Our member florist Dorothy McDaniel’s Flower Market in Birmingham, AL., was recently featured in the March/April 2009 issue of Southern Living magazine, in the Entertaining/Flower Arranging section.

Dorothy shares her method for making a simple, elegant and seasonal arrangement of hydrangeas and peonies.

“Stacked arrangements are impressive yet easy to execute. I relate them to paint-by-number kits – remember those? You begin at the bottom row, making a complete circle, and then go to the next row.”

www.dorothymcdaniel.com 

Dode Martin and Casey Sparks make up member florist MartinRoberts Design, www.martinroberts.com.  Dode initially trained for and entered the business world, but soon discovered that the “suit-and-tie” arena was not really to his liking.  He got his start in the floral industry helping out a friend in Dallas, then travelled to Chicago and eventually landed in San Francisco where he started his own design company.  A trip to Hawaii to install a friend’s wedding inspired him to set up the foundation to work from both locations as needed.  By Casey’s own admission, Dode taught him everything he knows and with the help of a great group of freelancers, this dynamic duo is able to operate floral studios in Kauai, HI and San Francisco, CA.

Casey described a recent wedding set on two tiers of land at the Hawaiian Romantic Cottage.  Pink Vendela and Jade roses, Pink Ice Cymbidiums and freesia buds made up a simple and sophisticated bridal bouquet.  A winding trail of black river-rocks dotted with cymbidium blossoms and strategically placed  tall glass cylinders of cymbidium stems and flax leaf, led the way to the ceremony site staged on the lower lawn overlooking Kahili Bay.  After the ceremony, guests ascended a winding staircase of lava rock to the dinner tent on the upper lawn.  The banquet-style dinner tables were also decorated with black river-rocks and green and pink cymbidium orchid blossoms, as well as, cylinders of loose Singapore Jade Dendrobium orchid stems.  Noting that candlelight was important to the bride, the tables were highlighted with cylinders of white floating disk candles.  Pale green and pink Chinese lanterns were hung from the tent ceiling to pull the entire design aesthetic together.

As roughly 97% if the studio’s weddings are outdoors, MartinRoberts Design takes full advantage of the benefits of Islands’ locations; the Romanticism of the sandy beaches and gorgeous ocean views, the abundance of beautiful, exotic flowers, the lush garden-like quality of the surroundings and the nearly perpetual 80 degree weather.  Luckily, even if rain develops, in the tropical climate, the weather can pass over and clear back up within minutes.  Sometimes these little showers can create a dazzling rainbow as the perfect accent on a memorable day!

Martin Roberts was featured in Flower Magazine.

The current driving force behind our member florist Renny & Reed in New York City is Reed McIlvaine, currently featured on the cover of the spring 2009 issue of Flower Magazine.

Being the nephew and godson of Renny Reynolds, Reed has flowers in his blood, so to speak, but didn’t have career plans of making them his livelihood. Reed worked as a creative director in the dot-com industry for several years post-college, and then decided to spend some time with his Uncle Renny in 2000. The more time he put in, the more Reed began to prove his newfound talent and love of flowers as much to himself as to his family members.

Renny was the premiere event and floral designer and launched his career in  the New York party scene during  the ‘70’s , Renny – a man who’s reputation garners him one-name status – had already built a reputation for himself and his business, planning parties for Manhattan’s glamorous set as well as Studio 54 (for those of us old enough to remember that amazing venue!) and all over the world.

Nine years later, Renny & Reed still caters to the most sophisticated of clientele, including many well known five star hotels, such as The Four Seasons and The St. Regis.

The rest, they say, is history! www.rennyandreed.com

Again, our member florists prove themselves to be the best of the best! Both out of NYC, Studio Artiflora (studioartiflora.com) and Floralies (floraliesinc.com) were featured in the Real Brides section of Town and Country Weddings Summer 2009 issue. For a couple tying the knot in Jamaica, Studio Artiflora helped complete a vivid look with this gorgeous bouquet saturated in color. Yves Piaget garden roses, bright pink Gloriosa lilies with bright yellow narcissus are combined to create a bouquet that is fun, vibrant, and nontraditional.

Floralies’ design catered to a wedding a bit more soft and feminine, in a palette of pinks and lavenders. The bride’s bouquet was a romantic combination of jade roses, clematis and sweet peas – very natural and lovely, as if the flowers were just gathered from the garden.

No matter what your style or flavor, our artisan members are the ones to help make your special day as beautiful as it can be.

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!