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In one of our most recent blog, we discussed upcoming floral wedding trends for the 2016 wedding season. One of those floral trends was incorporating a lot of greenery throughout weddings. We have been seeing a variety of accent greens in many floral designs for bouquets, centerpieces, and suspended florals.

There are several different ways brides have used greens as accents to integrate into their special day. Adding green garland as table runners or on their chairs can create a natural environment for your guest. By adding some more texture to your wedding venue, you could drape some lavish garlands of greenery around to create an overgrown natural look. If you are using a tent for your outside wedding, you could use different types of green florals to outline the tent ceiling to create a soft edge.

For the bridal bouquet or bridesmaid’s flowers, while still using simple flowers you can use some greenery like eucalyptus, olive, and ferns into a beautiful wild bouquet.

Check out some examples of our previous work with some beautiful greenery below. If you need some more inspiration for your upcoming wedding, hop over to our Pinterest page!

Flowers play a large part in any special event, and they can help bring to life your wedding day! In the midst of planning your wedding, you want to make sure you don’t miss anything. Making a checklist with your florist will be helpful to figure out who will be a part of your wedding and how you want to recognize them on your special day!

Most couples usually use attendant florals to distinguish their parents and stepparents, grandparents, any immediate family members who are not in the wedding party, like ushers and the ceremony readers.

If you’re having little ones as a part of your wedding, you want to make sure that you have the right size florals, a few options could be a traditional flower basket, a floral head crown,  a pomander which is a styrofoam ball covered in fabric and florals or even a floral wand for that fairy princess flower girl.

Having your loved ones wear or carry flowers will make them feel honored and special to be a part of your wedding. It’s important to ask them if they have a preference, perhaps certain people rather have a corsage, wristlet or handheld posy. Another popular choice to give your attendants is a single long-stemmed flower.

Also, you don’t want to forget about your furry friends. It’s been more and more frequent that dogs are being incorporated in weddings!

One of our favorite weddings venues that Flou(-e)r has the pleasure of designing at is Willowdale Estate in Topsfield, Massachusetts. Willowdale Estate is about 4 acres located in the 720-acre Bradley Palmer State Park and has a lot of great history behind it which makes designing there such a thrill, every time!

The original construction on the estate began in 1901 with the owner, Bradley Palmer, and architect Cummings. In 1944 when Palmer passed, the mansion and the estate were turned into a park because Palmer was devoted to nature and conservation.

During the late 1990’s a Boston architect, Gerald Fandetti and his wife Charlotte Forsythe won the lease of the estate through an open bid proposal process and they began to rehabilitate the mansion and land. In 1999 when the family was given the 50-year lease, they began to completely renovate the estate and finally opened up the mansion in 2007 offering it as a full-service event venue. Today the beautiful estate is run by their daughter, Briar Forsythe, who has gained years of experience in hospitality with her family’s successful businesses. The team at Willowdale is beyond reproach with their attention to every detail with clients up to and including full-service event planning. Not to mention there amazing chef that always delights with his masterpieces. OOOh and their cookies, don’t even get us started on those……

We have been honored to be on the preferred vendor list for many years and therefore have worked as the floral designer of choice on many weddings and events hosted at Willowdale, and every event whether it be in the mansion itself or in the lush gardens under the Sperry Tent it is always an honor and exciting to design for our clients. The venue is available for a variety of events throughout the year and offers weddings inside the mansion and tented weddings May through October! We are excited yet again this year to be chosen as the designer for multiple weddings and events!!

We have been very lucky to work with such amazing wedding venues throughout the Boston area and beyond. One wedding venue that we have the pleasure of designing at last summer was the Four Seasons Hotel located in the Back Bay of Boston.

The Four Seasons Hotel has a variety of beautiful options for rooms to host any wedding or event. They offer first-class service and always put together elegant and classic weddings. The wedding of Tali and Drew took place towards the end of August, where both the ceremony and reception took place at the Four Seasons but in two different ballrooms.

The bride requested for soft romantic florals throughout the wedding venue and for her own bouquet. Her bouquet was made up of blush roses, white calla lilies, blush dahlias, and white cymbidium orchid. These flowers fit perfectly with one another to help create a lot of depth and texture to the bouquet. We continued with the blush roses and dahlias for the bridesmaids to pull them all together. To give the gentlemen and young men a little style, we used a white calla lily with green accents for their boutonnières.

The Governors Room was the perfect space to have the ceremony; the white chuppah that was used fit perfectly. We used white, pink, and blush hydrangeas and roses as well as white stock along with white phalaenopsis orchids that cascaded down a glass vessel for the ceremony. The reception that took place in the classic grand ballroom where we continued with white and light pink hydrangeas. For the centerpieces we used tall glass cylinder vessel that had diamond gems and cube vessel with a silver diamond wrap around it. Finally for dessert, we added white and blush roses that cascaded down their stunning 4-tier cake. The wedding was a combination of romantic and sophisticated and the Four Seasons Hotel played a large part in making that happen!

A big thank you to Jenny Moloney for capturing this beautiful wedding, check out more of her work here!

Springtime is one of the most beautiful times of the year to get married! In the midst of planning your wedding, you should gain some knowledge on what flowers are in full bloom and available for your special day!

Popular wedding & event florals are:

• Peonies
  These pastel or brightly colored flowers are very popular with brides during spring; they add a softness and elegance to any bouquet or centerpiece. Peonies are available in white, cream, peach, light or hot pink.
• Hydrangea
  This fully affordable bloom is a show stopper with it’s large headed bloom and impact.  Hydrangeas would look beautiful in any of the colors they come in; white, green, pink, purple, coral, blue, and even variegated colors.
• Tulips
  Tulips are a classic spring flower, which can brighten up any wedding or special event and fit perfectly into any springtime theme. These flowers are often seen in white, soft & hot pink, green, red, orange, purple and yellow for weddings and events.
• Lilacs
  These simple delicate flowers have an inviting fragrance to it and can create a fresh and whimsical style to any special event or wedding.  The soft colors of light purple & white always create a garden like feel.
• Ranunculus
  A relative of the buttercup and similar to peonies, this unique flower can add great texture to a simple floral bouquet. This particular flower can be accessible in almost every color.

Take the time to go through all the spring seasonal flowers to make sure that they will fit into the theme and style for your wedding or event. Spring is a perfect time to have you wedding since this time of year is when all the blossoms will be coming into full bloom!

As we are in the midst of wedding planning season for this year, it’s time to consider what floral trends you what to incorporate!  There are always a variety of floral designs that it might be hard to choose with so many options.  Here are just a few floral wedding trends that will be very popular this year to help you with your decision!

• Wild Local Organic Flowers, brides are requesting more of a natural garden design in their bouquets and floral arrangements which could include a mix of size, color, as well as an assortment of different flowers
• Greenery can help create a romantic setting throughout a wedding and really bring in the popular natural trend for this year
• Hanging chandeliers of florals and foliage, this trend is another creative way to use flowers to decorate your venue in an unexpected stylish way
• If you are a foodie couple, a trend you might enjoy is scented herbs, fruits or other edible in centerpieces or garlands
• Since Pantone announced Rose Quartz and Serenity as the colors of the year, we may start to see a trend of this color being used in wedding floral designs

You can integrate any of these stylish trends into any part of your wedding like down aisle, on the reception tables, with backdrops or even on the cake! It’s important to work closely with your floral designer if you wish to use these floral trends in your upcoming wedding. If you’re in need of more inspiration, check out our Pinterest page!

You’re engaged, now where to begin!?

In the process of planning your wedding and meeting with your floral designer, you should be well prepared. It’s important to have an idea of what type of flowers you want to incorporate into your wedding. Places where flowers are included for the wedding include the bridal party and family, as well as in the ceremony and reception. When meeting with your floral designer, you should come in with a price line so that your designer can guide and help you stay within your wedding budget.

Your designer can help you choose the perfect floral arrangements so your venue, gown, and wedding party are all consistent. Knowing your color scheme can be very useful when in your consultation because your floral designer will be aware of what flowers would work best and what flowers may not be seasonal on the day of your wedding.

It may also be helpful to provide examples of floral arrangements, include as many images as possible that convey your vision. If you have most of your wedding already planned, try to bring in photos of your venue, spaces that needed to be decorated, images of your gown, the bridesmaid’s gowns, and the groom and groomsmen attire.  Another great and useful tool to have and review with your designer would be your Pinterest board, you can see ours here!

Your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life, make your journey to the alter a fun, smooth and exciting one!

Since we are right in the middle of winter and some may be having a case of the winter blues, we thought it be best to focus on Cherry Blossoms to get into a warmer spirit!  The cherry blossom is the national flower for Japan and when adding it to the floral design of a wedding it can create a fresh and romantic atmosphere. Cherry blossoms are a perfect fit for grand and tall centerpieces, or structural pieces such as ceremony arches.

A beautiful wedding at the Taj Rooftop in Boston that Flou(-e)r was a part of had a cherry blossom theme. The wedding took place towards the end of March, which is the perfect time to incorporate cherry blossoms into your design because they are available mainly between March and May, sometimes into June.

For the centerpieces at the reception, we had tall pink cherry blossoms branches in a 32 inch pilsner vessel. Since the ceremony also took place at The Taj in Boston, the cherry blossom centerpieces were used for a backdrop during ceremony. At the place card table, there were cylinder glass vessels at various heights with pink cherry blossom branches in the tallest vessel.  We were honored to be a part of a wonderful wedding and make the couple’s vision become reality!

A special thanks for Leah Haydock for capturing beautiful images of the wedding and our work!

Join us for our Wine & Design Night this holiday season! Come celebrate with mulled wine and make wreaths with Flou(-e)r on December 17th, 2015 (Thursday) at 6:30pm. Only limited spots available so contact us at 617-514-3756 for more details or to hold your spot!

Nothing like ending our wedding season in style with Misty and James’s Wedding at The Boston Park Plaza, which is rich in history and is known for its sophisticated, elegant venue! Our bride was more than excited when we handed her the bridal bouquet we designed for her and showed her bridesmaids bouquet, which reduced her to tears. The bridal bouquet consisted of white hydrangeas, white roses, Freespirt orange & red variegated roses, & burgundy hypericum berries that was tied with an ivory ribbon to coordinate with her wedding dress. It had texture and depth through multiple blooms and colorways with an autumnal feel.

Her maid of honor and bridesmaids also had handtied bouquets which were designed with white roses, mango calla lilies, burgundy hypericum berry’s, orange & burgundy cockscumb, Freespirt Roses, & deep saturated red roses. The color scheme of their bouquets complimented their royal blue dresses gracefully. In addition, the groom looked stunning in our boutonniere of a white rose with accents of green all tied together with a black satin ribbon. The blooms in the centerpieces were arranged with white hydrangeas, autumnal variegated red & green hydrangeas, burgundy hypericum, deep red & Freespirt roses, burgundy carnations, red & burnt orange chrysanthemums & leucodendron all placed in high clear glass pilsner vessels. The white hydrangea was at the base of the arrangement with all the other blooms being the show stopper. The arrangement had a true autumnal feel to it to tie in the theme of their fall wedding beautifully. We were honored to be a part of their remarkable day and celebrate the joys of their love!

Thank you John LoConte for capturing their wedding day, check out the lovely images he took below!

As the holiday season is quickly approaching, so are corporate holiday parties! Your concept for the holiday party planning are in the works, but with your busy schedule it will be impossible to accomplish it all so call Flou(-e)r and leave the designing to us! When searching to find the right space to host your event whether it be a ballroom, restaurant or unique venue you should consider bringing along your designer so that they can help offer suggestions on how to enhance the space with holiday florals and decor along with offering suggestions on how to transform the space to look like a holiday party. Here are some tips to include when creating a corporate holiday party!

Florals

Seasonal blooms will always make any party more chic, elegant, and fit the theme of the party. Try to choose the right hues that will coordinate well with your palette and using subtle but elegant flowers will elevate your ambiance. Find colors that will work well with the background and compliment your setting. Designing your arrangements in elegant ornate vessels or if you prefer more simplistic look, try a small pot or clear cylinder vases.

Drinks and Desserts

It’s a holiday party so make sure you have lots of food and drink for the guests! Make sure your corporate event provide some delicious crowd favorites or themed colored sweets to match your holiday party. Don’t forget the drinks! Instead of serving it to your co-workers and bosses by hand, come up with a creative way to display the drinks by having a make-it-your-own drink bar or displaying the pre-poured drinks in an artistic manner or better yet hire a caterer to take the stress away from the guests who should be enjoying themselves.

Tablescapes

Make sure your tables are unique and that they stand out. If you are looking for a specific color scheme or a certain personal touch, try adding floral centerpieces that will amaze your guests. For more of an energetic vibe choose linens that are a vibrant, bright, or printed. If you are looking for a cleaner and simply look, go for lighter color tones with a touch of shine. Get sophisticated glassware to compliment your linens.

Backdrops

Whether it be a backdrop of twinkle lights or evergreen trees behind your band or DJ or bringing in up-lighting or a chandelier to set the mood, think of transforming the entire space. Another way to enhance your space is suspend blooms from the ceiling bringing the entire venue together.

Contact Flou(-e)r to learn more about our services and let us help you coordinate an amazing corporate holiday event this coming season! Call us at 617-514-3756 or use our contact form and we will contact you right back.

Unlike summer and spring wedding blooms, fall weddings bring on a whole new scheme of color and texture to make your wedding that much more intriguing. Here are a few fall wedding flower trends that will help guide you to a stylish fall wedding!

Texture– Adding textured flowers and elements is a great addition to your wedding! Lush, richly deep hued arrangements is one of the hottest fall wedding trends. For your centerpiece, in place of two or three different blooms opt for a wide range of flowers coordinated with your color scheme. An example of this could be a base of classical flowers such as hydrangeas and roses and add beautiful coxcomb, hanging amaranthus, and kale into your arrangement. Try adding non floral accents such as hypericum berries, lotus pods, fiddlehead ferns, or even dusty miller to make your arrangements more chic and fall wedding ready!

Rich Hues- Classical flowers in rich hues are the epitome of fall wedding flowers. Texture might be key, but classical flowers like elegant dahlias and roses in deep, dramatic shades that are in autumn hues are very popular in fall weddings. For more of an adventurous arrangement try unexpected colors like copper, forest green, or aubergine in your blooms. Other fall flowers that can go great with your fall wedding theme are antique hydrangeas in a green or purple tone and calla lilies in deep crimson.

Polished Wedding Bouquet– Autumn wedding bouquets can be more structured and refined unlike summer or spring weddings where the bouquets are more loosely tied. The bouquets can be in the color schemes of red, plum, and green in a round like shape that’s densely packed. Stems should be cut short and instead of having them exposed, wrap the stems in textured fabrics, ribbons, or velvet sashes. As for boutonnieres, they can be polished with a satin ribbon or burlap around the stems.

Plants- A popular landscaping trend for centerpieces at fall weddings are succulents. They add a great accent with their deep fall colors like aubergine, cactus green, and pomegranate. Succulents also mix well with flowers since they have leaves that look like petals.

For a tasteful Autumn wedding with rich hues of fall blooms that have great texture call Flou(-e)r at 617-514-3756 today to set up an appointment with us! We can help you arrange the perfect blooms for your Autumn themed wedding.