Blog | Rose Red & Lavender

Guastavinos is a gorgeous venue underneath the Queensboro Bridge. It has enormous vaulted ceilings and beautiful lighting.

I was thrilled when Amanda and Steven asked me to create the decor for their wedding.
Here is a sneak peak of the flowers, I am hoping we will get some professional photos soon.

This is such a great space to work in. With soaring ceilings, you have to go tall. We combined hydrangea with babies breath and quince branches to create dramatic centerpieces.

Branch Centerpiece with Lanterns

This wedding was three days after Valentine’s day so we took a quick break on the 15th from being neck deep in Red flowers and switched gears on the 16th to be neck deep in White flowers.

Low Centerpiece

For the ceremony we lined the aisle with candles trimmed with birch and created an arch with willow branches and quince. The arch was made in 2 pieces so it could be taken apart after the ceremony.

Arch

For the head table, we created a more intimate setting with pillar candles, mercury glass pedestals and groupings of white flowers.

Guastavinos

Amanda and Steven loved the results.

Bride and Groom

Mercury Glass Pillars

Unfortunately I was rushing around and didn’t take the time to photograph her bouquet. I can’t wait to see the professional photos.

Congratulations to the newly married couple.

2012 was the year that Boho Chic hit its stride with weddings and when we were asked by a BIG NAME WEDDING MAGAZINE to design some Bohemian inspired bouquets and floral headpieces, I smiled. Ok, I smiled for like 5 minutes and then I panicked.

Flowers

I love putting together wildflower bouquets and creating that “just gathered” look. Truth of the matter is that it takes a lot of time to put together the controlled chaos without it looking like the Bride’s cousin, who “really loves flowers” put it together and I need to be in the right mood to do it.

We were given the job to do in January, and in January, I am not feeling all warm and sun shiney I can’t sit on the roof of the studio with my bees and flowers and relax and get that bohemian feeling, I am not wearing a sundress, I don’t have sandals on. I am wearing sweater dresses, thick tights, and Sorel boots, I am cold! Not to mention that there aren’t many wild flowers are around.

To get that wildflower look in the middle of Winter, I reached for anenomies (a favorite) scabiosa, lilacs, parrot tulips, garden roses, amaranths,  tuberose and scotch broom to create the looks.  I also added some berries and little bips and bobs to give them those special touches.

To get in the mood, I put on some Coachella inspired music, and took a look at some pictures from weddings past, thought warm thoughts and put on my favorite perfume. Here are the results.

Yellow and Cream Wildflower Bouquet with Lace and Burlap

Peach Wildflower Bohemian Wedding Bouquet

White Wedding Bouquet with Birch Wrapped Handle

White Wedding Bouquet with Anemones and French Lilac

I love gardeny arrangements that are natural and free flowing, just as much as I love wearing casual clothing and running around without any makeup on.

Just the same though, I love getting dressed up, having my hair done and putting on a pair of heels for an evening out.

This was one of my evenings out.

Mason Jars, burlap, medicine bottles and found items have been a common thread with weddings that we have done lately. I was thrilled to be able to do something a little different and create some large, formal centerpieces for a wedding at Capitale in Manhattan.

Capitale is a wonderful venue that is the old Bowery Savings Bank. Listed by Racked as one of the most expensive venues in NYC.

This was a great chance for me to show off a little more formal, and over the top style. We made theses centerpieces using hydrangea, roses, and orchids.  The lighting package in the space is dramatic and worth every penny.

I think the results are beautiful.

I love laid back Brooklyn Weddings and having your wedding at your favorite restaurant is a way to celebrate and be comfortable and have some amazing food. Brooklyn has some great spots for weddings including Frankies on Court Street, Cafe Ici, My Moon and the Brooklyn Winery.

Today we have the pleasure of putting together some flowers for a celebration at Il Passatore.

Deanna wore a vintage inspired gold dress that was gorgeous and a floral headpiece that was made of wildflowers and inspired by a 1920′s bridal hairpiece.  I was lucky enough to see the ceremony, it was so sweet. I love weddings.

The Bride

Here are some pictures of the fun, laid back wildflower arrangements that we put together for this very special celebration.

Wildflower Bouquet

So pretty. I love summer and all the flowers it brings. Congratulations Deanna and Andrew!

So much has been happening, I don’t know where to begin. I always promise myself that I will blog once a week. I don’t Its terrible.

Home Grown Tomatoes

We have been busy beavers over at the shop and have been making all sorts of mischief. Over the past coupla weeks we have totally transformed out outside space into a big, luscious garden. We have also planted a few thousand herbs, veggies and fruits just for you. We like to grow our own so we know its all good and organic, and we can grow all sorts of cool varieties that I never see on the market.

Teapot Vase Featured in Time Out New York

Mother’s Day is around the corner, I peeked in my back yard and saw the first roses. They always bloom around Mother’s Day. The market has been full of GEORGOUS! Peonies and I can’t get enough of them, Lilacs have also been coming around….but this year I have been mad about Hyacinths. Hyacinths have the sweetest scent and I have noticed an incredibly long vase life. We take a lot of care when processing them to make sure that they last extra long. Click here to place your order, we sell out.

Photo by Danny Kim for New York Magazine

Wedding season has begun and we are in full force production. I was excited to see that we where one of the few people selected to be in New York Magazine’s Summer 2012 issue. This beautiful headpiece is made of Wax Flower and Anenomies. I was inspired by some vintage headpieces that I had collected. These can be made and shipped overnight all over the country.

Me on Martha Stewart

Press!! In addition, we were named as one of the top 10 garden centers in New York City by Time Out New York. I was shocked and incredibly honored to be on the same list as Jamali and the Garden center at New York Botanical Garden. Even happier because we didn’t need to have a mascot or some trendy gimmick to get there, just great plants, cool gifts, and sound advice.

Martha!! I was so excited to be on the Martha Stewart Show. OK, in the audience on the Martha Stewart Show. It was a special about Etsy and the great sellers there they featured a terrarium class that I taught at Etsy Labs. My mom was excited to see me on National Television but didn’t understand why I wasn’t interviewed and on the show more, thanks Mom.

Birds and Bees

Speaking of Mascots though…I love bees and our birds. Yesterday I had the pleasure of installing not one, but two packages of Bees. These are Italian honey bees shipped up from Georgia and they are chemical free. I am proud of my organic bees. We put a hive on the roof of our studio along side our Fruit trees that we just planted. Ok. Yes I hauled a few dozen fruit trees onto a

Tara and the Bees

roof, but what the hell. A little exercise won’t kill me. I hope the bees will feel at home. I also put in an observation hive so that everyone can come and see the bees in action.

Tara, is my bee keeper partner. She grew up in Queens and has been keeping bees since she was a little girl, before it became all kinds of cool and trendy and she got me hooked on bees. Last year she got stung and discovered that she is allergic, after all, but was still a trooper and put on the white suite and ventured forward. I can’t wait for the honey and bees wax.

Moss Graffitti

Moss Graffiti. We love moss and taught a fun class on how to paint with plants.

Robb put together a nice presentation and even played MC Hammer to get people inspired to make some graffiti.

Such a rainy, snowy day.  Winter flowers are coming into season. I just saw the first of the peonies, and the ranuculus are starting to look nice and billowy.

This is a bouquet we made using lots of greens. Japonica, Kale, Stock and Anenomies round out this pretty bouquet. We tucked in some  rosemary and lavender just to make it look extra sweet.

Kale

Thank you so much to Sara Tew for sharing these wonderful photos with us. http://www.sarahtewphotography.com

We had a lot of fun with this, Katherine the bride was amazing to work with and had some really good ideas. We mixed lots of locally grown flowers with roses and succulents. Red really brings out the warm hues and highlights that succulents have. They almost seem to glow, like they would in clear sunshine.

Smells Divine

I love October Weddings, My favorite time of year!

All Photos in this post are © Sarah Tew Photography

The River Cafe is one of the most romantic restaurants in New York. I love the old world charm and feel, the secret gardens the little cave entrance and the wonderful garden rooms with all those windows and the glorious view of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Closeup of Bridal Bouquet

I love weddings at the River Cafe, especially ones that are this time of year.
I don’t know if you noticed the light at dusk in the fall. Everything glows a perfect shade of amber and pink. The light is holding on to the last of summer and we get a warm feeling before winter comes.
Winter light at dusk is cold and grey, summer just lingers and gets dimmer and dimmer, fall is glorious.
That special glow was my inspiration for this color pallet. Pinks, Salmons, and Orange with just a hint of Rusty Orange for an under tone.
Sedum, ranuculus, chrysanthumums, little butter colored roses, and waxflower make up these early fall centerpieces.

The River Cafe is very popular and evening weddings are glorious, here are some pictures I took during the setup. Look at all the action in the back. I can’t wait to see the professional pictures!

Everyone knows how much I love color, I remember when I was a child my father gave me a paint chip deck. I would sit for hours looking at the colors, mixing, matching, its so much fun to see what happens.

I had the pleasure of working with my two favorite colors today, purple and green. Actually purple flowers at the Green Building.

Purple Bouquet

I used antique hydrangea with thistle, cool water roses, wax flower and anemone. Everything was trimmed with twine and feathers. The soft brown feathers really look great with the twine.

Everything complements the space perfectly.

I love the Green Building, it feels like you are in a cool barn upstate but you are actually in the middle of Brooklyn. They have some side rooms outfitted with great vintage suitcases and mirrored tables with sort of a speak-easy vibe.

The Foundry is one of my favorite wedding venues.

It is so beautiful with the aged brick and the ivy climbing the walls. Without any decor it looks amazing.

Cathy and Tom were an amazing couple to work with, so much fun and full of warmth. It is no wonder that Cathy chose a sunny yellow for her bride’s maids and a yellow and green pallet for her flowers, she and Tom always have smiles.

Tom loves billy balls so we put lots of those in. I think the final results are classic and beautiful.

Thanks to Jake at jpweddingphoto.com for sending over these great pictures.

Thank you Cathy and Tom for letting us be a part of your special day.

Boutionniere

Bride's Maids Bouquet

This Weekend we have a PURPLE wedding at the GREEN building.

All these colors, can’t wait….

Hopefully I will remember to take some pictures!.