Archive for January, 2010

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WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice

Friday, January 29th, 2010

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Floral Artistry by Alison Bucholz-Ellis has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Flowers & Décor!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

Floral Artistry is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer.  “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

I am happy to announce that Floral Artistry is among the very best Wedding Florists within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings.  I would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.

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Another amazing issue from Vermont Vows

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

When I saw Daria Bishop’s post on facebook about how beautiful the new issue of Vermont Vows magazine looks I could not wait to get my hands on one!  After pouring over the Spring/Summer 2010 issue it is clear that Krista Washburn has outdone herself once again!  From the beautiful bouquets to the tabletops designs to the feature weddings and the gorgeous gown shoot at the Fair–it is one amazing image after another!  This magazine is sure to inspire any bride-to-be and I can already hear pages being ripped out and pasted on inspiration boards.  As wedding professionals we are all pleased as punch to be a part of such a quality product that highlights all the talent and beauty that Vermont has to offer.  I was on-site for a shoot at Beltrami Studios in August and stole a few behind-the-scenes shots while I was there.  I know it’s a little early, but I already can’t wait for the next issue!

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Tulips

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Tulips have long been a favorite of many cultures.  They were very popular during the Ottoman Empire, but they exploded during Tulipomania in Europe in the 17th century.  Holland went particularly crazy for tulips and they were considered extremely valuable.  So valuable in fact that people traded the value of their homes or businesses for a single bulb!  Tulip-lovers purchased, traded and stole tulips to the extent that it basically caused the entire country to go bankrupt!  Michael Pollan writes about our relationship with the Tulip in his book, The Botany of Desire (which I highly recommend and happens to be where I got most of my historical tulip knowledge!).  In 2001, Dave and I travelled in Europe and were lucky enough to end our trip with about a week in Holland in early May–perfect tulip viewing time!  It is evident that the fascination with tulips still exists and for me it is ignited each time I see a beautiful tulip variety.

Tulips are a great selection for weddings and are easily available in the winter and spring.  They are unique as fresh cut flowers because they actually grow in water (you can notice them grow by inches in a few days in a vase!) and are phototropic, which means that they are drawn towards light.  If you place a vase of tulips in a window you will find that all the flowers turn toward the window as if they are reaching for the sun.  It’s pretty cool.  I took this tulip photo this morning.

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Simple centerpiece–DIY

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

The holidays may be over, but that doesn’t mean you are going to stop entertaining!  This super simple centerpiece is made up of 3 white roses, 1 stem of lisianthus and a few touches of cedar, berzilia and leucodendron.  By cutting the stems short & placing the flowers down inside the vase (and putting a cute little top on it!) the look is transformed from a mere $15 bouquet to an interesting tabletop piece.  You can do it with or without the cloche…it’s pretty sweet without the top, too!  Add 1/2″ of water to your vase or display them without water (they should last 2-3 hours easily) and then re-cut the stems & place in jam jars or bud vases to enjoy after the party.  Tip:  Use open roses to get the most out of each bloom.

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Flowers by color–hot pink

Monday, January 25th, 2010

10 fantastic raspberry/hot pink wedding blooms for Vermont weddings are:

Garden roses, peonies, callas, phlox, echinacea, nerine lilies, waxflower, sweet william, dahlias, & zinnias.  Pair these pinks with chocolate browns, shades of orange and peach or yellow, purple & green.

Inspiration board raspberry pinks

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Gild the Lily

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

When it comes to hosting your wedding guests it feels great to gild the lily whenever possible.  Of course it’s easier to gild if you’ve got a gold leaf budget, but here are seven simple ways:

Greet your guests with cocktails upon arrival at the ceremony site (if it’s not religious, or at 10am that is!).  If it’s a mid-afternoon ceremony in the summer or you’d prefer not to serve alcohol you may want to serve lemonade and iced tea before the ceremony. 

Have a slightly longer cocktail hour (an hour and a half will do) with ample food offerings.  Serve a signature cocktail or two and allow folks to mingle and enjoy being your guest.  Don’t forget to include some non-alcoholic beverages, too.

Place a flower or fresh herb at each table setting either in the napkin fold or on the edge of the plate. 

Go for a live band.  If dancing is something you love to do there is nothing like live music!

Serve a small slice of cake to each guest with a chocolate truffle and/or cream puff on one small plate with a piece of fruit as a ‘dessert course’.

Offer coffee and hot cider to guests as they leave your reception along with chocolate-chip cookies or cider donuts for a final treat as they walk out the door!

Arrange for transportation back to the hotel/inn from the wedding for your guests.  You can skip the limo for your wedding party and arrange for everyone to get a lift that may want one.

Orange mokara orchid with lavender.

Photo:  Daria Bishop Photographers.

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Wait! I’m in the middle of nowhere!

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

For some of your guests travelling to Vermont may seem like a far away place.  Introduce your guests to the state you love so much by telling them why you chose Vermont for your wedding weekend (if it is not already obvious!) and give them a list of fun things to do.  Aside from a local map it’s a great idea to give some insider tips about breakfast, lunch and dinner spots (including whether or not they should expect a long wait for a particular location or can make a reservation) and suggest activities for different ages & physical abilities considering your friends with children as well as avid bikers, hikers and hard core shoppers.  Try to steer people in the right direction so they see the best of what your chosen location has to offer.  For example if you are having a wedding in Burlington during Jazz Fest it would be great to give your guests a heads up or if there is a farmer’s market nearby you could direct them to it.  Free concerts, museums, parks, wineries, pick-your-own blueberries/raspberries/apples, orchard-made cider donuts and much more are ripe for the picking.  Find travel tips on vermontvacation.com.

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Caitlin & Alex part 2

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Details, details, details.  Beautiful weddings are all about the details and Caitlin & Alex had some pretty sweet ones at The Round Barn.  Clockwise from top left:  Each table was named after a different plant species (so up my alley!) and the menu was printed on the back, Curly willow in a birch basket was the centerpiece for the place card table which was lined with a bed of moss & pine cones, Caitlin made moss monograms to greet their guests and super cute “bride” & “groom” signs for their chairs, Candles tied with cedar adorned the cocktail tables, Irene’s cakes by design created 2 beautiful cakes which were the centerpieces on the dessert buffet, Menus were displayed to give guests a peek at what was in store for the evening and finally, a closer look at the place cards punctuated with pine cones.

If you missed yesterday’s post you’ll see some floral detail shots from Caitlin and Alex’s big day.  They were so much fun to work with I am almost sorry the wedding’s over!

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Caitlin & Alex

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Caitlin and Alex were married on Sunday at The Round Barn in Waitsfield.  There was snow on the ground and a slight nip in the air, but not so chilly that the flowers were in danger of freezing!  I just love their style.  Nature-inspired designs with branches & pine cone details…SO Vermont!!  Their color palette was plum, olive and white.  Caitlin looked absolutely stunning in her dress, her attendants and flower girl were beautiful and the groom and his attendants were sharp as could be in dark brown tuxedos.  Even their parents and grandparents looked gorgeous.  We look forward to seeing photos from Curran photography who was there to shoot the day, but here is a little collection of flower shots we took. 

Flowers included white roses, freesia, callas, lisianthus, sweet william, dahlias, anemones, tulips, hydrangea, stock, waxflower, leucodendron, berzelia, agonis and cedar with pine cones & curly willow.  Stay tuned for more detail shots tomorrow!

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Out-of-town Guests

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Whether you are a destination couple or a hometown crew it is likely that you will have a portion of your guest list travelling to your Vermont wedding.  Planning from your guests’ perspective is the key to planning a great wedding weekend.  Consider these tips to be the ultimate host-and-hostess with the mostess:

  1. Host a welcome reception the day or two before your wedding.  This can be as informal as a BBQ or cocktail hour at a local pub or something a step away from a rehearsal dinner depending on your budget and style of the wedding.
  2. Create a printed itinerary or newsletter that your guests will receive upon check-in at their hotel.  Include a local map, a list of your favorite dinner and breakfast spots, shopping or hiking areas (depending on your sport!) and information about the weekend (like directions and timing for the wedding day so people don’t arrive late).
  3. Invite as many out-of-town guests to the rehearsal dinner as you possibly can.  
  4. Put welcome baskets in the hotel rooms of your guests with a note welcoming them to VT!  It can be as simple as a couple of water bottles, some local baked goods and chocolates or as elaborate as a bottle of wine, local bread or crackers, chocolate truffles or toffee, fresh fruit and granola bars.  If you can’t do the basket at least do the note or the newsletter!
  5. Budget Tip:  Consider taking your “favor funds” and putting them towards welcome baskets or a welcome reception.
  6. Try to provide 2 options for your guests’ lodging so they can select a room with a rate that suits their budget.  Some guests may stay an extra night to enjoy a long weekend! 

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