Ceremony Magazine O.C. Edition (Blue Wedding Flowers)

It's always fun to see your work published and appreciated! Here is a two page spread from Ceremony Magazine (the O.C. edition) of a wedding I arranged the flowers for back in September 2010 at the L'Auberge in Del Mar.










I also love that this article shows off the blue flowers that the bride choose. Blue is a difficult color to match since there are very few blue flowers that work in arrangements. My absolute favorite is hydrangea. It comes in light blue or deep "Dutch" blue, but there is also grape Hyacinth and cornflower (which are both seasonal: March-June-ish), delphinium, and irises.

I'll touch upon more blue flowers and weddings at a later date...

Who doesn't love a Kissing Ball...

... or pomanders or flower balls, but doesn't kissing balls sound so much cuter?!?

They can be placed throughout the wedding ceremony or reception, or used as flower girl or bridesmaid's flowers as seen here.

You probably notice that most of these kissing balls are made of various sized roses. That is because they create a perfectly rounded look. But you can also incorporate carnations (I know, but they come in so many great colors) or hydrangea.

Often you see these flower balls hanging from either a Shepard hook or a aisle chair, but you can also create a topiary with with (as seen here), or place them in manzanita branch arrangements for an enchanted forest feel.

And of course they photograph so very well!

Up next... It's all about mini calla lilies...

Pretty in Pink (and Green)

Over the years I've been remiss asking my brides for pictures from their wedding. As a result there are only a handful of weddings that I have pictures (professional, and not of the cell phone variety) of everything from the bouquets to centerpieces to cake, etc... Lucky for me this bride's photographer, Asgier Fotographica (http://www.asgeirfotographica.com/) took some great pictures and sent them along...

Here is Cathy's Bridal Bouquet with green hydrangea (a wonderful bouquet flower for it's fullness and "framing" qualities), green cymbidium orchids with white tongues, light pink lisianthus, and light pink "Sweet Akito" roses.

The centerpieces were wrapped with black ribbon and a pale pink and white shoestring ribbon accent. This is a great way to incorporate your wedding colors (in this case black) when the color doesn't come in a flower.

Up next... Who doesn't love a Kissing Ball?

Keeping it Traditional... White Bridal Bouquets

I love all white Bridal Bouquets! When Adam and I got married in 2004 I really went back and forth between an all white bouquet, and a more colorful bouquet to match my bridesmaid's bouquets and our wedding colors. I went with the all white bouquet and have no regrets!

There are so many white flowers out there to choose from to make your perfect Bridal Bouquet: hydrangea, roses, stock, lisianthus, rannuculas, dahlias, peonies, tulips, calla lilies, gardenias, stephanotis, gerber daisies, waxflower, orchids, and anemones to just name a few. Usually you can pick flowers that compliment your bridesmaid's bouquets and your wedding colors which will make your overall "floral" look cohesive. Here are a few other bouquets that I loved arranging...

Coming Soon... The Many Shades of Pink

A few of my favorite things... sunsets and purple

As promised, here are two weddings I did that I absolutely loved the flowers!

These are "my colors."

This Bridal Bouquet has green cymbidium orchids, orange mini calla lilies, red mokara orchid sprays, and orange and red "Fiction" roses.

A lot of times brides ask for "Flame" or "Mango" colored mini calla lilies, what they don't realize is that they are all "orange" in growers terms. Sometimes they are more yellow and orange and sometimes they are more red and orange.

Another flower that brides ask about is the "Circus" rose which is more red and yellow versus red and orange. I personally think that the "Fiction" is a much prettier rose and I like that it opens a bit more imperfect.

This is a very lovely and simple centerpiece option for a bride on a budget, or who wants to do something a bit different. You can submerge orchids (as seen here), calla lilies, or roses or float hydrangea or dendrobium orchids under a floating candle.

Another plus to these arrangements is you can use any color rocks, marbles, or shells at the bottom or any color floating candle. This comes in handy for the bride who is looking to incorporate a color in her wedding that does not come in flowers or is very limited like blue, silver, black, or brown.

Now I don't really like the color purple, but I LOVE purple flowers! There are so many beautiful colors and shades of purples and so many flowers to choose from: lisianthus, hydrangea, lavender, lilac, roses, tulips, veronica, stock, larkspur, freesia, orchids to just name a few.

I particularly love combining purples with green as seen in this bouquet. It is so fresh and beautiful and goes well with a deep eggplant colored bridesmaid's dress as an alternative to black or lavender.

Speaking of green... You've probably been seeing a lot of succulents around.

Most brides love their unique look as well as the fact that they are indigenous to the southern California Region. There are a tons of different varieties out there, but most of the ones you are seeing are in the echeveria family.

(photo credit to http://www.sargeantphotography.com/ for the great purple flower images.)

Up next... timeless all white bridal bouquets

Welcome to Flowers by Erin

So here we go... Flowers by Erin "The Blog"


I thought I'd start out with some of my friend's weddings. Doing a friend's wedding is a great honor, and a bit nerve racking because it has to be beyond perfect! You love these friends and want them to still love you after their big day! :)

On July 3, 2004 Julie and Rob were married at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe-- one of my favorite San Diego locations!


Julie choose to go with a beautiful, soft color palate of ivory, white, and blush pink. There was over 90 dozen roses used in this wedding from the bouquets to the kissing balls that hung from the huge Pepper Tree, to the 20 dozen rose petal runner. Also incorporated was eucalyptus in the arrangements with sprigs of eucalyptus tucked into a ribbon wrapped napkin












Nicole and Ken were married in Santa Barbara, CA at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum in the heart of Downtown SB on September 10, 2005.





Nicole LOVED the look of the all dark Burgundy mini calla lilies which we combined with Black Bacarra Burgundy roses and light pink roses for her bridesmaid's bouquets and boutonnieres.

Kacey and Travis were married on July 14, 2007 also in Santa Barbara at Fess Parkers Resort right on the water off East Beach.

Kacey loved the bright green blooms of cymbidium orchids and the fun, brown monkey tails which we used throughout her wedding.

Becca and her husband, Jason, were married in Leucadia in a private ceremony in front of my Grandma's house on March 22, 2008.Their reception was in Torrey Pines at the Martin Johnson house at the Scripps Institute for Oceanography. Becca went for all white flowers: roses, gardenias, lisianthus, rannuculas, and dendrobium orchids.

Emily and Derek Fox were married at the San Diego Catholic Diocese's Chapel on April 5, 2008 and their reception was at Derek's parent's home in Alpine.

Em loves tulips and so we did all red tulips for the reception, but for her Bridal Bouquet it was all elegance with two dozen long stem white French Tulips.

On April 10, 2010 Becca and Rob were married at the Andaz Hotel in Downtown San Diego (formerly The Ivy).

Becca spent a great deal of time making sure her dream wedding was perfect. For her flowers she wanted mostly white and ivory with a touch of light pink and lots of bling! She also wanted lots of candle light to set a romantic atmosphere. The result was elegant and picture perfect.

My brother, Ryan, and his wife Ali were married on August 28, 2010 at a private residence in Rancho Santa Fe called the "Emma House."

It was a beautiful day and Ali had a clear vision for the flowers and decor... "dusted off from Grandma's attic" organic feel with dahlias, poppies, succulents, billy balls, dusty miller, etc... The personals and reception flowers were arranged by Honey and Poppies, but I was able to arrange the ceremony "focal point," a beautiful sofa table that they purchased to have in their home as a reminder of such a lovely day.

Next up, some of my other favorite weddings and flowers...