Orcas Island Wedding Style

The Container Tip#2

When I am arranging flowers for my own pleasure and not for a client who has given me direction on taste and mood and style I can often be found in a quandary of what do I want. This is the same problem I have when faced with having to make a lunch choice. When drawing a blank I start by imagining  whether I want to hold my food like a sandwich or cut my food on plate. Do I want hot? Do I want cold? It gets me going in some direction. With flowers picking the container will give me all the direction I need. But how do you pick the container?

First off look at your flowers, look at the colours and with that in mind, pick where you want to put your flowers? (Try to stay out of hot direct sun or heat-the blooms will last longer). Then figure out how large an arrangement the space you have chosen will tolerate.

Then imagine whether this place will be best with tall or medium or short flowers. Remember you can have tall and skinny as well as short and fat.

But here is today's tip: ANYTHING can be a container for flowers. A shoe, a shoe bag, a toy truck, lemons, a cast off drawer from a dresser, a shot glass, oh yes and of course, a vase, basket or pot. If it is for your bathroom, a tissue box with flowers peeking out could be sweet. A window sill in the kitchen? An olive dish with a line of lemons squared off on the bottoms and scooped out in the center will fit just perfectly. Your guest bedroom?  An old tool metal or wood tool box, rusted and dented can be re-purposed and look fantastic against springs vibrant tulips. Here are two pix to show you what I mean.

 

An old log and some branches from up the road and some moss from outside my garage.

A centerpiece for a wedding where the couple met when travelling..thus the old suitcase 

Happy Container Hunting!

Do Yourself A Favour

Let's talk about favours. Favours given and received, from the time we had a our first birthday parties to our wedding day and beyond. And you know I am not talking about the 'lend me your favourite dress' type of favour.

What is a favour? If the purveyors of favours would have their way it would only be about sweet little nothings, a trinket made in China, pink and green candy coated almonds made, well wherever candy coated almonds are made. There are some terribly adorable items to purchase at 3.50 a piece for 125 guests plus tax and shipping which will most likely, in a year from now, be gathering dust in the back of the junk drawer.

From what little I know, gift giving to one's guests was part of the noblese oblige standard formed more than a 500 years ago. Marriage was most often a contract executed, an exchange of goods and services. So perhaps the thought: "While we celebrate our bounty, let us share some of it with you" in the way of gold coins or a a rooster (let all the men crow!) was it's progeny. 

500 years later as we continue to engage in this custom perhaps we should give more thought to what we are trying to say to our guests. Why are we giving a gift to each person?

Oh, I am not saying it's a bad idea but with money so tight, and the land fills so full, we might want to think about something that is both precious in thought and useful in purpose.

Now when it comes down to Orcas Island you might add in to the mix,  the suitcase factor and the middle of nowhere factor.  After the party is over and all the guests return to their rooms, a want for spot of chocolate or a sip of something lovely inevitably becomes a desire unfulfillable as everything shuts down early. Now  a bag of yummy chocolate chip cookies would not be amiss here.  But if these cookies were your Grandmas and you attached the recipe or the sip of artisans pinot soda with the url of how to get more is attached things start to edge into the meaningful. 

Don't spend a fortune just spend some time and find what best suits you and yours and the way you want to tell them We Love You!

TIP #2 Thoughts on Planning your Wedding

I asked  a potential client today if she knew the ad "we are a lot like you. just a little bit different". I think that this is very very true about weddings.  There are many commonalities between weddings particularly weddings that come to Orcas Island.

Some things to consider: this is not an ordinary place to get married. It's not like we have the Ritz Carlton or a Soho Loft here.  It's not like there is a swank yacht club or world class spa.

What brings people here is the singular beauty of this place. The peace that descends in the forest. The challenge of the hills to bike and hike. The majesty of the mountains ringing the waters of the Sound. As bridal couples you share this in common. And you want to share this exceptional Island with those you love.

Ah but then there are the differences. And I am not just talking plated versus buffet or ipod versus dj. Are you candleabrum or mason jar lanterns? Would you rather touch a moss mound or an orchid bloom.  Is the food more important than the favours or the ambience more important than the cake? It is within these beautiful choices that you will find your unique expression and the thing that will make your wedding different than others.

This is why the question  'what it's going to cost sometimes' makes me feel like I have marbles in my mouth. When it is the very first question, when I don't have information about you, I can not easily nor accurately answer.  

Tip #2: If you want to really maximize your free consultation with me or any planner, come with your priorities for your wedding sorted. Come with some way to describe yourself. And if you find that just too huge to handle then tell us that. We can help you sort things out. We can help you craft your desires. And then we can help you budget for it.

Tip #1 Flower Arranging and Life.

My intent for this blog is to make it useful to others. So I've been thinking about ways to do that.   People have commented very favourably on the tips I've put on the website so, why not post some tips here?

Earlier this week I was asked to create a Memorial Arrangement for an Islander who passed last week. Yesterday I got down to it. I worked. And I worked some more. I stepped back and thought, "oh, I can not let this go out in public looking like this" (it's a mother's response) took it all apart and went back at it again. My second go around was  better but I still felt dissatisfied, kinda wanted to trash it again, but I just was too tired to go any further so I put it and me to bed.

I woke up this morning and as has happened on many occasions in the past, I came out and thought, "Wow, that's not bad!". Saw some things to correct but overall I am really quite pleased. I learned something again.

Tip#1: Walk away from the work (whatever it is!) and come back to it later with fresh eyes. It is stunning how often the work looks completely different. (Re-reading some of my posts creates this same feeling.) It is as if time separates the maker and the viewer enough to be able see what we are creating clearly. It's true with an argument. It's true when we think we need that very expensive new sweater. It's true with flowers. I guess it's true with life.

Sunny today on the rock with a touch of cool.

Your Vendors

Wedding designers (planners/florists) are often asked what things will cost before they are hired and have designed anything which of course makes it mostly impossible to provide an accurate estimate.

So how do you choose who to work with? How do you make the leap of faith and say "you are the one I want"?

References can be a way to measure but it is not a stand alone tool.

Is price the only measuring tool for making the choice? I don't think so.

You know when you sync with someone, if someone gets you. That's a cool measuring stick.

Have you seen their pictures? Do you LOVE their work? Syncing and loving the work gets you 90% of the way there.

What takes it over the top?

Are they flexible? Will they be willing to work within your budget, with your vision, speak to your concerns directly?  If yes, a notch up  if not, not so good.

Do they explain why they do what they do the way they do it? Does it make sense to you? These are also  worthy measurements.

Send them a picture of something you want at your wedding.  Ask them to talk about it, ask them what that would cost for your wedding. Do they give you that and no more or do they give you that and choices?  (that is flexibility)

And in the end, trust your gut. It is probably the best and most accurate measurement you can make.