Harvest Moon

Persian parties are all about food! How much to make, how many people to invite, and how much to eat are down to a science!!!

I have vivid memories as a child of the smell of saffron, rice, butter, and all other things yummy wafting through the air whenever my mom would throw a dinner party. And this past Friday was no different. Khoresht Beh (Quince Stew), Tarragon Chicken, Ghorme Sabzi (Lamb Stew with aromatic herbs), Saffron Rice, and to-die-for Koofteh Tabrizi (Stuffed Meatballs) were on the menu. All the fall flavors and the gorgeous Harvest Moon in the sky inspired me to go a little autumnal on this week’s arrangement.

I headed down to my local Trader Joe’s where they sell organic/ locally grown flowers, and for a total of $21.50 I was able to purchase some decorative Gourds and Squash and three pots of “Pin Cushions”. (The cutest ground cover I have ever seen)

I had some of left over flowers from last week’s arrangement that I decided to take apart, cut up, and re-use, along with some lentils from my cupboard, and some mini apples I had purchased from the farmers' market last week.

It was time to hit the storage cabinet, to see what I could find to place all these pretty fall colored items in. Out came great grandma’s old tea cups (used as mini candle holders), a few vases I had from a wedding last summer, and one of my Ikea canisters from the kitchen counter top. Mission Harvest Moon was in full swing; 

 Remember, centerpieces don’t always have to be done with flowers; you can get creative with fruits, veggies, and yes, even legumes! Happy Fall & Buon Appetito!!!  

Baby Bloomers & Bloggers!

I have no idea where to start…. There is news; A lot of it; And it’s all good!; And then of course we have flowers to talk about too…. Hmmmm…. Ok. Let’s start with the flowers and keep with the tradition.

I was contacted by a fellow blogger Nimisha Ghandi, creator of Club Dine In! to help her put together some flowers for a baby shower that she was attending. She had a $30.00 budget, and the color palette was Green and Purple.

The shopping list: Green Spider Mums, Purple-ish/Pink Spider Mums, Green & Purple Hydrangeas, and some cool looking purple branches as an accent. 

Nimisha was really into using the trademark Recycled Nafis Designs yogurt tubs as her vases. So, after some great conversation, securing wax paper and white mesh with recycled rubber bands, cutting stems, removing leaves, placing flowers, and tying ribbons, the arrangements were ready to go.

Ok. DRUM ROLL PLEASE..............

Phantom Floranista will now be blogging for….. wait.for. it…… YAHOO! & BAY AREA BRIDE GUIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!! SOOOOO EXCITED!

As of this Wednesday, I’ll be posting floral wedding tips on Bay Area Bride Guide every Wednesday, and will also have a piece on Yahoo! Local starting the end of October!!!

I want to take a moment to thank all of you lovely people for reading this blog (which will continue to grow), and following my weekly notes about yogurt tubs, wax paper and latin flower names! I seriously couldn’t have done this all without you guys! YOU ROCK! Ok. Enough mooshy gooshy talk… get back to recycling those yogurt tubs, PRONTO! 

Architect + Landscape Architect = Love!

Oh, it also probably means that they’ll have a killer house and gorgeous back yard, of course!

This wedding was a true pleasure to work on. The bride, an Architect by training, and the groom, a Landscape Architect, had a great eye for design and knew exactly what they were looking for, but were totally open to suggestions and changes to help their dream wedding come to fruition. 

At our first consultation meeting, the bride said to me: “I’m so torn, because I want a really streamlined, modern, and architectural wedding, but then again, I’ve been dreaming about the big white poofy wedding since I was a little girl!”  I assured her that there were plenty of ways to bridge the gap and make it look absolutely stunning.

The colors were Yellow and Grey; a fantastic combination for this young couple’s modern wedding at the San Francisco Art Institute. The greys worked in concert the modern concrete architecture of the building, while the yellows added the right touch of color to help soften everything while being super cheerful and pretty.

Every bride has a favorite flower, or at least a flower that really speaks to her personality. This bride’s was “Billy Balls”, otherwise known as Crespedia. It has a Canary yellow color, spherical head, and tall slender stem that gives it a lot of character.  

With the main flower in mind, we started to chat about all the other flowers that would complement the Billy Balls while keeping everything modern, fresh, yet classic. Our list quickly became: Billy Balls, Brunia, White Freesia, White Star of Jerusalem, Fiddle Sticks, yellow Mini Calla Lilies, and Curly Willow. 

The Bouquet: Modern, streamlined, yet full of texture and spunk. 

The Boutonnières: A couple of Billy Balls, a sprig of Brunia, and a Fiddle Stick made the boutonnières fun and also made them pop for all the men in the bridal party. 

The Corsages: Classic 

The Bridesmaids Bouquets: Calla Lilies, and Billy Balls completed the bridesmaid look. Simple and sophisticated.

The Altar Piece: At our first consultation, the bride mentioned that she wanted tall branches with Billy Balls attached to them for her altar piece. Two large vases, 100 lbs of tumbled mirror from Builders Resources, a bundle of Curly Willow and a couple bunches of Crespedia later, we placed the altar pieces on two stressed wood pillars that the groom had hand made himself and it was ready to receive the lovely couple and their entourage! 

 

After the ceremony, the altar arrangements were moved downstairs and flanked either side of the wedding party's table.

Another wedding, one happy Architect and Landscape Architect later, and I am even more energized and dedicated to making more brides' and grooms' floranista visions come true! Congratulations TuAnh and Dave!!! (oh, I may have to hire you both in the future to help me build my dream home! ;) )