Yellow and Green

Now that we have the background on Elena’s flowers, here is what I was able to come up with after my run to the flower shop/wholesaler:

Yellow and Green bouquet

Shot of the bouquet with Cumbaya valley in the background.  (Just outside of Quito, Ecudor….yep, I live in South America!)

Unfortuately my mini shopping spree did not go as I had planned.  My goal for the bouquet was to use White Delphinium, Solidago, Yellow Roses, and Craspedia.  I also wanted to pick up some White Hypericum Berries because that feels so wintery perfect!

First, no Delphinium! Bummer!  So I picked up some White Freesia that is not so similar in shape but has that delicate look.

Second, Solidago = success!

Yellow Roses = pseudo success, I got a bunch of roses, but they are mini roses (have smaller heads than normal)

Craspedia = fail!  So upsetting as that is a definite must!  But at least I know they are available here.  I didn’t get anything to replace it because well…what could replace Craspedias?  Plus the place didn’t have ANY pompoms!

White Hypericum = also fail!  At least this one wasn’t a must have.

So you can imagine I wasn’t too impressed with the place!  But well, seeing as this isn’t for the official event or anything, no reason to get my panties in a bunch!  I purchased the Mini Yellow Roses, Solidago, and White Freesia.  I also grabbed some Green Hypericum to see how it would look.

Here’s a close up:

Yellow and Green Bouquet2

As I was making the bouquet, the Green Hypericum didn’t really call out to me, so I just left it out.  I really like the bouquet!  Definitely simple (seeing as I have no background in floral arrangements…), but I like the combination of textures and colors!  I also think the size of the bouquet is nice.  You don’t want to have a huge bouquet that is going to drown you out and hide your dress!  But at the same time, the bouquet needs to be big enough to not look silly or out of place.  I don’t really think you’d have to worry about the flowers “matching” your dress (something that came up recently with my sister).  Honestly, the dress is beautiful and as long as the flowers are beatiful and in the colors you want, I think it’s all good!  Plus, it’s not like you are going to be carrying your flowers around all night at the reception…and you definitely aren’t going to be sitting around in your dress the rest of the week while you enjoy your bouquet (even though you may want to)!  Well, that’s my take on it anyway.

Yellow and Green Bouquet3

I had enough leftover flowers once I finished the bouquet, so I threw together a table “arrangment”….which for me is a loose bouquet haha!  I had all of that Green Hypericum, so I used it of course, and definitely liked the look!  Not sure why I wasn’t feeling them at the beginning.  I also love just having the 2 left over roses in the vase…a nice pop of color depening on what angle you’re looking at!

Yellow and Green table arrangement

Yellow and Green table arrangement2

(plus isn’t the light yellow vase just perfect!)

I hope you’ve enjoyed the resulsts of my first excursion!  I’m planning on doing at least one more practice bouquet while I’m here in Quito, and am coordinating with our Gammaflowers purchaser to get exactly what I want!  I’ll probably take another run by the wholesaler because what they have in stock varies from week to week, so maybe I’ll have better luck next time!  Either way, I’ll keep you updated!

Thanks for stopping by! Please feel free to leave any comments, ask any questions, give any recommendations!  Happy Friday!

 

Flowers a la Elena

Alright, so let’s get the ball rolling on my second homemade bouquet project!  As you may have read, I made a practice bouquet for my lovely sister Emily who is getting married this October!  If you’re interested in Fall Colors or Roses and Mokaras, check out Emily’s Bouquet!

Now, for my friend Elena, the wedding colors are the fantab combination of Yellow and Green.  I have to say I’m a bit partial to this combo because my gradeschool colors were Green and Gold!  Any other St. Ann Roughriders out there?  Plus, I absolutely love these colors for a winter wedding!  An awesome way to bring color and vivacity to the December event!

Elena saw my pictures from Emily’s bouquet and I told her I would love to help out in any way with her wedding flowers as well!  So Miss Elena sent me an email with some inspiration photos she found online.  Let’s take a look:

Elena Bouquet1

In this first bouquet (my favorite) you can see Yellow Roses (looks like a Garden Rose but I’m not sure which variety), Craspedia (the yellow balls), White Delphinium, and hiding in the center you can see just a bit of a Yellow Anastasia (Spider Mum).  I love Delphinium, and something about their texture and shape really appeals to me for a winter wedding! So pretty!!!

In bouquet #2…

Elena Bouquet2

…you can see Yellow Ranunculus, a Yellow Pompon (looks like Statesmen Button), Cream Freesia, Solidago/Goldenrod, a couple light blue/white (?) Veronicas, and Blue Hydrangeas.  This bouquet is much fuller.  I love the Solidago (have become a big fan recently), the Freesia gives a delicate touch as well. 

Now for the most dramatic option:

Elena Bouquet3

The huge Dahlias and Cacti/Succulents make this bouquet uber dramatic in my opinion.  I like the bouquet, but the muted colors kind of turn me off to be honest.  I love the light and brightness of the previous two bouquets.  But anywho, you can also see the Craspedias, more Cream/Yellow Ranunculus, and Yellow Roses.  One thing that you might have overlooked, but that I definitely love about this picture are the ribbons!  I love the use of Yellow and that Blue Grey, plus the ribbon looks satin-y but still a bit textured…love it!

And finally, let’s wrap this session up with inspiration pic #4

Elena Bouquet4

Here you can see Craspedias again (can you see a trend?), Yellow Ranunculus, and the big leafy yellow flower I’m not sure, on the left it looks like a Cymbidium Orchid, but on the top right it looks like a Lily.  You can also see one yellow/peachy Garden Rose tucked in there on the bottom, and to be honest I don’t know what that small orangey flower is!  This bouquet is a bit of a Yellow overload for me; I prefer the other options with a bit more diversity in color. 

With these pictures in mind, I made a trip to a local florist/wholesaler to pick up some flowers and see what I could do!  Craspedia is a must have.  You may have noticed that they appear in all of these photos (except #2 where there are Pompoms which look almost exactly like Craspedia).  Another must have which is “duh” for all of us who know and love Elena are Yellow Roses From there I had to suffice with what was available at the time.

So DUM DUM DUM!  Check back in later this week for pictures of my bouquet! 

Which inpiration picture is your favorite?  Any must-have flowers for your wedding bouquet?  Any recommendations?  Opinions and comments are much welcomed and appreciated!

 

And it’s March!

Hello my dear readers…can you believe that we are already half way through March?!  It’s incredible!

Things here at Gamma have been going well, we love getting your calls and emails, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!

I’m a bit behind on the posts I wanted to do so far this year, so check back soon for another homemade bouquet entry!  Not only is my sister getting married in October, but one of my best friends is getting married in December!  So I “worked” on another bouquet, this time with a focus on Yellow and White! 

Congratulations to both of you special women! Love you tons and I’m so excited to help out with the flowers!!!

So stay tuned…photos to come!  Yellow Roses, White Freesia, Solidago and Hypericum Berries!

Kerio Yellow Rose

 

Valentine’s Day Flowers!

Hello dear readers!  That’s right!  It’s time to pull over your husbands and boyfriends and make them read this next sentence:

ORDER VALENTINE’S DAY ROSES FOR YOUR LOVELY LADIES FROM GAMMAFLOWERS…NOW!!!

Hope that works   Of course you could always be super sweet and surprise your guy with some beautiful roses…make it a special first for him!  It’s kind of sad that guys get left out of the flower gifts, so how about spoiling his sweet romantic side this year?

Why does it have to be flowers?  Because they go hand in hand with romance! And everyone can remember the last time they got flowers, its a gift that will definitely leave a lasting impression!

Why does it have to be Gamma?  Because you can’t beat us in terms of quality and price!  We buy from only the very best farms in Ecuador providing you with the best quality out there.  What does that mean?  That means our roses have larger buds, stronger stems, more vibrant colors, and most importantly – a longer vase life! 

***Plus, I’m super friendly and will help you with every step of placing your order and preparing the flowers

Freedom Red Roses

Forever Red Roses

You can’t go wrong with Red Roses!  Especially when you can get 100 Stems for only $155! (Free Shipping!!)

 

Seeing Red…..the options (Part 2)

Alright, let’s finish up with the rest of the combos I came up with for my sister’s wedding flowers!

Option5

Option 5

Bride: Zembla Cremon, Red Gerbera, Freedom, Green Hypericum, Voodoo.  Maids: Zembla Cremon, Green Hypericum and either Voodoo or Freedom with Red Gerbera.

Red Roses and Red Gerberas is a super classic combination, so I spiced it up a bit with the Voodoo!  The Zembla I would probably take out all together or replace with a smaller flower to get some white in the bouquet.  This option is nice though for variability with the bridesmaids bouquets.

Option 6

Option 6

Bride: Sunflowers, Freedom, Coffee Break, White Baby’s Breath.  Maids: Sunflowers, Red Spray Roses, White Baby’s Breath.

I know this one is pushing it color-wise, but you should know by now that I had to find a way to pull in Sunflowers!  I don’t think my sis really liked the yellow, but at least I had to try!

Option 7

Option 7

Bride: Iguana, Vendela, Circus, Red Spray Roses.  Maids: Iguana, Vendela, Red Spray Roses.

Ok, first off, I would definitely change the Bride’s bouquet to White Spray Roses and Freedom Red Roses.  Not sure what I was thinking then, but there should be Freedom roses to keep things focused on Red!  My inspiration for these bouquets was a photo from our Simple Fall Colors ideas.  I absolutely loved the full look of an all rose bouquet, so I had to throw that in as an option.

And that about wraps it up folks!  Do you agree with my sister and think Option 4 is the prettiest?  Which ones do you like?  What changes would you make?

 

Seeing Red….the options (Part 1)

So did you come up with any neat ideas?  I put together quite a few!  What you’ll see are my ideas for the Bride and then the Maids.  The Bride’s bouquet would of course be bigger and what I tried to do was to make sure that it had a special accent, either a rose or flower that the Maids wouldn’t have.  I didn’t do anything special for table arrangments because I’m figuring that we’ll just get creative with the leftovers!  Here are the first four that I put together to run by my sis

Option 1

Option 1

Bride: Vendela, Black Magic, Leonidas, Green Hypericum, and Orange Alstroemeria.  Maids: Leonidas, Red Spray Roses, Orange and Cream Alstroemeria. 

In this option the Bride would have more roses, I’d put more Black Magic than the other roses to keep the focus on Red, add some Alstroemeria for body and some Green Hypericum for a bit of height and green.  For the Maids, I’d keep Leonidas, but downgrade to Red Spray Roses, a little less dramatic.  I originally put Orange and Cream Alstroemeria, but looking at it again, I might just choose one or the other depending on the colors of the Maids’ dresses and how much the Bride would want to differentiate their bouquets.

Option 2

Option 2

Bride: Coffee Break, Freedom, Safari Sunset, Green Hypericum, White Zamora Pompom.  Maids: Freedom, Safari Sunset, Green Hypericum, White Zamora Pompom.

In this option, the Coffee Break would bring the Bride’s bouquet to a more Orange hue, but it would still be super nice with the Freedom.  I put in some Pompoms to brighten it up a litle and I think the Safari Sunset would look really nice sort of popping out slightly.  The Green Hypericum might not be necessary, but would add a touch of green.  Another option for the Maids would be to switch out the Freedom for Coffee Break.  Again depending on the color of the dresses and how the Bride wants to differentiate the bouquets.

Option 3

Option 3

**The bouquets are flip-flopped in this one, so on the right is the Bride: Freedom, Bronze Standard Mum, Salmon Lineker Pompom, White Limonium.  Maids (left): Bronze Standard Mum, Red Spray Roses, Salmon Lineker and Zamora Pompoms.

I really like mums, and this option I was looking to take some focus off using roses and try another focus flower.  I think the Bronze Mum does a great job here and these flowers are huge!  They definitely would fill the place for more roses if you’re looking for other options!  I also really love love love the salmon color of the Lineker Pompoms.  Maybe this shade wouldn’t work so great for my sister after all because with bronze and salmon, the focus isn’t so much on Red in the end.  But oh well, I wanted to see how it looked!  And I like it!  The Lineker would be nice to fill in the bouquet and the White Limonium would be great to balance and blend the colors.  In the Maids´bouquets I kept the Mum but again switched to Red Spray Roses with Lineker and Zamora Pompoms.  For these bouquets I was thinking of more personalized options: maybe one Maid would have Mums and Spray Roses, maybe another Mums and Lineker, another just the two Pompoms…pretty much any combination you wanted!  Using all the flowers at once may be a bit too much for a Maid.

I know this is getting long, so we’ll close with one last option!

Option 4

Option 4

Bride: Virginia Red Cremon (*contact us for availability), Circus, Zamora Pompom, Safari Sunset, Red Alstroemeria.  Maids: Virginia Red, Zamora Pompom, Safari Sunset.

After getting a little off-track color-wise in option 3, I brought my next idea back to reds, reds, and more reds!  I stuck with a Mum and Rose for two accent flowers for the Bride, plus some Red Alstroemeria for body, and Safari Sunset for a bit of height.  The Zamora pompom would brighten things up just a bit and help blend the shades of red with the orange/yellow we would get from the Circus rose.  The Maids would just stick with the Virginia Red, Zamora and Safari Sunset.

Originally when I came up with this option I felt like I was sticking too much stuff in the Bride’s bouquet.  Maybe I would take out the Zamora, or maybe take out the Altroemeria.  But I left it the way it was thinking that really I would be using A LOT of either of those flowers.  And, what do you know, this was the option that my sister liked the best!  She loved the Virginia Red and the Safari Sunset!  So yay!

Check back in next week for the last few options I originally came up with!

**Virginia Red is a super super difficult flower to come by.  Here in Ecaudor there is only ONE farm that produces it!  And we could not find a single farm in Colombia to have as a back-up! Can you believe it?  ONE farm!  To make things even more difficult, the farm only produces this variety around Fall/Christmas, so that’s why we had to take it off the website.  But please feel free to check in with us to get an update on its availability!

 

Peach and Green take two

Peach and Green seems to be a popular one this season, so I thought it best to dedicate another post to these beautiful colors!

A combo that is both an easy DIY project and a classy mix is Roses and Hypericum Berries.  So in this case, depending on the shades you are going for, we would go with Green Hypericum Berries and Peach Roses, possibly combined with some Hot Pink Roses or White Roses as seen in the picture below (taken from I Do…Inspiration).

Peach and Green Bouquet

In the Picture you see Versilia Peach Roses, Vendela White Roses, and Green Hypericum Berries and White Tulips.  To make this combination look its best, I recommend using the Green Hypericum Berries liberally, so they are not just a filler, but are a very present and visible member of the bouquet.

If you want more of a vibrant Peachy Green combination you could go with a richer Peach rose like Imagination, or a more orange Peach rose like Iguana.  Combine one of these with the Kiwi Green Pompon and you’ve got a party!  I found the following photo on Flora Beauty and the combination looks even better when you add some Dark Red Hypericum Berries!

Bright Peach and Green

I’m not a big fan of the white paper divider guys, or really of the Purple Caspia you can see shooting out the sides, but if you wanted to add some leafy color in white, I’d go with some White Limonium or Ammi Majus (Queen Anne’s Lace).

Ok!  And finally, I got this photo from one of our clients and I absolutely fell in love with the idea!  I did an earlier post with Mason Jars, but I am equally as charmed by these tall White Tin Buckets!  In the photo below you’ll see these cute buckets filled to burst with Lisianthus.  Just imagine these buckets full of White Lisianthus mixed with Peach Roses….!!!!  Storing this in my memory/girly department/my wedding!

Lisianthus White Tin Buckets

What do you think?  Which Peach and Green combination would suit you the best?  Do you have any other great combination idea?  Please share!

Here are the prices for the flowers mentioned in this post:

Long Stem Roses (all colors and varieties): 50 Stems for $79.99 ; 75 Stems for $89.99 ; 150 Stems for $159.99

Medium Stems Roses (all colors and varieties): 50 Stems for $69.99 ; 75 Stems for $79.99 ; 100 Stems for $89.99 ; 200 Stems for $159.99

Hypericum Berries (all colors): 100 Stems for $99.99 or 200 Stems for $169.99

Kiwi Green Button (Pompon): 120 Stems for $79.99 or 200 Stems for $129.99

Lisianthus (all colors): 100 Stems for $109.99 or 200 Stems for $189.99

Ammi Majus (Queen Anne’s Lace): 50 Stems for $69.99 or 100 Stems for $119.99

**These prices are accurate as of July 7, 2010.  Visit www.gammaflowers.com for the most up-to-date information!

 

Calla Lilies

Calla lilies are one of my favorite flowers.  Simple and elegant, they are a great choice for a classic wedding bouquet.  These flowers have beautiful long stems and in their full size, come in Natural Green and White.  This bouquet from Martha Stewart Weddings caught my eye…

White Calla Lily Bouquet

The simplicity of this bouquet is so classy!  And with the cascade of White Lilies this bouquet would work with any dress!  I really love it and am storing it in the back of my mind for the (distant) future!  Just counting from the picture it looks like there are about 26 lilies.

Calla Lily Pricing: (*stems are 28 inches in length)

50 stems for $109.99

 

If you love Callas but want a bit more color in your bouquet, consider going with Mini Callas.  These Lilies are a bit smaller (thus the name…) but still have the classic Calla shape and come in a variety of colors!  These little gems are quite popular though, so you should definitely plan (and purchase) ahead of time!  Just last week I had another bride contact me about a fall wedding with Mini Callas, and our partner farms told us they already had quite a bit of the flower pre-sold!  So, if you’re interested in Mini Callas, let me know as far in advance as possible so we can “reserve” flowers for you!  And you can lock in our current prices!

Well, here is another bouquet from Martha Stewart… gotta love the Minis!

Mini Calla Lilies

Mini Calla Pricing: (*stems are 15-21 inches in length)

50 stems for $139.99

75 stems for $169.99

100 stems for $209.99

200 stems for $349.99

***Prices are liable to change, check the website for the most up-to-date information.

 

Bride: Ellen

Hey there!  Last week I was working with a Bride-to-be who will be doing her own flowers for her wedding this coming fall (I know, she is really on top of things!).  She sent me her inspiration photos for her bouquet, and also for the table centerpieces.  So let’s have a look, shall we?

Ellen's Bouquet

In this photo you can see the following flowers: Red Hypericum Berries, Dahlias, greens, and part of a blue flower that is hard to make out.  This was just Ellen’s inspiration, and she told me that she wanted a bouquet of Leonidas Roses, and Tropical Amazon Roses with Dark Red Hypericum Berries.  These flowers make a really great combination – Leonidas is a dark sultry bicolor rose, but the orange Tropical Amazon brings light and vivacity.  The Hypericum Berries help to blend the colors, and with some greens (like Leather Leaf or Ruscus) the bouquet really comes together nicely.

And here’s the centerpiece inspiration:

Ellen's Centerpiece

Here we see Peach Roses, Green Anastasia (Chrysanthemum), Green Hypericum Berries, and Dahlias.  Ellen wanted to stick with the same flower combination as her bouquet, so we made some substitutions of course.

Ellen’s floral needs were based off these photos, but this is the list of all the arrangements/bouquets she would need:

- bride’s bouquet

- 6 bridesmaid’s bouquets

- toss bouquet

- flower girl petals

- groom’s boutonniere

- 8 other boutonnieres

- 4 corsages

- 15 centerpieces

 Based on her flower requests, I came up with a guide for recommending number of stems, flower combinations, etc.  I also gave her extra options if she wanted smaller or bigger bouquets, centerpieces, or boutennieres.  My lovely spreadsheet became a bit convulted when I turned it into a PDF, but hopefully you’ll be able to see what I did: Bride Ellen.  Or you can get a better look below (just click on the image to see a larger version of the spreadsheet).

Ellen's Quote

Please feel free to send me your inspiration photos with your wedding or event needs and I will be more than happy to do the same for you!

**These prices are up to date as of March 2010.  These prices are not guaranteed and may change in the future, so be sure to check on our website.

 

Peach and Green

I was brousing the bouquets at the knot and found this great bouquet which also happened to be a “knot pick.”  It’s really a great selection because of its peachy pastel flowers and abundant greenery; perfect for a Spring wedding! 

Let’s have a look: 

Peach and Green Bridal Bouquet

I absolutely love this bouquet!  It has nice texture and I am personally a big fan of peach roses! 

Here’s what’s in the bouquet: Versilia Peach Roses, White Mini Calla Lilies, Yellow Hypericum Berries, White Limonium, and Euphoria greens. 

Design breakdown: You have a taller center with about 4 stems of Hypericum and 6 Mini Calla Lilies.  These are surrounded by 12 Versilia Peach Roses interspersed with White Limonium.  And to wrap it all together, you can substitute for several stems of Croton. 

Now on to the bridesmaid bouquets: 

Peach and Green Bridesmaids Bouquet

This bouquet is a really good combination with the bridal bouquet.  It is clearly more simplistic, but keeps the same peach and green tones.  

The bouquet is made with: Peach Mini Calla Lilies, Euphoria, Yellow Hypericum Berries, and Ammi Majus. 

Breakdown: Taller center of about 4 stems of Hypericum and 4 Calla Lilies, surrounded by about 4 stems of Ammi Majus and substitute Croton. 

These photos are a great example of a classic bridal and bridesmaid bouqet combination.  You’ll notice how the bridal bouquet is bigger, of course, and has both Roses and Calla Lilies, and then the bridesmaids have only Calla Lilies as their focal flower.  This puts the emphasis where it belongs (on the Bride), but also makes for a lovely bridesmaid bouquet that is less attention-calling, but still unique. 

As for pricing, let’s assume that there are 4 bridesmaids. 

This is what your order would look like just for the bouquets (5): 

Your Order with Gamma

Because we work with bulk flowers, usually the minimum number of stems we can send are 50 to 100.  So with the minimum of these flowers, the totaly comes to $739.93.

But, look what else you can get out of this order, aside from the 5 bouquets:

• Toss bouquet of 6 Roses and Ammi Majus/White Limonium.
• 7 Boutennieres and/or Corsages (Rose and White Limonium or Hypericum)
• 18 Small to Medium Centerpeices each with 4 Mini Callas and plenty of Limonium, Ammi Majus and Hypericum Berries.

So basically for one low price, you can handle all of the flowers you’ll need! 

Have more tables or want bigger centerpeices?  Just up the number of stems and you’ll be surprised at getting even better prices!  Just one benefit of buying from a bulk provider, Gammaflowers ;)

**If you are interested in Mini Calla Lilies and Croton, let me know.  We are currently adding more flowers to the website so these varieties may not show up as available YET.  But we DO offer them, so if they’re not on the site and you want ‘em, just let me know!