More talent at College of San Mateo

Last night was the final for the more advanced class.  Our task was to find some sort of inspirational piece like a poem, a piece of art, a song or an object and translate that into a floral design.

My piece was inspired by this design by Paula Pryke:

The container that I had wasn't tall enough when I tried it out the night before, so I did something a little different.  I also used glass balls instead of the glass test tubes in the design, and instead of lisianthus, I used mini cymbidium orchids.   I also used white anthuriums as a focal point.  I call it "Winter Wonderland"

There are tiny floral lights inside each of the balls covered in a fake snow that I got at a local florist shop.  To add a bit of sparkle, I put beaded oasis wire, and set the entire design on a mirrored container and then set that on a round mirror (the mirror broke in transit which is why it doesn't look round).

Here are the rest of the designs from the night.  I will try to remember what the inspiration was, but there were a lot.

The song Merry Christmas, Darling was the inspiration for the design below.  

The next few pieces were holiday inspired pieces

The design below was based on the branch that the designer found at a farmers market.  The branch cost her $3!!

This pave design was based on the techniques of Gregor Lersch

The designer of this piece was inspired by a poem about music

The story behind this one is the loss of the designers brother-in-law.  A very beautiful waterfall with tropical flowers since he loved Hawaii.

The design below was created by my friend Brenda.  She loves working with thick sticks and she wanted a centerpiece for her table.  She is a fantastic designer and I've learned a lot from her.

This design was based on a designers piece at the 2011 Symposium.  

The designer of this is from Ireland and having a candle in the window is a Christmas tradition that dates back to Henry VIII.  

This fun design is inspired by the creators horse.  He loves apples so she incorporated apples into the design and that is one of his old shoes.

This designers friend asked her to create a holiday piece for her cabin in Tahoe.  

This design is called "Over the Water and Through the Woods"  from the top view, you can tell, but there is red dogwood that is in an arch shape and it had clear stones under it for the river.  Very cute.

Another design that was inspired by 2011 Symposium.  The frame is made out of corner bead which is used by construction companies when they are doing stucco work.  This is another friend of mine who has helped me multiple times on events.  She is awesome!

The advanced class has some amazing talent as well as amazing teachers.  Its a shame that the College decided to cancel this amazing program so they could build a parking lot.  

Hope you enjoyed these designs! 

Edita and Reyes

In August, I got to be apart of Edita and Reyes' special day.  The ceremony was at St. John Vianney church in San Jose and the reception was at Flames Restaurant in down town San Jose.  The color palette was shades of purple.

The ceremony site was very simple, just a few simple aisle markers on the pews.  She also had her father bring in beautiful flowering trees, inspired by the Royal Wedding.

At the reception we went with two different designs for the 18 tables.  The ceiling of the banquet hall was low, so we wanted to keep the arrangements somewhat low as well.  The first was a single medium sized cylinder with orchids inside and a overflowing arrangement of roses, hydrangeas, freesias and amaranthus.  This was placed on a mirror with small votives surrounding it.

The other centerpiece was three different sized cylinders with orchids inside and a floating candle on top.  We used Oasis wire to add some extra flair to the piece and these were also set on top of a mirror with votives.

For the Sweet Heart table, I took a low oval shaped vase and put purple tea leaves inside and used orchids, hydrangea, roses, amaranthus, freesia, stock and alstromeria to create an overflowing design.  I set votives on the table and used candles and flowers as an accent.

For the flower girl, she had a mini bouquet similar to the bridesmaids and also a clip in her hair which included three spray roses and purple statice.

The bridesmaids bouquets included hydrangea, roses, freesias and lisianthus.

The groomsmen's boutonnieres were purple vanda orchids with bear grass accents and a purple ribbon.

The grooms boutonniere was two mini-cymbidiums with a feather accent and purple ribbon.

The bridal bouquet included roses, lisianthus, hydrangea and freesia with white feather accents.  The purple hydrangea was a Dutch import, but totally worth the price!

The bride requested a hair piece.  We tried gardenias, but they were browning too quickly in the heat so I used the mini-cymbidiums and feathers to match the groom's boutonniere.  I also used Swarovski crystal pearls to add a little bling to the hair piece.  

It was a very beautiful wedding, and the happy couple was very pleased with how it all turned out!