Flowers for all occasions

I recently was honored to have been asked to have been apart of a memorial service in Bath. I do not take on funeral work for a variety of reasons that really requires a whole other blog entry which would not be exciting or interesting in the slightest. However, a memorial service, I consider so very different.
Maybe it is because of how I picture my own, which my husband says that I am crazy, but with vibrantly attired people dancing to great dance tunes such as Usher and Beyonnce, maybe even a little Diddy. (A side note: I realize that this statement makes me sound a heck of a lot younger than what I am; however consider it a genetic disposition as my father has a certain affinity for R and B as well, though at a first glance one would never guess.) More importantly, a memorial service seems to be a wonderful way to celebrate someones life, which with my business, I want to be there to celebrate life with others hidden amongst my flowers which hopefully bring joy and passion of design to their events.
With this said, after hearing about this incredible man from his family as well as researching his life as well on my own, I was pleased to take on this job and to be apart of this families day. With hundreds of people in attendance at a closed down Maine Maritime Museum, my design partner, who I can not say enough about, Alexandra Hollauer-Piltch, and I created lush organic floral arrangements per the clients request that were designed to encompass this man's style and life. We brought in elements of Maine which he loved, sticks, white hydrangeas, and ferns as well as a variety of greenhouse, French, double, and fringed white and cream tulips. The design was very fitting and I was very pleased that the family felt so passionately that there could be no other design that would have suited him better.
I could not help but wonder as the day progressed, "How will I be remembered?..." which I guess is a question that everyone asks from time to time. Once again, when the time comes for me, everyone put on your dancing shoes, and please, no black.

Favorite Flowers

I try not to claim any flowers to be my favorite. Seems like right about the time that I would do so that surely I would think of another that was a close runner up, if not my favorite, of that moment. However, I was recently at the flower market and saw some of the most beautiful peonies and I have to say... if there was to be a favorite of mine, peonies would be it. I not only love each and every variety of peony and the unique shape that unfolds from each bloom, but their colors are just amazingly vivid and truly stunning. Corals, fuchsias, yellows, etc.. really they all are magnificent. So, as we all look forward to the buds of Spring coming about in the near future (yes, I know it is still not in our eminent future, but I like to sike myself out about this time of year thinking we are close to seeing grass!!) I am raising my glass of wine tonight to the peonies in all of their glory. They are my favorite.

...and never to be forgotten or far behind, flowering quince, flowering cherry blossom branches, flowering honeysuckle vines, David Austin roses, etc. etc...