Our Approach to Fabulous Events, and a Luxe Life
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Straight Guy with a Queer Eye
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Ode to a Simple Flower
I'll never forget the day I cried over carnations. Thom and I just started working together. We were talking about our favorite designs, our favorite flowers, and our experiences as floral designers before we met. I had some pretty stringent ideas of what I wanted Dragonfly to be, and what I was willing (and not willing) to do. I told Thom that in no uncertain terms would I ever design using carnations or silk flowers. Thom told me he liked both. And frankly, I burst into tears. I couldn't believe that this person who I had chosen to be in business with could use such a tacky, white trash flower!
Granted, I had only seen them with liatris and alstromeria in cheesy FTD-type arrangements and I will always think of the bright blue, green and red ones my high school used to sell to students on special occasions. (Maybe it's just a deep seeded resentment-- I never was popular enough with the boys at my high school to carry an armful around on Valentines or St. Patrick's Day).
Also, this was well before Martha started using them and before you could see really cool examples of how to use them by some of my design idols (Preston Bailey and Paula Pryke to name just two). I stuck to my guns for about two or three years, but then images started creeping into bridal magazines, pomanders became super popular for aisle markers and as an alternative to flower girl baskets, and brides started to ask for spheres of flower for their centerpieces and tents and garden decor! Before you know it, we started ordering carnations by the thousands.
I must say, I have grown to love carnations over the years. There is nothing like them to make composed or shaped arrangements, they come in a wonderful variety of colors and smell simple fresh and wonderful. They are a quintessential, classic men's boutonniere-- my first thought when I have a dapper groom who evokes that old Hollywood feel. 
Lately, we've found that there are fewer and fewer growers of carnations (especially the newer green and purple shades) and they're getting pricier and harder to get in large quantities. So sad.
I would hate to see this sweet little flower become a hard-to-get novelty item or worse yet, unavailable like some of my other past favorites! So, next time you want those fabulous spheres suspended in your wedding tent, or need a classic but relatively inexpensive centerpiece, or maybe just want to dandy boutonniere for dad next weekend, think of the carnation. And damn, look how cute they can be!!!
Granted, I had only seen them with liatris and alstromeria in cheesy FTD-type arrangements and I will always think of the bright blue, green and red ones my high school used to sell to students on special occasions. (Maybe it's just a deep seeded resentment-- I never was popular enough with the boys at my high school to carry an armful around on Valentines or St. Patrick's Day).
I must say, I have grown to love carnations over the years. There is nothing like them to make composed or shaped arrangements, they come in a wonderful variety of colors and smell simple fresh and wonderful. They are a quintessential, classic men's boutonniere-- my first thought when I have a dapper groom who evokes that old Hollywood feel. 
Lately, we've found that there are fewer and fewer growers of carnations (especially the newer green and purple shades) and they're getting pricier and harder to get in large quantities. So sad.
I would hate to see this sweet little flower become a hard-to-get novelty item or worse yet, unavailable like some of my other past favorites! So, next time you want those fabulous spheres suspended in your wedding tent, or need a classic but relatively inexpensive centerpiece, or maybe just want to dandy boutonniere for dad next weekend, think of the carnation. And damn, look how cute they can be!!!
Oh-- for the record, silk flowers still bring tears to my eyes. And not in a good way.
Enjoy!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
How Hard Will Your Vendors Work to Create Your Event??
Finally, after a really strange winter, and crazy early spring weather that felt more like winter, summer (my FAVORITE season) has arrived with a bang! It's early June and hot as hell outside!! The beginning of spring and summer has brought us some really fun events, but I can't help but look back at this past winter, when we thought spring and summer may NEVER arrive. One wedding stands out in my memory, and I'm guessing will remain forever in the memories of all of the family members and guests who attended. In early February, we had the opportunity to work with a couple, Jess and Josh, on their wedding at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. Of course, you think D.C.-- winter-- not so bad. Well, this year, DC really proved us wrong and that weekend set records with over two feet of snow to fall between Friday afternoon and Sunday. Completely crazy!
Luckily, Jesse and Josh had assembled a wonderful team of top notch vendors, with the recommendations and careful planning of Michele Hodges. With the weather forecast predicting heavy snow and possible blizzard conditions, we are all on high alert and watching the weather channel non-stop.
When the snow forecast on Thursday pushed the storm forward to Friday morning from late Friday evening, Thom decided that we couldn't chance not making it to this wedding and being there on time, with beautiful flowers in tow. Thom loaded up our truck Friday morning with all of the arrangements and the supplies to do some on-site designing and started the trip to DC, reaching the museum just in advance of the storm. He grabbed a prime spot in front of the Women's Museum and armed with a full tank of gas to keep the truck warm and the flowers from freezing, a snow shovel, and a cooler of provisions (I'm sure, none too healthy), he settled in for a long weekend....
To make a potentially VERY long story short, everything went off without a hitch thanks to heroic efforts on the part of Thom and all of the other truly wonderful and professional vendors working together on this wedding. We recently got to see some of the gorgeous photos taken by Juan Carlos of FotoBriceno Blog in his blog and he also was sweet enough to link to the article on this wedding, featured in the Washington Post.
Here's a call out to all of the wonderful folks who made this wedding happen:
Michele Hodges Events
National Museum of Women in the Arts
FotoBriceno
Occasions Caterers
John Farr Lighting Design
International Limo
Doctors Orders
Cliff Matheson Videographer
After seeing these frosty images, I'm going to go stick my head in the freezer and cool off!! Enjoy!
Luckily, Jesse and Josh had assembled a wonderful team of top notch vendors, with the recommendations and careful planning of Michele Hodges. With the weather forecast predicting heavy snow and possible blizzard conditions, we are all on high alert and watching the weather channel non-stop.
When the snow forecast on Thursday pushed the storm forward to Friday morning from late Friday evening, Thom decided that we couldn't chance not making it to this wedding and being there on time, with beautiful flowers in tow. Thom loaded up our truck Friday morning with all of the arrangements and the supplies to do some on-site designing and started the trip to DC, reaching the museum just in advance of the storm. He grabbed a prime spot in front of the Women's Museum and armed with a full tank of gas to keep the truck warm and the flowers from freezing, a snow shovel, and a cooler of provisions (I'm sure, none too healthy), he settled in for a long weekend....
To make a potentially VERY long story short, everything went off without a hitch thanks to heroic efforts on the part of Thom and all of the other truly wonderful and professional vendors working together on this wedding. We recently got to see some of the gorgeous photos taken by Juan Carlos of FotoBriceno Blog in his blog and he also was sweet enough to link to the article on this wedding, featured in the Washington Post.
Michele Hodges Events
National Museum of Women in the Arts
FotoBriceno
Occasions Caterers
John Farr Lighting Design
International Limo
Doctors Orders
Cliff Matheson Videographer
After seeing these frosty images, I'm going to go stick my head in the freezer and cool off!! Enjoy!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Pretty as a Paper Pinwheel
I LOVE these super-cute-as-can-be paper pinwheels from TwirlieWhirlies on Etsy. We ordered a bunch of these to put in vintage sand buckets at last month's beach boardwalk themed Bat Mitzvah. But, they come is so many fantastic sizes, colors and patterns, they would be super cute for escort cards, favors, drink stirrers, centerpieces, or even to mark the edges of the aisle at an outdoor wedding. Fun, Fun!!
Welcome to Petals and Ponderings
Hello Friends--
We are happy to welcome you to Petals and Ponderings-- the blog site of Dragonfly Event.
I must say-- it's about time! For months, we have delving into other blogs, finding ones we love, and marvelling at the clever ideas we see and the even more clever ways they are presented. That's not to say that at least once a day, we don't see something and think "Gosh, we've done that", or "We could do that even better!" But getting two old (ok, maybe not sooo old) dogs to perform some new computer tricks can sometimes be hard, so this blog has been slow in coming!
What Thom and I love most about this blogging thing is how inspired we become by the creativity and craftiness on these sites. We love this whole platform that allows us the ability to share tips, techniques, and sources, while broadening our reach to the people who want to tap into our design skills for their events.
Plus, with everyone on the computer, cell phones, or their personal electronic appendage of choice nonstop, we find that our clients come to us much more informed about the world of event and flower design. We want to continue to be a source of that information!
In Petals and Ponderings, we will share some of our favorite events with you and introduce you to the wonderful people and companies we have the pleasure of working with.
We hope that you find this blog truly informative and that it gives you good food for thought, inspirational and clever ideas, tips for stress free and fun decor planning, and an inside look into our quirky and crazy life inside the world of events.
Enjoy!
Marcy
We are happy to welcome you to Petals and Ponderings-- the blog site of Dragonfly Event.
I must say-- it's about time! For months, we have delving into other blogs, finding ones we love, and marvelling at the clever ideas we see and the even more clever ways they are presented. That's not to say that at least once a day, we don't see something and think "Gosh, we've done that", or "We could do that even better!" But getting two old (ok, maybe not sooo old) dogs to perform some new computer tricks can sometimes be hard, so this blog has been slow in coming!
What Thom and I love most about this blogging thing is how inspired we become by the creativity and craftiness on these sites. We love this whole platform that allows us the ability to share tips, techniques, and sources, while broadening our reach to the people who want to tap into our design skills for their events.
Plus, with everyone on the computer, cell phones, or their personal electronic appendage of choice nonstop, we find that our clients come to us much more informed about the world of event and flower design. We want to continue to be a source of that information!
In Petals and Ponderings, we will share some of our favorite events with you and introduce you to the wonderful people and companies we have the pleasure of working with.
We hope that you find this blog truly informative and that it gives you good food for thought, inspirational and clever ideas, tips for stress free and fun decor planning, and an inside look into our quirky and crazy life inside the world of events.
Enjoy!
Marcy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)