Bridal Shower Creativity

This weekend I flew out to Oakland for a bridal shower. All the bridesmaids had delegated tasks and one of the tasks I had was flower arranging. :D I got to go a farmers market in Oakland to pick out some beautiful flowers. We first chose sunflowers because it's the bride's favorite flower. Then we needed to choose some complementary flowers. We went with a bright orange-red color to add some POP and added some splotches of white to balance out the bright colors, creating some space for the eyes to rest. $15 dollars for three large bunches of beautiful flowers! I need to go to farmer's markets more often!

Once we got back, I filled jars with river rocks and began the task of cutting and arranging. It was so much fun! I tune my eyes to create balance as I space out the colors around the bouquet. I've learned over the years that it's best to cut stems short when putting them in a vase or jar. When the stems are too long the flowers lean out in all directions creating too much airy spaces. Cutting them short squishes the flowers together and making the bouquet seem full.

In general when arranging flowers I think of these main things:
-Placement of the big flowers and colorful flowers spreading them throughout the bouquet. In general, the bigger flowers stay in the center.
- Adding a bit of sparkle with flowers that are small and bunchy giving the bouquet a delicate feel
-Shaping the bouquet into a sphere making the flowers on the outside shorter than the center

This was the final product. We had a total of three arrangements that we put on the various tables. Some of the tablecloths were yellow and green which matched well with the arrangements. It gave it a harmonious unified look.

  

The other things I used my creative juices on this weekend was finding a way to accessorize my dress. It's a very simple patterned dress and I knew it needed some tampering with. In the end I added it with a white short sleeved cardigan and a brown thin belt with gold pyramid studs on it. This isn't the best picture but it's the only one I have. I was happy with how it ended up. It added just enough energy and interest to the outfit. :)

My weekend was full of meeting new people, spending time with the bride-to-be and her fiance, and little moments of joy and thankfulness. It's nice to be back home in Orange County though!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well :)

-M