planing for Dudes? Well, Kelly Simants, of Sweet Pea Events fame, has put together an awesome team to help guys plan marriage proposals. You know, so they make their other halves feel like the million bucks they are worth. And don’t embarrass them. And don’t wake their ladies up with a late-night, half-hearted proposal after their favorite teams win a football game (that is a whole other story…). I’m sure Kelly and her team are going to make so many guys and gals happy! After all, their tag line is “We plan, She brags, You win.”
They offer a few different packages with all sorts of customization, from getting the groom-to-be in contact with the right people to choreographing every move during the actual proposal. Basically, they take a lot of stress out of the whole process. Go check out their website. Then send the link to your sons, your brothers, your cousins, your uncles, their friends, your friends, your co-workers, and every guy you meet on the street. Because you just might change their lives. (Plus, they might get to work with us, and how cool would that be?)
This is a sweet photo of Shaun and Shannon, a Planning for Dudes couple. Courtesy of Planning for Dudes and Sara Kerens.
Planning for Dudes is hosting their launch party next Wednesday- complete with video games, beer, and bacon. You can RSVP here. Also, check out their feature on D Bridal Buzz this week. (You can thank me for sharing later. I accept cookie bouquets and Tiff’s Treats!)
Have a great week, and seriously, go learn about this company!
-Amanda
Greystone Castle has to be one of the most unique venues I’ve ever seen! It’s out in peaceful Mingus, TX, perched atop a hill providing a gorgeous view of the hill country! Thank you to planner extraordinaire April Coltharp from Flair Events for introducing us to bride Lindsay Morgan! She was as adorable and easy going as she looks in these pictures by the talented Kari Crowe of kari crowe photography. The rain poured off and on all day, and the bride and groom smiled the whole time! What troopers!
Cheers and Congrats!
debby j
Boutonniere’s are one of the smallest pieces a floral designer creates- but for us, it’s big fun! We love combining little, funky details- think seed pods, tiny crabapples or grass plumes. Recently, I met a bride who told me all about her husband’s obsession with being a TX Longhorn! Being a fellow Longhorn myself, I insisted we make him a boutonniere out of a tiny Bevo figurine for a fun joke!
In this post, Amanda is creating a bout with a small succulent bloom. The bride loved textural, organic elements, so Amanda added a bit of blue thistle and a grass plume for the perfect finishing touch.
Be sure to check out the “details” gallery on our website for more pictures of boutonniere’s.
Enjoy the inspiration! debby j
step one: Using a thin green wire, Amanda created a “hairpin” to stick through a seeded eucalyptus leaf on each side of the center vein. This wire “hairpin” insures stability of the leaf and gives the designer the ability to manipulate and move the leaf in different directions.
Due to the heavier weight, two pieces of wire are added to the succulent bloom. This allows for the bloom to have more stability- i.e. will keep it from flopping around or falling off. She kept the little roots on the bloom to give the floral tape something to hold on to (in next step).
step two: After adding wire to the blooms, green floral tape is wrapped tight around each wire to disguise the mechanics. If you are making bouts on your own, ask a professional how this tape works. It can be trickier than it looks.
step three: Combine all wired elements to create the boutonniere. As a general rule, it’s nice to start with a wired leaf to anchor the back of the piece. Then, add your larger blooms accented with the smaller textural bits in front. As a “lazy florist” trick, elements like this grass plume will stay upright even out of water for 24hrs. So…we don’t wire this type of bloom. (side note: don’t you love Amanda’s turquoise nail polish!)
step four: We’re big on details at The Branch- so every stem of the bouts we make get covered- either a satin ribbon or in this case, twine. Don’t forget to provide a couple of pins to secure to the lapel.Ta-Da!
Here’s one more, perfect for a fall event! I recently created this one for a neighbor’s son for his homecoming dance. Hoping the girls swooned over his unique little lapel piece!
What’s the recipe for a fantastic wedding weekend? A fabulous venue, a fun (and organized) wedding planner, the perfect photographer and of course, a floral designer you can trust! The Owen family had all of the above, including a dash of fireworks at the end!
Thank you to the Alison Baker and the gals at DFW Events for introducing us to Jen Owen and her super fun Mom, Debbie! The floral decor for the big day at Rough Creek Lodge was a classic palette of white, ivory and green. Jen preferred a rounded style of arrangements, with a bit of looseness. We loaded her up with hydrangea, roses and peonies galore! The lighting team from Beyond brought the tall floral arrangements in the Great Hall to life and also hung oodles of white lanterns for a festive setting!
Thank you to the talented Scott Hagar for the gorgeous photographs!
Cheers!
debby j
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