Every time I walk through the garden I see mountains of gomphrena, I have been itching to create an all gomphrena bouquet. I took the time today to bring some of my designs to life. I so love playing in my flower shop just for the h _ _ _ of it!!

I used three different shades of gomphrena in the design. There is a swirling, textural pattern in the design.

This bouquet began last Tuesday when I was teaching the newest Chapel Designers. Actually I guess it began last Sunday when I picked up those osage oranges on my hike with Elijah. When I saw the chartreuse green fruit, I knew I would have to design with them. The design got started during the class and abandoned until last night. The poor arrangement sat out all week without water, thankfully I took the time to finish up the piece.

The bouquet could be carried sideways, asymmetrically, or cascading.

The bouquet features aborvitae, nandina, seeded euc, perennial anemone buds, succulents, purple foliage’s, bark that Francoise Weeks and Bob Wollam harvested for me, and those sexy osage oranges.

I hope you take time today to be creative, in fact I hope you practice your chosen craft at least once a week. Spread your wings and design!!!

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!!!

Last nights floral design workshop started at my friend Don’s house. Don is a dahlia grower. In addition to being an incredible grower Don is the vice president of the Dahlia Society. Don is so much more then a grower, he is a perfectionist and his flowers are amazing. I know the students enjoyed this incredible experience.

This dahlia was from the seedling row, Don most likely will not want me to feature this bloom. Don does not like this wild looking renegade bloom, he sees all of its breeding flaws, but I loved it!! He explained that seedling dahlias need a 3 year trial before they can go onto an official trial garden and be judged. Once the dahlia is judged and approved it becomes a named variety. Please don’t quote Don on any of this, this was all my interpretation of the wild card row of dahlias. He called it designers alley!!

Don is all about perfection.  He goes to great lengths to tend to his babies, it’s all a little mind boggling.

Just before I snapped this picture, I asked Don if he wanted to be a designer. Can you see the laugh that is about to explode from him?

Time with Don is always a treat.

Back at my house, we did a quick run through the gardens and I snagged a few extra blooms along the way.

After we finished in the garden we went into the flower shop for some design time. The room was ready and waiting with dahlias, and garden flowers. During the class we snacked on french bread and cheeses.

I started the class by explaining the foundation of the design, which typically begins with the greenery. Each student was allowed to pick the flowers and colors they wanted to use. We also discussed where the flowers would be displayed once they got their design home.  A sideboard design, is created differently then a table centerpiece.

The below designs were created during our class. Each piece was truly spectacular, unfortunately my pictures simply don’t do them justice.

This class was a delight to teach. I am truly enjoying sharing my home and my love of flowers. Our next dahlia workshop is schedule for August 27th from 6pm to 8pm. Students also have the option of doing the full day Business and Design class on the 27th as well. The business and design class is for those who are running a floral design business.

Caitlin and Timothy married on September 1st last year. They had a church wedding with a reception in Loudoun County at the Bluemont Vineyard. I was super excited to see these images from photographer Jessica Schmitt.  The pictures are stunning so I am going to share a lot of them with you!! Thanks Jessica for capturing this day perfectly!!!

White dahlia boutonniere with olive branch foliage.

The bride carried white dahlias, white zinnia, white hydrangea, olive branches, seeded euc, white spray roses, queen annes lace, and gomphrena.  The use of olive branches was an underlying theme throughout the wedding. All designs included bits of olive branch and the stationery and table numbers also feature a bit of the olive branch.

White bridesmaids bouquets looked striking against navy dresses.

So gorgeous!!!

Flower crowns were created with spray roses and olive branches.

In addition to the flowers our studio did the draping for this event. Thanks to my husband Evan who manages this part of our company.

Caitlin made homemade vanilla extract which was bottled for guests to have as party favors. Seriously what a treat!!! Thanks Caitlin, the bottle you shared with our family it was incredible!!!

I was in love with the final look of these tables. Our flowers looked lovely mixed with so many elements created by the family.

Beautiful table runners were hand died by the brides sister.

This was an incredibly beautiful event and we were so happy to be the floral designers on this wedding. Happy married life Caitlin and Timothy!!! This wedding was also featured on Wedding Chicks and can be seen here!!

Special Thanks to the team:
Photography by Jessica Schmitt and Eric Swartz
Flowers: Holly Heider, Chapple Flowers
DJ: Kevin O’Donahue, Kirkabee Deejays
Caterer: Savoir Faire Limited
Ceremony Location: Saint Mark Catholic Church
Veil: Trousseau, http://www.trousseaultd.com
Venue: The Stables at Bluemont Vineyard
Cakes:  Taylor Made Cakes
Groomsmen suits: Sarar
Wedding Gown: Casablanca Bridal, White Swan Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses: Adrianna Papell, Nordstrom
Getting Ready Robes: Etsy’s Silkandmore

Yesterday I received two requests from designers who wanted a bit of mentoring. Since I have Tuesday, August, 27th reserved for our Meet Me In The Garden Class, I decided to clear the entire day for an intensive Business and Flowers Workshop. This will allow designers another chance to become a part of the Chapel Designers clan that I started several years ago. Designers holding a current business license and a working website may take this 1 day series and become a Chapel Designer. Once a Chapel Designer you will be added to our closed forum where we assist each other daily with inspiration or business questions. Chapel Designers also receive discounts when purchasing at certain stores.

The class will begin at 9:30am. We will spend the better part of the morning discussing, contracts, sourcing, marketing and such. Lunch and snacks will be provided throughout the day. As we move into the afternoon we will focus on design.  I will share how I create my super Full Bouquets and how we handle big designs, personal flowers and such. I will keep the class fairly small and I will address your specific pressing business and design concerns. If you register please send me a list of the topics you would like me to make sure I cover that day. The registration fee for this class will also allow students to attend the the 6pm class that begins at Don’s dahlias. After the tour, we will return from Don’s and design in my studio with his dahlias and other fresh cut products from my garden.

Please join me in this special opportunity and join the Chapel Designers Family.

I can’t wait to see you!!!

It’s been a long while since I posted about my friends the Chapel Designers but I wanted everyone to know how much these artists mean to me. There is not a single day that goes by, that I am not in contact with my amazing friends. Each new designer that has joined the group has been a true blessing. Our excursion to NYC is a remarkable and amazing adventure, but our daily communication and support of each other is awe inspiring. We have conquered a lot together this year, assisting each other with events, watching designers define their look and brand, we have watched others go full time into the floral business, open new studios, and even deal with tragedy and loss.  We have gathered together on several occasions for very important events and we have also been adding new designers to our clan. Each day we are growing, as a group, and as designers. I love this clan, and I could not imagine a life without my support system. I kid you not, if I had to go back to running this business without my friends I would quit. Once you see the light, and feel support, you simply can’t go back into the darkness. Thank you all for being my light!!!

I am in negotiations for next years conference and I will be giving a release date of tickets to the conference very soon. I will alert you all two weeks before tickets go on sale, so that everyone gets an equal chance to come. We are looking at a completely full house again with a 100 percent return rate, and over 80 new requests to be a Chapel Designer. Yes we are growing but growth is good, it’s what we are all about. Keep posted and be on the look out, the 2014 Chapel Designers conference is coming soon.

Also here are some fun blog posts about the Chapel Designers NYC 2013 conference written by some of our designers.

Sapphire Events – Chapel Designer Valerie

Stacy K Floral– Chapel Designer Stacy

Alluring Blooms– Chapel Designer Amanda

Alicia Jane Florals– Chapel Designer Alicia

Flirty Fleurs– Chapel Designers Alicia and Chuck

The last two pictures are of the newest Chapel Designers, welcome to the clan!!!

I am excited to announce our “Meet Me In The Garden” series. Luckily, this class will begin in my good friend Don’s dahlias patch. Yes, that’s right, I am taking you to Don’s!!! The evening will begin with light refreshments at Don’s house and then we will tour his dahlia garden. Next we will head to my house. We will take a quick run through my gardens and then we will create a beautiful centerpiece with flowers from my garden and Don’s.  Students will spend the evening in the gardens and designing. All materials will be supplied and students will go home with their design. Please check out our upcoming events section on the website to sign up.

You are going to love this!!!

Our second day of class began with lots of pink, and lots of romance. Garden roses were provided in 6 different shades of pink. I spared no expense for my students, we had it all!!!

After a light breakfast and a heavy duty business meeting, I showed the students how I make my bridal bouquets. Once my design was complete, students had free range to choose the blossoms that they most desired.

Even the piles of flowers the students chose were beautiful.

While the ladies worked, my son Sam and our cat Marcie kept us entertained.

Once the bouquets were created they were bound with ribbon and placed in the cooler. Each design would be photographed at our big photo shoot and students will get the images for their portfolio.

Next we worked on compotes, hair pieces, corsages, bouts, and the BIGS. My friend Isha Foss (also a Chapel Designer) calls elevated pieces the Bigs. We call them elevators.

Designer Mary Coombs from A Garden Party designed back to back with me on these whopper designs.

Simply gorgeous pieces were created all day long. We rocked it out on this day.

Each design created on Tuesday had a purpose and a place in our big shoot.

One of my most favorite pieces of the week was Alicia’s compote. I think she plucked 30 persimmon’s from my tree.  Note she was also the designer that over stole the berries from my daddies house. This design was truly edible!!

On our final day together we set up a huge photo shoot thanks to photographer Genevieve Leiper.  The shoots were designed by using all of the flowers we had created throughout the week. We were able to create two totally different looks for Genevieve to photograph.

Many thanks to make up artist Deshae Mayrand who prepped our gorgeous models, Rachel Mackay and Andrew Dolan. A huge round of applause to Miriam from Soliloquy Bridal.  Miriam supplied amazing gowns for us to use. The fabulous linens, china, and glassware were provided by DC Rental. The images from this shoot will be stunning and they will be submitted for publication.

A huge thanks to Rachel Merkle of Miss Merkle Design, who spent Wednesday morning with the students discussing branding, websites, and social media.

Our students had the pleasure of staying at Lansdowne Resort, Idyll Time Farm, and Faith Like A Mustard Seed Farm. Our fabulous meals were catered by South Street Under, and they even baked us a gorgeous wedding cake for our shoot.

The designers from A Garden Party stayed at Idyll Time Farm. The cabin holds five people and it was so much fun to see this bed and breakfast located right here in my little village of Lucketts.

Designer Melissa Stewart stayed at Faith Like A Mustard Seed Farm which is operated by the Glaeser family. Guests got their own wing of the house with a kitchen, sitting room, and an upstairs bedroom.

Patricia Glaeser showed Melissa, Alicia, and I the farm.

Patricia was happy to show us her new walk in freezer. She has no idea how we florists can totally relate to her cooler joy!! We love our coolers.

I had a blast feeding the calves and playing with the babies.

Back in Patricia’s house we delighted in seeing her beautiful home and her eggs were mighty impressive as well.

This week was a complete and total success and it was fulfilling on so many levels.  I adored sharing and teaching and growing our Chapel Designers clan, that of course was no big surprise, we all know how I love that. My desire and need to help other designers is something I simply can’t resist doing. After 21 years of designing and creating weddings, my life has a new and exciting purpose. In addition to the teaching, I got to share our home and our family with our guests. Evan’s beautiful gardens were put to incredible use as well, not only did we cut from our gardens we were able to stage two gorgeous shoots here in our yard. In addition to that, I was able to contribute to tourism and as a past board member for the Dept. of Tourism for the County of Loudoun, this was an honor and clearly a new goal. To think that guests visited in Loudoun and stayed at 3 different facilities, dined on local foods and designed with Loudoun County flowers makes me really proud. I would like to thank Loudoun County employee Kellie Boles for helping me achieve this next level. It was Kellie who helped us change our business to an agricultural business so that I could begin to host workshops and sell our local flowers.

I am thankful, thankful, thankful, that things are growing and developing for our studio. One last thanks and shout out to designer Alicia Schwede. Alicia and I started our friendship about 5 years ago on twitter. We have designed together, in VA, California, and NYC. Having my friend here with me was wonderful. I am so grateful for the people we are meeting and falling in love with!! I have a whole new list of friends from this weeks adventure. This was awesome!!!

 

 

Alex and Mallary’s wedding  was truly emotional and remarkable. Everything you hope a wedding will be!! After the ceremony which was held at the house, guests headed to the barn. An heirloom table was stationed at the front door. This table was adorned with old family heirlooms, grandmothers veil, old letter jackets, baby toys, photos, art projects, all items from the couples history. In the invitation suite (designed by Miss Merkle) guests were asked to send heirlooms to display at the wedding. This table was a beautiful reflection of Alex and Mallary’s life.

Evan draped the center posts of the barn at Silverbrook, this created a focal point for the wedding party table. Brilliant Evan, chose to use drop clothes from home depot for this design. Sewing the drapes was a major undertaking but Evan accomplished this task like a pro.

An old barn board and a crystal chandelier were installed above the king table. This was a design concept I had created for another wedding and I was dying to use it again.

Kim sewed custom runners for each table, and we cut linen napkins for each place setting. The napkins were stamped with a custom logo that was created for Alex and Mallary. The stamp was the Loudoun County symbol with Alex and Mallary’s name and wedding date. This logo was designed by Rachel Merkle and used throughout the wedding.

In fact each table had one of Rachel’s icons on it. Guests were given an amazing book at the wedding that held the program, wine tasting card, and the guests seating assignments. The icons were in a little envelope in the back of the book and then on each centerpiece in the barn.  The icons were chosen because they reflected the interests of the couple or part of their story. We had a history table because Mallary is a teacher, a baking table, a wine table, a farmers market table, an Orrison table, a Chapple Table, a European table, a music table, and the bridal party table was the “In Love In Loudoun Table.” There were several other tables as well. Each table had items that belonged to the couple or reflected their interests. The baking table centerpiece was designed in a bundt cake pan, an old rolling pin went through the center of the design and a vintage measuring cup held additional flowers. On the European table we decoupaged a vase with copies of the train tickets Mallary and Alex used to get to each other for their engagement in Warsaw. The history table, had a mini Lincoln on the table and the icon for this table was the penny. It was truly wonderful to design like this.

This was the farmers market table, Alex spent many years of his life working at Grandpas country store. This design featured eggplants, beans, and berry from the Heider Farm as well as jams and jellies from Heiders farm market.

This was the Orrison table, the design was created in a copper pot that belonged to Mallary’s grandmother and we displayed her first tea set on this table as well.

The Chapple table centerpiece was created in a piece of Mccoy pottery that had belonged to Gram and Pop. Small hippos were also on this table because Alex collected hippos when he was a child.

This was the teaching table, which we adorned with an old chalkboard, a little orange bell, and pencils.

The ceiling of the barn was adorned with ribbons and crystals and edison lights. We wanted the area above the dance floor and the buffet to shimmer and glow. A garland of greens and amaranthus was also cascading from the ceiling.

Even the side walls of the barn were adorned with ribbon and vials of dahlias.

The wedding cake was displayed on an antique piece of furniture that was in Dot’s barn. Kendall’s cake was incredible.

Just beyond the wedding cake was a little tiny room which used to be the corn crib. This room was full of pie and popcorn from Grandpa Heider’s country store, and lots of candy.  Rachel created a sign that said “dessert is sweet, Loudoun love is sweeter.”

Alex and Mallary preformed a fun little duo for us, just like they used to do in high school.

These little clowns spent the better part of the wedding throwing popcorn on their family who was dancing just below them. Can you believe that?

Everything about this wedding was so special and our family enjoyed each precious moment of the day.

Now I want to give a huge shout out to Rachel Merkle, because I truly believe the invitations and the branding she did for our wedding was what made this event so MALEX (we have been calling Alex and Mallary that for years). Each guest received the above invite, the invite included a map of Loudoun, info about the wedding, as well as the request for family heirlooms.

Next when guests arrived they received a little book. The book had a book mark (remember Mallary is a teacher) and the name of the guest was on the  bookmark. The books were chosen because they are Moleskine books. Alex is a writer and I used to give him Moleskine books at Christmas.

The book included a program, a map of the farm, a wine tasting card, and a sticky note. The sticky note was added so that guests could leave Alex and Mallary a message. When Alex was roughly 15 years old he snuck into Mallary’s room and filled it with love notes on sticky paper.  The notes remained in Mallary’s room until the day she married.

This was the map that was included in the invitations. We had it blown up and mounted so that we could display it on the wall of the barn. Alex and Mallary now have this in their home.

Rachel even created the guest book. This is where those little sticky notes came in handy.

The guest book began with the love note that Alex gave to Mallary  just before she walked into her bedroom that Alex had filled with love notes.

Here are a few more pictures of the day that simply make my heart melt!!

The bridesmaids all decked out in flannel.

Hannah and Abby

Grace practicing being a princess.

Grace and Mallary

My little boys Eli and Sam.

Me and my two sets of twin sisters.

A picture of our famous Aunt Carla, with my mom and dad, and all of my sisters.

This beautiful photo is of our new big family.

Once again many thanks to these amazing wedding professional, without them our day would not have been complete. Photographer Genevieve Leiper , Rachel Merkle, of Miss Merkle Design, Dot Shetterley of Silverbrook Farm, Joan Wolford of Savoir Fare Catering, Kendalls Cakes, hair and makeup, Victoria Stiles , seamstress, Kim Trombly,  Don’ Dahlias,  and to the entire HCF Family, for the lighting, drape, rigging, planning, and florals.

Remember this wedding has just been published in the current issue of the DC, MD, VA, Knot magazine.

Alex and Mallary are such a beautiful couple, I still can’t believe they are really actually married. We all waited and dreamed about this wedding.  It’s truly hard to believe we are fast approaching their first anniversary. Their first year of marriage has been a joy to behold. Watching two young people find their way, set up a home, and conquer the world has been awesome. If you knew them as a couple you would know they were destined for greatness. They work hard at everything they do, seriously, they don’t do anything kinda sorta well!! They put a million percent into everything.  Here are some pictures from our fabulous family wedding.

I am headed to DC for a designer mission with my friends the Chapel Designers. I will post the reception images as soon as I have a chance. Once again thanks to the many amazing people that helped to bring this wedding to life!!!

Many thanks Genevieve Leiper who photographed the wedding, I could only intrust her to capture this special family day. Thanks a million times over to Rachel Merkle, of Miss Merkle Design who created some of my all time favorite stationery, she truly branded this wedding. A million thanks to the fabulous Dot Shetterley who shared her home Silverbrook Farm with us, Joan Wolford of Savoir Fare for the incredible food,  Kendalls Cakes for that delicious cake, and a huge round of thanks needs to go to my flower shop family who pulled off one of the most amazing weddings, all while I was being mother of the groom. Our studio, did the design and styling, lighting and drape and the planning for this wedding. Many thanks to Kristen Lickey our in house wedding planner and one last huge round of applause for Victoria Stiles for making all the girls look pretty, Kim Trombly for helping us make sashes, table runners, and for recreating my mother of the groom dress, and to Don for all of his insanely beautiful dahlias, which were my children’s first and most important floral request!!!