This past weekend presented an opportunity to work with a bride at the gorgeous Sheraton on Harbor Island. The bride chose orchids and calla lilies for her green and white themed wedding. I need say no more, as the photos will tell all!
The bride's bouquet (top view)Escort card table arrangment sets the mood!
Lovely garland embellishes the very large arbor.
Escort card table arrangment sets the mood!
Cake table.
The Bride's Bouquet
 This past weekend, though dreary and a bit chilly, took us to two lovely locations for weddings. The first stop was the San Diego Botanical Gardens in Encinitas. The beautiful garden where the ceremony took place needed just a few touches to make it the couple’s own special place. White rose petals along the aisle and chair decor were lovely in their simplicity.
The bride’s bouquet was organic, colorful and filled with texture. The blue thistle and orange mokara orchids were the groom’s pick for his boutionniere and worked with the brides choice of flowers, green and ivory roses, nicely. The orange gerbera daisies added that extra pop of color which gave it that “wow” factor!
A beautiful garden ceremony site
A cascade of orchids for the cake.
The arch and flowers for the arch were both provided by Michaels Flower Girl.
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Close up - low, red roses. Far away - high balls of baby's breath
Early March took us to Escondido to the California Center for the Performing Arts for a wonderful couple’s wedding. There was a unique twist that even the event coordinator at the Center had not seen before – dinner on the stage! The flowers added to the drama of the scene beautifully as you can see:
Dinner was served on the stage.
Yes, that's me decorating the cake with fresh flowers.
Ta Da!
Just thought I would share some photos from 2 of the weddings.
The cake was a tower of icing and blooms of white and pink roses.
A lovely setting for a beach wedding
The bride chose teal colored lanterns which we embellished with pink roses and white orchids with streaming teal ribbon.
The bamboo canopy was adorned with an arrangement of white and pink flowers.
Another bamboo canopy at different beach shows a different treatment that is equally beautiful. The bride chose bright orange and tropical designs for the decor.
A tropical treatment for a beach wedding
The bamboo canopy was adorned with an arrangement of pink and white.
Lets face it, everyone is on a budget these days.Even if we are not, doesn’t it pay to figure out how to get more bang for your buck? At Michael’s Flower Girl we have been doing wedding flowers for over 20 years in San Diego and have a few tricks to share.
1) Be sensitive to seasonality. Red roses in the middle of Feb are 2 times as much as they are any other time of the year. This is going to drive up the cost. So either pick a different color rose or different flower in red.
2) Price is driven by flower type, flower count, and difficulty of construction. This may seem obvious but if you are shopping florists, and someone is much less expensive, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Ask the florist to specify how many of each stem they plan to use for that price. Be clear on exactly what you are getting for your money.
3) Make sure you look at the complete price. If you are going to pick up the flowers, this isn’t hard but if you are going to need delivery and set up, make sure this is included in the quote. You would be surprised how many brides think they have a great deal only to realize that they had left off rental of the glassware or set up.
4) Ask your florist to loan you the center piece containers or provide them yourself. This can save you large amounts of money and can provide you much more elaborate containers than you would be able to afford if you were buying them. Heck, its more ecologically friendly too.
5) Be flexible. Its amazing how much more you can get for your money when you let the florist guide you in your decision. They may have other weddings that day with a certain flower choice and if it doesn’t matter to you, why not take advantage of the florists ability to buy the flowers in bulk and pass on the savings to you.
6) Don’t be afraid to share your budget – If your are upfront with the designer they can help maximize value during the process of selecting your flowers and make suggestions to either get you more for your budget or help you save additional money.
7) Don’t be afraid to buy the package. We offer a number of packages at Michael’s Flower Girl. These are items we turn out every week and are exceptional at making cost effectively.
Hope these tips are helpful and we look forward to hearing from you soon.
Unfortunately, we at Michaels Flower Girl have been doing too many funerals lately. We hope this quick blog can help you through the decision making process in your time of grief.
The last thing you want to think about when someone dies is handling the funeral. In some cases, the deceased may have made all the arrangements in advance making the decision on casket, service, flowers etc. Then again, you may be faced with making all of the decisions yourself.
If you are in the position of making these decisions, the Funeral Home can certainly guide you on your flower choices but let us offer you some suggestions.
If you are arranging the funeral, you are going to want to make sure that the you have a spray of flowers on the casket itself. Depending on your religious affiliation, you may also want to provide rosary or pillow flowers. Casket Sprays start at about$75 and can range to over $250. Price is determined by size and flower choice. Flowers are also popular to place on the alter or pedestals besides the casket or cremains. These can range from $50 on up. If you just don’t want to make decisions, you can always say, I have a budget of XYZ and I want white and pink, and let the florist handle if from there.
If you are sending sympathy / memorial flowers, these will typically be on a wire stand adorning the sides of the casket. These are also called sprays. You can also add wording across the spray on a sash. Memorial sprays can range from $60.00 on up.
Flower colors are typically lighter tending towards whites. You are trying to convey a celebration of life with out screaming it.
Make sure to be specific with the florist about times and locations for services. Depending on the funeral home, you have a limited time from to deliver and set up the flowers.
If you have any other thoughts on this, please let us know.
Though Pamela has only been with Michael’s for 3 months, her 13 years of floral experience brings our award winning designs a new level of beauty.
Pamela’s experience includes work for a number of Hollywood notables as well as premier venues in Southern California. Come on in and have her design an arrangement or wedding for you.
 After 6 weeks, we are finally completed with our remodel. Now, brides to be, can sit in a comfortable conference room, have a cup of coffee and take the time they need to create the perfect wedding. The environment is conducive browsing the hundreds of photos of the hundreds of weddings we have designed over the last 20 years.
Call today for a free consultation and come check out the new digs!
WOW! What a difference. As with most florists, we have experienced a significant drop off in walk in business. We also new we wanted to provide a great enviorment for our brides and workers. So, what do you do? Tear out every wall on the inside of the shop and start over!Â
Demolition stated on Monday December 28th and is scheduled to be competed by January 15th. When we are finished, there will be a private consultation room for brides to relax and enjoy choosing wedding flowers in a low stress enviorment. A large screen monitor will allow all to scan through the hundreds of floral alternatives in a qick, high tech manner. Complimentary coffee and tea will be available.
Our floral designers will also have a nicer working enviorment. In order to provide the optimum creative space cramped work benches are being repalced with long open tables. Lighting is bright and airy. Production space has more than doubled to accomidate Michael’s Flower Girl growth.
Come by after the 15th to see the new us
