Chris and MaryAnn Bjorkman ~ May 22, 2011

On May 22 of this year, I had the privilege to do the wedding flowers for my beautiful cousin MaryAnn and her new husband Chris. In MaryAnn I was fortunate enough to have a bride with a clear concept of what she wanted for her wedding, planning the day to perfection. She made everything quite easy for me :) 

In addition to being organized, MaryAnn had an amazing vision...she wanted her flowers to be predominately white, and to look like they were just plucked from an English country garden. Needless to say I was crazy about her ideas! We decided to use white peonies,  hydrangeas,  tulips, roses, stock, dusty miller, and a few gardenias scattered in for fragrance! I LOVED working with these flowers, and it was a pleasure to help make her ideas a reality. Their ceremony was very special and intimate with only immediate family, and then they joined friends and extended family at the Signature at West Neck Country Club for a fabulous reception. Enjoy the pictures below!

The groom with his parents

Mr. and Mrs. Bjorkman

In addition to offering their guests a delicious cake, Chris and MaryAnn provided a candy bar that was a feast for the eyes as well as the palate! MaryAnn creatively coordinated the candy with the predominate color used in her wedding, which was blue. What a fabulous idea!!

Chris and MaryAnn with her parents

MaryAnn with her mom and sister

Chris' dad married them...what a wonderful memory!

Congratulations Chris and MaryAnn! Thank you again for allowing me to be a small part of your wedding day...it was truly an honor. Love you both!

Sam and Kathryn get married!!

Its been a while since I posted here, but I trust the pictures from this fabulous wedding in May will more than make up for the time lost! I had the honor to do flowers for Sam and Kathryn Crain, who got married on May 22, 2011. Kathryn's style was sophisticated with whites and creams, yet playful with punches of orange. It was a pleasure to bring her floral visions to life! 

The happy couple...I'm crazy about her headpiece!

did I add that I'm crazy about her shoes as well?!

Roses and alstromeria...simple and stylish.

I love how Kathryn gave her bridesmaids alternating bouquets of orange  roses with white alstromeria, and white roses with orange alstromeria...a fun idea for any brides out there looking for inspiration!

Congratulations Sam and Kathryn...thanks for including me in your special day!


**all photos courtesy of Mason Photography. 

Happy New Year from
Bella Botanicals!!

'Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.' 
Mark Twain

the gapstow bridge on its first day of winter-courtesy google images

A little over a year ago, in September of 2009, I had the honor to design the flowers for the wedding of Marty Miller and Jessica Park. Jessica and I knew each other while growing up, and reconnected at my cousin's bridal shower. She told me their wedding was going to be outdoors, on a little peninsula where she and Marty had gone for many dates, and the colors she was envisioning were coral and bright green. It was decided upon to use green spider mums, coral roses, green hypernicum berries, green button mums, and Queen Anne's lace.

The photography was done by the very talented Christine Sweet, who was so kind as to share some photos with me for my website. Enjoy!

Photography: Christine Sweet

Flowers: Bella Botanicals

Succulent Designs

One of the things I like to do in my free time is browse through websites and blogs that have beautiful and creative ideas that inspire me as I seek to grow Bella Botanicals. One such blog is Kinser Event Company (http://kinsereventcompany.blogspot.com)/. A friend sent me the link and I was immediately enchanted! After looking through pictures from a featured photo shoot, I was excited to experiment with incorporating succulents into bouquets. They add such an interesting and unique twist, and make an arrangement stand out immediately. When I return from New Jersey, my next mission is to try my hand at succulents...we'll see how it turns out! Until I have my own to showcase, enjoy these lovely pictures!

Original source: Green Wedding Shoes (http://greenweddingshoes.com)

Concept and Design: Green Wedding Shoes and JL Designs

Styling: Green Wedding Shoes

Photography: Stephanie Williams

Flowers: JL Designs

Makeup and Hair by Nyrie using Jouer Cosmetics and Unite

Prop Rentals: Found Vintage Rentals

Wedding Dresses: Temperley London

Paper Details: MaeMae Paperie

Hair Pieces: Lo Boheme

Linens: Wildflower Linens

Bride Shoes: Shoebuy.com

Groom Shoes: 6pm.com

Models: Chris Marino and Amanda Rau

Fall leaves, fall!

Autumn is my favorite time of year. There is nothing that quite compares to the first crisp feeling in the air that signals for one to begin unpacking winter clothes. My husband Mike and I, along with Edward, are traveling to New Jersey later this week to see the beautiful fall foliage, and visit with Mike's family as well. Virginia Beach, for the most part, pretty much skips the fall season; one day the leaves are green, and the next the branches are completely bare. Needless to say, I am looking forward to viewing REAL fall colors for the first time! A few of the reasons I love autumn are as follows:

*the aforementioned crispness in the air

*pumpkin patches

*the need to wear a sweater when going outdoors

*hot cocoa

*shorter days and longer nights

*waking up while its still dark

*mellow fall sunlight in my living room

*gathering huge bouquets of autumnal flowers

*the promise of what follows autumn...Christmastime!!

*the first eggnog being sold in stores

*and sharing my first cup of eggnog with my sister Madeleine...a fun little tradition!

In my opinion, blog posts with no pictures are a little boring, so I looked online and found some gorgeous photos. You must excuse the amount of pictures; each new one I saw was more beautiful than the last, and I couldn't decide between them all!

Hopefully after our trip I'll have some of my own pictures to post...

I also love the number of poems that describe the grandeur of autumn...this one by William Bliss Carman captured me, and I always get little thrills when I read it.

A Vagabond Song

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood-

Touch of manner, hint of mood;

And my heart is like a rhyme,

With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like the cry

Of bugles going by.

And my lonely spirit thrills

To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;

We must rise and follow her,

When from every hill of flame

She calls and calls each vagabond by name.

New Beginnings...

It has been much too long since I attended to my little blog, but a great deal has gone on this year, including the birth of a very precious baby boy in September! Our little Edward brings so much joy to Mike and me. In spite of the sad lack of blog updates, I have been busy over the past months with several events. Among these was the wedding of Frank and Kimberly Vincent in June. Frank and Kim's wedding was beautifully situated on their own property, which backed up to the James River. Kim loved the nautical look, and wanted to use striped ribbon on the bouquets and boutonnières....I looked everywhere and finally found the perfect nautical ribbon at Hancock Fabrics. After discussing several different ideas, we decided to use green and white flowers, specifically green hypernicum berries, green spider mums, white Queen Anne's lace, and white hydrangeas. Kim's bridesmaids were her two daughters, and we gave one of them a green bouquet, and the other a white bouquet. Kim herself had a combination of the two; together with the navy and white ribbon, the end result was quite striking! The wedding was at sunset, and could not have been more lovely. The reception was under the stars, and guests enjoyed dancing long into the night. I am in the process of contacting Frank and Kim's wedding photographer so I can show some of the actual wedding pictures; unfortunately the only ones I can share are those that I snapped of the flowers before taking them to the wedding site. You can tell that I'm still pregnant in the pics :) Enjoy!

The Bride's Bouquet, with hydrangea, Queen Anne's lace, green spider mums, and hypernicum berries.

The "White Bouquet"...white hydrangeas and white Queen Anne's lace.

The "Green Bouquet"...green spider mums and hypernicum berries.

Lastly, one of my favorite aspects of the wedding; the flower girl's "ball". Kim's 8 year old daughter, when given the option of either a basket with petals or a "flower ball", chose the flower ball. She was quite precocious and claimed she wanted the "more unusual option"! I had so much fun designing this little accessory, and I think it turned out well! I used miniature white mums, and the same nautical ribbon as on the bouquets.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Frank and Kim...their wedding was beautiful, and I am so happy for both of them!