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Well it's about dang time, right?
Busy bee for beautiful blooms, at your service :)
Just a quick post to say I've missed you and get the ball rolling.
The holiday season is upon us and the festivities have begun. Break out the red and green, elf hats, and jingle bell merriment!

Red-orange dappled lilies with green hydrangea and raspberry sedum in a silver lacquer dish at the Sofia Hotel's Currant Bistro.

Red Alert lilies with gold tipped oak leaves, yellow yarrow, and rosehips in a low glass square wrapped with flax leaves- on it's way to a lucky and loved family for their dining table.

Cari & Marc @ La Jolla Shores

Oohh, love :)

To match the terracotta setting amid the sun and sand, Cari and her mom, Carole, were looking for a natural, relaxed feel to their florals.. with a taste for gerbera daisies, dahlias, and anything branchy, we had our creative direction in order.

Silver ribbon accents tied the sunny gerberas to the railing leading to the ceremony.

Bittersweet branches, rosehips, miniature calla lilies, roses & gerberas, dahlias, snowberry, green hypericum coffee berry, coxcomb in orange, red, and magenta.. the list goes on and on!

The texture and variety in these arrangements is what makes them so beautiful. All the flowers are given plenty of room to bend and drape as they wish. I also love the teal green glazed terracotta pottery I was able to find just for Cari & Marc- nothing standard here!

The finishing touch.

Red and Red

I just couldn't resist- the red dahlias are so perfect and these adorable "Pupita" spray roses were calling my name again. Maybe I should have saved the combo for Valentine's Day, but honestly pink and red make such a pretty pair any time of year. This was the perfect bouquet to cheer up a friend.

And of course, holiday season party planning is a'rollin'. The latest centerpiece combo- red roses grown right across the way in Baja, Cali, in a bed of green hydrangea... Thank you for noticing the beautiful, textured cream linens are courtesy of none other than Haydee and her team at Concepts :)

MAJOR Bride Tip!!

Laura & Zach want fun citrus colors with fruit-in-the-vase style centerpieces.

Now, this is sounds lovely, but believe it or not, a little vague. Envisioning an entire wedding color scheme and design theme requires so much more information!
Let's dissect the elements...

Citrus Colors - are we talking orange and yellow, yellow and green, any hot pink in there?
Fruit-in-the-Vase - tangerines, lemons, limes, kumquats, key limes? sliced or unsliced or both?

Lucky for me, Laura turned out to be one smart cookie of a bride, intuitively knowing that if she wanted to be specific, visual aids were the key to wedding day happiness :) So, she created a web page all her own and filled it with a smattering of all the photos she found and liked, then added explanatory notes. See her handiwork for yourself, and then make one for yourself!

http://sites.google.com/site/zachandlauraswedding/

What Laura had to say about the process...

"I spent a long time searching for pictures of bouquets and other wedding details online and was looking for a way to display all of my favorite photos together in one place. I decided to try out Google Sites (go to Google.com and select "Sites" on the "More" drop down menu). Google Sites is a free service that allowed me to post pictures of bouquets I like alongside photos of confirmed wedding details (the invitation, groomsmen attire, and bridesmaid dress). By creating a montage of photos and captions, I was able to give Paula a sense of the overall look and feel I want for the wedding."

What I say... "Genius!"

ps. photo by BCR

Blushing Baja, Ca

Sometimes, pink is the only color I can imagine looking this pretty.

Don't get me wrong, I love every color out there and in every combination-
but this soft combo of pink cymbidiums, pale green hydrangea, and white dahlias is sweet and fresh. Plus, the orchids came in an especially yummy mauve color, spotted with deeper reddish purple hues, adding just a touch of exotic flavor for the wedding in Baja last weekend.

Best part was the bride is in love with these blush pink "dinner plate dahlias" and we were able to get them in plentiful supply despite the heat, yay!

Spray Rose Accents...
The bridesmaids bouquets featured, along with the flowers I mentioned, a few stems of Tiramisu spray roses- petals are a similar reddish purple hue with white backing..

The bride's bouquet featured White Majolica spray roses, which have the loveliest perfume scent, along with the pink dinner plate dahlias, pink sedum, and pink cymbidiums...

and while we're on the subject- another adorable spray rose..
Pupita has baby pink petals that lighten toward the edges, eventually blending into pale green. It wasn't the right shade for this wedding, but I couldn't resist bringing them home for a friend!

The 2 F's - Food & Flower

Yum, yum, and yum.
Well, as you can tell by the lack of blog activity, it's been a busy couple 'a weeks, so what better way to unwind than playing with your food?
An evening spent learning to cook a few dishes from the famed Marcela Valladolid- yes that's right, the young and lovely chef extraordinaire-

Our appetizer and entree-
Guero chiles stuffed with albacore and veggies to light that tongue on fire,
then Poblano chile cream sauce drizzled over ravioli's filled with- get this- corn fungus aka cuitlacoche, with a taste reminiscent of sauteed mushrooms.
D'lish, I swear!

Moving on to dessert, Marcela works her biceps whipping up cream and cajeta, a goat's milk version of caramel. The "plating" begins...

...and we have it folks- Napolean ala goats and gooseberries. Did you know that gooseberries are actually related to tomatillos, while tasting like a cross between a persimmon and a kiwi, and yet are often tossed in with the usual suspects of black-, rasp-, and strawberries.

The woman behind the amazingly well orchestrated class- Gabriela Dow. Her business Friends with Class has brought together the best of instructors with the most appealing of class subjects, all based on personal reference so it is very trustworthy that your money will be well spent.

And, of course, yours truly. I couldn't pass up the candid shot op :)
I had a great time, and now off to the studio- those wedding flowers are awaiting for me to get back to work!
Have a great Labor Day Holiday everyone!

Calla Curls

Aren't these the coolest pictures!?!!?

Could you even guess what this was if I didn't say? I feel like it's a Highlights or Ranger Rick photo that we have to identify and the correct answer is listed upside down at the bottom of the page. Apparently the calla's beauty isn't limited to it's color palette and top shape.

Calla lily stems split and curl up from the bottom as they sit in water. Of course, not all callas get this excited- this overachiever is a miniature calla lily. To avoid this happening all the way up the stem, we keep callas in a very shallow amount of water; plus the calla stem is prone to getting gummy skin when sitting in too much water, all around yuck.

Botany lesson for the day- check!

Red Glitz on the DL

In the world of event planning, it's never too early to talk flowers and colors; so while Christmas may seem far away to you, it's just around the corner to us. Hence, the new take on Red, Green, and the oh-so-currently-popular Purple (eggplant, excuse me) With a little sparkle thrown in for good measure this is a festive centerpiece that will play delightfully when encircled by candlelight. It's a nice way to say Holiday without screaming Santa Claus :) This is a sample sized for use on cocktail tables, but the idea is easily translated to a larger table setting or different color scheme. Linens are courtesy of Concepts Party Rentals - Thx!

Buttons for Becca

Just over a month ago Becca & Ben celebrated at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla, but it was over a year ago that we started planning for this funky fete. Becca and Ben hail from NY and love hitting up those famous New England flea markets for kitschy vintage flair, especially with the excuse of "it's for the wedding" :)

We started with daisies of every color, threw in some bright kermit mums and tied it all together with Miami Blue polkadot ribbon. Each bridesmaid bouquet featured gerberas in all one color and a single vintage button from Becca's collection.

Of course, Becca's bridal bouquet was button bedazzled with dots upon dots!

Appropriate for the bride... mixed white gerberas, miniature gerberas in each bridesmaid color and miniature chamomile feverfew blossoms for softness.. and yes, that does look like a Big Boy foot in the background.

Black linens with white napkins and sashes clean the slate for the colorful gerber daisies to Pop! Becca & Ben's collected vintage bottles were the perfect centerpiece vases- no two were the same.

Bringing the polka full circle, we tied the napkins with a mini version of the ribbon used on the Bride & Bridesmaid bouquets and added a single chamomile blossom just for fun.

Thanks, Jared!
Jared Bauman of Bauman Photographers gets the credit for these awesome photos, see more at www.baumanphotographers.com

Visions of Sugarplums

It's just one sneak peek after another over here at Rae Florae!

Photo shoot after photo shoot, it's all about bringing the latest in creativity to public view. San Diego Style Weddings magazine is in the home stretch of getting ready for the upcoming issue to be released this fall, and contained therein you'll see tons of pictures featuring Rae Florae's work. The photo above showing light butterfly hydrangea, lavender stock flower, white cattleya orchids, bromeliads, and crystals is a close-up of the centerpiece we created in partnership with Sharaye Hood's What a Wedding and Events. Teams of florists and coordinators start from scratch to design an entire wedding reception theme- from silverware to napkins to flowers and chair covers and lighting. Whether we start with an inspirational piece of fabric or just a unique pairing of colors, the complete concept is brought to life just for the purpose of showing off the variety and fun you can have in creating wedding reception decor. Be sure to check the newstand in October when the magazine comes out and look for Rae Florae credits throughout!

Name that Orchid

So, the orchid classification book is at the office, but this is too cool to wait. My outside orchid is blooming and I love the way it unfurls! See the triangular petal at the bottom? Watch as it unfolds to become the rounded bottom petal, revealing the final burst of beauty.

Though the petal still has a little unrolling to do, the crinkles never fully iron out, which only adds to its unique appeal. And of course, you can see the tiny hot pepper shaped bud the blooms begin as- no white is even visible, only green and purple.

This one's for you, Lisa.

Now, I know this blog is supposed to be about flowers, but the life of a florist isn't quite that limited. So, here's a peek into my weekend- Friday night after going to see "Mamma Mia" (great fun btw), some friends and I happened by the Whistle Stop for the fantastic bluesy, funky jazz of Pocket. The bassist, Christian, was sporting a t-shirt that hearkened of days gone by- in particular, those that included my sister and I having a Groove Armada dance party in the living room. I see you baby.

Dana & Klint

Darling couple from my own previous stomping ground.. that's right, little did you know I once lived in Texas! Dana's parents are some of the coolest cats around and they were oh so pleasant to work with as we planned for her wedding at the La Jolla Bridge Club. We went for old charm with creams, white, lavender, touches of blue, and a kick of lime. Keeping our charm, we wrapped the vases in antique lace to match the bride's gown.

white tulips and pale blue scabiosa

scented geranium, white cushion & button mums, purple lisianthus

urns of purple and blue hybrid delphinium, green hanging amaranthus, and brown cattails!

Ooh! Dana's bouquet of "Old Dutch" roses- light purple with green tinged edges, white and lavender freesia, creamy garden roses, green hydrangea, bells of ireland, blue veronica and more scabiosa

"Cool Water" rose in a bed of green and blue hydrangea

fragrant white stock flower with fun green china berries

Bliss on wheels ;)

Earlier this week my friend Rachel Burger of Bliss Events asked me to whip up three cute little arrangements for a trio of her associates. Since the colors of Bliss Events are orange, green and white...

Papyrus and Roses: Vendela cream and Mariana orange

And perhaps more Bliss on wheels....

Fun photos from the recent NACE meeting!

Putting the bikes together...

Teri Stumpo of White Sand Photography with Rachel B.

David Wright racing to the finish, Teri on his heels!

Really you must!

Visit

www.lunaphotoblog.com
Last week we made bridal bouquets for a San Diego Style Weddings magazine photo shoot at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Needless to say, we had a blinged out, rockin' time.
Paula & Mike Luna have posted some of the pictures they snapped that day and you can preview what will be featured in the upcoming magazine!!
Don't you just love an inside scoop ;)
To Paula Luna, From Paula Rae - Thank you! The bouquets look fabulous!

Love in the breeze..

Rae Florae - North Beach, San Clemente, Ca.

Isn't this a beautiful effect? To be honest, this is a risky move, because if the wind isn't blowing or is blowing in the wrong direction, the fabric won't billow this perfectly. But, for all my beach-loving brides, you can stop looking for a natural, romantic, windswept coastline wedding setting- this is the one to create.