The garden, bursting with color

 

 

Just like the sky tomorrow evening, our gardens are full of color bursts that certainly bring us joy and wonder.  I had a few extra minutes yesterday and took a quick tour through with my phone, snapping inspiration along the way.  One of my favorite parts?  This little guy peeking from behind clover.  Looks like he’s up to something, doesn’t it?

Won’t you join me for a stroll?

 

 

 

 

We are often asked if we grow our own flowers.  Yes and no.  Cultivating AND designing is more than we can accommodate at the moment.  Our focus remains designing incredible events and weddings with the best product available.  When the opportunity arises for us to pull elements from the garden to incorporate into those designs, of course we take it.  Our poor Hostas always look a little sorrier for it!  We would love to have a larger cutting garden and it’s always on our wish list as we continue to grow and expand.  For now we enjoy the gardens for their continuous beauty and raid them on occasion.

Speaking of enjoyment, I hope you all enjoy the holiday and long weekend to follow.  I know we will!

Happy Summer!

Well hello there!  It’s been a while, hasn’t?  June has been jam-packed with some great events and we can’t wait to catch our breath and share some of them with you.  For now, please enjoy these “pops” of summer color to celebrate the first day of this long-awaited season…close-ups of poppies taken by yours truly.  Enjoy!

 

Earth Day 2013 – “Green” Wedding Flowers

It’s Earth Day!  Here at Ideas in Bloom, we strive to do our part for the environment and remain as green as possible while still providing our clients with the widest variety of cut flowers and designs available.  The cut flower industry isn’t the most environmentally friendly (flowers are shipped from all corners of the world year round) and we strive to make choices every day that help lesson our carbon footprint.  Here are our top five…

Recycling.  This goes well beyond reusing the flower boxes large orders come in or recycling the floral paper used to wrap bouquets.  We carry a large selection of unique rental items that not only allow our couples to cut costs, but ensure the multiple use.  Additionally, we always encourage clients to bring in their own, reused, containers around the holidays and tend to see the same family heirlooms year after year.

Living Decor.  Given Pam’s background in horticulture, it’s no surprise that we routinely provide plant decor for weddings and all other events.  From centerpieces to large installations, we’ve done it all.  In partnership with one of our growers, we also offer rental of larger trees and shrubs. Talk about impact!  Click here to see one of our collaborations.

Composting.  Retail florists often don’t have this option based on their geography, but as a independent studio in a more rural area, we actively compost all of our discarded floral material.  Our compost has even built a burm on which Pam installed a landscape!

Energy Efficiency.  During the busy wedding season our cooler hums, keeping all the flowers destined for celebration as fresh as can be.  When we don’t have events, we turn it off to save the energy and fuel.

Cutting Garden.  This is still a work in progress for us.  Each spring we hope to till more land to expand our gardens to include a true cutting field.  Sadly, it hasn’t happened yet, so for now we supplement our wholesale supplied flowers with blooms cut from Pam’s amazing existing gardens.  My favorite harvest are the Hosta leaves.  Gorgeous!

Have an Earth Day “resolution” or an unique way you stay green?  Share it with us here!

 

learn more at http://www.earthday.org/

2013 Table Talk – NH Magazine Award Winners

It’s been pretty busy around here as we continue to meet with couples before the start of the wedding season.  I haven’t even had the chance to post about our table, a collaboration with My Fathered Nest, for the Palace Theater’s 2013 Table Talk Fundraiser.  We we lucky enough to win NH Magazine’s Award that evening and you can see our ode to Seussical The Musical in the May issue of the magazine!

Mb Lincoln of My Fathered Nest crafted a paper mache tree around one of our plant stands and we built around it with a grapevine nest and live plants and moss creating a jungle below.  We gave Mb all of our ribbon remnants from past events and she sewed this crazy tablecloth that made the perfect base for our yellow placemats and flower arrangements at each place setting.

The “Birdephant” peeked out of it’s bright red and white polka dotted egg.

Each setting had a votive which served as both place card and favor.  A “hearts rose” sat in a nest of bright green moss with a trio of craspedia shooting off to the side.  Pam created the place cards and anchored them on pipe cleaner springs that made them dance about.  Talk about whimsy!  Mb took our turquoise napkins and expertly folded them into lotus blossoms to add to the setting.

 

A great time was had by all!  Mb and Pam pictured here, sporting the custom feather fascinators I made.  Yes, we even decorated our guests!  Our server didn’t escape either.  She was a good sport and wore a hat just like that of the Cat in the Hat.

2013 Boston Flower & Garden Show

 

Today may have felt like the end of winter, but temperatures are forecasted to dip in the next few days.  Didn’t get your spring fix?  Not to worry, the Boston Flower & Garden Show is this weekend!  Starting tomorrow you can walk through the doors of the Seaport World Trade Center and be transported to a magical land of blooming blubs, babbling brooks, and flowers as far as the eye can see…sort of.  But hey, we’ll take it! 

We will be buzzing around the shop this weekend and won’t make it this year.  I remember our trip last year vividly though – almost 9 months pregnant and going stir crazy, it was a great diversion!  Here’s a recap of that Show to get you in the mood: http://ideas-in-bloom.blogspot.com/2012/03/2012-boston-flower-garden-show.html.

Planning to go?  Share the highlights with us here!

Think Spring – Flowers for the Winter-Weary Soul

  

It’s cold, snowy (depending on where you are), and rainy.  Again.  I love winter (yes, I can hear your “boos”), but when I’m cooped up in the house with a grumpy dog and active 11 month old, I can’t help but pine for the spring air and a snow bank free park they could both run around in. 

Instead of just imagining the delights those magically warm and sunny days, I thought I’d create a post of my favorite spring flowers.  The market is bursting with the early bird blooms these days and our trips there are good for the winter-weary soul.  Since not all are so lucky, here’s bit bit of distraction for you on this raw day.  Maybe if we all stare at them long enough and wish really, really hard, spring will get here faster?  Here’s hoping…

 

photos by yours truly | in order of appearance: daffodils, cherry blossom, lilac, peonies, lily of the valley, tulips, tulips & hyacinth, pussy willow branches

Did we miss a favorite of yours?  Tell us!

‘Tis the Season…to be busy!

 

Lots of great things are brewing in the studio these days.  Consultations for 2013 weddings, holiday home & business decor, DIY workshops, and more!

Here’s a brief list of the goings-on:

• On-going - Holiday Decor (wreaths, arrangements, custom home & business designs, etc)
• Nov 30th – Dec 1st - See our designs at My Feathered Nest’s ribbon cutting and open house
• Dec 8th – Join us for a Yuletide Topiary workshop

I promise, more pictures of beautiful weddings soon!!!  It will be worth the wait.

An Evening with the Merrimack Garden Club

 

Last month we had the pleasure of talking with the Merrimack Garden Club  about fall decor trends.  What a great group!  Here’s some photos from the night…

 

 

(thanks to Barbara Foristall for the photo of us)

Lisa & John – A Wedding at the Condon Homestead

AW Photography

Here we are, almost two months later, but the memories are still fresh.  A beautiful family celebration for two of my favorite people.  There’s too much to capture in clever prose, so please enjoy these photos and short captions in its place…

(photos by yours truly)

 

The gardens were in top form.

With a dreary forecast, we brought the gardens into the tent as well.

Preparing for the big day.

Jo kept close watch on all activities.

The yard was ready for guests.

The flowers waiting patiently for placement.

The main event!

Poms of Baby’s Breath and yellow Mums hung with votives to frame the ceremony space.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous to present a bride with her bouquet…

Seemed fitting to photograph a craftsman’s bout on an antique handsaw.

 

Each table featured a unique vessel filled with white, yellow, and orange blooms.

 

Table numbers were stenciled onto aluminum buckets (for rib bones – mouth-watering photo to come).

The tent was strung with lights and each table glowed with votives once darkness fell.

Tom’s famous ribs were a hit, as always!  The Father of the Groom took his grilling duty very seriously, building a custom grill pit we’ve since named “Grillzilla” (it’s a beast), and holding test run tastings leading up to the wedding.  We’ve never eaten so well!  A big thank you to to “pit crew” for their service under very wet skies.

Speaking of delicious treats, the gorgeous cake by Tastefully Wright.  We are spoiled with family talent. 

No detail too small.  A welcome sign for the rehearsal dinner, our signature chandelier, and custom made sap bucket wall sconces.

The army of umbrellas for all the good luck the sky dumped on the couple.  It wouldn’t be a family wedding without it!

         More details…

The happy couple sawing into their cake and dancing to the local Blue Grass band who rocked the barn that night.

So much love for two wonderful people.  The amount of family involvement from both sides of the wedding aisle warms the heart.

And they lived happily ever after…

 

 

Venue: The Condon Homestead

Flowers & Decor: Ideas in Bloom

Cake: Tastefully Wright

Entertainment: TMud and the Spuds