Melissa & Tony!

It was a true honor to prepare the wedding flowers for Melissa & Tony! Best of luck to both you!

Check out some of their pictures at:

http://animoto.com/play/t5jLNDYmBSl7PNn1aK1woQ

Fleur De Vie Teaches Wreath Making at Dolce Hayes Mansion!

What fun! We had such a blast, and the ladies made such beautiful wreaths! Check out a slideshow of our fun!

http://animoto.com/play/r102aZZ5piHHPtVSKgYKdA?autostart=true

Aimee's Beach Wedding In Monterey!

We designed centerpieces to look like tied pools using glass, succulents, protea pin cushion, monkey tails, and dahlias! Stay tuned for more photos!

Crowne Plaza San Francisco Get's A New Foyer Design!

Fleur De Vie was proud to design and install a beautiful bamboo and orchid design for Crowne Plaza-SFO! Check out the cute suspended air plants!

Wreath Making Party at Dolce Hayes Mansion!

Join Fleur De Vie on Wednesday, December 2nd, 6pm, at Dolce Hayes Mansion as we make holiday wreaths! $40 covers the costs of all of your materials! Come hang out with your friends and go home with a beautiful wreath. Pre-regiser with Fleur De Vie at (650) 815-5557 by Monday, November 30th.

Fall has come to Dolce Hayes Mansion for Intersil's Harvest party!

Bloody Mary Centerpiece!

Event: Restaurant Trade Show
Theme: Blood Mary Table

Parameters: Must use celery, lemons and olives!?!?!

Result:

Kudos to Matthew May Photography!!!

Our friends at Matthew May Photography have been selected as members of the elite SanDisk Extreme Team! Check out their interview at Carmel Valley Ranch, where you can also view Fleur De Vie's designs for Sarika and Aaron's Indian/Jewish wedding!!! For more information about Carmel Valley Ranch, contact Janice Twomey, their catering sales manager extraordinaire! She's fabulous!

http://www.carmelvalleyranch.com/
http://www.matthewmayphotography.com/blog/?p=1113
http://www.sandisk.com/microsites/extremeteam/index.html#

Feel Better!

A cheerful arrangement to lift someone's day! We wired and floated mini eggplants, and included bitter melon, purple dahlias, fuchsia mokara orchids, green hydrangea, kale, pineapple flowers, green anthurium, angel vine, protea banksia, tangerines, and interwoven branches in a beautiful urn. Enjoy!

Wohoo! We're Published on The Bride's Cafe Blog!

Check out our flowers for An + An's wedding, featured on The Bride's Cafe blog. http://www.thebridescafe.com/?postID=481&real-wedding-an-an
JL Photografia did an amazing job capturing the couple and we were honored to have prepared their flowers! http://www.jlphotografia.com/ And, Villa Montalvo provided an amazing backdrop to this beautiful wedding! http://montalvoarts.org/rentals/weddings/ Congratulations to Janet & Lisa for getting published yet again!

Method 42 Productions Featured on ABC's View From the Bay!

My friends from Method 42 Productions were featured on View From the Bay!!! Check out this clip for some great do-it-yourself party ideas!

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/home_garden&id=6982100

Becky's married! Yaa!

Under the Sea Bat Mitzvah!

This client hand drew and colored all of her under the sea place cards. Sea horses, crab, jelly fish and more, soo cute!!! For her centerpieces, I designed a fish bowl with blue jellies, sea grass, sea horses, and sea urchins, lit up with submersible teal lights! Awesome!

Monterey Bay Aquarium Cooking For Solutions!

Fleur De Vie was proud to participate in the Cooking For Solutions event at the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Attended by Alton Brown & Thomas Keller, this was the ultimate feast for foodies! We were proud to work with Janice Twomey from Carmel Valley Ranch for their Chef's table, and attend this wonderful event! These beautiful images were shot by JL Photografia--www.jlphotografia.com. Check them out, they're great!

Comp Tickets to the Wedding Salon Bridal Show in SoCal!

A Thank You Gift!

Loved this sweet, traditional design, with a unique twist! We hung the card from the manzanita branch with a matching ribbon. Very sweet, cheerful, rustic, and charming!

Carmel Valley Ranch Wedding!

We just loved Amy & Matt. This adventurous and fun couple decided on a tropical themed wedding, with bamboo, watermelon, orchids and grapefruit! We loved working with them and sincerely wish them lots of love, luck, and happiness! And, kudos to Janice Twomey, Carmel Valley Ranch's catering sales manager extraordinaire for always going the extra mile to make her clients' dreams come true! To get in touch with Janice, please follow this link: http://www.carmelvalleyranch.com/

To view a slide show of their wedding images by Kim Lemaire, please click on the link below!

http://animoto.com/play/na3uDgkShiBCZtfi94B4MQ?utm_source=share_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email&utm_content=escape_link

We Support Our Troops!

Fleur De Vie supports our troops! No, we really mean it! And, to back it up, we're giving all of our military clients 10% off. It's the least we can do! And, thank you to all of you who are out there protecting our country!

Going Green!

Fleur De Vie has always thought the environment was important, but now we're going to do something about it! We heretofore pledge to:

1.) purchase local floral materials whenever possible;
2.) decline newspaper wrapping of our purchases;
3.) recycle all prepackaged plastic, paper, and cardboard;
4.) reduce paper use by electronically sending all proposals, invoices, and contracts;
5.) recycling all foliage, stems, and non-used floral materials; and to
6.) always love the environment!!!!

Bird Nest Baby Shower Arrangements!

The beauty of being in the floral industry is that you experience first hand the generosity and consideration of friends, spouses, and family members. This particular design was ordered by a mother-in-law for her daughter-in-law's baby shower. I received a copy of the invitation, pictured below, and was requested to created something special and unique, but not too babyish. We found this to be very considerate of her daughter-in-law's style! And, her daughter-in-law loved what she described as the "earthy" designs, and we loved the harmony of the floral and textural elements, which carried the bird's nest theme throughout the event! Congratulations to our mom-to-be!

Stardust Las Vegas at Dolce Hayes Mansion!

Fleur De Vie was excited to prepare old Vegas style flowers in keeping with the Stardust Casino theme for the San Jose Chamber of Commerce event at the Dolce Hayes Mansion. Mirrors, stars, blue carnations (yes! a first for us!), peacock feathers, and crystals. Fun, funky and outrageous! And, of course, we couldn't forget an homage to an idol, Marilyn Monroe. Here's our feather and red roses in honor of her!

Slide Show of Flowers at Scheid Vineyards!

Want to feel the textures for yourself? If so, please click on the link below to view a slide show of Fleur De Vie's designs at Scheid Vineyards! These pictures by JL Photografia are amazing!



http://animoto.com/play/UtGYiM1Q1epQnqk0mj8C0g?autostart=true

Video of flowers at Dolce Hayes Mansion!

Check out a cool video of flowers for a corporate event at Dolce Hayes Mansion! Enjoy!

http://animoto.com/play/9NN0UrAxUuPHYKasRKeSPw?autostart=true

Fleur De Vie is proud to announce that it is a certified vendor with Here Comes the Guide!

Here Comes the Guide is a wonderful resource for brides planning their wedding. It provides a listing of all wedding venues, separated by geographic area, and details each venue's capacity, price range, and special rules. Here Comes the Guide also lists a small set of wedding vendors that it carefully vets. To even be considered for Here Comes the Guide, each vendor must submit a list of references from 25 wedding industry professionals and 10 recent brides.

Fleur De Vie is very proud to announce that after fmerely our years in the wedding industry, it is now a certified vendor with Here Comes the Guide! Wohoo!

Please view a our listing on Here Comes the Guide: http://www.herecomestheguide.com/service/detail/fleur-de-vie/

Cupid Stung By A Bee, de Young Floral Exhibit

Here are some wonderful images of my de Young exhibit piece taken by Pamela J. Please note the wings in my design mimicking the wings in the painting behind it and the bee flying towards the piece. What fun!

Sweet Baptism Flowers

Dolce Hayes Mansion

I had the pleasure of designing flowers for the Dolce Hayes Mansion on Tuesday. Jo Ann Danna, their Catering Sales Manager is wonderful! She did an amazing job selecting linens, plates, flatware, and barware. And, we successfully designed flowers for a corporate event with dramatic flair! Check out these pictures! I love that passion flower peeking out from behind the orchid in the bottom middle image. Can't say that I love schlepping those 10 foot tall bamboo poles, but boy, does it bring the drama! Enjoy!

Check Out These Designs!

Check out these beautiful colors for Sarika & Aaron's wedding!

Okay, so my picture taking skills require leave something to be desired! But, you get the gist! Sarika loved fuchsia flowers, and she wanted a color palate of bright, bold colors. She decided on fuchsia orchids, orange mokara orchids, and green anthuriums and cymbidium orchids. We decided to do long and low arrangements on the rectangular tables, and we designed them to look lush and full. For the cocktail tables, we designed the arrangements in Indian squash. Soo cute! Check out their professional images on Matthew May's website--http://www.matthewmayphotography.com/blog/. Enjoy!

Scheid Vineyards--Hip New Wedding Venue!

Have a yearning for a wine country wedding? Well check out this beautiful space in Monterey County! Scheid Vineyards just opened its grounds for weddings and events! Check out Fleur De Vie's designs in this beautiful space! Gotta love those eggplant cocktail table arrangements!

Pele! Props to the San Francsco SPCA!

Love my little rescue dog, Pele!

Fleur De Vie Exhibits @ de Young Museum!

The Bouquets to Arts exhibit at the de Young was a roaring success. Over 150 floral designers displayed flowers at the de Young, drawing over 60,000 visitors, resulting in one of the largest fundraising efforts for the museum. A big thank you to the ladies of the San Francisco Fine Arts Axillary who organize and tireless oversee the exhibit all week. A special shout out to Barbara Harbinson and Lisa Harris. Well done and thanks for your efforts!

Fleur De Vie designed an arrangement to correspond with a painting by Benjamin West, entitled, Cupid Stung By A Bee. I designed wings with white phaleonopsis orchids, and designed them so that they are "flying" through the frame. Thanks to the folks at Method 42 Productions, my wings actually did fly by moving up and down, and swinging around. Also, for those folks attentive to detail, a bee was flying towards the wings. Underneath the wings was a garden with bees, and Cupid's bow and arrow.

Fleur De Vie Designs Flowers for A Taste of Elegance Catering!

I was proud to provide flowers and attend a tasting at A Taste of Elegance in Pacific Groove. Annie Hobbs, owner of A Taste of Elegance, and I designed a concept that embraced the Spring flower and colors. I wired ranunculus to a live pomegranate tree, and made small "gardens of fern, maple, moss, ranunculus and accented them with flying "bees." A perfect compliment to Annie's scrumptious food and wonderful space. Check out A Tate of Elegance's website at http://www.cateringmonterey.com/. Lisa from JL Photografia really captured the textures, and "Spring" feel of this event. Always love their artistic shots. Check out JL Photografia's blog at http://www.jlphotografia.com/theblog/.

Fleur De Vie is invited to exhibit at the De Young Museum!

Fleur De Vie is proud to announce its first year as an exhibitor in the Bouquets To Arts exhibit at the De Young Museum in San Francisco! The Bouquets To Arts is an annual exhibit at the De Young where floral designers are paired with a work of art, and create a floral design interpreting the subject art. This year the Bouquets To Arts is celebrating its 25th anniversary as an beloved exhibit at the De Young.

Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–5:15 p.m, with extended hours on Friday until 8:45 p.m. Also currently at the De Young is the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit, featuring an amazing collection of dresses, gowns, and couture in the only US venue. And not for the faint of heart, a Free Day at the newly opened Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park on Wednesday, March 18!

In addition to all of this excitement, world renown floral designers will also be designing flowers during programs scheduled throughout the week. Noted floral designers not to miss are Paula Pryke, Nico De Swert, and Mark Held from Mark's Garden!

Please check out the following link for more information regarding the exhibit, parking, directions, gala and luncheon information and program schedules. http://www.bouquetstoart.org/index.asp Hope to see you there!

My Best Advice For You Brides!

After years of working in the wedding industry, I've compiled a list of suggestions for my brides, and I’m happy to share them with you!

1.) Choose your color palate. It’s important that you do this first, as it will effect all of your decisions, the dresses, flowers, favors, cake, invitations, etc.

2.) Don’t be afraid of color! I find that most brides choose white, beige, silver and gold because they believe those colors are safer choices. Believe me, unless those colors truly represent you, there’s nothing more generic and bland than those colors at a wedding. They all end up looking the same, and over time, those weddings aren’t distinguishable from other weddings you've attended. Fortunately, color is very popular right now, so go for it! Some of the most popular colors with my brides are chocolate and sage, chocolate and orange, pink and mauve, earth tones-oranges, reds, and yellows, or bold color combinations like red and aqua, mustard and black. Just think about what colors represent you, and go for it!

3.) Choose your wedding theme and style. Is your event going to be formal, funky, retro, art deco, beach casual, earthy and organic, tropical, zen, rustic, wine country chic, the possibilities are endless!

4.) Choose your venue and make adjustments to your color palate and theme as needed.

5.) Choose your invitations. Make sure your colors and theme are represented. These invitations are making the first impression guests will have of your wedding so to speak. Again, go for it, don’t fall back on traditional designs because they’re safer. Be you!

6.) Choose the dresses, and again, incorporate your colors and style. For instance, choose something less formal for a beach wedding, or a funkier shoe and head piece for an avaunt guard wedding.

7.) Work with a floral designer and design flowers that work with your colors, style, theme, and budget. Remember, be unique. For instance, for a wine country wedding, incorporate grapes, vines, leaves, and other elements. Maybe use corks for hold the place cards. Or, for a beach themed wedding, use sea urchins for place card holders, and incorporate shells into the bouquets and centerpieces. Again, the possibilities are endless. Be creative and work with a designer that understands your vision.

8.) I'm a BIG fan of colored linens and contrasting napkins. If your budget allows it, definitely go for it. It goes a long way in delivering and reinforcing your colors and theme.

9.) When you're selecting your place cards, favors, and cake, remember your colors and theme. Be creative and keep your theme consistent throughout the entire event.

10.) Most importantly--have fun! Choose vendors that you feel comfortable with and trust. Give clear and specific instructions, provide a timeline if you have one, and then, let them have at it.

I hope this helps! Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or need assistance. Happy planning!

If You're Going To Do It, Do It Right!

Designer Tips for those of you who want more than mediocre flowers available from most vendors. Hope it helps!

1.) Choose your colors carefully. If you look at a color wheel, your colors should either be adjacent to each other; or if using two colors, on opposite ends of the color wheel; or if you're using three colors, your colors should form a equilateral triangle when you're looking at the color wheel.











2.) Choose your container carefully. Please be creative, use a bowl, a mug, a teapot, but please, please, please, don't limit yourself to those generic glass vases. Be creative, and take some risks! You are sure to have something at your house that will work wonderfully!

3.) If you're using floral foam, don't hold it under the tap or forcibly submerge it under water! You must fill a vessel with water and float the foam on it in order to ensure that there are no air pockets. I know, I know, this is a total pain, and even I must admit to wanting to cut corner here. But, please don't, it will really make a significant difference to the longevity of your flowers. Also, if you're going to add floral preservative, please dissolve it in the water prior to soaking the foam.

4.) Make sure you have adequate foliage. You're always going to need more than you think! No need to run out and spend money here, simply scan your back yard and see if there's anything that you can use. Remember, you want the foliage to look good with your color palate!

5.) Pick the shape of your arrangement, i.e., tall, round, oval, eclipse, asymmetrical, etc., and green in your foliage to give a rough outline of that shape. The tallest peak of your flowers should be at least the same height of the container, if not more.

6.) Now you can start placing your flowers. Use a sharp knife, like a swiss army knife and cut your flowers at an angle so that they can take up more water.

7.) Very important--put larger headed flowers lower in the arrangement, and smaller headed flowers higher in the arrangement.

8.) Also very important--put darker flowers lower in the arrangement, and lighter flowers higher in the arrangement.

I hope your inner designer shines! Best of luck!

Fleur De Vie Sponsors The Great Bridal Expo!

So, a couple of months ago, Fleur De Vie was the sponsor florist for the Great Bridal Expo at the San Jose Fairmont. Being new to the whole bridal show circuit, we were surprised by the traffic that we experienced. The response and feedback was also overwhelming and positive, and we enjoyed being able to meet with brides face-to-face, as opposed to the usual email or phone conversation.

As the sponsor florist, Fleur De Vie was asked to provide white and pink bouquets for the fashion show. Needless to say, white and pink flowers are not commonly requested by our clients, who are often times less traditional. We decided to take our colors and work with them so that the designs were still unique and representative of what we do, but new and different. For the white bouquets, we decided to make them funky and organic, using green and chocolate as accenting colors. We used white orchids, roses, chamomile, monkey tails, and even daisies to make it fun, yet funky. To accent our flowers, we set up a sample table with linens, plates, chargers, flatware, and chairs, graciously provided by Classic Party Rentals. OMG, the end look tied in so well together, I loved the chargers and even the flatware had monkey tails on them, which tied in so nicely with our flowers. Our visitors loved the look, and we received numerous requests for price quotes.

For the pink flowers, we decided to go tropical and highlight the phaleonopsis orchid. We used green anthurium, monkey tails, dates, bamboo, and orange mokara orchids. To make the centerpiece unique and funky, we used four baby watermelon as the base, and designed the flowers coming out of it. We know, we know, watermelon?!?! Well, it turns out, it wasn't suck a bad idea after all. The design came together very nicely, and receive lots of compliments. Unfortunately, what you don't see is the cocktail table mini arrangement that we made out of a grapefruit. That piece was so admired that it must have been picked up at least a hundred times. We referred to it as the molested grapefruit.

Please have a look at some pictures! And, we're going to be sponsoring the next bridal show in San Jose on May 3, 2009, at the San Jose Fairmont. Please email us and let us know if you need tickets. We have a limited number of complimentary tickets we'd be happy to hand out.

Hope to see some of you then!