Event Planning

Zara’s Winter Wonderland – and the Last Minute Carnations

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Having had a bit more time to gather our thoughts about Zara Phillips (now Tindall)’s bouquet from her wedding this past Saturday, we figured we would share a few as it seems our posts about the royals are terribly popular! Greetings UK and AU readers, should you return for this one! Now that we are done harumphing about the stolen sleeves, we got a good look at the church flowers as well as the bouquet in further detail.

First of all, can we say how much we love the shot of the designer on the ladder finishing the Church flowers?

https://mylittleflowershop.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/radiant2bbride2bzara2bphillips2bbeams2bas2bshe2bmakes2bher2bway2binto2bthe2bchurch2bto2bmarry2bmike2btindall2b3.jpg?w=300 It is beyond gratifying to know that even at Royal weddings there is last minute scurrying and hurrying. Somehow we had in our minds this picture of posh English designers in beautiful sun hats admiring their perfect work finished since 3AM. So the guy on the ladder furiously adding flowers a few hours before the wedding was marvelous.

About the flowers themselves: LOVE them!  Our favorite thing: she’s re-introduced the use of carnations into high end floral decor. Yes – worked in there between those gorgeous hydrangea blooms, are puffy white carnations. Carnations get a bad rap – they are so useful and come in a million colors. Somewhere along the way they got labeled as cheap, and it’s true the are budget friendly. But it’s all in how you use them, and we’ll address that it another blog entry. Needless to say Zara – well done my dear.

The bridal bouquet itself is an interesting one. Retro in a 1974 “Winter Wedding Wonderland” way, it doesn’t give the slightest hint of a summer wedding. Not that it takes color to do that by the way, but there’s something in the formality of this arrangement that makes it a bit too chilly. If you plan to include the frosty looking “Dusty Miller” in a bouquet, we recommend using some color to offset that winter feeling. We do like that Zara went with a hand tied bouquet with no ribbon hiding the stems. Perhaps she’ll start a bare-stemmed trend on both sides of the pond.

Whatever shall we do now that all the Royal weddings of the summer are done? I suppose we didn’t truly cover Princess Charlene of Monaco. Back to Monte Carlo, anyone?

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My Little…Shovel Shop? If a client needs one…

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Groundbreaking shovels - painted gold to catch the eye

My Little Flower Shop‘s event work doesn’t begin and end at flowers.  Clients need it? It gets handled.  Well, actually, we decided not to paint the handles on these shovels we designed for the recent groundbreaking at the CPV Sentinel Power Plant in Desert Hot Springs. Gold blades and cheerful blue bows did the trick.  Here they are before arrival, and in action, looking fabulous.

Officials line up Thursday at the ground-breaking of the CPV Sentinel power plant in Desert Hot Springs (from left): Alex Urquhart, CEO of GE Energy Financial Services; Riverside County Supervisors John J. Benoit and Marion Ashley; Douglas Egan, CEO of Competitive Power Ventures; Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella; Gary Lambert, CPV president; Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert; Desert Hot Springs Mayor Yvonne Parks; Bo Buchynsky, senior vice president of Diamond Generating Corp.; and John Murphy, CPV senior vice president.
Officials line up Thursday at the ground-breaking of the CPV Sentinel power plant in Desert Hot Springs (from left): Alex Urquhart, CEO of GE Energy Financial Services; Riverside County Supervisors John J. Benoit and Marion Ashley; Douglas Egan, CEO of Competitive Power Ventures; Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella; Gary Lambert, CPV president; Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert; Desert Hot Springs Mayor Yvonne Parks; Bo Buchynsky, senior vice president of Diamond Generating Corp.; and John Murphy, CPV senior vice president. / K Kaufmann The Desert Sun

We also did the lovely party, here are a few shots before the celebrating began.

An elegant buffet accented by a vintage "cheesecake" poster in the client's "Bikini" theme. Classy with a kick.
The simplicity of a silver Chiavari chair and black linen - very elegant and refreshing out of their native ballroom habitat
The simplicity of a silver Chiavari chair and black linen - very elegant and refreshing out of their native ballroom habitat

It all added up to one happy client.

Greg,

I just wanted to thank you for a terrific job you did with regard to our event.  The bikini bar and event area took on a new presence thanks to your efforts, and we are grateful to you for that.  I lost track of you at the celebration itself, but hope you were able to enjoy some of the food and drink.

I also hope that you got a chance to see some of the Channel 3 coverage of the groundbreaking itself.  The gold shovels sparkled beautifully in the sun and were a great accent to that event.

Thanks for all!

Yanina Daigle

Competitive Power Ventures, Inc.

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My Little Etiquette Shop: Should a Bride play Bob Barker if the Price Isn’t Right?

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Money. Whether you’re on team “Root of All Evils” or  more in the “Can’t Buy Love but Sure is Nice” camp, it is a source of worry for brides, grooms, and their families. This is a really good question – read on.
Q:  I went shopping with my sister for her wedding dress. When paying, she asked if it was the “best price” and if they could add any free accessories or alterations to “sweeten the deal.”  Then she did the same with the caterer.  She was politely declined, but it all made me quite uncomfortable. Is she leaving people whose help she needs with a bad taste in their mouths?

Wedding Budget Stress

A:  In theory, I get her thinking. So much in today’s marketplace is “on sale” or dicounted, so why not try and negotiate? You are correct though, that some vendors see that as a bit nervvy. Don’t worry about the rapport, as a Hospitality Sage once said, “until somebody throws something, any and all bride behavior comes with the territory.”
There’s a simple way to avoid having to bring Monte Hall on appointments, and to stay in your financial comfort zone: Be upfront with vendors about your budget. If they know the parameters, they can adjust their thinking accordingly and remove the need for any “wheeling and dealing.” They can also suggest  packages or specials they have. If you’re working with the A-TEAM of wedding professionals here in the Coachella Valley, all of us know how to take what you’ve got and turn it into “beautiful.”
With wedding businesses, keep this in mind about pricing. What we want is to provide a stable source of a reliable, high-quality service, in our case, beautiful flowers and flawless event design/coordination. When a bride signs with us, we’ve made a commitment to stay where we are, and do our best work for another year. If we discounted too deeply, we’d be unable to keep the promises we make. And keeping our word is important – especially when it means so much to our brides. We work with all types of budgets – and all our weddings, (and parties, corporate events, showers, bar/bat mitzvahs…) are beautiful.

bride and groom in gazebo
Have a great weekend!
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