Three weeks ago I was contacted about a huge party that would be taking place at the Smithsonian American Indian Museum . The event was to honor the American Indians, the wild mustangs, and T. Boone Pickens. The party would require centerpieces for 35 tables and a considerable amount of decor.  We spent the first week securing the rental of 15 foot high weeping willows, birch, and pine trees, only to have them cancelled by the museum. Turns out that the museum frowns upon the arrival of  insects or creatures that can destroy their priceless artifacts. This makes sense to me.  

My next effort had me racing to Union Station to get the amazing Gus off of a train from New York. Gus owns the American Foliages Design Group. Gus came to DC to give us estimates on making huge trees that are created with real stumps and silk branches. The stumps are sealed, this makes the trees safe for use in museums. Gus designs for the top planners in NYC,  TV sets, and movies. Getting to know Gus was a huge treat.  Unfortunately we were unable to work with Gus and that was a major disappointment because I would have loved to see his creations.

Over the last 3 weeks, I have been to DC 4 times for this event, made 3 different sets of samples, and literally jumped through hoops to get this order complete and perfect.  Having this opportunity was remarkable, having it happen during the peak of  wedding season was more than challenging.  I simply could not allow the enormity of this event to effect my wonderful brides.  I am happy to say that the event happened last night and it was a huge success. I literally stood in a room full of Congressmen, Senators, wild mustangs, bald eagles, indians, and my flowers. Yes, this week has been totally amazing. As I left DC late last night, my only thought was I need to get back to the flower shop for my brides.  I am working diligently on several weddings that are beyond important to me, and I must say every single blossom is delicious. I am certain we have hit the nail on the head for each of our girls. I love our pieces and it is with huge excitement that we will head out on delivery tomorrow. Here are some of the pictures from this week and " in the cooler". 

 

 

Designers of the week.

 

Yes, I got you Lilly of the Valley and I will put it in your bouquet in the morning.

 

I hope these pictures don't scare any of my brides.  The pieces are stunning and for some reason I can't get the camera adjusted correctly. Probably because I desperately need to get to bed. 

 

I am off to bed, but I thought I better do a really quick post, so that you could see all of the designs "in the cooler".  This weeks weddings are simple and elegant and all of them feature either burlap, twine, or mason jars. It will be fun to show you each wedding and how the same elements were used to create very different looks.

Sleepy time,

Holly

 
 
 
 

 

"In the cooler" has truly become a fun little part of our Fridays. We keep coming up with crazy ways to play with this weekly blog post. Here is a super cute photo of our bride Kristin (she is the one in the middle), coming "out of the cooler" with her maids. Kristin stopped by to give us a few last minute items, but I am starting to wonder if girls are coming by because they want to get "in the cooler" that, or they want a little sneak peak.

 

This picture shows the way we mark the blooms in the cooler, so that we all know that they are "hands off". We have 150 roses set aside for shredding, sinful I know.  We also have almost 150 green spiders marked and saved for the napkins at Kristins wedding. Things mysteriously disappear "in the cooler"  if we dont mark them as used, when that happens we start having major panic attacks.

 

Our day started with a trip to the vet, a funeral delivery, a sample, and a tea party at preschool. That all happened before 10:30 am.  We also had an awesome wedding today, our hot pink and black wedding for the Blake family and we also got the flowers ready for our wedding at the Red Fox Inn.  I have one more huge proposal to write and then I can call it a very long day.

Here are few sneak peaks of Ashley's wedding flowers in the cooler.

 

Here are our designs for a private school in Maryland.

 

We also had a fun visit with our new bride Nicole, I look forward to creating her very special bouquets. We went full throttle as usual, so I am looking forward to relaxing on mothers day.

Whoops, I almost forgot to tell you about "in the cooler in Michigan" My friend Tracy Park has joined us with her very own "in the cooler". Pretty cool, or is it cooler.

 

My bride Libby has the word bud in her last name. The family uses the saying "This Bud's For You" as an inside family joke. The family has printed the saying on t-shirts and it was the theme for one of their past parties. I think Libby even wore the T-shirt for her fiance as a fun little present to him. The term took on new life and meaning when it came time to discuss the flowers with me. I could not resist using it as my blog title.  So, no, I do not have beer chilling in my flower cooler, I am way to busy for that.

 

Libby wanted a very simple and elegant approach to her floral design. The wedding is taking place in a barn in Loudoun County. I will give you location and professional images after the big day. I try not to disclose where my pretty brides are going to be, it just seems safer that way. The simple elements, twine, burlap, and mason jars, are absolutely perfect for this venue.

 

 
Libby envisioned a small baby's breath kissing ball for her flower girl. She wanted the ball tied with twine. This project turned out adorable, but as expected it took forever to create. It was probably 100 little insertions.

 

We picked up the "this buds for you" theme again by using only one sweet little bud in the mens boutonnieres. I love the the twine wrap on these pieces it absolutely made them special.

 

We made a bout of just baby's breath for the groom. Libby will be carrying a bouquet of only baby's breath.

 

Each maid will carry a bouquet that features a particular blossom. The maid of honor will carry a bouquet that brings each of those blossoms together.

 

Centerpieces will be a mix of mason jars and unique bottles. I really look forward to delivering this wedding and seeing my bride in her wedding dress.

Time for a little shut eye.

This is a full throttle Holly post, and I will try to touch on all of the many wonderful things that have been going on, are going on, or will be going on this week. I hope I don't make you tired, but her it goes.

 

This is my beautiful and very sweet bride Khanh.  Someday soon I will share all of her wedding pictures with you, but for right now we are saving them.  We have big plans for her lovely images taken by photographer Laura Ashbrook. Khanh is really on the blog today because of the wonderful letter she wrote on behalf of her friends.  Read below the moving letter Khahn sent to us, her friends are the next winners of The Blessing Bouquet.


"I would like to nominate my friend's family for one of your blessing bouquets.  Last month they found out that their 20 year old son has a bone marrow failure disease.  Basically, his immune system is attacking his own blood cell-making capability.  He is going to need a bone marrow transplant.  This has been very difficult news for his family to swallow since finding a bone marrow match is very different they finding a blood donor match.  It has been a roller-coaster ride for the whole family.  Just a few weeks ago they told them that there was no one in the whole national database of 7 million donors that was a bone marrow match for him.  Despite the earth-shattering news, the family put all their trust in the Lord and just 2 days later,they found someone out of the country who is a match!  While this was wonderful news, this is only the first battle, and definitely not the biggest.


This family is taking each and every day in stride.  Whenever anyone asks if there's anything they can do for the family, they just say that they would like everyone, if they're comfortable, to register to be a bone marrow donor with Be the Match at www.marrow.org.  Although it may not help their son's situation, it may save the life of someone else going through something similar.  Holly, thank you for your consideration!  I know that they would count a bouquet from you as a blessing along this daunting time in their lives."

I've attached a photo of my friends mom after I dropped off the bouquet.  She couldn't stop talking about how beautiful it is!  She absolutely loved the lilacs in it because it reminded her of the lilac bush she had when they lived in Colorado.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for having such a generous heart and selecting this family for one of your lovely bouquets!

 


Also attached is a photo of me (khanh) about to eat some of South Street Under's ciabatta bread.  I took your advice and asked for a loaf to have with dinner.  The woman there was extremely nice and gave me the loaf at no charge!  Completely unexpected and unnecessary, but I'm completely grateful!  After coming home from visiting with our friends that won the bouquet, I told my husband that I want to move out to Leesburg because everyone out there is just so nice and genuine!

 

 Thank you again for the blessing bouquet!  Meeting you has been a blessing!!

Khanh

Many thanks, to Kevin Malon owner of Tuskies and South Street Under  in Leesburg Va. for your very generous support of the Blessings Bouquet. I love you and I love your restaurants you have a heart of gold.

 


The next fun thing I am sharing about is the B-List blogger conference which is taking place this weekend. We are providing flowers for the event tonight and we are very excited to be a part of this amazing evening.  The top wedding bloggers in the country are gathering and we get to provide the flowers for their kick off event at the Torpedo Factory. I will be working with the extraoridinary Design Cuisine once again, and you can see a little teaser of some of the decor on their blog.  Many thanks to Maria Cooke for bringing me in on this event. 

Here are some of the orange ranunculus "in the cooler" waiting to go to the B-list event. They are super sexy and I can't wait to get them out of the cooler and get to the event.

 

Here are the designs for this weekend " in the cooler" 

 

We also had a visit from one of my past MOB's and one of my favorite customers from the village of Waterford. They wanted to get some lilac before I hit the flower and garden show. The lilac from my garden is a favorite at the garden show.

 

Speaking of the garden show. In addition to the weddings, and our events tonight we also will be at the Leesburg Flower and Garden Show all weekend long. We have tons of lilac, roses and my viburnum is peak this week. Viburnum is the beautiful bright green ball you see in the bouquet above. Our gardens are rocking right now, and we can't wait to see you at the garden show. I will be on wedding delivery Sat. but I will be at the show on Sunday. My daughters Abby and Hannah will be running the booth on Sat. so be sweet and stop by for a visit.

 

Have a great weekend, and I will see you at the B-list conference, a wedding or at The Leesburg Flower and Garden show. Hope your weekend is full of flowers.

We are back, and in a really big way. This is our first  real "in the cooler" of the season and it is full throttle awesome. For new readers we typically showcase all of our designs on Friday and often the are "in the cooler". The day started with a visit from one of our mothers of the bride.  I was so excited to catch this picture of her coming "out of the cooler".

 

I was even more excited when we made her cry with delight. My MOB told me she had very high expectations, and that we had totally achieved far beyond her hopes. YEAH!!!!!!

Here are some great shots of the day that show the many lovely things we have been working on.  We are looking forward to our cherry blossom wedding ( that is our MOB wedding), our Hive Wedding (named that because we are working with the girls from the Hive at 1511) and our Home Depot bride ( named the Home Depot bride because I met her daddy at the home depot and he told me his daughter was getting married and she needed a florist, so she became my Home Depot bride). See how being a nice friendly girl grows your business.  

 

Are you ready to scream… this may be the best "in the cooler ever".

 

Everything is so beautiful, we are very ready for tomorrow. This may be my earliest "in the cooler" ever.

Well here we go again. Do you remember my weekly Friday night posts of "in the cooler" we are starting up again.  Every Friday night we post the designs of the week  while they are in the shop and " in the cooler". We get next weekend off and then we will be doing weddings every weekend, so lots of posts are coming your way.  

This weekends bouquet is just a dream. We used seeded eucalyptus, viburnum berry, cream hydrangea, yellow ranunculus, yellow fringed tulips, yellow freesia, privet berry, cream and yellow roses with yellow spray roses and we finished the bouquet off with silver toned dusty miller. My bride was simply thrilled, she picked up her bouquet today because they wanted  to have the bouquets early tomorrow morning for pictures. I will do delivery of the reception tomorrow.

 

Today was the first time I met my beautiful bride, we actually planned everything over the phone. Vatinee was planning on designing her flowers herself and just 3 weeks before the wedding she decided she was in over her head. When asked if I could help I was happy to come to the rescue. This weekends wedding gave us a chance to be back in the blooms. Flowers are absolutely amazing right now, with lots of Spring product available. I am so glad I got to participate in this wedding.

 

The maids bouquets were created with more cream and pale yellow tones.

 

I used forsythia from my garden to make the altar arrangements, white lily, scotch broom, yellow roses, yellow snapdragons and cream hydrangea.

 

Centerpieces were made in my favorite little stone urns.

 

Here they are "in the cooler".

 

Have a great wedding day my bride!

 

We are so happy to bring you our "In The Cooler" photos tonight. This weekend we will be providing blue flowers to two different brides.  We are everything but blue around here, and we are so happy to be back in the flowers this week. Here are some of our designs, with a major focus on blue.

 

 I also want to share designer Debbie's lovely display. We like to have something pretty in the room where we do consultations.

 

I hope you have a wonderful evening. I am going to help feed the kids, and call it a very long day.

Steff and Joel are getting married this weekend. Check this post throughout the day, becuase we get to go back "In The Cooler" again.  For any of my new followers every Friday I would post our creations while they were chilling in the cooler. It was everyones favorite weekly blog post.  I look forward to bringing you some of this weeks creations.

We have had another fun packed week at Holly Heider Chapple Flowers LTD. We have been busy completing orders for the holidays, as well as designing for this week's weddings. In addition to the wedding work, we planned a full scale photo shoot.  A normal person would have been relieved to have only one wedding to design. I took it as the perfect opportunity to try my hand at styling a few photo shoots. Since the goal of the shoot was to create things worthy of being published, I can't display any of my creations. Keeping our beautiful designs secret until they are released is killing me. I worked with Genevieve Leiper Photography, model Leigh Ann from Hitched Bridal Salon, Victoria Stiles for makeup and hair, Christina Barbour from Paperzest, Design Cuisine and Kendall from Kendall's Cakes. The shoot took place at the absolutely stunning wedding and event site The Stone Manor and Country Club, which also happens to be a lovely bed and breakfast. Working on this project was one of the best days I have ever had, but it was also one of the hardest.  So much thought and detail went into every tiny aspect.

I actually was so motivated and inspired that after creating three completely different wedding shoots yesterday, I created one more in my front yard. My goal will be to get them published with some of the top wedding blogs in the country. So wish me luck! Hopefully I will be able to direct you to some incredible wedding blogs and you will find the product of our really amazing day.

Tomorrow is Stephanie's wedding, and we have lovely designs of white, chartreuse green, burgundy berry and a few hints of gold. We will be  heading to Winchester tomorrow to the beautiful George Washington Hotel with our killer arrangements. Here is what is sleeping "in the cooler."

 

Off to sleep!

Holly