Backyard Wedding May 2011

The wedding was at the brides parents home who are avid gardeners.  We chose flowers that were growing in the garden at the time...peonies, garden roses, mock orange, hydrangea...all from local sources...including roses, peonies and hydrangea from my backyard.  The garden was created by the brides grandmother and many of the vases we used were passed along from her as well.  Thank you to Jennifer Domenick, Love Life Images for capturing the overall feeling and the details in these photos.

Early April Wedding, Peonies, Tulips, Anemone, Sweet Pea, Stock...

I just got these beautiful detail photos by Kristen Hudson-Nichols from an early April wedding, thank you.   The celebration took place at the St Regis and the laid-back couples only request was to use early spring flowers and color.  Theses were the first peonies of the season which I paired with early spring flowers which are now gone until next year...Anemones and tulips already seem like distant memories, peonies are at their peak and I am already thinking about not too far in the distant dahlias!

Friday Bridesmaid Lunch and Saturday Wedding Flowers, Late April

Photo Kate Headley I had a great weekend preparing food and flowers for Andrea who got married at the Decatur House yesterday.  I met Andrea quite recently as she was working outside of the country and just returned several weeks in advance of her wedding.

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a family friend of the brides who wanted to plan a "Bridesmaid" (there were no bridesmaids in the wedding) Home Restaurant Lunch.  Late April is full of some of my favorite ingredients, many of which are only available for a moment– helleborus, fava beans, viburnum, fiddlehead ferns, morels...

I will post flower photos when I get them in a few weeks, in the meantime here is the menu from Fridays lunch.  Friday was chilly and damp, lunch was served in front of the fireplace.  For the wedding however on Saturday the sun was out and the temperature was in the 70's...

Passing

Wild Rockfish Cake with Grainy Mustard

Chicken with Tarragon on Sweet Potato

Fennel, Caper, Golden Raisin and Lucques Olives on Endive

Scrambled Egg with Sorrel

Girasol Soup

Roasted Beet, Stem and Green with Pickled Beet

(Moutard) Brut Grand Cuvee NV

Seated

Blond Morels with Fava Beans and Fiddlehead Ferns on Arugula dressed with Chive Banyuls Vinaigrette, Whole Wheat Farm Bread

(Domaine de la Feuillarde) Saint-Veran V.V. 2008

Lamb Shoulder and Lamb Suasage with English Peas, Pea Shoots, Carrots, Leeks, Tiny Potatoes with Herb Leek Broth, Spelt Foccacia

(Domaine des Hauts Chassis) Crozes Hermitage, Les Chassis 2007

Winnimere Cheese on Walnut Cracker

Banana Cake Frozen Coconut Sandwich with Champagne Mango and Candied Macadamia Nuts

(Moutard) Brut Grand Cuvee NV

Chocolate and Vanilla Shortbread

Take Home: Salty Rosemary Walnut Biscotti

Twice used wedding flowers!

Photo Abby Greenawalt

Several months ago I met with a bride who was getting married in the evening on April 9, 2011 at Woodend.  She was interested in lush flowers with with lots of textures in white, ivory, green and touches of soft pink.  A couple weeks after we met I got an email from a bride who was getting married the same day at Woodend in the morning.  She explained that she had talked to the evening bride, they seemed to have similar taste, and wanted to know if I would be willing to meet with them together and figure out if they could share the majority of the flowers for their weddings.  I loved the idea!  I am always concerned about waste with wedding flowers.  Often I provide parchment paper and twine for guests to take flowers home in, I always offer to lend vases free of cost so they can be reused for another event and regularly I facilitate flower donations after weddings.

The idea of two weddings on the same day at the same venue with the same flowers makes sense.  Since they were sharing the costs we were able to do slightly larger centerpieces to achieve the very lush look both brides were looking for without excessive expense.  We figured out that ceremony pieces, guest book flowers and centerpieces would all be shared.  Each wedding party had their own personal flowers and their own flowers tied to chairs going down the aisle.  One bride added an arrangement for the place cards the other added small arrangements for cocktail tables.  Yesterday the weather was cool and damp and the flowers looked just as fresh in the evening as they did in the morning.  I arrived at Woodend ready to refresh the centerpieces between the two weddings but they needed nothing except to be placed on fresh tablecloths.

After the second wedding we delivered all of the flowers to a senior home in my neighborhood so they could get one more use!

A favor turns into the present of photographs, thanks Naz!

A talented photographer friend of ours, Malek Naz Freidouni, asked if she could photograph our daughter Martin-Lane for her portfolio.  Martin-Lane said she was up for it.  We set up the shoot for a Sunday morning and Naz promised she would work quickly, which she did. The photos are awesome, this is one of my favorites and it seems to be appropriate today with so many cherry blossom petals just beginning to fall– taken in the room where the Home Restaurants happen.  Check out more of her work on her website.

Flower in Martha Stewart Weddings, How fun is that?

Very fun to pick up the Spring, 2011 Martha Stewart Weddings at the grocery store yesterday and look for the page with my flowers on it!  The wedding featured in the magazine was actually the first time that I worked with Ritzy Bee, Kate Headley and Simplesong.  Since then we have collaborated often and I look forward to several weddings together on the books for 2011. Below is the cover and page from the magazine, as well as additional images by Kate of the memorable day.