Wow! How did it get to be January 10, 2013 so fast? Where did the time go? I guess when you are busy at work and you add Christmas cooking, shopping, decorating, Christmas parties, decorating at church, and other such things, the time just gets away from you. And, before you know it, it's New Years and you are still cooking, going to parties, undecorating at home and at church, and celebrating with friends. Amidst all this "busyness", I've been meeting with brides for their upcoming spring and summer weddings, developing proposals, planning bridal show exhibits, planning Easter flowers and a workshop for St. George's Flower Guild, and working on the expansion of my business to include coordinating event decor. So, that's how it got to be January 10, 2013!!!!!
Expansion of my business from providing just floral decor to include providing event decor, is just so exciting! I've been resourcing the best linens, china, chairs, customized printing sources, and other resources for unique and elegant details to make weddings by Jane Guerin, flowers some of the most memorable events ever. This is so, so fun!!!! But designing flowers is my love, and I've been busy designing.
Let me share a few of the events I worked on starting in early December. On the 8th, I had the unbelievable pleasure to design the florals for a Black-Tie retirement party for 5 local physicians. These individuals have had outstanding careers, and the event to send them on to another chapter in their lives was destined to be fabulous. The thought and planning put into this event by the fellow partners and their wives was unbelievable. They asked me to come to the house where the party would be, to help brainstorm and develop a design. One of the first and most fun ideas that I recommended was to put up a "radiology" Christmas tree in black and white in the foyer. I had a vision, but I had no idea what a fantastic job these women would do. The finished tree had white ornaments along with small "xrays" hung by silver hooks all over the tree. They also found silver frame ornaments, which held the practice logo, and were engraved with the physician's name and date. How fabulous is that?
All day long while I worked on the florals, the re-enactment of the Battle of Fredericksburg ensued. I watched "Conferderate" and "Union" soldiers walk around town and outside my shop with their rifles on their shoulders. The house where the party took place, was right in the midst of the battle that morning, and soldiers ran through the front and back yards of this house. As the hosts got ready for the party, they watched the "Union" troops put the bridge over the Rappahannock and cross the river to begin the fight. Really!!!! It was a special event and day, and one that I'll remember always.
Take a peek at the white flowers. Black Tie/white flowers.....of course! Oh, Foode' catered, and I was told the food was phenominal!
The second beautiful event for which I had the honor to provide the flowers was a company Christmas party that was held at the Columbia Firehouse Restauranat in Alexandria, VA. The company is an Engineering firm that designs and manufactures equipment that travels into space on rockets and satellites....lots of smart, lovely people! The employees could not have been more gracious!
The Columbia Firehouse restaurant staff were unbelievably helpful to me. They let me in the restaurant early and insisted that they unload all the arrangements for me. The food they told me, was a blend of French and southern........my kind of food. The menu for this party looked out of this world! The room was decorated with a huge fresh Christmas tree with tiny white lights and no other decoration. My arrangements were white with seasonal greenery, "snow tipped" pine cones, and finished with a band of green velvet ribbon.
Here are a few images.
A third event was a staff Christmas party held at, truly, one of the most gorgeous homes in Fredericksburg. I have had the pleasure of designing centerpieces for this party for three years, and I hope to do many more for them. The hosts are just very dear people, and I love having the opportunity to do their Christmas flowers!!
The dining room is red, so we usually always use red, but to make it more sophisticated, like the hosts, we add pink to the design. I just love how these arrangements turned out. I just wish I had a camera other than my iPhone to capture the images. Take a peek.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I'll blog some more tomorrow! Until then.....