Mike & Christy's Wedding

One of my very dear friends got married in September and asked me to design her wedding. Mike and Christy Cheever were married on the water at her parents' house in Olympia. The morning of the wedding, we drove south in torrential rain, fingers crossed for some sun for the outdoor ceremony. By two o'clock the rain has stopped, the skies had cleared and the sun peeked through to provide a dramatic backdrop to a beautiful ceremony. Here are a smattering of pictures from the day...

(first two courtesy of the fantastic Clare Barboza of Clare Marie Photography. You can see more of her photographs on her blog: http://www.claremariephotography.blogspot.com/)

Bouquets

Some bridal bouquets I have done recently...

2008 Opening Night Gala

The Symphony's Opening Night Gala this weekend was a ton of work but worth every minute of it. Guests posed on the red carpet entrance, sipped on lemongrass cocktails and danced the night away surrounded by mokara orchids and tiny goldfish. The event was even reviewed by music critic Richard Campbell, in the Seattle Post Intelligencer on Sunday!

You can check that out here:

( http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/classical/379104_sso15q.html)

*all photographs by Ben VanHouten

Renee Fleming Event

I wanted this event to have a very feminine, sexy look to pay homage to the guest of honor, world renowned singer Renee Fleming. I worked with one of my favorite floral designers, Julie Borrud at Bella Rugosa, and together we created this design scheme~

Featured in the picture above (from left): Becky Benaroya, Maestro Gerard Schwarz, Renee Fleming and her partner *photo credit to Ben VanHouten Photography*

* floral design by Bella Rugosa at www.bellagugosa.com

wedding album

Here are a few examples of the decor from my own wedding last summer.
It's so much more fun (and so much less stressful) to plan someone else's!My bouquet had deep pink roses, orange leaves and kumquats to celebrate my South African husband's roots. The centerpieces were three silver julep cups of varying sizes filled with three separate types of flowers- pink roses, orange kumquats and crocosmia and lime green orchids and bells of ireland~

A signature cocktail is always a nice (and economical) touch. I couldn't have an English wedding without my favorite summer drink, Pimms~

We hung silver glass lanterns from India in the windows...so lovely when the sun set~

Our wildflower seed favors also served as escort cards~


Fireworks over the Hood Canal to end the night~

portfolio pieces

~asian themed arrangements~

bar decor

~peony tulips, stargazer tulips, euphorbia and tulip leaf rosettes~I love how vibrant and bright these colors are together and that they have such an exotic look, yet are locally grown Northwest tulips.