Happy Veteran's Day!!

Joanna & Tim, part 2

Since Joanna had gone to school at The University of Florida, she had decided to get get married in Gainesville. Joanna & her mom made a quick trip to Gainesville a few months ago to start the planning, but most of the details were finalized over the Internet. She had ideas, but left most of the details up to the vendors she had selected. Here is her reaction when she first arrived at the reception hall. (She almost cried.)

A few of her fun details.....

Cute Orange shoes.A blue finger nail, yes GATOR pride, but more importantly to cover a black thumb nail. She had slammed the car door on her finger while visiting K-Gallery (now Verve).For a guest book she left out scrapbook materials for everyone to get creative.

For favors she made Mama's Chocolate sauce. YUMMY...Abbey has enjoyed it by dipping in a Jello Pudding Pop. Joanna said she felt like she had made so many new friends in Gainesville and wished she still lived here. She even stopped by on Monday to once again say thanks, and to buy some super cool "Just Married" magnets she had seen at the shoppe.

Ceremony: The Baughman Center
Reception: Sweetwater Branch Inn
Photographer: Verve Studio
Florist: The Plant Shoppe
Caterer: Sweetwater Branch Inn
Cake: Cakes by Jenny

Joanna & Tim

We had a super fun wedding this past weekend. The bride & groom came down from Massachusetts for their ceremony at The Baughman Center & reception at Sweetwater Branch Inn. After my only meeting with Joanna and her mom, I knew we were going to have some fun. One of the first things they told me, is that they wanted to use beer for the centerpieces. A fun bonus of putting the bottles inside vases full of water, was the magnification of the labels. Shades of orange & brown were colors of the day. To add orange to the reception we (I mean Terry) hung orange lanterns both inside & outside at Sweetwater.
I caught Jenny Wagner from Cakes by Jenny setting up the cake.
The stars on the cake & the paper lantern stars are appropriate, as the bride is an astronomer. More to come tomorrow.

Abbey's Halloween

We turned a one day holiday, into a 2 week event. A visit to a corn maze, 2 Halloween carnivals, visit to pumpkin patch(es), a pumpkin carving party and trick-or-treating. Here are some of the highlights of Abbey's Halloween activities. Abbey and "her girls" at one of the pumpkin patches.

Carving Pumpkins at Shelby's house. This year she picked Minnie Mouse, and I picked daddy to help her, since I carved it last year. She actually cleaned out most of the pumpkin herself. She wanted us to keep the seeds to grown a pumpkin. Needless to say they were roasted, and we will buy some seeds to plant.

Then for Halloween, she decided to be Strawberry Shortcake for the second year in a row. (Thanks to daddy grandma for making the costume last year.)

It was fun, but I am glad it is over.

Some Halloween Flowers

Last week we were asked to do some fun Halloween arrangements.

Here is what Theresa came up with. A cute little pumpkin.

Who wouldn't love to have this skull delivered to them?

50% Off Invitations

We are offering 50% off in-stock imprintable invitations and personalized stationery. Below are some samples or what we have in-stock.

Wedding Shower, Bridesmaid Luncheon, Rehearsal Dinner

Birthday & Kids Parties

Baby Shower & Announcements

University of Florida GATORS

Holiday Cards & Invitations

Many others are in the shoppe, and ready for you to take home.

We can print them for you now or later.

Finished Arrrangement

Here is one of the finished arrangements that the ladies at Fun with Flowers made, last Tuesday.....I know you have been waiting to see a finished one. (for some reason Blogger would not let me upload this pictures. Actually published on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd.)

Gainesville Garden Club Fun with Flowers

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to lead the Gainesville Garden Club's Fun with Flowers class. I decided on a Halloween theme. We turned spider mums into spiders, with the addition of google eyes, and pipe cleaner legs. Ghosts were added by using tissues and card holders. Here is one of the finished arrangements as well as shots of the ladies working on their arrangements.

Our Little Monkey

Here is Abbey for her 2nd Halloween, about 15 months old. You can almost hear her say OOH, OOH, AAAH, AHHH. She had been our little monkey ever since.

Haloween Arrangements

I am leading the Fun with Flowers Class for the Gainesville Garden Club on Tuesday. There will be around 40 participants, who will be there to have fun with flowers.... In trying to find inspiration for the arrangements they are going to have them make, I came across these....

Both of these are from Teleflora, which we are a member florist.

Dogigator

Thanks Shonta for sending this my way. It was attached to an email that says.....Why dogs hate Halloween. Being in GATOR Country, I of course loved this one.

Tacachale Recycling

We use Tacachale Recycling to recycle our cardboard boxes. It is a free service for us, and gives residents of Tacachale an occupation. Tacachale is a facility run by The State of Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

I found this information on The Tacachale Fact Sheet.

Tacachale - We are the oldest and largest of Florida's residential centers and opened in 1921. Our unusual name was chosen in 1990 at a time many new changes were being implemented. It is a Timucuan Indian word for a ceremony marking a new start and means "to light a new fire." Currently 468 adult men and women with developmental disabilities live here in 35 different large homes, housing from 8 to 16 people.

By using their service we are helping both the community & the environment. Jeffrey came by this week to pick up boxes and had to show off the new graphics on the pickup van, so I thought I would share them with you.

JS Photography

Just wanted to give JS Photography a little shout out. As I was driving down NW 13th Street I noticed they have once again changed their roadside sign. I saw Angelina, one of our brides, looking larger than life.

Celebrations Custom Catering

One of our neighbors is Celebrations Custom Catering. We have been fortunate to work with them many times during the year. I am always thrilled to see all the amazing items they show up with, at different events we do together, and I am not just talking about their amazing food.

They have many different linens and items which they use to enhance their food displays & your venue. But where do they store it all? Recently I was given the opportunity to take a sneak peak at their storage facility. I thought I'd share with you some of what I found. You might recognize the pink linens as the ones we borrowed for the September wedding shows.

Here are just some of the shelves they have full of display items.

I am always excited to see what they show up with at the next event.

Fantastic Fall Wedding Flowers

Meghan & Alex were married at the fabulous Thomas Center. Their ceremony was in the Turtle court and reception in The Spanish Court. Chef's Brothers provided the food and Publix the cake. Here is Meghan & Lincoln hanging out before the ceremony. Her bouquet was made of roses, solidago, billy balls, alstromeria, hypericum & carnations.

Her bridesmaids carried similar bouquets, which are featured below.

In The Turtle Court we decorated the light sconces as well as the ledge in front of were the ceremony was held. By having the arrangements low, they are not in the way of the guests watching the ceremony. The arrangements were later used inside during the reception.Meghan's Mother sent me a lovely email:
Betsy,
The flowers for Meghan’s wedding were just beautiful! We were so pleased. Thank you for everything, including helping put on the corsages and boutonnières.

Amy Lacy

Thanks for having up be part of their special day.

Ceremony & Reception: The Thomas Center
Florist: The Plant Shoppe
Caterer: Chef's Brothers
Cake: Publix

A Rustic Affair

Justine & Mike chose Rustic Manor as the site for their wedding & reception. Justine stopped by to take a look at her flowers, she had chosen a fall theme for the day. The ceremony was held under the oak trees at Rustic Manor. We lined the aisle with flowers in mason jars, and hung falling leaves from the trees. Justine's bouquet was hand tied with brown ribbon, and had a locket attached with pictures of her grandparents inside. The bridal bouquet was made of roses, sunflowers, billy balls, purple majesty, alstromeria, hypericum & curly willow.Her bridesmaids bouquets were similar, but just a little different. Here all the bouquets sit, along with the fall leaves that the flower girl will be dropping.Since sunflowers are too large for a boutonniere, we used viking daisies in their place. The groom wore a Circus rose, which held special meaning for him.I can't wait to see the images that Photo 35 captured of the day.

Ceremony & Reception: Rustic Manor
Photographer: Photo 35
Florist: The Plant Shoppe
Cake: Danette Drageset

Invitations: The Plant Shoppe Florist

Fall Wedding Invitation

Justine & Mike got married this past weekend. We had the opportunity to create their wedding invitation as well as provide their flowers. Since it is October, even thought you can't tell by the weather, they had decided on a fall theme. I say if you are going to do a fall themed wedding, then go all out. Their invitations helped show guests that they were celebrating their wedding day, on a casual fall day. Here is a sample of what we created for them.

Shannon & Klye

Shannon & Kyle were wed at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in September. Shannon's Bouquet was a hand tied bouquet of red roses & green ivy.

For her bridesmaids we used open cut calla lily. We use open cut callas, because they have a larger, fuller open bloom. They are a little more expensive, but well worth it.

Ceremony & Reception: Kanapaha Botanical Garden
Florist: The Plant Shoppe