WOW! What a fantastic—and exhausting— weekend! We had 600+ brides attend the Oregon Wedding Showcase in Salem, at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. And boy do I feel like I talked to all of them. :)
I posted some photos of the different varieties we had in the shop to "play with" for the show, and here's a peek at some of the finished products:
I'll have nice, professional shots up on the website in a couple days—look under the "recent Events" tab.
This weekend is the Oregon Wedding Showcase at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem, and the studio is a kaleidoscope of color right now! Pink, coral & red! Purple, green & orange! Ivory! Blue! Yellow!
Bridal shows (though they make for a verrrry long weekend, in most cases) really are great fun, because I get to design what I want, with the flowers I select. I really have no one to please but me (and let me tell you, that's tough!). I like to think of it as my floral fashion show: clothing designers show their over-the-top designs, then pare down that look for the buying public. I try to do the same, showing the latest floral trends & pushing the envelope with color and design.
Usually I have ideas in mind several weeks before a show, then sketch out the designs I see in my head, ordering flowers based on those. But, every few years I get a 'wild hair' and decide to wing it by just going to to the flower market and seeing what's there, designing & sketching as I shop. It definitely takes longer that way, but it's more exciting to see what's there and let your creativity run wild (Ooohhhh -- black mini callas! PEONIES? Yippeee!)
This was one of those years. :) So, here are some snapshots of the flowers & colors... guess we'll find out together what I do with them for the weekend!
And speaking of, if you're planning a wedding—or know someone who is—the Oregon Wedding Showcase really is a great one. If you come, be sure to stop and say HI!
Gerbera daisies continue to hold their popularity—I've had two weddings back-to-back with them, in fact. Here are some snapshots of the wedding this past Saturday, with a red/white/blue theme, as well as some from the week before where orange and wine (sangria) were the featured colors...
About 80 people +/- attended the tasting put on by the The Oregon Garden Resort on Sunday, Feb. 28. The event let current & prospective brides sample some of the menu offerings for weddings. It was a lovely event, with over 80 people in attendance.
Sue Hamilton of SHE Designs and I worked out the 'tablescapes," choosing to highlight the colors of the room with our linen & flower choices. We even created a "chapel" area in the room, with the 2 chair offerings the Resort has, so brides could get a feel for what's possible in the room.
In addition to the event florals, we set up a small display and ran a video slideshow of some of our work, which seemed to be very popular... I may have to do that at all the shows!
I'm a little slow getting these up — the 2010 Oregon Wedding Showcase was January 23-34 at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. But better late than never, right?
Anyhow, here are a few shots from the recent bridal show at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. The show ran two days, with two fashion shows per day, and over 400 brides in attendance—WOW! I didn't have much of a voice left on Sunday.
We showed 10 different bouquets this year, and featured five of them in the daily fashion shows. The bouquets get a little beat up being in the shows, but I think it's important. The dresses show better with a bouquet and it also gives brides an accurate look at what their bouquet will look like at the end of the wedding day!
Below is a shot of one of the favorite bouquets from the show: a short cascade of purple, lavender & white flowers (bride on left).
Here's a better shot of it on the workbench in the studio—you can actually see the little crystal dragonfly in this shot!
(FYI—I've had a couple emails on this: the gowns in the photos are from Bridal Exclusives in Salem, www.bridalexclusives.com)
Do you love those reveals on makeover shows, where they show you the "before" and "after" on a person/house/car? I do, so I'll try and do that a bit of that here. For me, it's one of the most satisfying parts of floral design: starting with buckets of flowers & ending with a beautiful bouquet!
For starters, here's an easy one as an example:
a clutch of orange spray roses and bicolor tulips, before... and after!
We'll have shots of all the wedding show bouquets on our website (www.ImageFloral.com) in a featured gallery (Jan 2010 Salem Bridal Show) in a day or so. Be sure to check it all out!
~ Michelle
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