A lovely bouquet designed by our LA member Tic-Tock (tictock.com) recently graced the cover of the Spring 2009 InStyle weddings magazine. Tic-Tock, legendary in LA, is known for their lush and tasteful monochromatic arrangements that have dazzle and spunk!   This bouquet contains soft pink cymbidiums, pink roses and pink snowberry. Truly pretty in pink!

Member florist Belle Fleur, www.bellefleurny.com was selected to do a feature article on “Seasonal table décor for spring, summer, fall and winter”, in this months Brides magazine.

SPRING – A vivid color scheme of purple and lime green works beautifully for the spring season. Cheery polka dots and plaid pump up the fun factor! Gorgeous bluish purple iris and sweet peas are the perfect choices for the seasonal table.

SUMMER – Cool and crisp, refreshing and breezy… shades of aqua and white perfectly capture the feeling of summer.  Clean, white eucharis lilies provide life to this utterly relaxing table scheme.

FALL – Instead of a predictable autumn palette of reds and golds, this table setting focuses more on the richness of the season. Deep browns and emerald greens are truly highlighted by all of the succulents and different foliages used here.

WINTER – polished sterling and deep burgundy colors are the dramatic focal points in this “Hollywood glamour” inspired table.  The rich color palette is monochromatic, but mixing flowers (roses, calla lilies, ranunculus and chocolate cosmos) gives the arrangement plenty of texture and interest.

Long-time bbrooks member Maloy Love of Mountain Brook Flower Shop in Birmingham, AL., credits his mother (who was a teacher), with instilling in him the instinct to treat everything as a learning experience.  Love also garnered inspiration from the generations of family members who tilled the soil to earn a living.  He was taught at an early age, to plant a seed and watch it develop.  He recalls his interest in some of his uncle’s farming techniques and confesses that he originally planned to go into growing himself.   However, life led him down other paths.

Love humbly explains that the only training he has had, which has anything to do with his floral arranging, is years of art studies from grammar school through college.  He realized that his eye caught sight of things that other people just didn’t see.  His artistic instinct and love of the tactile interaction with organic materials have served him well over the years.

Mountain Brook Flower Shop opened in the late 1940s and Love bought the shop after having been employed there for a number of years.  He feels that his devoted clientele is the reason he is still in business today.  Love thinks of the shop as being a bespoke tailor of the flower business. Their style is inspired by nature and has a strong Asian influence combining a curved line of beauty with the angularity of the straight line.

The flower business has become Love’s calling because it allows him to be a part of his client’s lives from birth until death.  In good times and in bad times he is doing his utmost to help them to feel better.  For Love, it is all based on a trust which cannot be betrayed.

Our member, San Francisco event designer extraordinaire Stanlee Gatti  was featured in the latest Spring/Summer issue of Town & Country Weddings.  Gatti was the event planner and floral designer for the wedding of Jennifer Siebel and San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom.   The couple got married at the Bitterroot Springs Ranch in Montana, owned by the bride’s father Kenneth Siebel.  Going with an Out of Africa-in-Montana theme, Gatti presented dinner at long tables outside, set with white garden roses and hand-painted English glassware.  Similarly, the bridal and bridesmaid’s bouquets consisted of all white garden roses with natural greenery, tied with white silk ribbon.

The couple planned three days of events to keep their 230 guests occupied, including a poolside cocktail party, a barn bash (complete with an electric bull, square dancing and live music), and a morning of hiking and fly-fishing before the ceremony on Saturday evening.  The bride and her father rode in on horseback to the ceremony, which took place in a meadow surrounded by wild grasses and animals, and was lead by Palo Alto-based healer Carol Simone who guided the couple through the exchanging of vows and readings of Native American poetry.  The night was spent mostly on the dance floor, which Stanlee Gatti had ‘orchestrated’  outdoors, beneath the stars.  www.stanleegatti.com

Our fabulous member Avant Garden (aka Todd Event Design) in Dallas, Texas was featured in a full page advertisement in the Spring/Summer issue of Town & Country Weddings.

They specialize in floral designs, weddings, custom invitations, destination and event management, and luxury event rentals.  Featured in this advertisement are luxurious candelabra centerpieces consisting of  hydrangeas, roses, lilies and stock in shades of rusty  greens, browns, reds, purples and pinks.  www.toddevents.com

Featured in the Spring 2009 issue of The Bride & Bloom publication, our member florist Isari, located in Carlsbad, CA. www.isariflowerstudio.com, created a look of organic simplicity in the ideal open air locale of The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla.  A variety of small centerpieces designed in natural burlwood bowls and other containers made of organic materials, lined the center of a long dinner table.  Graceful green lady slipper orchids and hot pink cyclamen plants were placed alongside full, gracious arrangements comprised of cut echeveria, purple eremurus, echinacea pods, orange blossoms, green variegated decorative kale and fluffy double white tulips.  To complete the look, a juicy green plum rested atop grape leaves, was placed at each place setting.

The use of natural containers made of organic material and live plants (which by the way, can continue to provide visual delight and oxygenation long after the party ends!), are the perfect example of how we can go “Green” with our events!