Russell Martin Photography

Here are some pics that Russell Martin Photography provided to me of Abbey at the fashion show. How cute is she?

Our Little Star

Abbey stole the show, the fashion show that is:

Here is a a close up on Abbey's Hair done by Graceful Strands.

Who knew her hair could be so curly?

Solutions Bridal Expo

For the show we decided to continue the dress theme. Pink & green were the colors of the day.

Here is a close up of the dress.

Many people asked what the point of the dress is. Just something fun.

Playing Dress Up

What to do with two, 6 yr olds, when they come to the shoppe before a play date? Dress them up in wedding dresses of course. Abbey and Maddy got to try on the dresses one day over the summer. If I could catch all the giggles and market them, they were so silly.
The last pic is to cute, as the top fell off Abbey, and she now has a Hello Kitty Wedding dress.

Booth Inspiration

Many have asked.....where did I come up with such a great idea for our booth? It all started with a picture, and it just kind of went from there. I talked over the idea with my mom, a few good friends, Flowers Central (where I buy my flowers), Paul at Jay's Bridal, and Jeff at JS Photography. It truley was a group project.

Here is the inspiration picture. It is a design by Jerry Sibal , that was featured in Florist's Review Magazine.

I then asked Paul to lend me a hand, or should I say a dress. Here are the dresses as they looked when I first got them.

Denise at Chef Brothers Catering helped me style the dresses and helped the day of the show by taking names.

Gainesville Wedding Expo Fall 2010, Part 2

Here are a few of the fun shots we took in our floral dress photo booth.

Gainesville Wedding Expo Fall 2010

We were once again a proud participate in the Gainesville Wedding Expo, on August 29th, put on by Jay's Bridal. For our booth this time I decided to do a little something different. A photo booth with dresses provided by Paul at Jay's Bridal, photos by JS Photography, and flowers by us, The Plant Shoppe Florist. I think fun was had by all who got their pictures taken. All together I believe over 350 pictures were taken. Here are the dresses, ready for participates to jump in the frame .
An up close view of the white dress. We used hydrangea, baby's breath, roses, carnations and fuji mums as the fresh flower component. Crystals, feathers, and dried grevilia foliage painted silver added to the bling.

The pink dress had roses, stargazer lily, carnations, pink mink protea, and hypericum. Feathers and crystals were used to add to the fantasy.

Blogging?????

We have had an incredible summer and somehow I have not kept up the blogging. Between the weddings, parties, and invitations we have created there has not been much time to blog. That and having Abbey at work with me for three straight weeks didn't help much. I will try to do better, so in no particular order I hope you enjoy the upcoming posts.
Abbey is holding a bouquet she made, while I was working on flowers for the Gainesville Wedding Expo. It was a hand tied bouquet of hydrangea, carnations & statice. She sprayed the hydrangea fuchsia.

Aster: September Flower of the Month

Asters are a versatile flower, in both the garden and for the florist. There are different colors and sizes available. These are called monticasino asters, which are used as a filler flower in vase arrangements.

These are larger asters considered Japanese asters, they are more of a focal flower.

Gladiolus: August Flower of the Month

Gladiolus are a bulb plant which creates a linear flower stock. The flowers are available in a variety of colors, that include res, pink, yellow, purple, orange, white and bi-colors.

Modern Impressions by Angel

This is a Newsletter I just got from Photography 35:

Not that long ago, we processed photographs in a traditional darkroom. Today we use digital technology to do the same process. Just as with photography, paintings have moved into the digital age. Modern Impressions combines the quality portraiture of Photography 35 with the artistic brush of Angel Pachkowski. Her paintings use the same brushes and techniques as a traditional artist, just done with a modern medium. Whether it is from your family snapshot or a portrait created at Photography 35, let Angel create a Masterpiece for you.

Call the studio 352.371.9735 to schedule a painting consultation.

Visit our website at: Modern Impressions.

Here is one she did of Abbey, based off of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Water Lily: July Flower of the Month

Water Lilies are a wonderful addition to an water garden or pond. They come in many colors.

A Purple Preview....

Scott & Marlana stopped by today to check out the flowers for their wedding this Sunday.

Marlana said...

Remember when I first came in I didn't care about the flowers, well now I am excited about them.

I am glad she is excited about the Purple & Berry blooms we have found for their wedding.

Dash for the Dress, June 26th

Solutions Bridal is presenting their 2ND Annual Dash for the Dress, to support Breast Cancer Research on June 26th from 8:00am - Noon, at their Gainesville location.

Purple Love Stamps

Just went to the post office and bought the most amazing stamps that would look fabulous with Erin & Eduardo's invitations. We helped create the fabulous green & purple invitations for Erin. I just hope she hasn't bought any stamps yet, these look like they were created just for her. Below is the invitation, along with the stamps.
These invitaions are from our Exclusive II album from Carlson Craft. In this album, you can pick from white or ecru paper, and then 2 font color & font types to completely customize your invitaion. You can view our whole invitation website: http://www.theplantshope.ccaeasy.com/ We also have albums here at the shop, so you can touch & feel the invitaions.

Rose: June Flower of the Month

Such a versatile flower.

Comes in almost every color or the rainbow.

Here are some of the meanings of the different colors:

RED: Love, Passion, Respect, & Courage

WHITE: Innocence, Purity & Secrecy

YELLOW: Friendship & Joy

CORAL: Desire

LIGHT PINK: Grace & Gladness

DARK PINK: Thankfulness

LAVENDER: Love at first Sight & Enchantment

Birthday Flowers

Yes, even a florist can receive flowers for their birthday. I would like to thank Flowers Central for sending me a birthday gift of Alstromeria, Spray Roses and Peony. I would also like to thank Theresa for arranging them for me. The peony haven't begun to open yet, they will be gorgeous when they do..

Amber & Andrew: The Flowers

Amber & Andrew had a down home wedding, with sunflowers being the theme.

Here is a corsage made of viking mums, which look like mini sunflowers, tied with a rafia bow.

Both the corsage and the bout below were accented with hypericum berries.

The bridesmaids bouquets were linear sunflowers, with tree fern & hypericum, tied with rafia.

Amber's bouquet was a round handtied bouquet.

Here is the fabulous favor that was lovingly homemade for the guest to take home & "Spread the Love", a jar of Strawberry Jam.

Ceremony & Reception: Rustic Manor

Florist: The Plant Shoppe Florist

Lily-of-the-Valley: May Flower of the Month

A white delicate bell shaped flower.

Pink Alligator Pad

This is just about the cutest "GATOR" item I have found in a while. It is a stack of 150 sheets of notepaper. The pages can be personalized, and are stored in a clear acrylic holder. There is a special graduate who will be receiving one this weekend.

Earth Day 2010

Happy 40th Earth Day!!

University of Florida Graduation Spring 2010

With Spring 2010 Graduation from the University of Florida just around the corner, we wanted to highlight a few items we offer. Of course we can do Orange & Blue Arrangements, here are some of our specialties....
The Later Gator Balloon, is a recent find, he is 47" tall. Use him alone or add him to a group of our other balloons to create a balloon bouquet.

CONGRADS to the class of 2010!!!

What we do for our brides!!

As a florist we will do as much or as little our brides need us to do to achieve their dream wedding. When Abigail, one of our brides this weekend, said she would provide a few turkey feathers for the arrangement to sit next to the grooms cake, we said no problem. We figured she would bring a few that she had sitting at home or that she had bought at the store. Well, what we received was a little fresher than that......... I thought it was strange that we were told to keep them in the cooler.

Yesterday we were delivered 3 wings & 2 tail section of some freshly shot Turkeys. I called Abigail's mom and asked her what she expected me to do with the parts I had received. She told they had sent the whole pieces to me, so that I could pick what I wanted to use. Now, I do have a little country upbringing, but not that much. Luckily our Flowers Central delivery driver Jim, is well experienced. He helped me pluck the feathers.
Here I thought I'd model a potential feather hair piece.

So moral of the story is....... get even better clarification from brides when they want to provide something for their wedding.

Happy Easter!!!

Daisy: April Flower of the Month

There are many types of daisies. Gerbera Daisies are fun, energetic flowers. They look like one large flower, but in truth each petal is an individual flower. They can be found in shades & combinations of red, white, orange, yellow & pink. Here are some orange we used for a wedding. These are spider gerberas.

There are also Chrysanthemum Daisies also called daisy mums.

Of course here are my favorite Daisies......