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!