One of our favorite times of the year here at the Flower Basket Boutique is the summer wedding rush. Every year at about this time as we begin to gear up for the new season and the new batch of beautiful brides, we seek inspiration from wedding blogs (some of our favorites are 100 Layer Cake, Style Me Pretty, and Snippet and Ink), magazines, the colors and beauty that spring up as the season begins and, most importantly, the brides and families who come to us looking for the perfect flowers for their perfect day.
We want tell you about some flowers we did for a very special wedding day we got to be a part of this Spring.
The bride, my niece Katie Candland (now Katie Perez), wanted her arrangements to be as vibrant as the new family she was creating with her husband-to-be, Tony Perez, and his son and daughter. Jared, 17, does graffiti art on a large plywood canvas in his backyard, and Alexa, 14, who is an excellent student going into 9th grade next year, sang an arrangement of “Beautiful Savior” with her new cousins as part of the ceremony.
The ceremony was held in the back yard of Katie’s childhood home in Mesa, AZ. She wanted flowers that would harmonize with the beautiful orange trees and flower beds in the yard, so we used mostly warm, rich colors along with the white stock and the greens. She wanted an eclectic, home-spun feel, as though the flowers were picked straight from the garden. She was inspired by the movie Mamma Mia, with the tropical hues and organic feel.
Katie’s sisters and brother-in-law played in a string quartet for part of the ceremony.
We collected a variety of vintage pots and containers from neighbors and friends. Her father’s Mexican restaurant, Mi Amigo’s catered the reception. By the time everything was set up, with the food, the decorations, the bouquets, the guests and the families, her parent’s back yard was transformed into an oasis of vibrant sounds, smells, and colors in the Arizona desert.
The wedding feast.
We like to get to know the bride and wedding party and are always excited when a bride comes in who wants something different, like my niece Katie. What gets us most excited, whether we’re creating something unique for Robert Redford’s daughter’s wedding or the BYU student on a budget, is when we’ve helped the bride to find the look and the feeling of a wedding uniquely hers.
We welcome you to bring in any special containers or vases that you’d like us to fill for that big day.
So if you’re planning a summer wedding or party we hope you’ll let us be a part of your special day.
Katie tossing her bouquet.
Brother David and family.
Cakes by Tammie Coe based in Scottsdale, AZ.
Earlier in the evening the dance floor was populated mostly by children but as the night went on the older family members all got up to show off their salsa dancing skills and danced into the wee hours of the morning. What a blast!