Azalea Floral Design - Unique Flowers for CT Weddings and Events

Non-Floral Boutonnieres

2012-01-25T17:45:00.008-05:00

A few years back a bride told me her fiance and all of his friends were major techies and could I incorporate pieces of a motherboard of a computer into their boutonnieres - my answer of course: "Why yes!" You see I love anything personal and a little different. So we did it and it got me to thinking - personalized boutonnieres for anyone. Sadly, I don't have a good photo of the motherboard boutonnieres, but more recently I've created some other fun ones. Guitar pick boutonnieres for a musical groom, preppy ones for the whale pants-wearing groom, etc. Over the summer, I did some cute non-floral ones for Niccole and Matthew who were married at a barn. These went with the theme perfectly, if I do say so myself!

Here are a few more I've done recently...

Butterfly - perfect for mid-summer with a black and white theme.

Birch bark "leaf", gold skeleton leaf, pine cone, tartan "leaf" and twine for a wintry, natural feel. Winter wedding? I think yes.

Seaside wedding? So nautical prep. If you have an idea for a custom one, I'd absolutely love to create it.

Best of The Knot 2012 Winner!

2011-12-13T09:39:00.004-05:00

We are so happy to announce that we won Best of The Knot once again for 2012!

Our Season

2011-09-27T12:09:00.040-04:00

I haven't posted in months and there's a good reason for that - we've been so busy for several months now creating personalized flowers for lots of wonderful couples. And though it's been a blur, we have enjoyed it so much! Here are some highlights from our spring and smmer. Enjoy!

Bonnie and Gary's Beautiful Backyard Wedding

2011-04-13T10:26:00.009-04:00

One of my favorite customers, Bonnie, got married last summer. We work together regularly on flowers for many of the events she organizes at a wonderful private high school in the area. Needless to say, when she came to us about her wedding last year, we were thrilled. It was a beautiful, personal event at she and her now husband, Gary's home in Litchfield county. Here are a few of Nathan Fried-Lipski's beautiful photos from their sunny summer day:

The bride chose a unique bouquet with lots of seasonal greenery and herbs mixed in with garden roses, sweet peas and lisianthus. It was perfect for an outdoor affair.

An orchid for her hair.

The low centerpiece - the salmon and peach tones complemented the natural wood tones of their amazing home.

The tall centerpiece had lots of summer flowers, like tuberose and the hanging votive candles added a pretty glow to their tented reception.

Gary's daughters, the beautiful bridesmaids.

An anxious groom awaiting his beautiful bride.

Photos of My New Studio

2011-04-13T10:07:00.010-04:00

I have finally managed to take the time to snap a few photos of my studio, which I've been in since mid-January. I absolutely love having so much space and it's been so much fun to work on renovating and decorating the space. Take a look:

I am the type of person who never considers a space "done" - I'm always re-arranging furniture, moving art, changing out accessories so it'll be a constant work-in-progress. Along those lines I'm going to Brimfield next month so I'm sure I'll come back with something I never knew I needed until I saw it. LOVE Brimfield

Kari's Farmington Wedding

2011-03-29T14:21:00.007-04:00

A beautiful bride I worked with last summer, Kari, was kind enough to share a few photos of their Farmington wedding. They were great to work with and seemed like a really fun group - they had a bright pink, stretch Hummer limo - need I say more?! Enjoy the photos!

White mini calla lilies are always a beautiful choice for the bride. Classic and elegant.

The Big Move / New Work

2011-03-09T20:25:00.027-05:00

So, I am officially, 100% moved into my new studio space in Plainville! My sign is up, the walls and floors are painted and all my favorite vintage furniture pieces are in. I have not taken any photos yet, but will post some STAT!

In the meantime, here are a few photos of some recent work as well as a few images from some not-so-recent summer and fall weddings. A big thanks to the brides and photographers who shared these wonderful photos!

This was a wedding of a lovely couple from Boston whose day really reflected their personalities. I collaborated on it with the ever-talented Diana and Candice from Jubilee Events. Jen Curtis Photography captured images of the day perfectly. The wedding

was so pretty that it was featured on the popular wedding chick's blog.

Bella!

The wedding took place at the tranquil Still River Cafe. Their food is legendary and the setting is CT countryside at its best. We decorated the two long rectangular tables with a burlap runner to anchor the mixed media tables scape of mismatched bud vases filled with orange, green and white blooms.
The couple had lots of vintage letter bundles and books to mix in with the flowers. It gave a sense of history and tradition to the day.
The light was so pretty that day!
Kelly and Paolo enjoying a moment in the Still River Cafe's green fields.

This photo graciously provided by Dave at Strawberry Road Photography was of a fall centerpiece we did for a really fun couple this fall at the Glastonbury Hills Country Club. The container was birch bark and the arrangement included pheasant and peacock feathers, magnolia foliage, craspedia, waxflower, stock to name a few.

I photographed this bouquet - OK, I think that's obvious! - but I fell in LOVE with this one. It was for a black and white themed winter wedding at Ethel Walker's Chapel and The Riverview. Sweet peas, spray roses, star of bethlehem. So I know I designed and made it, but seriously, isn't it SO PRETTY?
These images are from some recent work I did at the pastoral Relais and Chateau resort, Winvian, in the Litchfield Hills. With March here, I tried to capture early Spring. Flowering quince is the star.
The mercury glass vase's rustic finish pairs well with the pastel blooms.
This photo, again my me and my iphone, is terrible but the tall yellow, lime green and white arrangement, again for Winvian was fun. Again, it reminds us all that Spring is close at hand...

I'm kind of obsessed lately with this fuzzy, yellow "acacia mimosa" - in season now and so pretty.

These photos, by Carrie Draghi, were from a pretty Fall wedding at The Farmington Marriott. We used pussy willow, black baccara roses, magnolia leaves, mango calla lilies and lime green cymbidium orchids.

Hanging votives always lend a fantastic atmosphere for an evening affair.
This was another Winvian event, this time a wedding by their bucolic pond.

When you were standing in their ceremony area near the pond, it felt like you were truly in the middle of the prettiest, almost magical place in the middle of no where.

The bride chose blue accents - we used thistle and delphinium.

Best of The Knot and WeddingWire Bride's Choice Winner!

2011-01-27T16:08:00.005-05:00

Oh! I almost forgot! With so much excitement, I forgot to include in my last post two exciting honors. Azalea won Best of the Knot for 2011! How cool is that?! To make things even better, my amazing brides who make my job so much fun, gave me such lovely reviews on WeddingWire.com that I won their Bride's Choice distinction, also for 2011. This award "recognizes the top 5 percent of local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate quality and service excellence in the wedding industry." A big thank you to all of my customers who helped me earn these honors! I truly love my job.

Mid-Winter Updates

2011-01-27T13:04:00.056-05:00

I have not posted in ages but there's so much to catch up on. First, the biggest news is that Azalea has a new location! My new space, an artist's studio in Plainville, CT, is much bigger so I can now welcome a

ll of my customers to come in an meet in total comfort. I am really excited about the new location for a lot of reasons but it's still not 100% ready. In t

he meantime here's a sneak peak. The aqua walls are sort of a greener version of the sky and will make a great back drop for flowers. I have found some amazing pieces, like these old french inspired chairs and this vintage work table. Exciting!

Back in the summer, I was fortunate enough to have been asked by my friends at Emily's Catering to participate in two Kate Parker Weddings photos shoots. One at the Bee & Thistle in Old Lyme and the other at the amazing Wadsworth Mansion i

n Middletown. The endlessly talented Richard Esposito photographed the Bee & Thistle shoot for us. Mew Paper Arts created a gorgeous and unique invitation suite with escort cards (river rocks - too cute). Tara with Emily's was the team leader who decided on the vintage farm to table vibe. I so enjoyed the people, place and experience. So much talent.

The shoot at The Wadsworth Mansion was again with Tara from Emily's but this time included Imagine That Cakes (her Van Gogh-inspired Starry Night cake is SO COOL!) and Matthew J. Wagner - both a pleasure to work with. Here are a few images from our whimsical but formal concept: Last weekend I was asked by Bride's Magazine to participate in the Grand Opening of the new Alfred Angelo boutique - they have some really adorable styles these days (loved(!) this butter yellow silk bridesmaid dress) and the staff there is amazing. Here are a few pics from my day there:

Also, I was so pleased to hear from the talented Candice at Jubilee Events that the wedding of Rose and David that we collaborated on this summer was featured this week on Style Me Pretty! Check out the pictures by Stephanie Ann Photography:

In other news, here are a few photos from my recent fall and winter weddings:

Vintage Inspired Brooch Bouquet

2010-11-12T19:23:00.004-05:00

I just got in a few new photos of a bouquet I did for our bride, Jen, last month. It was filled with her own vintage brooches, many of them family heirlooms and gifts from her (then) fiance as well as close friends and family. How cute and creative is that? Thanks to Dave from Strawberry Road for these incredible pics.

Monique and Junior

2010-11-09T12:06:00.008-05:00

I just got in some gorgeous photos from our bride, Monique, from her May wedding to Junior at the Seven Angels Theatre. MAC Vision took these beautiful images of their day. A big thanks to Monique for sharing - you two are TOO CUTE!

As Summer Turns to Fall...

2010-10-13T18:11:00.046-04:00

August and September flew by with lots of amazing special events and weddings. We felt lucky to participate in creating so many beautiful weddings that were truly reflections of each individual couple. We were also so pleased to be featured on the ever-inspiring blog, Style Me Pret ty, as well as in Brides.com's Real Weddings. Here are a few photos of our work over the last month or two. Enjoy!

The wedding here was Jen and Kevin's at the Glastonbury Country Club. Their very personal and incredibly cool details included a vintage brooch-filled houquet, custom Chuck Taylors, feathers, and woodland elements, to name a few. SUCH nice people, too. The first images are from Strawberry Road Photography, and the last one, of their birch bark centerpieces is my own handiwork!

This one was a lovely backyard wedding of peach, orange, coral and green tones. Nathan Fried-Lipski, their photographer, was kind enough to share these images.

These are a few of Carla Ten Eyck's beautiful images of Portia and Steve's wedding at the Gershon Fox (one of our FAVORITE places to work in CT). Everything was so unique and personal! I'm also thrilled to report that this wedding and my work made it on to one of my favorites: Style Me Pretty!

This was a gift and a bit of an experiment of a style outside of my usual cofort zone. Mini white calla lilies, ornamental artichokes, calathea leaves, tulips, hydrangea and lotus pods. Fun!

Below is a tall, formal centerpiece with lots of raspberry and lime green tones from a wedding at The Rivewview in Simsbury, CT. Catherine Fiehn Photography was kind enough to share the image.

These are a few we did for various group events at the gorgeous Winvian in Morris, CT:

The first contains three tones of dahlias with date palm and seeded eucalyptus in a woven leather vase.

The next one is a classic paring of late summer's sunflowers in a simple galvanized bucket.

This one was a three part centerpiece of dark red calla lilies, tulips, artichokes and branches.

Here's a boutonniere I made and loved which picks up on the vintage/rustic trend. It's made of of spray roses, scabiosa pods, lavender waflower, seeded eucalyptus and a simple tie of burlap.

These were from a beautiful wedding at The Farmington Club. The tall curly willow tree with hanging votives set the tone as guests entered the room.

This was another Riverview event where we covered the ceremony arch in the bride's favorite blooms: hydrangea, roses, delphinium, hanging amaranthus, lisianthus and many foliages. A big thank you to Daisy Wedding Photography for these beautiful images!

I also had the pleasure of learning that a wedding we did this summer with Sixpence for Your Shoe and Bruce Plotkin is now part of brides.com's Real Weddings. Thanks, Christina and Dave for letting me share the beauty of your day with brides looking for inspiration!

Our season does not seem to be slowing down, so I'll be back worth more images from our fall and winter work soon, I hope!

Continuing Education and Some Great Wedding Work!

2010-07-22T15:05:00.036-04:00

So lately I have been dedicating myself to learning more about my craft which has been a lot of fun and I've definitely learned a lot! A few weeks ago I attended a presentation with Chris Giftos that the Litchfield Garden Club hosted. If you have not heard of him, he's a famous and endlessly talented floral designer, who has created flowers for Jackie O., made one of Elizabeth Taylor's wedding bouquets (Richard Burton!) and was the floral designer and events coordinator for the Metropolitan Mus eum in NYC for decades. Wendy and I were so inspired by his designs, his use of color and also by the way he handled the flowers - he didn't even have to look and the arrangement would turn out PERFECTLY every time! These are a few photos from our exciting day.

I also recently attended a presentation on weddings in the colonial era at the Stanley Whitman House in Farmington - so interesting! If anyone is looking for historically accurate colonial flowers - I'm definitely your designer.

We've also been really busy with weddings every weekend but have worked with some really great couples with unique styles and gorgeous venues.

Rose and David were so much fun to work with! Their wedding at the Webb Barn in Wethersfield was put together with the help of Candice from Jubilee and they really attended to every detail. It was so personal and beautiful. Here are a few photos from their wonderful photographer, Stephanie Ann Photography:

Christina and Dave and their whole clan from Nebraska had an amazing wedding at their grandparent's home right on the ocean in Old Lyme, CT with a reception to follow at the Old Lyme Beach Club. Lindsay from Sixpence For Your Shoe made it all happen and it turned out to be a beautiful, seaside, windswept wedding. Here are a few photo from both my camera and those of their talented photographer, Bruce Plotkin.

Seda and Tigran had a beautiful Armenian wedding that their Armenian Church in Trumbull with a pretty and intimate reception at The Lounsbury House in Ridgefield. Their palette was blue and white. I loved working on this one - simple and elegant.

We also had the good fortune to do another fabulous wedding at the Gershon Fox Room, one of our favorite CT venues! Our bride, Portia, was fearless with her really amazing vision for black and white damask with pops of yellow. I can't wait to see some images from her photographer, the very talented Carla Ten Eyck. In the meantime, here are a couple from my camera:

And last but not least we enjoyed doing a pretty purple themed wedding at The Riverview, another venue where we love to work. Here's a photo of the bouquets, which were simple but pretty and their arch for the ceremony:

And here's something I made for my home with the leftovers (you'd think I'd tire of flowers but I never do!):

Recent Work

2010-06-25T10:10:00.014-04:00

It's crazy busy right now with wedding season in full swing but I thought I'd take a minute to post a few photos of some recent work. -Christine

Our Green Focus in Our Work and in Life

2010-06-09T08:36:00.015-04:00

We offer flowers to our customers that we buy from local CT farms, often hand-picking the blooms ourselves right from the fields. Buying local and supporting small farms is something I strongly believe in and it's definitely something that translates to my every day life. Our green offering is not just a marketing angle or a response to a trend - it's the way I live. I hope more of our customers agree and will love CT grown flowers as much as I do!

At home I have flower, fruit and vegetable gardens, all organically grown. We often use heirloom seeds and rarely buy a vegetable from May to September, eating only what we grow. When we have extras, we dry herbs and hot peppers for long term storage. We make jams, pickles and relishes for enjoyment all year. We also grow winter vegetables that can be stored for cooler months, like onions, winter squashes and potatoes. Below are some photos from my home, CT flower farms and arrangements I have created from 100% local flowers.

Flowers in my garden now.

Foxgloves and strawberries that we are enjoying now, too. On the right is a batch of strawberry rhubarb jam that we made this week with our own crops - yum!

Three arrangements from CT grown flowers - a fall urn arrangement of local football mums, a fun arrangement of pink and white cosmos, and a mixed garden style arrangement of spring flowers like muscari, hellebores and daffodils.

A field of zinnias and dahlias right here in CT.

The Weekend - A Blur (in a good way!)

2010-05-17T10:28:00.014-04:00

This past week, Wendy and I created some beautiful, pastel arrangements for a local private school's Alumni Weekend as well as a colorful wedding. I immediately went on to NYC for a night with friends (where I saw Sue Sylvester, for all my fellow Glee fans). I am exheausted but had the best time working and, well, NOT working. Here are some photos from both beautiful events.

The bride's bouquet - peonies are always such a great choice for our late May and June brides.

The room loked great because our couple, Monique and Junior, truly thought of every detail. The chinese lanterns strung vertically around the dance floor looks so great as did her chair and table linens for more color. It really looked so festive.

The seating card table - an arrangement I made on site with some extras we had on hand.

One of the centerpieces for the 50th Reunion Dinner. Simple and classic.

The bar arrangement.

Centerpieces of lilies, larkspur, roses and curly willow for another alumni dinner. This one was for alumni celebrating 50 yeas or more since their graduation from high school - wow!

Blues and Purples at a May Wedding

2010-05-13T16:41:00.009-04:00

I wanted to share some photos of our last wedding at the club house of the Fairview Golf Course in Harwinton - a pretty setting with rolling green hills and perfect weather. I knew my bride loved purple since both times we met she was dressed in her favorite hue. We made sure to include lots of the regal tone in her flowers. To make things even more personal, we included microchips in the boutonnieres for this techy group! These personal touches really make weddings all the more special. Here are some shots both from her photographer (whose name I have yet to get) and our own.

Irises, viburnum, ivy, roses, and orchids with a leaf wrap.

The bridal party - lots of calla lilies - her favorite flower.

The head table looked lush with blooms spilling down in front of the happy couple.

What a pleasure to work on this wedding!

Bear Grass and Our Latest Wedding

2010-04-25T11:49:00.013-04:00

I had some extra bear grass lying around and remembered an idea one of our bride's moms had shown me from an interior design magazine. I gave it a try and I think it turned out pretty great! Just a spare empty bottle, grass, a bright sunny daffodil from my garden and some natural twine. It'd look even better with a grouping of a few of them at different heights. I can't wait to use them at an event.

We also had a busy weekend with a small wedding and an event at a local private school. Here are a few photos of the wedding bouquets, which were a bright cheery mix of spring flowers like ranunculus and tulips in peach, orange and yellow tones.

Lime Green and White Flowers

2010-04-10T11:22:00.015-04:00

Spring is here and we are already feeling really busy and so excited for wedding season. Yesterday we did flowers for an event at a beautiful boarding school as well as a gorgeous wedding for the nicest couple, Christine and Vin. Wendy was an incredible trooper, working tirelessly with me all day at 8 months pregnant! Lime green and white have been really popular in recent years and both of our events yesterday centered on that palette. Growers are producing more and more lime green flower varieties to meet the demand and we were thrilled to use so many great ones in our designs. Here are some of the photos from our day.

This arrangement uses viburnum, bells of ireland, green and white lisianthus, "super green" and ivory roses, lime green hypericum berries, white stock and white freesia. The detail photo shows a close up. I am in love with the pale green lisianthus - so pretty, unique and spring-y!

The bride's tossing bouquet was maybe too pretty to toss away!

The cake that The Riverview baked and we decorated looked great with the river as a backdrop.

Can you think of a more fitting boutonniere for spring than a tulip in it own leaf? Adorable. The green ribbon adds a nice but subtle finishing touch for a little formality.

The leaf wrap makes this simple but modern centerpiece arrangement filled with amazing, fresh, snow white dutch tulips.

A Spring Birthday

2010-03-12T12:34:00.005-05:00

I did a 50th birthday party a week or so ago. It was a fun one for a few reasons. First, they are just about the nicest people and so great to work with. Second, because the guest of honor loves hot pink and orange. It's so fun to get to work with bold color every now and then. With so many great spring flowers in the flower markets, I was immediately drawn to the tulips! Gorgeous. The ribbon and butterfly details finished them off for a fun party vibe which perfectly suited the guest of honor.

One of the guests liked them so much we are converting them into her December wedding centerpieces! Instead of lemon leaf we'll use cedar and juniper. Where we had tulips we'll use beautiful wintry white amaryllis and roses and black velvet ribbon with a sprig of evergreen as a vase treatment rather than butterflies. With the changes, I think they'll be stunning and totally seasonal.

Peacock Feathers

2010-02-18T13:50:00.000-05:00

I'm loving peacock feathers lately so I created some boutonnieres with them and I think it adds such great texture, iridescence and color to the flowers.

This one is pairs the feather with a white anemone, in season now, a golden birch twig and a butterscotch ribbon.

In this version I also included a pink tulip and changed out the ribbon for a regal purple. Nothing matches but everything coordinates perfectly.

The feathers are also amazing in bouquets, centerpieces, tucked into napkins - the possibilities are endless.

Blast from the Past

2010-02-16T09:35:00.000-05:00

One of the fun things about being a floral designer for events is seeing the beautiful photos that the photographers have captured. Often the galleries aren't available for weeks or months as fine tuning happens to make everything perfect. Today I received some images that Robert and Kathleen Photographers captured of a fall wedding we did at the Barns at Wesleyan Hills and they brought me back to the fun of working with Valerie and Chris - a really great couple. Here are a few of their incredible images from that autumn day.

Launching Our New Blog!

2010-02-15T13:58:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to be posting my very first blog entry. I hope you will comment on what your read and see here often.

To kick things off, I wanted to share two photos of the arrangements I created for the New Britain Museum of American Art's dinner this past weekend. I wanted the arrangements to capture the spirit of the Valentine's Day weekend while providing a reminder that spring is right around the corner (I hope!). -Christine