PiperLime Fall/Winter 2011 Showroom Installation
Last April was a very busy month of us. On top of the usual weddings & events we created a few showroom installations in New York during market week. One of our favorites was for Piperlime for their Fall/Winter 2011/2012 collection. The inspiration we were given was to go very natural and to use organic elements that evoked the spirit of autumn.
Natural Driftwood & Dried Orange Yarrow Sculpture
We created a large installation comprised solely from a large piece of natural driftwood from California and over a hundred stems of dried orange Yarrow. The color of the driftwood blended naturally against the collection and the vibrant orange became a focal point in the room. This is another great example of using an ordinary flower in mass and making it more special. See Baby's Breath Example here.
Driftwood & dried Mushrooms
To create the same feeling throughout the showroom, we created a few mini sculptures of natural driftwood, dried mushrooms and dried salal leaves. As you can see, the color palette was on point!
Lastly, a wild arrangement of orange Ranunculus arranged in a natural wooden vase to greet each guest!
A Garden Wedding for a City Bride
One of our favorite sorts of bride is the kind that not only feels open to an interesting design proposal but one that comes to us with a specific concept around which we can design her wedding. That’s why when Lauren came to us with 60 vintage & unique teacups she had been collecting for the year prior to her special day, we wanted to offer a dream design unlike any other in In Bloom history.
Preferring a garden ceremony and reception in a colonial mansion to a city wedding, the bride & groom chose to marry just North of Manhattan at the Round Hill House in Washingtonville, New York.
Given her taste for a romantic & old world wedding, Lauren asked for a primarily white bridal bouquet with pops of green and hints of the most subtle pink out there. We came up with a mix of white freesia, white garden roses, blush ranunculus, and white sweet peas – keeping the stems naturally long.
For the bridesmaid’s bouquets, we simply paired white garden roses and white hydrangeas. For the groom’s boutonniere, we coupled a white ranunculus with sprigs of rosemary. This became the first introduction of herbs later to be seen in the reception table designs.
Pillar candles of varying heights with small groupings of white rose petals marked the aisle for the youngest participant to walk down to the altar.
We decorated the cornice of the birch altar provided by the venue with trailing Spanish moss, spraying dendrobium orchids, light pink & white peonies, and open garden roses.
Pale pink ostrich feathers at each place setting added an interesting element to the two table designs centering around Lauren’s collection of vintage tea cups.
The first design included an antiqued white candelabra with five unique teacups and saucers. Each cup contained a single type of either blush or white peonies, blush or white ranunculus, or white garden roses to keep the design pure.
The fruit bowl table design incorporated green grapes, green apples, brown sugar pears, and touches of white spray roses as well as fresh spearmint in a brushed gold pedestal bowl. Three teacups turned into appropriate candle holders for white tealights.
What a memorable trip outside the city to filfill a dream wedding for Lauren and Jarrod. Congratulations again to you both!
Photo Credits: Growing Tree Photography
-Parker Voss
Spring Floral Trends for Bridal Guide
This month In Bloom had our second major feature in Bridal Guide magazine with our flowers featured in an editorial on Spring floral trends. We contributed several bouquets, each a very simple gathering of white or pink flowers to accessorize but not dominate the overall look.
Along with the March/April spread on Color Theory, our bouquets for this issue used a single color or subtle combination of pinks, whites and greens. The opening image features a bridal bouquet of soft pink roses, hot pink spray roses and seeded eucalyptus tied with two tones of pink satin and sheer ribbons as seen in a later image.
For these full-length shots, we provided a simpler alternative to the bridal bouquet that dominates the look; that is, the untied bouquet of a single flower type – such as the white peony blooms. Other pure options include the elegant yet often underestimated bundle of baby’s breath, or undoubtedly the blush ranunculus seen below. Open garden roses also tend to be a spectacular option coveted by brides for their beautiful fragrant.
Pick up the May/June issue of Bridal Guide to get a closer look at our flowers and the hundreds of wonderfully laid out pages on all things bridal.
-Parker Voss
The Hispanic Society Gala 2010
The Hispanic Society held their annual Fall Gala this past October 5, 2010 at 583 Park Avenue. Since its founding in 1904, the Hispanic Society has promoted the study of the rich arts and culture of Spain and its areas of influence throughout the world and Latin America.
MF Productions seamlessly organized the event, honoring the following individuals and institutions for their exceptional contribution to the Hispanic arts:
Fundación Vallelongo, Fundación Juntos Actuando por la Superación, A.C & Javier Godo, Count of Godo
The gala kicked off with cocktails in the arcade of 583 Park Avenue. The color palette for the evening revolved around the soft greens of antique hydrangeas along with dusty tones of orange & creams. In Bloom decorated the music-filled arcade with two large bar arrangements consisting of camellia leaves, green hanging amaranthus, rust-colored dahlias as well as touches of orange ranunculus and mint roses.
The eight cocktail tables each glowed with three mercury tea lights positioned around a small julep cup arrangement of dark greens, orange dahlias and ranuclus with sprigs of lisianthus.
In Bloom found inspiration for the centerpieces in a floral motif painted on an antique dish from the Hispanic Society's art collection. Our designers aimed to translate a painterly quality to the combination of antique hydrangeas, orange ranunculus, yellow alstromeria, rust colored dahlias, mint & buttercup roses as well as delicate, scented geranium leaves.
We were pleased to achieve our stylistic goals without obstructing the guest and patrons' views of fellow attendees across the table. Like all things fun, the mingling and conversation lasted until the music stopped and the candles burned low.
-Parker Voss
DINNER AT DE SANTOS FOR DAN RAGONE
This past March, Interview Magazine hosted a special fete in honor of their new president Dan Ragone at De Santos restaurant in the West Village. Interview approached us looking for simple yet elegant arrangements for their intimate dinner. Inspired by both the rustic, Tuscan menu and décor of the restaurant, we put together an ensemble of small,white arrangements for the dinner tables as well as flowering branches for the bar and entranceway.
For the entrance table, guests entered the dinner greeted by a tall arrangement of white cherry blossoms. Additional flowering pear branch arrangements decorated each corner of the bar.
Small arrangements of white Ranunuclus, Hydrangeas, Lisianthus, Ginestra and Bouvardia were placed on the dinner tables in alternating heights and sizes. Each arrangement used only one type of white flower to give a clean, chic look. See below for more photos and a link to Interview Magazine's write up. Enjoy!
Wedding Salon Event 4/12/2010
In Bloom New York had the pleasure of participating in the Wedding Salon two weeks ago at the Roosevelt Hotel. We were very excited about this event because it was a great opportunity to meet new brides and vendors in the New York City area. The Wedding Salon is a great event for a florist to showcase their ability because of the opportunity to design a cohesive table with all the components: chairs, place settings, centerpiece, etc.
Immediately, we knew that we wanted to keep the design whimsical with a garden-like feel and to let the gorgeous flowers speak for themselves. The main centerpiece featured a lush mix of green & white Hydrangeas, pink, white & buttercup Ranunculus, hanging green Amaranthus, white & ivory Garden Roses, mint Roses, fuchsia & light pink Peonies and sprigs of mint. We arranged these full flowers in an antiqued white urn set atop a pedestal covered in moss and twisting wisteria branches. Silver glittered birds adorned the centerpiece; we also perched them on the bride and groom's chairs along with Italian Ruscus vines, continuing the garden theme of the table.
We set the table for six using gorgeous vintage-inspired floral plates and gold-rimmed chargers. We chose glassware with gold accents and ornate flatware that complemented the colors of the table beautifully. Stephanie Somodi from Designing the Most Inviting Day created a phenomenal table card along with seating cards that we placed in front of each guest's plate. We loved working with Stephanie who grasped the concept of our design in her creation.
The table also included tea lights of varying heights along with sterling silver & mercury julep cups filled with Peonies, Ranunculus, Jasmine, Lilac, mint sprigs and Garden Roses.
Thank you again to Stephanie Somodi for the beautiful handmade stationary. Special thanks to Brad Schrager Photography for your beautiful images of our table!
Anemone Bouquet
This nice weather is so inspiring! All we want to do at In Bloom New York is to make arrangement, after arrangement! One of the biggest trends in 2009 and now in 2010 is the Anemone Flower. Whether used in bridal bouquets or in mixed arrangements, these flowers really stand out. We thought we would put together a beautiful bouquet to showcase these extraordinary flowers.
Anemone comes from the Greek word, Amos which means wind. It is sometimes referred to as the "Windflower" because it was believed that wind caused it to grow originally. The Anemone is part of the Ranunculaceae family, both Anemone and Ranunculus stems are soft, hallow and have the same texture.
Anemone flowers come in various colors; white, blue, purple, red and bicolor and have papery petals that open flat to highlight black or white centers. These blooms can we found December-May and is perfect for a winter or spring wedding. We nestled these multicolor Anemone's against white Antiqued Hydrangeas, lavender Freesia, white and pink Lisianthus stems. We wrapped this bouquet with dark purple sheer silk that complimented the purple tones of the arrangement nicely. Enjoy!
A Spring Bridal Bouquet
With the change of season comes a new fresh assortment of flowers in all all hues and textures. Our daily deliveries from Holland has been stocking the store with gorgeous flowers, relieving us from our winter blues! We created a wild and wonderful bridal bouquet yesterday in celebration of the season and warmth to come!
A collection of white ranunculus, green and cream lisianthus, ivory garden roses, cream liberty roses are flanked by green hanging amaranth and mini green hydrangeas. A touch of green Yoko Ono Mini Poms and trachelium add pops of color and create a nice contrast against the cream and white blooms. We finished off the bouquet with a twist of cream satin ribbon with an olive chiffon ribbon overlay.
In Bloom Spotlight on Ranunculus
The Ranunculus, which is often mispronounced and misidentified, is one of my favorite flowers. It is primarily available 6 months of the year, December- March and comes in various colors including white, purple, pink, red, burgundy, orange and yellow.
What I love the most about this flower is that every stem is different, it is incredibly rare to find two identical stems. You may buy "red ranunculus" however when each bloom opens, it's a mini surprise, maybe a little darker, maybe a little more orange than the one next to it. But that is the beauty of it no? The above picture is an arrangement we created for Versace, about sixty stems in an 8x10 black ceramic vase.
Ranunculus is also sometimes referred to as Persian Buttercup or Rununculus and usually lasts about 4 days. When Versace asked us to fill this antique vase that was from Gianni Versace's private collection with a beautiful red flower we immediately dialed our farmer in Holland. For this particular case, I left some natural greens and unopened buds to separate the blooms and to create depth. Two pictures of the final product below and more can be found in our Gallery.
