Samples "From the Garden Bouquet"

And you said it couldn’t be done.


This is what we do when we have a weekend off. We create bouquets and centerpieces that we first design in our heads.


We are fortunate to have wonderful neighbors who also have an organic farm called Little Egg Farm (littleeggfarm@gmail.com). They sell organic eggs, and vegetable & herb items in small quantities.

Lucky us.


We have been thinking of creating a total “green” bouquet for a long time. We made a bouquet like this for a bride who got married at The Garrison (see earlier June entry).

Since then I have wanted to modify the idea by using more herbs and edible flowers.


I have been talking to our neighbor Jen about it for a while but we have been too busy to try it. I just got back from picking herbs, handed them to Steve, and said, “Here you go”. It turned out so beautiful & lovely, I am so happy and impressed. I could not wait to share the photos with my Blog friends and clients. 
 I plan on working on some more with Jen to sell at the local food coop.


Now that I have taken, my photos I am having Steve transform the bouquet into companion centerpieces and will post on this Blog soon.


I am calling this bouquet “From the Garden” because I decided to add Dusty Miller, Queen Anne’s lace, Lavender and Jasmine vine then added a few flowers we are growing in our garden.

 It started off being a completely edible bouquet, which you can visualize without the added wild flowers.


The bouquet has Tarragon, several types of Sage, Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary, flowering Oregano, Dill, Fennel, Mint, little yellow Arugula flowers, Scented Geranium, Chamomile and Nasturtium flowers & leaves (edible flowers that come in all sorts of colors). Then I wrapped the bouquet in twine.


After we photograph the “edible centerpieces”, we plan to make a nice dinner out of our work. That is the beauty of using herbs.

When considering this sort of bouquet or centerpiece some issues may arise. You do not always know the condition of these garden plants; they don’t last long in the heat and can wilt or dry up. With these risks in mind, it is a lovely idea for a wedding or an outdoor party.

I withstood the heat to bring you “From the Garden” companion centerpieces.

Boy was it hot today; I even got sunburn during the twenty minutes it took for my photo shoot.


I found some nice spots to take these photos. One place I like is on top of a bale of hay except I don’t like the wooden shingles as the background. The other place I like now is on an old wooden kid’s chair. I am beginning to like this spot the most since it rests in my little garden.

antique ball jar

 I wanted to photograph the herbs we used for the bouquet set in several containers. The first design is in an old blue glass Ball jar, then we used a chartreuse glass square, a rustic wooden box and finally a container made out of recycled tires. We bought the tire container on our trip to Paris in April. We thought it was so cool and chic. We cannot tell you our source but hope to use them at a wedding soon.

chartreuse vintage style glass

To the “herb bouquet”, we added Cosmos and Snap Dragons for a natural wild flower feel.

rustic wooden box

recycled tire

Indian Wedding Oak Hill and Hunter Mountain - July weddings

These photos are of an Indian rehearsal dinner and wedding that was held at “Oak Hill” near Hudson, NY. It’s a beautiful property owned by the Livingstons who still live there. We worked and collaborated with www.charmedplaces.com on the rehearsal dinner and wedding.

There were 350 guests at this wedding. We did flowers on 35 long tables with multiple pieces of glass and wood boxes.


The Rehearsal dinner was in a really nice barn on the property and the wedding was in a huge tent.


I thought the rehearsal dinner flowers for this wedding was really interesting. We alternated low wooden square boxes with Twig Balls.


The boxes were mossed and then we added Kale, yellow Mums (an Indian tradition), Scabiosa flowers, Lemon leaf, Safflower and Butterflies. I think these boxes have many possible uses for any style and types of flowers. I love the simplicity and clean feel to these.

In the Twig balls we used Kale, Mums, Tea Roses, Jasmine vines, Orchids and Butterflies. I love the organic form and structural feel to these. It’s cool how the flowers and Butterflies become part of the twig vines.

 The cocktail tables had purple Stock, yellow Mums, purple Veronica, Safflower and Kale in colored glass squares. I love the colors used for the whole wedding.

In an Indian wedding, traditionally, I believe only the bride carries a bouquet. The bridesmaids for this wedding carried fruit. Right now, I only have photos of the bouquet.

The brides bouquet has white Astilbe, purple and white Scabiosa flowers, purple Lisianthus, white Veronica, white Stock, green Hydrangea, Nigella Pods, red Celosia, and peach Peony and was tied with white and gold rope.

There is a certain time that the couple needs to get married according to tradition. Steve had to decorate the Man dap (an Indian ceremony structure) at 6:00 am as the couple was set to marry at 7:30am. Then there is a break for several hours until the reception.


How cute is this baby fox running around? I had to sneak in this photo on my Blog. I took it before the reception started and it puts a smile on my face.

Here is the stunning Livingston mansion. You cannot go into the house but the property is also beautiful with views of the river, which makes a lovely setting for any wedding.

Charmed Places designed the decor and area around the dance floor and I love the color choices and fabric. We designed the floral. The tables all had burlap overlays. We used blue and chartreuse colored antique glass and gold mercury glass votives.

The flowers we used were Stock, Peony, Hydrangea, Lisianthus and Lilies. The head table had a beautiful blue runner that the couple brought back from India.

At each table were two wood crates and several pieces of glass. The wooden crates were mossed and had green Hydrangea, Sumatra Lilies, and Lisianthus, Kale and Stock.

 The cocktail arrangements for the wedding were in rustic wooden squares with Sumatra Lilies, purple Stock, Peonies, red Roses, and purple Veronica.

I love these peach Peonies but in the summer heat, they open fast and then they shed their petals. There are certain things that we have no control over.

How pretty and cool are the bride’s mendhi hands. I love the artwork.

This wedding was at Hunter Mountain. The bouquets were really pretty. The Brides bouquet had shades of green flowers. We used green Lady Slipper Orchids, green Cymbidium Orchids, green Roses, white Veronica, pale yellow Spider Mums, Scabiosa Pods, green Hydrangea, white Freesia, white Astilbe, white Stock and white Lisianthus. The Brides Maids had similar bouquets except with lavender Stock, more Astilbe and purple Veronica.

                   We alternated Bubble Bowls and square glass with pebbles in them.

The Bubbles bowls had Orchids, Calla Lilies, pale yellow Spider Mums, Veronica, Hydrangea and Artichokes. Who knew that artichokes bloomed? Check out the purple bloom on the Artichoke, how cool and surprising is that.

In the squares, we used pale pink Stock, green Hydrangea, white Veronica, purple Lisianthus, Orchids, green Roses and Artichokes.

The following photos were given to me by the photographer. His name is John Iannelli and you can find him at http://iannelliphoto.blogspot.com/