What flowers do you think of in December? There are centerpieces for celebrating Christmas, traditionally in reds and greens. And, there are arrangements celebrating Chanukah and the winter season, and at FlowersFlowers, we often make those with white flowers along with gray and silver accents.
There are also weddings in December! We had two December weddings, both using whites and reds as their wedding colors. Here are two beautiful photos taken by Maggie Rife from one of our weddings.
Just think of what January, and a new year, will bring!
FlowersFlowers is honored to have had the opportunity to interview Carolyn Shepard from Carolyn Shepard Design Group, the premier floral event and design company, based in beautiful Charlotte, North Carolina. Carolyn has extensive experience in the field, working with nationally recognized event planners, traveling and working both nationally and internationally, as well as heading up her event company.
FF: Ms. Shepard, how long have you been in the wedding and event design business, and how did you get started?
CS: 28 years ago, I was dating this guy, and his parents owned a flower shop. They needed a designer, and I had been to school for interior design, so they taught me rock solid mechanics, and a career was born.
FF: What is your favorite part of the process of creating the design for a wedding?
CS: Easy! Creating the color palette for the client!
FF: The least favorite?
CS: When the client brings too many opinionated, negative family members or friends. I want to hear what SHE likes!!!
FF: Particularly since you’re originally from the Midwest, do you think that there’s a difference in wedding and floral design in the South vs. Midwest?
CS: Absolutely. I think Southern designs are different than the entire rest of the US! Southern work has and will always have a lush, relaxed feel. Other parts of the US generally are a bit more ‘stiff’, for lack of a better word. I feel that your work looks lush and textural and Southern. Maybe like me, you should move here! 
FF: Thanks! I’ll be staying in Chicago, for now! What is the most significant change you’ve seen in weddings over the last 10 to 15 years?
CS: Two things; one good, and one bad. The good: Martha Stewart’s influence on brides and the general public awareness of flowers. It was, and continues to be, HUGE. The bad: The troubling and most unfortunate anti-’brick and mortar’ sentiment combined with the DIY (do-it-yourself) fad.
FF: Do you have a favorite wedding bouquet that you’ve designed?
CS: Hmmmm, too many to even consider as my favorite. If I had to pick the ONE, it would probably have been the one I made in Abilene, TX about 15 years ago. They handed me 2 or 3 coffee cans FULL of lily of the valley, and said, “Here you go, make her a bouquet, will ya?”. How could it NOT be amazing? It was yummy! I can’t take credit for ‘designing it’. The product did the work, not me.
FF: Yes, we do get to work with a beautiful product. Thank you, Carolyn!
Carolyn and more info about Carolyn Shepard Design is at info@carolynshepard.com, www.carolynshepard.com, 704.523.5237
Photography by George Street Photography
For any of you following FlowersFlowers’ weddings, you’ll know that we always have an abundance of beautiful purple themed weddings. Whether it’s because we’re in Evanston, or because we’re near Northwestern University, or simply because the brides that become my customers like purple, bottom line, we design many purple weddings. And, there’s many flowers that are purple, from hydrangea to roses to freesia to orchids. Here’s just a sampling, from deep purples to light lavenders, we’re passionate about the entire purple palette!
Photography by Kim Shokouhi
Photography by Kim Shokouhi
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I am going to start this blog by saying that I absolutely LOVE white bouquets (all year round!). As much as I also love flowers and bouquets filled with color, there’s something about a white bouquet that positively shouts ‘bridal bouquet’. I will let these photos speak for themselves with their beauty.
Photography by Erica Rose Photograhy
Photography by Jill Brazel Photography
Photography by FlowersFlowers
Photography by Peter Coombs Photography
Photography by FlowersFlowers
Photography by FlowersFlowers
I have neglected my blog (since May!), and now that we are mid-summer, FlowersFlowers is very busy and focused on weddings. And, rather than starting back to blogging by discussing wedding bouquets and centerpieces, let’s talk about the guys! I always say that the men aren’t fully dressed for the wedding until they have their boutonnieres pinned onto their lapels.
White ranunculus boutonniere; photography by Erica Rose Photography
I usually recommend that that the groom has a boutonniere that matches a bloom in the bride’s bouquet, and encourage the groom’s boutonniere to be a bit different from the other boutonnieres, whether it’s larger, has additional accents, or in a different color.
- White calla boutonniere with purple freesia accent; photography by JPP Studios
As you can see from these boutonnieres, FlowersFlowers loves to have the groom looking stylish. These are a few of the grooms we’ve helped to finish ‘dressing’ by pinning on their boutonnieres; take a look at the lush ranunculus blooms, the clean lines of the calla, and the non-traditional style of the craspedia and fern fronds.
Fern frond boutonniere; photography by Jill Brazel
Craspedia boutonniere; photography by Erica Rose Photography
Mother’s Day is on May 8th, a week from today, and this is your opportunity to say ‘thank you’ and ’I love you’ and show your appreciation.
Whether she’s Mom, Mother, Mama, or Mum, when you send flowers from FlowersFlowers, you’ll know why we have so many ‘regular’ and loyal customers, from weekly customers to once a year customers, they know that they’re going to get flowers that are beautifully designed and the highest quality with excellent customer service.
This week, we’ll have Dutch hydrangea (pinks and lavenders!), peonies, lilac, ranunculus, garden roses, tulips, orchids, calla lilies, and so much more. Plus, of course, we’ll have wonderfully lush hydrangea plants as well as the best orchid plants available in the area!
Here are just a few of the arrangements we’ve made in the last week or so.
Does your Mother live out of town? FlowersFlowers can assist you in sending her flowers by working with our network of other florists that understand and appreciate the quality of flowers you expect! Call us to order your Mother’s Day flowers, whether your mom is near or far!
I find beauty in all the flowers in my shop, and some are traditional beauties while others are what I’m going to call ‘unusual’ beauties. These are the flowers some people may call ‘interesting’. Here in the shop, as designers, we are particularly attracted to the blooms that are out of the ordinary.
Some flowers are just unique to us because they grow in countries with gardens very different from ours, while others are variations in nature, such as the burgundy scabiosa bloom which seems to be inside out next to its neighboring ‘normal’ blooms. Mother nature creates each of these flower blossoms, all beautiful. 
Enjoy the photos I took of some of the ‘unusual beauties’ in our shop this week.
Spring is a time of growth, a transition period, with green sprouts emerging from the muddy brown earth and buds appearing on barren trees, despite the drifts of snow still lingering from past snowstorms. It’s not officially spring until March 20th, and most spring flowers in the Chicago area don’t start showing their blooms until April, however spring has been in full bloom in flower shops since January!
Having a spring wedding and wondering what flowers are available? Most people are familiar with many of the ‘bulb’ flowers such as tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. Perhaps less known and just perfect for their beautiful delicate blooms include muscari, anemones, and ranunculus. Blooming branches are available at this time of year and include quince, forsythia, and cherry. These are great for adding height to arrangements.
FlowersFlowers has created several options to inspire you! Cristina G Photography was behind the camera lens capturing the beauty, and Pensiero Ristorante generously provided their restaurant space for our photoshoot.
The simple and striking arrangement of the coral quince branches surrounded by the lush pink hydrangea, along with rose colored mercury glass votives, provides a gorgeous centerpiece arrangement which can be used at nearly any venue, from a restaurant to a loft. We floated the votive candles to add a bit of an edgy flair to the classic votive candle.
I always love whites and greens, and this floral design uses a grass green ceramic pot as the container, and the hydrangea, anemones, stock, orchids, and green trick, create a fresh spring, low and lush arrangement, perfect for any wedding, from 20 guests to 200 guests. We again added mercury glass votives to the table, adding warmth to the décor.
For a simple, yet dramatic look, a single bloom such as a tulip, will create a beautiful wedding table centerpiece. Add the floating votive candles, and you have a beautiful spring look.
The men get to show a bit of their spring flower fashion with boutonnieres, bold yellow ranunculus or the gorgeous and fragrant hyacinth boutonniere are some of the many options.
This muted pastel bouquet is a posey of lilac, anemones, scabiosa and garden roses, sure to be loved by brides who like a vintage or garden look.
I love flowers. Absolutely LOVE them. And I love being surrounded by them in the shop. So, it’s probably not a surprise that I take flowers home with me, though I don’t have an abundance of them, as some might expect. I spend most of my day at the shop, so just a small touch of flowers at home is perfect for me.
Garden roses on my kitchen table
I think of my kitchen as the center of my home, both physically and emotionally (!), and there’s usually a small vase of flowers on the kitchen table, next to the PC. Having coffee in the morning, reading the news via the internet, with a simple, yet beautiful vase of flowers next to me is the ideal way to start the day. Usually there’s a cat nearby as well!
I often use a cluster of 3 small vases (vintage milk bottles, mason jars, or bud vases) in which to put some of the blooms I’ve been admiring from the shop.
So, yes, in just above every way, I take my work home with me.
“What do you have?” That’s a questions some of our customers ask when they call to place an order. The full answer would be a long list, so we usually just respond with a short list.
We describe FlowersFlowers as a European style flower shop. What does that mean? It means we have a wide variety of flower types, we sell the flowers by the stem, and it’s a market driven variety. The flowers are easily accessible to customers who walk into the shop; they can walk around and see what we have, the costs are posted, and they can pull the stems themselves to make an arrangement, or can ask for our assistance. We are unique in our area to sell flowers in this manner.
So, what IS available on this cold and windy day in January when we have a blizzard warning that is expected to dump 24+ inches of snow on us? The flowers come from distance warmer (!) places, and I’d like to share a sampling of them with you, via photos on the internet!
The callas ranging from shades of orange to burgundy are from Holland, the mokara orchids are from Thailand, and the bold yellow freesia is from California.
We have green and burgundy hypericum from South America, pink and white stock from California, and hydrangea from New Zealand. There’s also fragrant mimosa, snowy ginestra, pastel lisianthus, and much more!
And, then of course there’s the bunches of colorful tulips, fragrant hyacinths, and delicate muscari, all from Holland.
When you walk into the shop in January, you transition from the cold Midwest wind and snow to the warm fragrant abundance of FlowersFlowers. The spring flowers let you imagine it’s April in Chicago, before you head back out into the cold again. Hopefully you’ve chosen a few blooms to take home with you.
Photos in this blog were taken by the talented Rebecca Plotnick. My many thanks to her for capturing the essence of the flowers.
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