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This was the wedding where the bride contacted me a few weeks before her nuptials to figure out the flowers! I actually loved the challenge and speediness of it. She literally gave me somewhat of an idea and palette to work with, and let us do the rest. Kinda perfect actually. Laura said, purples, yellows, oranges, and greens, and lots of texture. For her bouquet, I wanted it to stand out, and be a bit more romantic than everything else. Stay tuned for the whole album, which will be posted on the website soon. We tend to wire a lot of orchids. I find it therapeutic. Well, the first twenty or so. Putting together a boutonniere. Small orange ranunculus with green hypericum (aka coffee bean). We wrapped them in satin after. How did I build the bouquet? For this I created a WHOLE NEW technique!!!! Instead of spiraling, I made a nest of the dusty miller, and then inserted the purple lisianthus, orchids, and yellow ranunculus. It was much easier to do it this way since dusty miller has short stems. After playing around with it, I used floral tape to secure it tightly and finished with ribbon. Voila! Good, no great, photos really make a HUGE difference. Bam!
Remember that reality show pilot I did this past fall with the flaming Korean guy that owns LA Premiere? On the show I was a designer along with four others that were competing to design an event he was doing. My assigned theme was Alice In Wonderland (we each were assigned different ones, but had no idea- we thought we all go the same), and I did something black, wirey and sparse. They also told me to use black and white AND include fairies - so yeah, that challenge, was... a challenge.
When it was my turn to be critiqued, they did two takes (reality for ya), and on the "That would scare a child, what were you thinking?" one, my response was "I think Tim Burton took over me". I never thought I liked Tim Burton's style, or that I was that weird in my design choice, however I kinda am. And I like it. My friend Nadiya works for the Custom Hotel. For one of their events, she said, Make something crazy, out-of-the-box; just go for it. Music to my ears. So I did, on a budet, and here's what they got. Oh-so-inspired-by Tim Burton. It sort of relates to 31 Flavors below - everyone's got a taste, and sometimes mine just isn't pretty. Today I met with a very cool gal, Melanie, who's a real-estate attorney. We were talking about creative things such as writing, and floral design. I was talking about trying not to take things so personally when it comes to design, and she said, well, it really is about taste. Just personal taste. Designs may be good, however it just may not be someone's personal taste. That's why there's 31 flavors. If I see someone order pistachio ice-cream, I think eww gross and they may look at my rocky road and think, geez, why is she ordering that. That's why there's so many variations.
Such a great way to put it. She's going to be a mom soon, so if she can explain things in ice-cream terms, I think she's gonna be a rockin ma. We were mostly talking about creative writing and when your in a crit group and they just rip you to shreds and say, Wow she was really representing this or that, or, Why would she write a character like that. They always begin these groups with, Now don't take this personally... In other words, you may suck, but don't take it personally. Of course, you may be the next Stephan King, and in that case, relish in the genius that is you. I digress. There are 31 flavors of ice-cream, and you may be able to do a form of art in 31 ways, but I say, just do the flavor that you like best. You're invited. Friday, April 6th, 2012 - 6pm:10pm Venice, CA.
Details to follow. Location announced April 2nd 2012. Kristine started as one of my interns in the Fall of 2011. Then she became as assistant. And now she's my partner (not that kind of partner, not that there's anything wrong with that, although this picture would suggest otherwise). This cracks me up everytime I look at it. Our prom-pose that now hangs on my fridge. And, we were matching in blue dresses. We got ready frantically in my car for the Utterly Engaged party after we finished working. Hot messes turned... well... a less mess.
On Wednesday I had so much fun shooting a segment for AOL Savings Experiment. We pulled this together in about five days, with the work of the producers in New York, and the camera guys based out of Los Angeles. We shot it downtown at the Los Angeles Flower Mart out of one of my vendors Villa Growers. They are the first stand on the left in the building across from the admission. This was a segment showing viewers how to save on flowers. So what did I blabber on about?
The amazing crew. Matt drove from Fresno to shoot this video. The next day they were headed to San Diego to shoot a shoe store. We did a lot of this on the fly since our location changed last minute. For each part, we did about six takes or so. The entire video will be about two minutes. Here I am wrapping up the segment, showing off what I made. Fun fact: These flowers to the right were used the next day for a Bollare trunk show for a lingerie/bridal dress line for editors. I wanted to make something feminine and classic, so I used anemones, ranunculus, snapdragons. The white hanging stems have an unusual name that I'm blanking on. Here's Juan. I've known him for probably 3 years now. So sad, he went back to Mexico the next day. His mom missed him a lot and so back he went! He's my go-to guy at this vendor, and always helps me hauling loads of flowers to the car or van. He has a little crush on me, and asked for a photo for him to bring back. I look so short here! And young? Maybe? Sure.
I really loved doing this. It's a toss up, but I really love working on camera, teaching, and doing demos. That's definitely been the best part recently of what I do. All about me, me, me! Ha;) The camera guys mentioned, Wow we've learned so much about flowers already. We'd only shot one part! Stay tuned for the link to the segment. Whoop whoop! I met Maya Myers after we both worked on the Bella Victorian Wedding (photos from Stacey Lynn Design's blog), who then turned into not just an industry acquaintance, but a good friend too. Besides being fun and full of energy, she's a damn good photographer. This is a shout-out to her great work, and I truly appreciate her taking time out of her hectic schedule to photograph the Valentine's promotion below. Stacey Kottle and her new fiance were the models. Ya can't fake that love! Well you can, if it involves flowers and jewelry. I'm pretty sure we still have about 1000 postcards left. Is it tacky to cross out 2012 and put 2013 next year? Probably. I found this picture on my cell, and was like, What the hell is this from?! Then I realized it was the bouquet. I'm making something similar for one of my lovely bride's Jennie B. this spring. You really can't go wrong with jewel tones. I used anenomes, spray roses, and dahlias. I wanted to make something easy to replicate, without using big blooms. The challenge was the girth of the stems. The cuff was a bit too big to wrap around for the shoot. Luckily it's bendable, so we stuck a few corsage pins in it on the back to tighten it. I like the idea of using a lot of small buds instead of traditional larger ones. During the shoot, we ordered Pitfire Pizza. Gratuitous food shot. And, they have gluten-free crust- hell, yes. This is probably my most favorite pizza ever. It has burrata- enough said. With citrus arugula, pine nuts, and grilled onions. How captivating is this wedding photo? So unlike anything I've seen. Three moments- one photo. Priceless. Maya could be an Amex commercial it turns out.
After the AOL shoot yesterday, more on that later, I received a call from a journalism student at Cal State Northridge, who wanted to interview me for a paper. Not the school paper, but a class paper. I was flattered:) She was raving about my designs, and when she asked how I come up with them, I said, Errr, ummm, I'm not really sure? Yeah, that's just what she wants to hear. I told her I'm a self-taught florist, so that's probably why I do things a bit differently. I don't know. There's no real point to this story, except that I was flattered, and it was sweet. I asked her to send me a copy when she's done, and she said only if she gets a good grade:)
Mostly we chatted about start-ups, and I heavily drilled that you should NOT spend a lot of money. Avoid doing so at all costs. See, I had no money when I started, so I learned how to do things like create a website, and things of that nature, that most people will pay for. My friends that did have money when they started spent it on things such as PR, advertising and stuff that if you really want to, you can do on your own. Now convenience will override money most of the time, so I get that- I just don't necessarily agree with it. The real point of this story, is that I'm creating a new category called Editorial. Why? Because I have a lot of shit to say that may not pertain to flowers. When it rains, it really does pour. I've been working pretty hard on my book The Flower Chef, and getting things in order with my amazing agent. In my mind I already have the acknowledgement dedication to her. It's kinda like an Oscar speech, but for bookworms.
After CBS, the momentum kept going! Run with it Flourgal, run! Last Friday we shot a short segment for Yahoo!'s Surprise Weddings, which Mint Julep Social Events brought me on for. Looking forward to sharing the video with you once it's up. It really is a sweet story, and fun to watch and be a part of. This week I will be shooting a short video for AOL about saving on flowers. I'm SO excited. This will be my Hi, I'm Carly Cylinder and today we're in Los Angeles at blah blah blah and I'm going to show you how to blah blah blah. Yes, I've been practicing in the mirror and to Alex, who lovingly rolls his eyes and walks away. I tend to host my own shows whether it by at a restaurant doing a food review or when we're traveling. Today I'm meeting with Paradigm in LA to chat about a YouTube show - can't wait! In other Flour related news, I will be partnering with Surfas in Culver City to bring design classes. Now THAT is really the juxtaposition of Flower and Chef. |
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