A Vision

I absolutely love what I do. I love getting to meet with brides-to-be and, lots of times, the mother of the bride and/or the mother of the groom. It's so much fun to discover the vision for a wedding, and then execute that vision.

No matter what the vision, my goal is to achieve it in an interesting and elegant fashion - underscore interesting - underscore elegant! I like to include texture, and I love to combine interesting color combinations....even my all white bouquets are not all one white!

A wedding this weekend was inspired by nature. The bride lives in San Francisco, so no wonder. (I've never seen such gorgeous and bountiful flowers as those in the San Francisco Brannon Street Flower Market....yes I visited it at 5 am while on vacation!!!) Oh, I purchased the peach colored silk ribbon on the bouquet from France! Move over Midori!!!! Not really - I still adore Midori!

Here is her centerpiece!

This bride had me when she told me her dress was peach! She and I had fun!!!!! Oh, it was an outdoor wedding (wildflowers laid end to end on each side of the isle) and the rain absolutely stopped in time for the ceremony and began again when the ceremony was over and all were safe inside at the reception! FABULOUS wedding! Let's do it again, Katie!

August Sunflowers

I just cannot believe it's September already! School's back in session, Labor Day is over,  I just celebrated my September 8th, wedding anniversary, and it is time for those fall weddings that seemed so far away when we were designing the proposals. I am so ready for the fall crush!!!!(Starfish for a beach themed reception are in, birch logs are in.....I'm ready!) I cannot wait to get my hands on a "boatload" of flowers this Wednesday and Thursday!!!!! I'll try to be better about posting pictures. 

In the meantime, enjoy these late summer sunflowers!

Christian Tortu at FlowerSchool New York

Wow! What a genius!!!!!! I was totally inspired by Christian Tortu who taught a class at FlowerSchool New York. The class was titled "Impressionist Flowers from Giverney" and we created a bouquet that truly looked like an impressionist painting! Oh how I loved the soft palate!

Christian Tortu was born in France's Anjou regions to parents who were truck farmers. In fact, his family has been producing crops for market for generations. He credits his native countryside for his inspiration. He has designed flowers for the great fashion houses of Dior and Chanel as well as for the Cannes Film Festival. His latest book, Sensational Bouquets, is so gorgeous...his arrangements are examples of how he bends the rules of traditional flower arranging to design fabulous and thoroughly contemporary bouquets. He has shops in Paris and Tokyo, and I mean gorgeous shops!!!

I continue to be inspired by so many Master Floral Designers at FlowerSchool New York! As one of my fellow classmates and floral designer from Philadelphia and I discussed, studying with these different designers helps us grow by challenging us to stretch beyond what is just comfortable, increases our design sensibilities, and keeps us relelvant in this world of many styles of floral design!!!

Christian Tortu and Eileen Johnson of FlowerSchool New York

My Bouquet.

Here we are!!!! What a talented man...just genius!!!! Loved the class!

Happy 4th of July

Wow! Aren't we lucky to live in this country?!? I just wanted to take this moment to wish everyone a very Happy 4th of July!!!

Celebrate and be safe!!!!

The Guerin Family

I'm just so excited! My oldest son, Hammond and his wife, Robyn are expecting their first baby in December. I am just counting the days! I cannot wait to start shopping for Baby Guerin. I told my husband that I will not be cooking this Christmas. I'll be holding that precious baby.

I'm also so excited because my youngest son, Hunter just proposed to Katie, his girlfriend of 4 years. Hunter planned a whirlwind weekend, after planning a fabulous proposal at the National Arboretum in DC. He designed the most gorgeous ring that is so Katie. He knew several features that Katie wanted, but put his on twist on it as well. Hunter is a mechanical engineer so he was definitely involved in the design! It was so sweet, I just can't tell you.

Here we are celebrating at Palladio Restaurant at Barboursville Vineyard. This is a great, great time for the Guerins!