Celebrate Earth and Oxygen! (& get a free book :))

You knew I had to post for Earth Day and Arbor Day! Two wonderful reasons to put on your thinking cap, gardening bonnet, close your eyes and give thanks for the awesome splendor of our world.
In honor of April 22nd-Earth Day and today, April 24-Arbor Day, I want to do several things..

1) To REDUCE/REUSE/RECYCLE I would like to open my library of floral design books to the public. I have so many wonderful books on flowers and floral design and I will gladly give...

***10 people a book of their choice from my library!***

There's Vera Wang Weddings, books by designers Jane Packer and Paula Pryke from England, the list goes on...
2) To ENCOURAGE MORE NATIVE PLANT APPRECIATION for Southern California's wealth of beautiful flowers and trees, I want to provide links for 3 of the best places you can go for information, pictures, and purchasing of the right kind of native plants for you. There are SO Many beautiful, flowering native plants for this region that there is just no need to plant another pansy or petunia!
Check out your options & look at the pretty pictures-

Tree of Life Nursery, San Juan Capistrano
www.californianativeplants.com
Recon Native Plant Nursery, Otay Mesa
www.reconnativeplants.com
Las Pilitas Nursery, Escondido
www.laspilitas.com

Now go breathe deep and hug a tree!

Sweet Peas at the Prado

What a lovely setting for our monthly Weddings of Distinction meeting! Thank you to everyone at the Prado, notably Andrea Pena, for coordinating a delicious lunch in the Loggia Room. Amy Wright of Theorie (one of our newest members:)) was on hand to snap the shots- Thank you for making the beautiful colors of our flowers really shine!

Purple sweet peas and fun papaya-peachy-buttery ranunculus in a glass vases set upon a palm leaf and surrounded by river pepples in a mahogany wood tray.

Oh yeah, how pretty is the Loggia Room! Those colors just popped in the soft setting of gold and sea green! And the wall of windows overlooking the courtyard... so nice.

Now we've got the addition of fresh lavender and leucadendron all wrapped in horsetail (equisetum) and an orange satin ribbon. BEST PART.... IT'S ALL LOCALLY GROWN RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO!! Check out the potential for fun and beauty!!

Yours truly on the left, with the awesome Kristie Emmons from Continental Catering and the always fabuloso Elaine Ardizzone from Sweet Cheeks (a familiar name around here :))

Orange Fun

I hope this makes Wendy's day :) She doesn't even know I took this photo, but as we were setting her centerpieces upstairs, I leaned over the balcony of the La Jolla Shores Hotel just in time to catch her walking to the aisle with her dad- such a sweet moment. Her vibrant bouquet of orange calla lilies, ranunculus, and tulips with curled green ti leaves stood out vibrantly against her ivory lace gown and the smooth age of terracotta tiles...

Love the sparkly headband, too!

Now how about them sweets.. we could smell the fresh sugar emanating from these cuties!

Sweet Cheeks delivers again!

Go Green Goodness

You asked and you shall receive!! All the Rae Florae flower detail shots from the Premier Green Event at the New Children's Museum (thinkplaycreate.org).

Our tablescape centerpiece of locally salvaged birch bark, moss branches, and wildweed- colorfully accented by pink ranunculus blooms from Carlsbad, Ca.

Peachy pin-cushion proteas from Valley Center, Ca adorned with a spring-time appropriate hummingbird :)

Table settings of locally nurtured, mini-pink kalanchoe plants in ceramic bowls on bamboo plates. Each personally hand drawn label highlights a way we incorporated green goodness to our table- local flowers, recycled paper, low water use, salvaged goods, natural fibers, etc.

Can't leave out the sweet chairs! Single proteas and pink alstroemeria from Bonsall, Ca tied with lime green mesh and sheer white ribbon for a little raw edge :)
Thanks to Concepts Party Rentals for the chivari chairs, avocado satin linen, and bubblegum pink napkins!

DJ Jerry Beck got decked out! Surrounding his sleek sound system under the crazy cool wooden latice sculpture/structure with locally nurtured plants- papyrus reeds, horsetail equisetum, camellia, bromeliads, and maidenhair fern- all from Leucadia, Ca or right here in Ocean Beach, Ca.

More pin-cushions and flutterbirds for your fancy- this time in electric yellow with pink tips, set upon a natural raffia placemat for the belly bars in a glow of green uplights.
Gotta Go Green!

Green Party in Motion

Thank you to Scott O'Hara of Plan it Green for putting together this amazing slideshow of highlighted pics from the awesome event- look for detail shots of our flowers in an upcoming post.. as soon as Bauman Photo sends 'em on over :) I know, I'm just getting so fancy schmancy with all these video posts we can hardly stand it.

Hot like a Glue Gun

Ok, I admit this is not a clearly wedding or flower-related post, but... since I'm feeling pretty giddy that it's Saturday and I am already back from delivering this weekend's wedding AND this is the funniest thing I've seen in ages.. I'm posting it anyway. Don't be afraid, just enjoy the absolute hilarity of your fellow humans. Thank you to Alicia Hanson, fellow Craft Mafia member for sending it to me and I promise to compensate by posting pretty flower photos on Monday, I promise!

Green Premier Party

St. Patrick's Day, the greenest day of the year is manana and what better way to celebrate than with a doubly green party! This is San Diego's first green event planning vendor showcase!
Come see what Rae Florae can do with live plants and locally grown, sustainable flora! Among all the other cool things that will be going on... :)

The Green Premier Party 2009 is an evening of eco-friendly food and fun at the hottest new venue in town, The New Children's Museum and brought to you by Plan It Green.

Amazing organic & local cuisine will surround you all evening, compliments of ChileCo Catering, ECO Caters, Waters Fine Catering, Urban Kitchen Catering and Culinary Concepts.
A well stocked bar offered by Best Beverage Catering will include a selection of wines donated from Prince Of Wine who will be at the event to tell you about their special wine selections. Also, our downtown Omni Hotel has generously offered us an additional selection of wines to please a wide variety of tastes. We even have Joe's On The Nose offering you an Organic Espresso Bar to give you that lift for the evening.

Our charismatic DJ, Jerry Beck from Beck's Entertainment will be keeping us in the mood with his collection of ambient tunes emulating from the lower level of The Museum.
Of course, no event would be complete without the décor! The New Children's Museum will be decked out inside using battery operated LED lights from Beck's Entertainment, linen and lounge furniture rentals compliments of Concepts Event Design and eco-friendly floral design by Embellishmint Floral & Event Design Studio and Rae Florae.

Our vendor showcase on the 3rd level of The Museum will include a collection of eco-friendly vendors from Earth Friendly Apparel Co, Angel Printing, Wherever Shuttle (100% vegetable oil driven limo and shuttle service will be on display outside), Pulse Staging (providing exterior lighting powered by a solar generator along with our digital signage), REC Solar and more.
We are also excited to have a very talented local artist, Chris Martino that will have his work on display as well as be painting on used surfboards.
Lastly, but very important to mention, we have Zero Waste San Diego organizing and executing our zero waste management solution.


Break out your best organic clover and join us in making our St. Patrick's Day 2009 celebration the greenest ever!

March 17, 2009
7pm-10pm
$25 per person. Includes admission, 2 drink tickets, food, entertainment and education.

A portion of your admission will be used to purchase carbon credits with Nature & Culture International. One of their representatives will be present at the event to tell you how your admission will help their efforts to save rainforests, endangered eco-systems and help build and sustain local communities.

The New Children's Museum
200 West Island Avenue
San Diego, California 92101
The Museum is well positioned near the Amtrak station at Santa Fe Depot and Convention Center Trolley Station.

Street parking will be available.
We encourage you to use public transit or use icarpool, and help reduce greenhouse gases, slow global warming and improve air quality.