Yesterday we hosted a one day intensive floral design workshop. This fun and amazing event was inspired by Lauren from Garden Gate Florals. Lauren wanted to come from Florida for our two hour dahlia design class, this seemed like quite the journey for just two hours. After a brief discussion we decided we would host Lauren for a one day intensive class and make her a Chapel Designer. This all happened within the last 3 weeks which meant we had a nice and super cozy group yesterday. Designer Blair of Sweet Blossoms and Amy of Crimson and Clover decided to join in on this event as well. At 6pm Kristin came over for the dahlia design class, she has been hoping to take a class with me for over 2 years. The day was awesome!!! Amy, Lauren, and Blaire are the newest Chapel Designers and Kristin is now hopelessly addicted to dahlias and design.

After a 3 hour business meeting we designed bouquets. This is Blair from Sweet Blossoms

Gorgeous!!

Amy from Crimson and Clover

Sexy!!!

Lauren from Garden Gate Florals

Gorgeous, sexy, lovely!!!

Blair

Amy

Lauren

During the day we stopped for a fabulous lunch from South Street Under. Back in the design studio we discussed big designs, bouts and corsages, and we made hair pieces. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the beautiful floral crowns these designers made.

After a lovely dinner also made by South Street we headed to Don’s Dahlias. This was so much fun. My new flower friends were absolutely freaking out over Don’s Dahlias. I am serious, they were screaming, squealing, photographing, and kissing the dahlias.

Check this baby out, this plant is producing two different types of dahlias. This imperfection makes me love this particular dahlia all the more.  Don of course is not impressed by this dahlias inability to stay true to it’s color and formation. I love the misfits!!!

I thought the girls were going to totally lose it when they went in Don’s cooler. In fact, Amy was buying dahlias left and right.

Back in the studio we created compote designs with flowers from my garden and Don’s Dahlias,

Amy rocked out this colorful design!!

Blair’s beauty!!

Dramatic and sexy lines created by Lauren.

And last but not least Kristin’s long awaited Hollyish design, this piece was so beautiful!!!

Yesterday was perfect, many thanks to Don and Rhonda for sharing their dahlias with us. We are so grateful we know them!!!

It is early Saturday morning. I have a bride coming in at 9am. We have two weddings today.  It’s always busy here. There is always something to do. I know this is my choice, I fill my life, our life, up to the brim. Taking moments to create for creations sake are often the only moments of peace I find. Last night I walked through the garden and I cut anything I wanted. I cut for the sake of cutting. My cooler is full of cabbage roses, and other dazzling expensive blooms but I wanted the flowers from my garden.

These blooms we are growing, make me so happy. I feel so rich because of them. They are special, they are unique, they are wild, they are mine. Only the designs that come from this studio will have these blooms. We grow them just to have them, to enhance our designs, or our workshops. There is no pressure for us with these blooms. We are not growing to sell cut flowers, we are growing to add depth to what we do here. We are growing to make us happy.

Good evening from New York!

Holly and the Chapel Designers arrived in the big apple last night and are already taking it by a storm. My name is Megan, and I’ll be Holly’s on-site blogger for the week giving you daily updates on all the best moments from this year’s Chapel Designers Conference. The Chapel Designers Conference this year  has representation from 22 states, 4 countries and 1 territory!! Can you believe it?! All of us gathered at last night’s opening event hosted by our incredibly friendly and fabulous sponsors Vasesource and Fleurametz.

Everyone got a chance to enjoy the space at Vasesource, scout out at all the latest vases, and Holly even picked out some blooms to design with tonight at the hotel!

We had so many fun reunions with many of the past designers and it’s been a blast meeting new ones! Holly was thrilled when Karen Tran arrived!

Do you remember our friend, Olga, from Russia?! She came all the way out for this special event. Holly was gifted this beautiful scarf [pictured below] straight from Mother Russia!

Holly calls him our star, and he sure is! David Beahm is in the house!!

Thanks to Amy Tucker for turning around these images for us! We are excited and all on the edge of our seats to start day 1 bright and early for a huge conference session.

Last but not least, Vicki Grafton and I put together a fun film to document this fun start to our week! This is by no means our forte, but it was a blast capturing the all the excitement.

This week marks the week that our studio goes back into wedding production mode. January and February tend to be fairly quiet months for us, as if it’s ever quiet here. Pretty soon gorgeous designs will be lined up in the flower shop and our studio will be orbited back into the chaos that we know and love.

Over the last few weeks we have been reorganizing the flower shop and making it pretty. Our studio space has undergone many transformations over the years, but I think I am going to like this one the best. We painted the room a soft petal peach, which strangely enough is blush pink. Evan also laid a beautiful slate floor in our shop. Yes, we know that the slate will be exciting when we drop a vase!!! We are also currently looking for new design tables for the shop.  We even gave the cooler a bit of a make over. As we redesign our work space we are thinking about how it will flow not only as our production space, but how it will function as room for me to teach in . Lots of fun and exciting things are happening here as we look into the year of 2013.

Photograph taken by Genevieve Leiper.

 

Each year our studio reaches new heights and I personally achieve successes beyond anything I dared to imagine 20 years ago. 2012 was no exception, as a designer I studied in Europe and California. I led the Chapel Designers to NYC to study, I taught in Atlanta, and I designed in the White House. Our studio became an agricultural business, and we completed one full year with Evan as our lead designer for lighting and drape installations. We had the pleasure of completely designing several events, one of which was for our own son. This meant that we completely styled the event, choosing all decor, linens, rentals, managed vendors, and worked to create a theme for the event. Our work was featured in print or on line in over 25 different publications and our studio is definitely taking on a role as a trend setter in the wedding industry. This last statement is a bold proclamation, but I can clearly see our design ideas, and concepts, influencing the work of other designers, and the wedding industry. This makes me very proud!!! We start out today with the honor of having some of our latest work featured on Style Me Pretty. What an amazing way to start out 2013. We are always so proud and honored to see our work featured. Please know that each feature came from a whole lot of love, a whole lot of work, and a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Be sure to visit the SMP post here. For now I will leave you with the amazing images from a photo shoot designed and styled by Anne Robert Photography, and Dawn from Something Vintage Rentals. The three of us working together is a magic that is unstoppable. You will be seeing a lot from us very soon. I enter into 2013 with so much hope and excitement. I love where our studio is headed, I love the work we are creating, and I love the goals I have for 2013!!!

A bouquet of amaryllis, evergreens, pepper berry, banksia painted gold, and dusty miller. The bouquet was bound with cream cashmere ribbon, the ribbon was purchased in San Francisco 4 years ago. Yes, I stock pile trims, ribbons and accents!! I must also share that this shoot was very impromptu and everything I used was either being re-purposed from another design or straight from the scrap pile in our shop. The banskia were actually dried and leftover from another bouquet that was featured on the Wedding Chicks blog.  Challenging myself to make these designs without buying flowers was so much fun!!! I was supposed to provide one bouquet and one centerpiece but I spent the evening alone in the flower shop pushing myself and my pile of leftovers to create these designs.

Joy

The beauty of these images, and the art that was created for this shoot, simply has me raring to go for 2013. Look how pretty we are!!!!

I am obsessed with the hair and makeup on this shoot!!! Thanks to makeup artist Amie Decker, and Hair By Jewels.

This bouquet was totally a treat and a pleasure, it was created with leftover flowers from my cooler, flowers from the garden, and evergreens. I literally used scraps to create this bouquet, the roses were so old I glued them together so that I could be certain they would hold during the shoot. I am often in awe of what can be created here just for fun!!!

A gorgeous cake designed by my friend Kendall.

This bouquet was created by inserting pine cones, berries, and pods into a small Styrofoam ball. This bouquet took more time and glue than I care to mention!!! I sure do love how unique and special this piece is.

Amazing invites by Sugar Taylor of Diyva Designs.

What an inspiring way to start off 2013!!! Thank you Dawn for your amazing vintage rentals and thank you Anne for being the incredible artist I knew you would be!!!

Photography: Anne Robert Photography— www.annerobertphotography.com

Design and Props: Something Vintage Rentals–www.somethingvintagerentals.com

Makeup artist: www.amiedeckerbeauty.com

Hair: Julie Jackson www.hairbyjewels.com

Florals: www.hollychappleflowers.com/

Gowns: Claire Pettibone and Rivini from Hannelores of Olde Town–www.hannelores.com

Cake: Kendall’s Cakes–http://www.kendallscakes.com/

Invitations: Sugar Taylor of Diyva Designs http://www.diyvadesigns.com

Instruments: House of Musical Traditions–http://www.hmtrad.com/

 

Along with my love for cutting flowers from my own back yard, I love the impressionist artwork of Édouard Manet, and reading the works of Jane Austen.  My name is Amelia, and I am entering my third year of college, at The King’s College, but before I return to NYC I I have the joy of interning with Holly, and her warm, creative staff.  I have found a great place to be in the swirling activity of weddings, flowers, and all things beautiful.  Down a long and winding country road is where you will find Holly’s studio.  The drive is flanked by lush foliage, bright peonies, and the official welcoming committee Sadie and Grizzly, the families’ two dogs.

The work week starts with deliveries from Holly’s many sources which include champion growers from international and local Virginia farms.

Here is a recently planted field of dahlias.  Holly’s favorite dahlia grower is Don.  She is excited to see that her babies have been planted and even more excited to see that Don the dahlia man, is also Don the peony man!!!!

And then the magic begins.

First the flowers are hand selected, then they are arranged, and moved into the cooler.

Since I wasn’t there to watch Manet paint, and I am 200 years too late to befriend Miss Austen, I am looking forward to watching and participating in the artistry of the Full Bouquet, and the love that goes into each order.

In a few days with Holly I have learned the names of countless flowers, that the smell of white stock reminds me of Christmas, and that an arrangement of flowers is much more than the sum of the parts. It is a work of art, expertly created.  I am so excited by the opportunity that Holly has given me to see the artistry come to life.

As many of you know I was off celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary with my husband Evan. The trip was incredibly romantic and even spiritual. We spent a lot of time reflecting on the amazing blessings we have had in our first 25 years of marriage. The first days of the trip were all celebratory and exciting but as we got to the end of the week my heart started to hurt a little. Starting the second quarter century of marriage seems really scary. I don’t know what the next 25 years hold but it looks like it will be way more painful and full of loss. When you are newly married you plan for, and are excited for, the glory of children coming, new homes, and exciting firsts. This next season of married life we will see our children marry, leave home, and leave us. We will most certainly experience loss and I am a wimp when it comes to that.

During our trip my very wonderful husband took the time to seriously ask me for another 25 years of marriage. Knowing he wants this and is willing to work for another 25 years is worth a lot and it makes the future way less scary. I am serious when I say it was so special and I am a little less afraid about the future. With him by my side I am never alone and I am far more confident in me and in us.

Every day I help people begin a new life, a married life. I hope each couple understands the beauty of being married. Having someone by your side who helps you every day through the good times and the bad times. Being married is the greatest gift. Bad times will come it is for certain, as my mother says ‘it’s the bad times that make the good times so sweet.” This is the key… don’t quit during the bad times. Rely on each other and get to the other side. Get to the good stuff- it makes the journey so incredible and real!!!

Wow, I just made myself feel better!!! When I look back at the last 25 years I only remember the good stuff, but Evan and I did suffer many losses in our first 25 years and lots of heartache. Like every married couple, we experienced many instances of fear, pain, and insecurity. For example, we had 3 miscarriages and each time I thought my heart would shatter. But we held onto each other.  We got through it all and we feel  the blessings of staying together. Over those 25 years Evan also helped me to build this business, he was always behind the scenes helping me at the Leesburg Flower and Garden Show, building us work spaces, coolers, storage sheds, or props. He also watched the children each weekend so that I could go to my weddings. If Evan had not been the partner that he was our studio would not be the success it is today.  One of the things that is most exciting about the next 25 years is that he is now full time working here to make Holly Heider Chapple Flowers an even better studio. Now we get to work together every day, which I consider one of the greatest blessings that has come our way!!

So here’s to the next 25 years, where we build even more, and we will build it stronger so that it can not be taken apart!!

Today I am going to do something I rarely do, I am going to bash a flower, I am going to expose the anemone, in particularly the white and black one, for it’s horrid and unpredictable behavior. Anemones are not good wedding flowers. Yep I said it and now I need you to believe it!!!!! We all see anemones with their perfect white petals and black faces gracing the cover of magazines. I love those images and long for those perfect anemones but they rarely are that wonderful!! Flowers come to the designer in bunches usually 10 to 25 stems per bunch. I expect and need for 99.9 percent of that bunch to be worthy of my designs. On most occasions only one of the bunch is truly perfect.  If you are lucky in the height of anemone season which is typically the spring or even the cooler fall weather you can get maybe half of the bunch to look respectable. I keep trying to use this bloom because clients and yes planners keep bringing me the requests for this flower. I get that artistically, its perfect for any wedding that has anything to do with black, but I am a perfectionist and I can’t stand seeing the blemishes or small closed flower heads that are so characteristic of this bloom. Not only that I am constantly promised that I will get the flowers from my wholesalers only to be let down continuously because the flowers often arrive to the supplier looking ill. I am super mad at this bloom and its lack of ability to step up to the plate and be pretty for my brides.

Just last weekend I tried endlessly to get these blooms in for my bride. I tried five different wholesalers and I actually ended up buying them from a man I had never even heard of in Chicago just because he swore he could get them. I felt like I was a drug user in search of some type of illegal drug and I was willing to get the goods wherever possible.  Having been in the business for many years I thankfully never, ever, ever promise this flower to a bride so I was prepared. If I have an adamant bride that must have them I discuss the option of using the silk version of this bloom. So even though Mr. Chicago did get me the blooms they were to beat up to use and I had to use the silk. I also had to paint the centers of the real ones black. Seriously stressful.  What drives me crazy is I never want to give up, I keep believing they are out there so I keep trying. Quite frankly I have yet to see one as lovely as the ones I see in a magazine which leads me to believing those are silk also. I know for certain that two publications recently featured this bloom with silk flowers in the bouquet because I asked the designer.

Yes I have had great purple and fuchsia anemone but that also is a big gamble. You can just never be sure of the blooms you will receive when working with this flower. It’s time we blow the cover off of this naughty bloom.  The above bouquet was created with silk anemone and one real white anemone. The real one was almost good enough to be in a Holly bouquet but not really, I just put it in the bouquet so I could say I did. 1 out of 20 blooms. Naughty Anemone!!!!!!!!!!

For the last few months we have been planning to provide the flowers for the VA. Gold Cup Races.  After days of designing and studying our notes it was finally time to go, go, go!!! Because the temperatures were in our favor we loaded all of the vans on Friday night. Think mini refrigerators on wheels, this was such a blessing or we would have had to load the flowers at 2:00 a.m.  It took 4 hours to get all 7 vans loaded and ready to go to the races. We had flowers stored in every cooler and even in the basement.

With the vans ready to go we closed the shop at about 10:45 p.m. on Friday night. We departed for the races at 5:00 a.m., we had 22 tents or corporations that we were providing flowers for.

Our biggest client of the day was Infinitive. We created their logo out of rice, oranges, and orange carnations. We also promised the client that we would pipe and drape the front of the tent. The theme of the tent was “Arabian Nights.” This was a huge project that I left my amazing husband Evan in charge of.  Evan literally built a wooden frame structure onto the front or the tent, this was needed to hold up the very heavy logo and to help with the draping.

Here is a picture of the completed look.

In the next few days I will post the professional images from this event. Each tent was designed differently and we have lots to show you. This was an amazing accomplishment for our team, but our day was not yet over. We left the races at 10:00 a.m. and headed back to the flowers shop only to load up again to head to DC for a huge wedding.  We provided over the top centerpieces and amazing bouquets for a very special wedding, here are a few images from that event.

As you can see this was one heck of a busy weekend but we made it, and everything was perfect for our clients. Our staff is a little beyond pleased and slightly sleepy.

Yesterday I got to visit my friends at Jerry's Flowers in Leesburg Va. The shop was absolutely hopping, and the flowers, oh the flowers. Lovely designs were being created at 9 different work stations. One whole room was being used to keep the classic dozen of roses stored just before today's big delivery. A whole room full of roses, heaven.

In addition to the classic Valentine flower orders there were coolers or rooms full of sexy flower arrangements. The shop was absolutely full of extraordinary product and extraordinary designs.

Some really amazing pieces can be found "in Jerry's cooler."

In addition to designing Janet owner and manager of Jerry's spent hours going over orders and preparing for deliveries. Janet is one seriously hard working lady, and the quality in her shop is top notch.

They even let me throw on my apron and help. This was my first time ever helping in a true retail flower shop. I am so impressed with Janet, her staff, and this beautiful flower shop. Visit Jerry's today for all of your Valentines needs.