Women's Quarterly

A dear friend of mine asked me a very important question this weekend: “What gives you inspiration for your designs?” It took me a few seconds to really think of the answer, and I realized that I have a tendency to find a primary flower then find other flowers that would look good in concert with it. This is exactly what happened at the flower market on Saturday morning.

I recently joined a group named Women’s Quarterly; A fantastic group of smart and professional young women that gather once every 4 months to discuss a topic that is pertinent to our society and gender. Every time they pick a cause and through a prize drawing raise money and awareness for their non-profit of choice. This week I was asked to donate a couple of floral centerpieces to Women’s Quarterly as a prize to help raise money for GoInspireGo.

So, back to the inspiration for this weeks’ design; I found a really neat looking succulent that had deep purple and green leaves, and without any hesitation I decided it was going to be the centerpiece for this week’s centerpiece… (is that grammatically correct?)

Shopping list: Succulent, Peruvian Apple, Bells of Ireland, flowering pink Sedum, pink Amaryllis Belladonna

Price: $27.00 (I know, I know, I splurged. But it was worth it… I promise!)

This week’s vases consisted of two left over florist vases from a wedding I had done earlier this summer. With my vase and rocks ready to go, and the gorgeous succulent as my muse, I started to put the flowers together.

To help cover up some of the unsightliness of the flower stems I attached a piece of white ribbon to the mid section of the vase to help it look nicer.

Now, for some really cool news! I made a great connection today with the manager of Bay Area Bride Guide, and have agreed to blog for them! SUPER EXCITED! Stay tuned for the developments!

Vase Couture

It had been a long time since I had pulled out all the odds and ends in my kitchen to dress up some Yogurt tubs, and pickle jars. So, this week, I decided to create a Haute Couture line of vases with whatever leftover wax paper, wrapping paper, ribbons, plastic mesh, and twine I could find.

My sweet sister came to me last week and said she’d like to add to the $20.00 budget so that I could have double the buying power in order to create more floral centerpieces to leave at doorsteps in the neighborhood this weekend. So, with my $40.00 in hand, I headed to the SF flower mart and came back with some gorgeous green and pink Hydrangeas, pink Amaryllis Belladonna, and bunch of gorgeous silvery green Lambs Ear.

I took about an hour to “dress” my vases, in their couture gowns:

Once the vases were ready, they needed a little “hair and make-up”, so the flowers came in handy. These flowers were practically ready for Ascot!!!

Right as the fog lifted in our neighborhood, my mom, sis and I set out to leave flowers at our neighbor’s doorsteps in hopes that they would put a smile on their faces.

One of the best things about dropping off flowers in the neighborhood is the chance to meet wonderful new people, like the couple I met today that were gracious enough to thank me for “making the neighborhood pretty.” Great to meet you Libby and Ed!

$80 Wedding

I was introduced to a bride that was looking for a bouquet and a few other arrangements by a great San Francisco artist whose mother owns a flower distribution shop at the SF Flower Mart. (If you ever need fantastic roses, you MUST check out “Sunshine International” )

The bride and I spoke over the phone a couple of times, and we went through her special day. The wedding was going to be intimate, with a total of 6 people attending (including the bride and groom) in the foothills of Mount Tamalpais. The bride had antique blue Hydrangeas in mind as her dress had silver accents on it and she felt that the blue hue would look nice against her dress. She also mentioned that she likes non-traditional flowers, as she’s not a very traditional person, and was adamant that we use the signature Nafis Designs yogurt tubs wrapped in wax paper as her vases! A truly low cost, environmentally friendly wedding!

Total material cost: $80.00

Shopping list: Antique Blue Hydrangeas, Green Hydrangeas, Fig Branches, Sedum, Bells of Ireland, Star of Jerusalem, White Roses, Scabiosa Seed Pod.

The bride’s bouquet was made up of Star of Jerusalem flower, Sedum, Green Hydrangea, Blue Hydrangea, and Scabiosa Seed Pods, and was wrapped with light silver satin ribbon at its base.

The Groom’s boutonniere was crafted with three Scabiosa Seed Pods and some interwoven silver wire.

There were enough flowers left over for three really full arrangements that could be used as alter pieces, and or table arrangements.

Once again, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get some great looking flowers that will leave a lasting impact in your wedding photo album!

Tip of the Day: If you want Hydrangeas to be in full bloom for your event, place the flower head in cold water and watch the blossoms burst open!

Short and Sweet

This past week was “capital C” CRAZY! Consultations, meetings, contracts, design sketches, you get the picture… So as a result, this week’s blog will be short and sweet…..

Shopping List: King Protea, Sedum, and a green fuzzy cool looking flower I don’t know the name of (if anyone knows it, holler at me!)

Cost: $19.50

Purpose: Accent piece for the living room console as we have guests coming to town this week and wanted to have a little something extra in the house to make it look pretty.

Vase: Black florist vase that I had kept from last year

Ok. Time to get some Zzzz’s… over and out.

Aloha!

I take a fantastic Pilates class in Russian Hill with a one of a kind instructor, Lisa Chow. Last year Lisa had an open house for which I designed a couple of debut centerpieces. One of my fellow classmates, “M”, had seen these arrangements and had kept Nafis Designs in mind for her California backyard wedding reception.

“M” and her man got married on the Garden Island of Kauai, Hawaii and were looking to keep the same vibrant floral vibe going for their reception in California.

The flowers: Bright Orange Roses, Orange Asiatic Lilies, Orange Dahlias, White and Pink Calla Lilies, Heleconia, Ginger, New Zealand Flax, Curly Willow, and Ti Leaves.

The Setting: A lovely home in San Anselmo,CA; four dining tables on the front lawn with turquoise and deep eggplant colored linens, a few cocktail tables by the swimming pool in the back, a bar table, and a buffet for the yummy food.

Since the reception was outdoors, and there was high possibility for wind in the evening, the Bride wanted to make sure that the arrangements were relatively low in height or that they were heavily weighted at their base to ensure that the vases wouldn’t tip over. We filled the base of the taller vases with black river rock, while the shorter vases were wrapped in Ti leaves and filled with floral oasis.

With the variety of flowers, the garden setting, and the smell of delicious food wafting through the air, M’s poolside reception was like a little piece of paradise! Aloha!