hello friends! i’m excited to announce i’m partnering with verily bride, a blog just for all the gorgeous weddings in oregon, to bring readers a new series. it’s called “in season,” and each month i’ll be giving verily bride’s readers step-by-step instructions on how to create beautiful arrangements for their homes and events using flowers that are currently blooming in out great state…at least west of the cascades. sorry, bend!

for the first installment, i’m showing you how to arrange with blooming branches and ranunculus. some of these flowers are almost done for the season, but there are lots of good tips on how to use whatever you have on hand. go check it out, and while you’re there spend some time browsing the rest of verily bride. i’m really excited that we have such a great local resource!

read how to re-create this arrangement on verily bride.

sometimes, the best way to communicate is visually. i don’t sketch particularly often for folks, but in this case, the alternative was, “no, really! oranges and leaves in a box!” which just doesn’t cut it. i’m still bummed that i couldn’t get my hands on some kumquats, but such is life.

this was from serena and shaun’s wedding last august. everything to this whole celebration had layers upon layers of meaning and so much was lovingly constructed by the couple. there were two of these arrangements, mirrored, set up on the stage for the ceremony and repurposed for the reception too.

salal, stock, curly willow, and (of course) oranges. photo by cassy berry.

nicole and justin were married last year at ata vista farm in brownsville, oregon. erika johnson snapped her pics, and frankly, she positively knocked them out of the park. check out her work at www.erika-nicole.com, but only if you like fun. she’s really fun.

nicole’s bouquet featured millet, garden roses, succulents, veronica, crocosmia, with local dahlias, zinnias, ornamental grass and herbs.

the maids carried millet, succulents, veronica, snapdragons, and more of those spectacular local dahlias.

tables had a couple of different styles, either a grouping of vintage bud vases collected by the bride or one low arrangement.

cheers!

brianna and doug’s gorgeous wedding is up on 100 layer cake today! this was a pleasure to work on, and i’ve shared some behind-the-scenes photos from it before. here’s a few from today’s feature. head over to the beautiful blog to view some more.

photos by anne nunn photographers, cake baked and styled by carla reich of honey crumb, paper goods by mrs. brianna herself.

the zinnias are still blooming at lone pine’s u-pick, but they won’t be for much longer. how can you pass on something that so easily coaxes a big toothy grin?

the best time to pick is early in the morning or late evening, after it cools off a bit. take a clean bucket filled with warm water with you, sharp clippers, and a bunch of rubber bands if you want armfuls of blooms. once you get them home, let them drink overnight (or at least a few hours) before you start fussing over them too much.

p.s. i’ve missed you! i promise to do better and bring updates soon!

Doug and Brianna’ s Wedding Day from Aaron Wirth on Vimeo.

aaron, a pal o’ mine with a fancy shmancy camera-on-a-stick posted this video from brianna and doug’s ombre wedding in july. i still can’t believe what a beautiful setting that was–right there on the bank of the mckenzie river on the most perfect summer day. aaron’s video is the best view i’ve seen yet of the ombre effect down the length of the table since he was able to stroll along it with his camera. thanks a bundle for sharing it with me, dude!

p.s. if you’re the outdoorsy sort, you should definitely take a peek at aaron’s blog, kayak camper adventures. the rest of his videos are rather intrepidly shot from a kayak. awesome!

i can’t decide if it’s really awesome or really frustrating that i just found these on the data card this morning. i’d totally forgotten about them, and could have blogged them before. oh well. i bet this won’t be the last time you get pics from this wedding~

all of this ado with pictures, and still i have no great shot of the way the color of the table arrangements faded down the length of it. the bride brought over boxes full of all this lovely milk glass for her one long table. once i figured out which vessels would get used there, it was time to number everything. the center arrangement was the deepest coral shade, numbered 0. everything else was labeled from the origin, 1 and -1 had the same ingredients, 2 and -2, and so on. flower friends, if a couple ever wants ombre flowers…do this. so helpful. i stuck the number tags in the arrangements on cardettes when everything was done and it made set up a snap too.

these guys are actually not part of the great table fade, used as accents around the amazing reception site. the top piece was placed right at the entrance, a little introduction to what was to come. i love those tulips winging out the side.

if you’re like me and you can’t get enough of this wedding, anne’s posted some pretty spectacular pictures on her facebook page, which you should of course like while you’re there.

over the weekend, i had the pleasure of designing flowers for the most stylish wedding i’ve ever worked or been to. seriously, every detail was thoughtfully and beautifully planned out. perfect example: the napkins were custom screen printed by the bride’s sister, who just happens to be one of the creative forces behind poppy & moe. brianna came to me with a love of the most fluffy flowers and a palette that faded from one color to the next, so the rest was easy: ombre flowers in a gradient of coral, peach, and ivory.

as usual, there was no time for snapping photos during set up, but this time i was lucky enough to be able to come back and enjoy brianna and doug’s celebration as a guest.

the cake was created by carla of honey crumb cake studio, and it was every bit as delicious as it was gorgeous. washington couples, you lucky lovers, she’s taking her business your direction at the end of the summer. we tag-teamed this glorious cascade of flowers; i snipped, she stuck. *high-five*

we just passed the winter solstice, a day which rivals christmas here at my house. today, instead of getting dark at 4:15pm, the universe graciously extends our daylight all the way until 4:16 or so. and it only gets better from there.

if i can’t have much sunshine outside, i’ll try to bring a little inside. i have no lack of christmas cheer, mind you, but i’m tired of being inundated with red and white and silver and glitter absolutely everywhere. so when i make something for myself, i invariably end up with something entirely non-seasonal, with unfussy flowers in rainbow sherbet colors.

miniature carnations, snapdragons, and leucadendron with dried scabiosa pods. on top of my trusty field guide for irony. just try finding any of these growing as wildflowers around here.