Longing for Spring

Will it ever come?  Little signs of spring are in my garden, but it sure doesn't feel like it.  Hyacinths, Peonies and Hellebores are peeking up through the dirt.  I am sooo ready for the yard work; that's how weary of winter I feel!  I decided to take a short break from writing proposals and look through my files of flower pictures to make myself happy on this rainy, cold day.  Here are a few from the past that I've been saving for such a time as this.

 A floral pot-pourri ...................

Photo by Brooke Courtney Photography

So I spent a day cleaning, organizing, ordering supplies and anticipating the new wedding season.  Even though I was cleaning I was in my happy place back in the flower shop.  I'm looking forward to a design show this weekend in NJ where my need for a flower- fix will be fulfilled until my first spring wedding.

Flowers for Showers

The Baby Shower Theme for Lindsay was Rubber Duckies. Of course we needed flowers for the centerpiece at the buffet, so I sculpted floral foam to make a duck using yellow Cushion Poms.  The duckie's beak was made of craft store foam sun visors. This little duckie sat in a baby swimming pool filled with ice, party food and drinks.

Amy's Baby Shower Theme was 'Puppies'. I used floral foam iglus and sculpted foam.

  White cushion poms, ribbon, button eyes and a pacifier make up this little pup.  One for each table, for take home game prizes. Now that's a lot of flower puppies!

Jessie was given a few bridal showers; one of which was a 'Lingerie' Shower.  So again I sculpted a few pieces of floral foam to create a bustier.  It's made of Roses, Spray Roses, Button Poms, Mini Carnations and Hydrangeas.

                                                 These cute  invitations were handmade by Amy. 

  At another bridal shower for Jessie I set up  a 'Flower Bar'.  Somewhat like a Candy Bar at a wedding.
  A beautiful table full of a large variety of vases filled with all kinds and colors of flowers.  We gave each guest a flower sleeve and said " Now make yourself a beautiful bouquet to take home with you".  That was a huge hit!  Everyone's bouquet looked a little different.  They loved making their own take -away gift!
 
Now we have another very important shower to plan.........Jessie's Baby Shower!  She and Doug are expecting their first son in July.  Three daughters giving us three grandsons..... Yahoooooooo!
                    So now I need to come up with another idea!  I will post the details later.........
WEDDING SEASON WILL SOON BEGIN AND WE'RE GETTIN' READY! Bring it On!

Wedding of the Year 2010

This is Katie and Jason.  Aren't they adorable?

This is Katie and Jason's cake topper.

Can you believe this is made of paper??

Here are close- ups.

The details of the wedding are even at the base of this incredible cake top.
The artist is Katie's bridesmaid.  Her name is Alissa Johnson.
Contact information:  alissa.johnson@gmail.com
Please email her and tell what an incredible piece of wedding art she has made!!
She may even make one for you!

The vintage books, mason jars, crocks and such that decorated the guest tables...........

Jason's Boutt.

Katie's Bouquet

Bridesmaids bouquets

The beautiful photography is by Wren and Field Photography  This picture is my very favorite!

This beautiful bride, Katie McMenamin, from Philadelphia is a talented wedding photographer herself. 

 Her wedding, engagement and kid's photography is so beautiful too!

Please check out these websites and blog- it will surely make you smile.

Some of the  images were posted earlier and were taken by my daughter Jessie.  Just a little re-cap so you can see why this wedding is my choice for " Wedding of the Year".  It's the personal little touches that were so lovingly handmade by her family and friends.  It was Katie and Jason's personalities that I enjoyed so much, and of course the seriously remarkable cake topper that has completely blown me away! 

To all the wonderful couples that we have done wedding flowers for in 2010,
 I must say that each of you hold a special place in my heart, and I loved doing each one of your weddings.
                                       Thank you, thank you for one terrific wedding season!
  Now on to a New Year and we're really getting excited for what we will be doing for all the couples we've  met, and are yet to meet.  I hope my blog inspires you!

Pretty Maids All In A Row

                                                                          Alyssa

                                                                          Ashley

                                                                                      Kari

                                                                 Karen and her 7 Flower Girls

                                                                                  Jennifer

                                                                                Katie


 I spent a couple hours with my dear friend Kris McElligott of KMPhotography this week and she so generously shared with me some great images from some of the weddings that we did together.
  All  of these brides were pure delights to work with and I'm having a great time remembering their weddings.  So often I post the wedding details and rarely get a picture of the bride and her bridesmaids- so I was very excited that Kris gave these to me. 
  It was an awesome year of weddings for ATB and we are so thankful for each couple that put their trust in us to make their day beautiful. 
  Oh how we love what we do!

A White Christmas Wedding Reception

  Rebecca and Oscar met with me in the summer of  '09 to talk about their vision for their December wedding.  After attending the  'Best of Weddings' show at the Lancaster Convention Center they hired our entire design team! It was great working together on that show, and so fun working together again on Oscar and Rebecca's wedding.
  The ceremony took place at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.  A truly beautiful historic landmark church in downtown Lancaster. 
  The bride's bouquet was all white Siberian Lilies, and the bridesmaids carried blue Hydrangeas with white Dendrobium Orchids. 
  The pew markers were white Orchids and Italian Ruscus which was later taken to the reception and made into a large hanging snowflake for over the center of the dance floor. Large white Poinsettias surrounded the altar.  (Sorry- I have no images of any of the above described.)

Vendor team was:  Shumaker, pdt. for lighting,  Special Occasions for linens,  Renee Connors of Designs by Renee for their stationary, Kris and John McElligott of KMPhotography, Derek Dienner of Lavon Films, Martine Cajas of House of Clarendon for their wedding cake,  DJFreez for the music, and ATB for the flowers and decor. What a treat to also be included as guests.  We had a great time enjoying all our labors of love throughout the evening.

Silver trees were the centerpieces for the 3 round bridal party tables.  The bases were embellished with glass bead garlands and snow.

The beautiful pipe and drape with blue lights and garlands twinkled behind the Bride and Groom's elevated sweetheart table.
Glass bead garlands with white Spider Mums created an icy-snowy sparkle effect to their table.  Silvery white linens draped to the floor was done by Claudia of Special Occassions.

Crushed ice in footed cylinder vases with White Birch Branches, Baby's Breath and crystals for some of the guest tables.

All guest tables had cylinder vases in various sizes with snowflakes inside and floating candles.

Personalized stemless wine glasses filled with kisses for every guest.

Lights and crystals on beautiful silver trees.

Eiffel Tower vases with snowy clouds of Baby's Breath for some guest tables were lit with blue lights as well as pin- spot lighting by Shumaker, pdt.

The atmosphere was magical. Eden Resort did a first class job serving delicious wedding fare. 

 DJFreez kept the dance floor packed all night long. 

What an awesome celebration of love on a very cold, rainy, windy winter night.

Best wishes for a lifetime of love and happiness to Oscar and Rebecca.  Thank you for the privilege of being a part of your beautiful  'First Day' of marriage.

Special thanks to my wonderful 'Team Beautiful' for an outstanding job, and to Jessie for taking pictures for this blog post.

Merry, Merry Christmas to all!!!

One Last 2010 Fall Wedding

Thank you to Radiant Images and Kristen, the bride for these pictures.

Two Doctors getting married this weekend at Cork Factory.  Gotta get back to work!

Giving Thanks With a Grateful Heart




Thank you to Thomas Beaman photography for these images.

Time again to ponder all the things that I'm thankful for.  My list is very long, so if you don't like 'reading' blogs (like me), then you won't like this post.  There is only one picture this time.

   First of all, I'm thankful for the great life I have.  The gifts of my supportive and loving husband, 3 wonderful daughters, my 3 sons in law, and my  little guys Hudson and Kole. And my loving parents.  My dear friend just had to say "See you later, Dad"  this week and that makes my parents even more cherished right now. 

  To be chosen and trusted  by dozens and dozens of couples to be a part of their wedding day is something I am truly grateful for.  Not only is it a career that I have, but every week I am able to work with the most incredible wonders and beauty of nature.  I'm blessed with very talented and hard working staff that do everything they can to follow the motto on my shop's chalkboard:  "Make it Beautiful!"  

  My fellow florist friends. We help each other with resources for products,  share our inventory when needed, , go on field trips, have lunch to "talk shop", and even send clients to each other.  Six of us enjoyed having a group photo shoot together for  Lancaster Magazine.  Thanks to Martine of House of Clarendon for making it all happen at Cork Factory.  It was the first time I met the owners of Flowers by Paulette, Splints and Daisies, and Country Flowers.  And it was great to see the owner of Petals With Style and Flowers of Mount Joy.  We're all in this together and there is so much to gain by being friends.  No need to feel competitive or jealous over each other's successes.  We all work very, very hard to be the very best we can.  We all know what it's like to pull all-nighters, and how it feels to be at the end of wedding season.  

 I'm thankful for the kindness of Mari Beth (Flowers by Paulette).  She went right to her shop after the photo shoot and handmade a ribbon banner for me for my  friend's dad's funeral.  No charge, just a random act of kindness.  In these days  of worrying about the economy and the competition it is just so good to be a part of a group of  'wedding people' who march to the beat of a different drummer. 

  One more thing I'm thankful for is my blog readers.  Thank you for taking an interest in what we're doing at All Things Beautiful.  For making the time and effort it takes to blog worth it.  I hope you take the time to make your 'Thankful List" too.  Happy Thanksgiving.