Paisley Petals

Real Wedding: Amy & Kevin

2011-10-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

I remember meeting Amy and her sister for the first time at Starbucks, sipping lattes and getting excited about the ideas she was sharing with me & the look she wanted to create. Amy and Kevin are such a vibrant couple... their wedding suited them perfectly! Such an honor to be a part of their special day!

I asked Amy a few questions about their wedding & her experience working with Paisley Petals. Enjoy! (all photos courtesy of FS Photography)

Bride and Groom: Kevin & Amy Ullrich

Wedding Date: 5/7/11

Vendors:

Venue & Catering - Court in the Square

Photophrapher - FS Photography, Portland

DJ - Marvin Stewart, Lakeside Entertainment

Officiant - Annemarie Juhlian

Cake: Celebrity Cake Studio

Describe the look & feel you were hoping to create for your wedding: We wanted a bright and fun spring wedding, but we still wanted it to have a romantic look and feel. It's amazing how flowers can transform a table and a room - Paula did an amazing job of bringing in the bright, beautiful colors I wanted while maintaining a soft and romantic look.

Favorite Wedding Detail(s): I have a couple, but one of my favorites has to be the personalized favors my father-in-law made. He made a personalized name keychain for each guest; these doubled as placecards and favors. I loved the fact that we were able to give a personalized favor without spending any money (aside from the cost of making tags wich was minimal). We made sure to include a note on the tag letting everyone know they were made by Kevin's father.

And... I have to mention the flowers! When I first walked into my hotel room and saw the bouquets, I made my sister call Paula to tell her that they were more beautiful than I could have imagined. They had that perfect balance between bold/colorful and romantic. The bridemaid bouquets popped perfectly with their black dresses and my bouquet couldn't have been more perfect if I picked it out of a magazine.

Favorite moment(s) of your wedding day: Oh there are so many - it was so much fun! First favorite moment: When I arrived in our room to get dressed prior to photos, I got to see my ring for the first time. Kevin had originally proposed wiith a solataire and we picked out the setting later. He was insistant that once that diamond was in the new setting I wouldn't get to see it until our wedding day because he wanted me to have something new - I was not thrilled about this at the time, but it was such a wonderful feeling to see my new ring on my finger for the first time on our wedding day. Second favorite moment: I couldn't believe how beautiful the ceremony space looked when I walked in for the first time prior to the wedding. The ceremony flower arrangments Paula made were so bright and beautiful, the many many rose petals we used for the aisle added so much to the look and feel, and the bright pink candles we lined the fountain with were perfect. It was so amazing to see all the little decisions you make come together to create a beautiful day. I could keep going with so many more favorite moments, but those are my top two.

Your best advice for engaged couples?:TRUST IN PAULA!! I was probably one of the most indecisive brides Paula has ever worked with; centerpiece and ceremony flowers were by far two of the toughest decisions for me. So, my advice - don't let this stress you out! You hire a professional florist for a reason and Paula will deliver. This can obviously be applied across the board - try not to stress about the little decisions, it get's overwhelming. And that month before the wedding when things are so chaotic and you are wondering why you decided to do this "big wedding" thing - trust that it will all be worth it and it will all come together on the day of!

What are you up to now?: We are just plain enjoying married life post wedding planning! We love coming home from work every night and being able to just watch TV or a movie when we want - and Kevin loves that I am not always on the laptop :) We also just got our wedding album a couple weeks ago; it's so fun to relive the wedding through photos and albums.

Care to share your thoughts on working with Paisley Petals?: I think you know how I feel based on my comments above, but I highly recommend Paula. She is easy to work with, professional, responsive (yes, responsive - this is not something you will get with all your wedding vendors!) and just plain good at what she does.

Wedding Preview Event

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

On October 2nd, Paisley Petals had the honor of participating in Seattle's first Wedding Preview Event. This was something completely different from most wedding shows you've heard of. First, vendors were run through a selection process and put onto 3 complete teams. So, each team had a coordinator, florist, photographer, caterer, DJ, etc. etc. Our task was to come up with a wedding vignette based on our interpretation of the event theme, "Dream in Color."

Our coordinator, Megan from A Kurant Event, threw out the idea of a "Day of the Wed" inspiration for our team. We decided on a vintage, latin-insipiried look with some Dia de los Muertos elements thrown in. The result was quite stunning, if I do say so myself! With the help of Beckie from Vintage Ambiance, and my awesome old aqua doors, we were able to pull together a lot of vintage pieces as the backdrop for our crazy bursts of latin-inspired color! We were not shy about color... red, orange and hot pink were our main colors with accents of yellow, lime green and aqua.

For the tables, we decided to do an eclectic mix of container shapes, styles, and heights on each table to keep with the vintage vibe, rather than just one large centerpiece. The result was a happy, colorful mix that also allowed us to show off some really cool vintage glass bottles and silver vessels.

May Wyatt from Wyatt ink provided our super-cute escort cards and menu. One of my favorite elements was the way she displayed the escort cards on my old doors. Love that! See those candle holders hanging from the doors? Those are old glass insulators from the 1930's. So cool! Again, thanks to Beckie at Vintage Ambiance.

Our "Bride" for the evening was Jackie from the morning show on 106.1 FM. Hair for Jackie and her "bridesmaids" by Kristal Locke of Lockes on Location, Makeup by Kaarin Boyd of Kaarin Boyd Designs. Don't the girls look pretty? Jewelry by Courney of Courtney Rian Designs. Bridal Gown and Bridesmaid's Dresses by From the Gown Up, Menswear by Wall Street Custom Clothiers.

The Bride's Bouquet was a colorful mix of zinnias, dahlias, craspedia, celosia, bupluerum, roses and queen anne's lace.

A few other details that rounded out our team: Cake by Burning Cupcakes, Catering by Kaspar's Catering, Linens by Creative Coverings, Music by Puget Sound DJ.

One more fun little detail: The Bride & Groom's pedicab getaway by A Greener Cab. So fun!

And last but certainly not least (because you all know how much I LOVE her!) all photographs on this blog are courtesy of the lovely and talented Latasha Haynes of Latasha Haynes Photography.

Oh, and I almost forgot- another special shout-out to Megan and her assistant, Kate from A Kurant Event, and my awesome husband Eric... the 4 of us worked our bootys off ALL day getting this set up!

Such an amazing night! Thanks again to our entire team- you guys are all so talented! It was such a pleasure to work with each of you!

Real Wedding: Kristin & Donald

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Such a sweet couple! We had the absolute pleasure of designing wedding flowers for Kristin & Donald on July 2nd. I asked Kristin a few questions about her wedding, and her experience working with Paisley Petals. Enjoy! (all photos courtesy of Streamside Photography, click on photos to make them bigger!)

Bride and Groom: Kristin and Donald Sims

Wedding Date: July 2, 2011

Vendors: Venue: Sanders Mansion in Auburn WA
Photographer: Streamside Photography in Puyallup WA
Caterer: Occasions catering in Olympia WA
DJ: Emcee Entertainment in Renton WA
Cake: Celebrity Cake Studio in Tacoma WA

What was your favorite moment(s) of our wedding day: We don't really have a favorite moment. They were all favorite moments for us.
Donald seeing Kristin walk down the aisle
Putting on my wedding dress
Getting my hair done with all the girls
Walking down the aisle and seeing Donald
putting our rings on
First kiss
taking our picture in our photo booth
smashing cake in our faces
first dance
seeing so many family and friends we had not seen in a while
getting married
leaving down an aisle of sparklers and taking a ride in a rolls royce
seeing all of our hard work of planning and designing finally come to life and have it be so beautiful

Your best advice for engaged couples? Be organized, patient and try not to procrastinate. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Your wedding day may not go as planned but in the end you will be married to the love of your life.

What are you up to now? Now that the honeymoon is over we are both back to work and trying to get back to some normalcy. We are also reminiscing about and looking at pictures of our wedding day and wishing we could do it again (without all the planning and the cost! :))

Your thoughts on working with Paisley Petals? Paula was one of the nicest and most professional people you could work with. She would always return my emails within a day if not hours even when she was busy. She takes the time to get to know you to see your true vision for your day. She was able to create beautiful arrangements for our wedding. She took our ideas and turned them into a masterpiece that we truly loved. We would highly recommend Paisley Petals for your wedding.

Featured Flower: Dahlias

2011-09-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

I often get asked what my favorite flower is. For some reason, people don't seem to understand that it's like asking someone to pick their favorite child! :) But, I do have to say that the "seasonal" flowers have a special place in my heart. Things like peonies, sweet peas, and hyacinth that we really only see at certain times of the year. They remind me of specific memories associated with each season. Fall happens to be my favorite season, and therefore dahlias are right up there on my list of seasonal favorites.Dahlias range in size from tiny button varieties which max out at about 2 inches in diameter, to giant dinner plate dahlias which can reach 10 inches in diameter or more. The range of color is even more impressive! dahlias are available in every color but blue & green, with some really lovely bi-color varieties as well. They also come in a number of different bloom stylies including anemone, water lily, ball and pom pom. The variety is just incredible. It makes it difficult to pick a few favorites to post photos of, but I'll give it a shot:"Awe shucks":

"Boogie nites":

"Fuzzy wuzzy":

"Peaches and dreams"

"Uptown Girl":

If you have dahlias in your garden and enjoy bringing them inside to arrange & enjoy, check out this video of care tips from Leanne at the Flower Design Institute. Following her tips should make your cut dahlias last for at least 5 days!Have a flower you'd like to see featured on the Paisley Petals blog? Leave a comment & let me know!

We're Famous!

2011-09-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you all know by now that Paisley Petals is participating in the Wedding Preview Event. But did you see our spotlight on the WPE blog? They did a really fun feature on us, so if you haven't read it, click on over! Find it here!Know someone who might be interested in attending the WPE? I happen to have 2 pair of tickets to give away! Like us on facebook and keep an eye on our page for the giveaways!

Wedding Preview Event

2011-07-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Exciting news! Paisley Petals has been chosen as one of 3 florists to participate in the Wedding Preview Event! We could not be more excited for this opportunity! If you or someone you know is getting married, you seriously need to check out this event. I have a few free tickets to give away too, so make sure to "Like" Paisley Petals on Facebook & keep your eye out for ticket giveaways!

You can read more about the Wedding Preview Event at their website.

Hope to see some of you there!!

Glowing Reviews!

2011-07-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

Paisley Petals has been receiving some fantastic reviews online, and we wanted to make sure you knew! Check them out here and here!

We love our fabulous clients! Thanks so much for your kind words!

Featured Vendor: Latasha Haynes Photography

2011-03-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first edition of the latest feature on the Paisley Petals Blog: Featured Vendors! There are a lot of AMAZING wedding vendors out there. There are also a few who are... well... not so amazing. I thought it would be fun to feature a few of my personal favorites here to help some of my brides who are still searching for their perfect vendor.

Today, I would like to introduce you to Latasha Haynes Photography. They are fairly new to the wedding photography scene, but their passion for their work is unmatched. I always tell my brides that it is important to like your photographer- not only their work, but also like them on a personal level. They are going to be up in your business ALL DAY LONG, so it's important that you enjoy having them around! If you're still looking for a photographer, do yourself a favor and consider LHP!

I did an email interview with Latasha last week... here is what she had to say:

1. How would you describe LHP?
We are a fusion team, east meets west, boy meets girl. He supports (HER) and she loves Him. In (AN) effort to maximize their God (God-given) gifts, he took to reading, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", "Richest Man in Babylon", "The Richest Man Who Ever Lived"... Robert Kiyosaki told (HIM) to "mind their business" (SO) he started trading stocks, she started shooting, people that is, with a camera. As she grew, he grew and (...TOGETHER THEY MAKE UP THE TEAM THAT IS) Latasha Haynes Photography! We specialize in sassy, bold, edgy and urban lifestyle portraiture. We love candid moments, love moments, life moments and we love being (THERE) to witness (THEM).

2. Why do you LOVE what you do?
We get to create memories, a legacy and a heirloom: something that is going to tell a story for years to to come. While doing this-we meet the best families/seniors/couples and children, who become our friends, where relationships are created and its amazing. We have the best clients and I am thankful because many of them become great friends and a huge part of our lives moving forward.

3. What is your #1 piece of advice for engaged couples?
Get to know your photographer, both their work, what people say about them and decide if you you can be friends with that person because for 6-12 hours of the most important day of your life, they are going to be standing beside you like a best man or maid of honor--you need to know that you can count of them and that they want the best for you. You're trusting their eyes to tell the story of a day where their work is all you will have to remember it.

4. Who is your ideal wedding client?
My ideal wedding client is high energy, excited and loves fashion and has a editorial eye. They are adventurous and open to trying new things and LOVE to have fun.

Thanks so much to LHP for being our very first Featured Vendor! Don't forget to hop over to the website & blog where you can see lots more of their amazing work! Here is a small sampling for you to enjoy:

Featured Flower: Tulips

2011-03-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

This post is lovingly dedicated to my BFF Julianne! :)

As we anticipate the arrival of spring, it seems appropriate to feature the quintessential spring flower: the tulip. Available in just about every color and many fun varieties, you can always find a tulip to fit your mood, decor, or event. Feeling romantic? Try a Peony Tulip. Mysterious? The black parrot tulip is for you. Kinda Crazy? A fringed tulip might be more your speed. Want to bring in some of the freshness of spring? Nothing better than a green parrot tulip. Keep in mind that tulips are phototropic...even after they have been cut, they will continue to grow toward the light. Sometimes they will grow an inch or more in the vase! Just as well, though- it will remind you to re-cut their stems & change the water!

A few photos of some of my favorite varieties:

Green Parrot Tulips

Peony Tulips (yes, that's a tulip!)

Fringed Tulips

Black Parrot Tulips

Real Wedding: Lindsey and Andy

2011-02-03T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to launch our new "Real Weddings" feature on the blog today! I'm hoping that this will be a fun read and provide some insight for couples who are currently engaged. Enjoy!

Lindsey and Andy are such a sweet couple, and their love for each other was so evident on their wedding day! It was a privilage to be a part of it! Lindsey was my perfect bride- a great balance between knowing the look she wanted and trusting me to do my job. I knew I wanted to feature her first because she's so thoughtful and genuine, and I knew her answers would reflect those aspects of her personality.

Special thanks to Theresa at Aubin Ahrens Photography for getting these beautiful photos to me so quickly!

Lindsey Niuman and Andy Tolman
August 7, 2010

Photo by Aubin Ahrens Photography

Photo by Aubin Ahrens Photography

Photo by Aubin Ahrens Photography

Vendors:

• Venue: Alderbrook Resort and Spa
• Caterer: Alderbrook Resort and Spa – Kristin Wiseman
• Makeup: Andrea Aiken – Alderbrook Resort and Spa
• Wedding Coordinator: Studio G Occasions - Karen Guyt
• Photographer: Aubin Ahrens Photography - Theresa and Ned Aubin Ahrens
• DJ: Generation X Productions: Jered Delpalacio and Ollie
• Cake: Kathy Reese
• Videographer: Capstone Media Productions – Veronica Brown
• Invitations/Programs: Costco

Favorite moment(s) of your wedding day: I know this sounds scripted, but it really isn’t…the one moment that I got really emotional on our wedding day was when I saw the absolutely gorgeous bouquet that Paula had made for me. I was so happy that I cried and that was really the only time the whole day that I got teary. Aside from that moment, Andy and I agree that our favorite moments were when we saw each other for the first time and when we were pronounced husband and wife at the end of our ceremony. We also really loved getting to spend time with all of our family and friends throughout the day. Seeing all of our hard work and planning come together when we walked into our reception venue (the tables all set, place cards at each spot, candles lit, floral centerpieces in place, the cake, and all of our friends and family sitting around the room) was also pretty awesome.

Photo by Aubin Ahrens Photography

Photo by Aubin Ahrens Photography

Advice for engaged couples: Hire Paula and Paisley Petals as your florist!! Seriously, she did an amazing job! We would definitely recommend doing your research and meeting your vendors before you hire them. We either met or got personal recommendations for each of our vendors and we couldn’t be happier that we chose the vendors we did. We were very pleased with all the services we received. One very important piece of advice that we can offer is to allot at least an hour of extra time to get ready before your photos and ceremony. Unfortunately, our hair stylists were 45 minutes late and didn’t finish getting everyone’s hair done until an hour and a half past the time we were supposed to have been done. This was very upsetting, because our photo sessions before the ceremony were cut 1.5 hours short which resulted in a rushed and stressful photo shoot. Our photographers did an awesome job within the crunched time frame they had to work with, but we missed out on getting photos with different combinations of family members and the bridal party. It would have been so much more fun and relaxing not to have to rush through things.

Photo by Aubin Ahrens Photography

What you're up to now: We are still living in Madison, Wisconsin and are looking forward to moving back home to Washington once I graduate with my master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin in May of 2012. I am currently attending school full time and am looking for a part-time job since the group home for teenagers that I worked for closed due to county budget cuts at the end of December. Although I miss my job and the income, it is really nice to have so much more time to focus on school. Andy is currently working for a clothing company down town and is hoping to attend graduate school to obtain a master’s degree in public administration. Andy still loves to play hockey and golf and is looking forward to warmer weather so he can get back out on the golf course. We enjoy being parents to our two cats and look forward to starting a family once we move back to Washington.

Thoughts on working with Paisley Petals: It was an absolute pleasure working with Paula and Paisley Petals. From our very first meeting, I could tell that Paula was a true professional who was as knowledgeable as she was friendly. Paula is a very talented, caring, and sensible florist who will be honest with you about what she can do for you within your budget. When we first met, I described the color palette and “look” that I wanted as well as the different types of flowers I liked. Paula listened to my ideas, asked great questions, and did a wonderful job of explaining what she could create for me. I was thrilled with what she came up with and felt so comfortable knowing that she really understood what I wanted. I was planning our wedding from Wisconsin and Paula did a fabulous job of communicating with me through e-mail, sending me pictures, and making plans to meet in person when I knew what dates I would be in Washington to finalize wedding plans. Paula was always very responsive to any questions or comments I had which was incredibly reassuring, especially since we were planning everything from across the country. When I wanted to make some changes to our original design, Paula was very accommodating and fair. She told me what the additional cost would be for her to add the flowers that I wanted and was happy to make the changes upon my approval. On the day of our wedding, Paula was incredibly punctual and hand delivered my bouquet to me and my bridesmaids. She labeled each bouquet, corsage and boutonniere with the recipient’s name which was such a nice personal touch. She made sure our centerpieces, flowers for the cake, and flower bundles on the aisle chairs for the ceremony were perfectly arranged and set up. Hiring Paisley Petals was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding and was definitely money well spent. The value and quality was remarkable. Everything looked amazing and we couldn’t be happier that we chose Paisley Petals as our florist.

Photo by Aubin Ahrens Photography

Photo by Aubin Ahrens Photography

Word is getting around...

2011-02-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

That Paisley Petals is a great company to work with for wedding and event flowers! In the past 4 months, we've won 3 pretty amazing awards that we're super excited about! If you're a fan of our Facebook page, you've probably already heard, but we thought we'd put them all here in one post. We don't want to brag too much, but we've worked really hard to be the best at what we do, and we're pretty excited that people are taking notice!

In October, we won 4th place out of 96 nominations for best wedding florist in King 5's annual Best of Western Washington Contest! It was so exciting to watch as we moved up through the ranks! Thanks to everyone who voted for us! The top 5 in each category are featured on the BOWW website all year! Check it out here.

In January, we were notified that we had received two more awards, each from a different nationally known wedding website. The first is from The Knot. Paisley Petals has been rated by local brides and voted The Knot Best of Weddings 2011 Pick! You can check out our profile on The Knot here.

The second is the Bride's Choice Awards 2011 from Wedding Wire. This award recognizes the top 5 percent of local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate quality and service excellence in the wedding industry. This is the third year in a row we've won this award, and it's an honor every time! You can view our Wedding Wire profile here.

So once again, we'd like to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of our clients, family and friends for your continued support, love, encouragement and referrals! Looking forward to another great wedding season in 2011!

It's That Time Again!

2011-01-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

The month of January has become almost as crazy for Paisley Petals as the month of June! This is the time of year when Spring & Summer brides turn their attention to booking a florist. My schedule is chock full of consultations, quote work-ups, and contracts. We already have 8 Spring and Summer dates booked up! Thank you so much to everyone who continues to send us your referrals- we couldn't do this without you! Having said that-- if you know someone who is engaged to be married this year, we would love it if you would send them our way! All of our contact information can be found on our website-- www.paisleypetals.com.

A lot of you have asked about new photos. I am still working on getting my hands on professional photos from most of my summer weddings. But, here is one to tide you over! Aly & DJ were married on July 17th, 2010. Isn't she beautiful?! Congrats, you two! (Photo by One Love Photo)

Top 5!

2010-11-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to all of you who voted for Paisley Petals in King 5's annual Best of Western Washington Contest! There were 96 florists nominated, and Paisley Petals got 4th place! Pretty exciting stuff!

Click here to see us on the BOWW website.

Thanks again to all of our clients and friends!

Guess the Price: Round 2

2010-10-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hey there, faithful blog readers! You should be hearing a lot more from me for awhile, as wedding season is winding down.

A couple of people have asked, so here it is: round 2 of the guess the price game! Here's a re-cap of how it works:

1) I will post a photo of an arrangement out of a magazine
2) You, dear readers, will leave a comment with your guess as to how much that arrangement would cost
3) The first comment to hit the right answer, or to come closest without going over (price is right rules!) in one week wins a prize!

We're sticking with salted caramels from Sweet Necessities as a prize- Yum!

Okay, so we're going bridal for this round. What do you think this funky fall bridal bouquet would cost?

To help you out with your guess, you should know that this bouquet contains: cymbidium orchids, mokara orchids, fern curls, craspedia, montbreitia, pincushion protea and ferns.

Good Luck!

Oh, and the winner from last round was Rebecca Nash-- Most of the guesses came in via Facebook, which is why you don't see her guess in the comments section here. Wish I could figure out how to make the comments show up in both places! Anyway- Congrats Rebecca!!

Vote For Us!

2010-09-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

Paisley Petals has been nominated for best flowers in King 5's annual Best of Western Washington contest! Please vote to help make us #1! All you have to do is click on the "vote for us" icon below. You'll be redirected to our voting page-- it will only take a few seconds. Thank you!

New Feature/Giveaway

2010-07-27T21:21:00.001-07:00

I've been running up against a lot of misconceptions about how much wedding flowers cost these days. Keep in mind that I have been told by clients over and over again that I am underpriced. Still, even I have a hard time fitting everything a bride wants into her budget sometimes. So, just for fun, I've decided to add a new feature to my blog called "Guess The Price!"

Here's how it works:
1) I will post a photo of an arrangement out of a magazine
2) You, dear readers, will leave a comment with your guess as to how much that centerpiece would cost
3) The first comment to hit the right answer, or to come closest without going over (price is right rules!) in one week wins a prize!

Fun, right? OK, so here is your first shot:

This is a centerpiece from Martha Stewart Weddings. It's all carnations. Those who know me know I'm not a huge fan of carnations, except en masse like this. This look has been quite popular the past couple of years. In fact, I just did centerpieces like this for a wedding last weekend!

So, what's your guess for the price of this centerpiece *NOT* including the white container it's in?

This week's Prize: A bag of salted carmel from Sweet Necessities!

The Appendectomy

2010-07-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

So, I bet you're curious to know how a wedding florist goes about getting an emergency appendectomy during wedding season. Well, lucky you, I just happen to have a first-hand account of that very scenario!

Wednesday night: Don't sleep all night because you have a strange pain in your stomach. Debate going to the emergency room. Decide they will probably just tell you you have a stomach bug, and it would be a waste of money. Get up and run an inconclusive symptom checker through WebMD. Go back to bed and try to sleep.

Thursday Morning: Finally wake Husband up at 5 & tell him you're not feeling so hot. Convince him to wait for nearest Urgent Care to open at 7 to avoid going to the ER and paying too much money. Load up baby and head to Doctor. Wait. See Nurse. Wait... and wait... See Doctor. Get labs run. Wait. Wonder how Husband is getting along taking care of baby in the lobby. Get inconclusive lab results & instructions to drink nasty orange liquid and have an CT scan in 4 hours. Insist on being sent home while waiting for CT scan.

Thursday Late Morning: Drop baby off at grandparent's house. Send Husband to work. Head out to flower shop and put together bride's bouquet, bridesmaid's bouquets, and samples of boutonnieres, corsages, and centerpieces for assistant to copy.

Thursday Afternoon: Get picked up by brother in law and driven back to Urgent Care. Wait. Have CT scan (weird experience!). Wait. See nurse again. Wait. See Doctor. Find out appendicitis is the culprit and an emergency appendectomy the only cure. Insist on being sent to Enumclaw Regional Hospital to be close at hand should any flower questions arise. Run home one more time to meet assistant and go over everything. Leave baby with Gram. Head to hospital with Husband.

Thursday Evening: Have appendix removed. Wake up in worse pain than before. Have visits from awesome family and friends. Try not to stress to much. Take pain meds. Stay overnight in hospital. Get woken up approximately every 5 minutes to have vitals taken.

Friday Morning: Insist on being sent home as early as possible. Hobble in pain out to flower shop to inspect everything (which looks fabulous, by the way- great work, Kylie) then hobble inside and lay down. Go over delivery details with assistant and mom (thanks again, you two, for your help). Wait anxiously.

Friday Afternoon: Receive positive report and glowing reviews about wedding flowers. Breathe a sigh of relief, say a prayer of thanks, and try not to stress about next weekend's weddings!

As you may have gathered, it's been a little more nuts than usual this wedding season! Although, the same was true last season with the arrival of our sweet baby boy. Here's hoping this doesn't become the norm! A HUGE thank-you to everyone who pitched in, prayed, cooked, babysat, made me an awesome banner that says "boo appendix," brought me coffee, and generally encouraged me through the ridiculousness that was a wedding florist's wedding season appendectomy!

Sierra & Mack

2010-05-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Hi there blog readers! I'm hoping you can help me out with something.

I first met with Sierra back in November. We got her floral vision down on paper and started the ball rolling. Shortly after I sent her contract, Sierra was diagnosed with brain cancer. She has had surgery to remove the tumor, and is currently undergoing chemotherapy and rehabilitation.

Sierra and Mack are still planning their fall wedding. Since Sierra had just started a new nursing job 3 months before her diagnosis, she obviously did not have adequate medical coverage for the care she needs. Add planning and paying for a wedding and, well-- it's a bit overwhelming.

That's where you come in. My cost to do Sierra's wedding flowers as we had originally envisioned them before her cancer diagnosis would be around $1200. I am planning to donate all of the design work, delivery, etc. But I'm hoping you can help me cover the rest of the cost. If you're interested in being a part of helping this amazing couple's wedding dreams come true, please get in touch with me via email at paula@paisleypetals.com.

Sierra and Mack are such an inspiring couple. They are fighting this disease with everything they have. Through it all, they remain positive and it's obvious how deeply they care for each other.

Click Here to read more about Sierra's story and what her wedding photographers are doing to help!

Carnation Urn

2010-04-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

Photo by Heather Boren

Photo by Luke Rutan

Want the lush look of ruffled peonies but it's not peony season? Try carnations! This is the one and only way I like carnations-- en masse. They take on a whole new aesthetic when presented this way. I did this centerpiece for the young life event, and also for a wedding 2 Septembers ago. The bride really wanted peonies, but they were just too far out of season locally to be affordable (read: I could have had them flown in from New Zeland, but that would have put her waaaay over budget!) so I went out on a limb and suggested carnations. She was thrilled with the result! (see second photo)Many people turn their noses up at carnations (trust me, I understand!) but they really do look lovely when they are used by themselves in a large arrangement or pomander.

Color Cube

2010-04-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

A couple more centerpieces from the Young Life event. These are 2 variations on the same idea--LOTS of color in a cube vase with an interesting accent. The first one has roses(red intuition variety from rio-- take a closer look! One of my favorite roses!), spider mums, hypericum, freesia and anemone. We added black accents with paper, ribbon, and colored wire. This would be a great way to add color to a wedding where the attendants were wearing black (which happens more often than you might think!)

The second arrangement has a lot more orange and no black accents, so the overall look is brighter. It's made up of roses, freesia, asiatic lilies, kermit mums, anemone, and hypericum with lilly grass accents. We also used a piece of scrapbook paper under the vase to make the arrangement stand out more against the white tablecloth. This is one of my favorite inexpensive ideas for table decor. It's a great way to bring in a theme like black & white damask.

Thanks again to Heather Boren for the photos!

Picnic in the Grass

2010-04-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of donating some centerpieces to the Young Life "Palate of the Plateau" event. I love this event because I'm given total creative freedom. They auction off the centerpieces, so it's good for them to be different to appeal to different tastes. I'm not given a color scheme, style, size, or anything-- I just get to do what I want! It's so great because I get to have the BEST time creating and support an organization I believe in at the same time.

So, I made about 12 centerpieces and was pretty happy with the results. Then I realized that I was about to have another missed opportunity to add to my portfolio. I'm not great at taking pictures, and I don't have a good camera, either. So, anytime I try to take photos of my work, they end up looking lame. So, I called up my new friend Heather Boren with Heather Boren Photography and asked her to do me the HUGE last-minute favor of swinging by the event during set-up to take some photos of my centerpieces. The venue was a high school cafeteria, so needless to say, the conditions for shooting decent photos were not ideal. I just got the photos back from Heather, and I have to say, I am SO impressed with what she managed to do in that big, ugly room! If you or someone you know are getting married, needing senior pictures, or a family photo shoot, PLEASE give Heather a call. You will not be disappointed!

There are so many of these centerpieces, I was tempted to put them all up in one post. But, I decided that since they were all different, it would be fun to blog them one at a time. I had a hard time picking a favorite, so I went with the one that seems to fit the best with today's beautiful, sunny weather. I'm calling it "Picnic in the Grass:"

Photos by Heather Boren Photography

Discount for Available Dates

2010-03-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

Do you know anyone who is getting married this summer? I have a few un-booked dates on my summer calendar and will be offering a 15% discount to a bride referred by someone who reads this blog who books one of my open dates.

Available Dates are:

May 15th
May 22nd
June 12th
July 3rd
August 28th

If you know of anyone getting married on one of those dates, have them contact me (contact info is on my website- www.paisleypetals.com) and mention this blog post. If they decide to book me for their wedding, they will receive a 15% discount off of their total flower order!

Stop The Madness!!

2010-03-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a really fun wedding this weekend with mostly green flowers. While I was out in the shop, I was reminded of one of my least favorite occurances in the floral world: the dyed green carnation. Having just recently celebrated St. Patrick's day, the annoyance is fresh in my mind. So, I took the opportunity to snap a few photos of some of the flowers I'm using for this wedding. None of them have been dyed-- these are naturally-occuring green flowers/berries/foliages etc. So, I ask you:

Why would you want this:

When you could have any of these instead?

There are so many naturally occurring, beautiful green flowers out there. Accept no substitutes!

Featured Flower Friday: Lisianthus

2010-03-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

Lisianthus (or lizzy as it is often called in florist land) is one of my favorite flowers to use in hand-tied bouquets for weddings. It has an almost rose-like look at a nowhere near rose-like cost. I love it's papery ruffled blooms- they add just the right touch of texture. Even the un-opened buds look really sweet in a garden-inspired bouquet.

Lisianthus are available year-round. Single and double forms are available, but I prefer to use the double. The dark purple is one of my favorite varieties- such a rich, royal hue! They have a nice, long vase life of 7-14 days. Their victorian flower meaning is calming and/or faithfulness.

Perhaps the only downside to lisianthus is it's lack of scent, but it has so many other great qualities that it doesn't really matter!

Abby's nature-inspired bouquet from last summer includes white lisianthus... see if you can spot it!

Laura's all-white bouquet also featured lisianthus. This is a totally different style from Abby's bouquet, but the lizzy still works!

Photo by Luke Rutan

Happy Friday everybody-- enjoy your weekend!

Fresh Flower Rings!

2010-03-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

My little flower rings have been a big hit lately! I made a couple for Heather Boren's girls for the Father/Daughter dance in February. Heather is a super-talented photographer, so she snapped a couple of shots for me (check her out at http://heatherborenphotography.blogspot.com/). I'm so happy to finally have some professional quality shots of my flower rings-- the others I have are blurry and just don't do them justice!

These rings are great for bridesmaids to wear at the reception-- they still get to feel special without having to carry their bouquet around all night! They are also fabulous for prom, birthday parties, bachelorette parties, girl's night out, etc. Rings range from $15-$25. Once you have your ring, I can re-do the flower for $5- $10 for future events.

Nicole & Mike

2010-03-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

Nicole and Mike were married on September 26th, 2009 at Crystal Mountain Lodge. I had a blast working with Nicole. It's always fun to work with a bride who has her own unique style and isn't afraid of color! We used peacock feathers, callas, lisianthus, spider mums, hypericum berries and cymbidium orchids to put together this look. I love the way it turned out, and I'm still amazed that it went off without a hitch considering my baby boy was just 6 days old at the time!

Congrats Nicole & Mike!

All Photos are by Clane Gessel Photography.

This wedding was also featured as the "Wedding of the Day" on weddingchannel.com! Check it out:
Nicole and Mike's Wedding - Wedding Style - Real Weddings - Wedding Photos - Whot Got Married - Wedding of the Day - Wedding Themes - Wedding Planning - Wedding Ideas

Come See Me @ the Festival of Crafts!

2009-11-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

There's a new event coming to town this year that I'm pretty excited about... The Festival of Crafts! Over 70 vendors will be there to give you a chance to kick off your Christmas shopping! There will also be santa pictures, carolers, free holiday crafts, entertainment, food-- the works! Admission is $5, or $4 for seniors and kids are free! Paisley Petals will be there taking orders for both Thanksgiving and Christmas centerpieces. The dates are Friday November 20th through Sunday November 22nd. Hours are 9 to 7 Friday and Saturday and 10 to 4 on Sunday. It's at the Enumclaw Expo Center (aka King County Fairgrounds). Hope to see you there!

Corrine & Kelly

2009-10-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun working with Corrine on her wedding! She has such great taste! As a designer, it's always fun to get to work with lots of color and texture, and this wedding definitely had both of those elements. We used callas, dahlias, orchids, roses, hydrangea, hypericum, seeded eucalyptus and- my favorite- fern curls! I love the accent of the fern curls in the bouquets. I especially liked the way they looked in the boutonneires! Thanks Corrine for letting me be a part of your special day!

All photos are by Kaycee Clark with Real Life Photographs. You can find Kaycee's information on the "vendors" section of my website.

Abby & Lucas

2009-09-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

Abby & Lucas were married on July 11th, 2009 at Wellspring Woodland Spa in Ashford, WA. During the inital consultation process, Abby described their venue as "an earthy utopia that is unique and romantic." They wanted flowers that reflected that feeling. We decided to go with a unique blend of greens, browns and ivorys. Everything turned out beautifully-- I especially loved the fern frond boutonnieres.

Congratulations Abby & Lucas! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

Behind The Scenes

2009-04-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

I've been realizing lately that most of my clients really don't know what goes into designing a wedding. I thought it would be fun to give you all a little peek behind the scenes. I have a small wedding this Saturday, so today was pick-up day for the flowers. On pick-up day, I go in to my wholesaler and inspect the product. I make sure I have everything that I ordered and that the quality is good and make any last-minute order additions based on what they have available in their cooler. This is also when I pick up any supplies I might need- floral preservatives, ribbon, mechanics, etc. (mechanics are the items you use to make a design like wire, floral foam, corsage bracelets, etc.) Picking up the flowers a couple of days before I do the design work gives me a chance to prepare them properly and allow any closed blooms to open up.

Once I get the flowers back in the shop, it's time to get them all prepped and hydrated. All of the flowers cared for according to their specific needs. For example, i just finished processing 50 blooms of stephanotis. They have to be float soaked in water for 30 minutes, then sprayed with an anti-transpirant, allowed to dry, and stored in a damp-paper-towel-lined tupperware container in the cooler.

Here is a picture of the stephanotis drying.

I also found 2 odd blooms in my stephanotis today-- one with 4 petals and one with 6! They are supposed to have 5 petals.

I am using black magic roses on this wedding. This is my favorite red rose because of it's great shape, rich color and velvety petals.

Here's a photo of the stripped leaves & thorns and cut stems from 75 roses! Sometimes this is a messy business!

Lisianthus is another favorite wedding flower of mine. It looks a lot like a ruffly rose, but it's petals are more papery and it's quite a bit less expensive. Lizzy comes in white, purple, pink, cream, yellow, and some bi-colors.

So, I've got about 5 hours worth of work put into this wedding so far, and I haven't designed a single bouquet, corsage our boutonniere yet! Preparing the flowers properly is so important for their lasting quality. Making in from the pre-wedding photo shoot all the way through the reception is a lot to ask of flowers-- especially when they're not in water! Proper care and handling at the beginning means that my clients always get the freshest, most beautiful wedding flowers that last as long as possible!

Thanks for reading-- always feel free to ask me any questions you may have about flower preparation and care!

Fresh Flower Rings!

2009-03-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

We are excited to unveil our new offering for the 2009 wedding and prom season-- Fresh Flower Rings!!!

These are a super-cute alternative to a corsage. Or, an addition to a corsage package if you want to go all out. Over and over, I have heard clients express less than enthusiastic feelings about corsages in general, but they really didn't know what else they could do to honor the important people in their lives at their wedding or to make their date feel special for the big dance.

The Fresh Flower Ring is our answer! The ring itself can be made in just about any color, and the fresh flower possibilities are endless. From button mums (like the green ones pictured below) to orchids, many different types of flowers can be fashioned into rings.

Here are a couple of pictures of my first attempts to give you an idea:

As always, if you know anyone who is planning a wedding or event, please give them my name! I appreciate all of your referrals!

Top 10 Tips for an Amazing Wedding

2009-01-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

I've been in the wedding business for a long time. I've also been a bridesmaid 7 times and had 2 previous jobs where a lot of event planning skills were required, not to mention planning my own wedding 3 years ago. So, while flowers remain my passion and main area of expertise, I have also become something of an expert on weddings in general. I recently took some time to sit down and write out my top 10 bits of advice for planning an amazing wedding. Please enjoy this list, and pass it on to any friends you may know who are currently engaged!

1. Let go of the idea of a perfect day-- it doesn't exist!
2. Hire vendors you trust and like-- this will ensure you get as close to a perfect day as possible.
3. Stay within your budget by prioritizing-- remember, there is life after the wedding, and you don't want to start out in debt.
4. Go on dates with your fiancee and specifically choose NOT to talk about your wedding-- just enjoy each other.
5. Make choices that reflect who you are as a couple-- incorporate your personalities in the details.
6. Accept the help offered to you by family and friends-- find them jobs to do!
7. Steal a private moment together at some point during the day-- no photographers allowed!
8. Don't forget about your family & guests-- after all, you wouldn't be who you are without them. This is their day too.
9. Remember to relax, take a deep breath, and take in the day-- it all goes by so fast!
10. Always remember that no matter what else happens, you will be getting married to the love of your life. That is the most important thing about your wedding!

There you have it-- my best advice for wedding planning. If you are currently engaged and feel that you could benefit from the level of service Paisley Petals provides, please contact me today to set up your complimentary consultation.

Laura & Kyle

2009-01-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

Laura chose a fun black and white damask theme for her wedding and accented it with bright "wildberry" pink/purple accents and bridesmaids dresses. With so much going on in the other decor, Laura and I decided to keep it simple with the flowers, sticking with white bouquets for her and the bridesmaids.

One of our biggest challenges was finding centerpieces that would fit with Laura's vision of big, fluffy flowers, but still stick within her budget. If you know me, you know that in general, I am not a fan of carnations. Laura felt the same way. However, when used en masse, they can be beautiful and they are starting to grow on me. As you can see from the centerpiece picture below, they can be quite stunning. I guess I need to give them a chance-- but ONLY in this style-- NOT in mixed bouquets!

This wedding was another chance to work with one of my favorite photographers, Luke Rutan. Check him out at http://www.lukerutan.com/

Thank you Laura and Kyle for the chance to be a part of your special day!

Rachel & Ben 8.2.08

2008-10-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

I met Rachel back in February and knew I would love working with her. She was so excited to marry Ben which made the planning so enjoyable! My favorite weddings are always the ones where the marriage is more important than the event that's being planned to celebrate it.

The wedding took place at the estate of a family friend. It was absolutely breathtaking! The house was indescribably beautiful, and the large lawn stretched right down to the sound! It's always fun to get to work at a unique venue like that. I was also excited to be working with one of my favorite photographers, Luke Rutan. Check him out at www.lukerutan.com. Luke does an amazing job with weddings in general, but I am always impressed with a photographer who can make the flowers look as good in pictures as the did in real life!

Rachel picked a unique and vibrant color palate of peacock blue, red, and cantaloupe. We decided to accent with some bright green, which really made her colors come to life. Rachel's bouquet was made of a stunning combination of blue hydrangea, red gerbera daisies, cantaloupe dahlias and green buplurum.

Congratulations Rachel and Ben! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

Allie & Chris

2008-09-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

My cousin Allie got married on August 15th and I got to do the flowers! It's always especially fun to put together wedding flowers for someone you've known forever-- it makes it a lot easier to reflect their personalities in the arrangements. Allie has always been a very sweet, thoughtful, fun-loving girl. I was so happy for her and Chris and so blessed to get to be a part of their special day!

My thanks to Christy Pelland with c.pelland photography for these amazing images! Christy not only does a fantastic job taking great pictures, but she really invests in her relationship with each couple and cares about their story. She's the type of vendor I love to work with and I recommend her very highly. Check out her web site at www.christypelland.com

Allie's bouquet was the star of the show- as the bride's bouquet should be! The bridesmaids were wearing red, so to make sure we kept a summery rather than wintery feel, we decided to use lots of orange and bright green in the flowers. I used red and orange roses, orange mini calla lilies, orange freesia, orange dahlias, green hypericum berries and buplurum in the bride's bouquet. The colors really work well together, don't you think?

Here are some shots of the girls in their red dresses. I definitely think we accomplished the summery look we were after! Allie's sister- my cousin- Kate was the maid of honor. As you can probably tell, she had the baby not long after the wedding-- she was a trooper!

Here's one last shot of the flowers on the cake:

Congratulations Allie and Chris!!!

Jen & Nate

2008-08-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

Jen and Nate were married in early June at the Inglewood Golf Club. They wanted to create a classic, timeless feel with lots of candle light for a romantic atmosphere.

Jen's bouquet was a classic white hand-tied bundle of roses, lissianthus and sweet peas. She was stunning, and her bouquet was the perfect accessory!

The bridesmaid's bouquets, centerpieces and ceremony pieces brought a big pop of color to the reception with lots of raspberry pink and bright green. It was just the touch of color we needed to breath life into the day!

I had a blast working with Jen, her mom Sue and their coordinator Heather to put together a beautiful wedding.

Congratulations Jen and Nate!

Chantelle & Sebastian 4.26.08

2008-07-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

I just got pictures from one of my first weddings of the 2008 season and thought I'd share them with you. All of the photos are by Christy Pelland-- Check out her website at christypelland.com. She does great work!

Chantelle and Sebastian were married in April at the Hanson Place in Sumner. I had never worked at this venue before. It doesn't look like much from the street, but it is surprisingly beautiful inside. Chantelle had chosen a cinderella theme with white, turquoise, and tiffany blue for her colors.

The bridesmaids bouquets were made up of white roses, white stock, white tulips, blue delphinium and loops of lily grass.

When I deliver flowers for a wedding, I label all of the personal flowers (bouquets, corsages & boutonnieres) to make it really easy to distribute them so that I don't have to bother the bride to find out what goes to which person. Bouquets are delivered in vases to make it easy to display them at the reception.

Chantelle's bouquet had a slightly cascading shape and was made up of white roses, white oriental lilies, white stock, blue delphinium, grape hyacinth, loops of lily grass and rhinestone accents.

Congratulations Chantelle and Sebastian!

Marcie & Kevin

2008-06-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Marcie and Kevin were married in an outdoor ceremony in late May at Pickering Barn in Issaquah. They were blessed with beautiful weather, which was no small miracle considering the spring we'd been having! Marcie was one of my favorite brides of the summer-- very down to earth and easy to work with! She actually reminds me a lot of my friend Kendy.

Here is what Marcie had to say about her experience working with Paisley Petals:

"Kevin and I would like to thank you for all of your hard work on our
flowers. When I first met you, I had no clue what flowers I wanted, or
what I wanted my bouquets to look like. Not to mention the
arrangements. I was pretty much just going to give you the color scheme
and let you do what you do best. And let me tell you, I was more than
impressed.

Your knowledge of flowers set me at ease, we both agree that you have
proven yourself as one of the best florists we have ever seen. Our
budget was small, but you would not have known from the looks of the
bouquets and arrangements. We received so many compliments on the
flowers, they were amazing. Thank you so much, and we will recommend
you to anyone needing a florist!"

Thank you, Marcie-- it was my pleasure to work with you!

Here are a couple of photos from Marcie & Kevin's wedding. Enjoy!

Windy Hill Peony Farm

2008-06-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about my local peony farm! Peonies are later than usual this year because of the weather we've had. That meant that for a couple of my peony weddings, I had to buy them from my floral wholesaler instead. The peonies there cost twice as much, and they are about half as good. Peg from Windy Hill Peony Farm is so helpful and accommodating of my large orders! If you live in this area, make sure you get out there before the peonies are all gone. It's in Enumclaw on 236th in the Wabash area. It's a u-cut farm, and Peg sells bunches of 10 for 8.50 which is a steal! Right now, I have a HUGE vase on my coffee table filled with her peonies. They are amazingly gorgeous. I bought them last Wednesday, and they are still happy! (I strongly urge the use of a floral preservative in cut flowers-- it really does extend their vase life!)

Here are a few pictures-- one of the arrangement and two of a particularly huge peony... I mean, I know my hands are small, but that's still one stinkin' huge flower!

Jenna & Tim

2008-06-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd start a new blog for Paisley Petals. This will be the place to get a sneak peak at new photos before they are added to the web site. Enjoy!

Jenna and Tim were married in a simple but beautiful ceremony at Crossroads Bible Church on June 1. Their reception was held in a gorgeous room overlooking the water at Salty's on Alki. They had been living in Spokane, so Jenna and I did most of our planning via email. This was unusual for me, since I really like to meet by brides in person to get to know them better. We worked it out though, and everything turned out beautifully.

Jenna's bouquet was an all-ivory design made up of peonies, mini calla lilies and freesia. Tim's Boutonniere was a single mini calla lily. I love callas as boutonnieres-- they are stunning in their simplicity. They have just the right form to sit nicely on a lapel. (Photos courtesy of Photo by Eva)

Congratulations Jennna and Tim!