Botany, Boutonnieres and Bouquets

“THE MORE A BRIDE DECIDES TO DO ON HER OWN, THE MORE SHE NEEDS TO HIRE A COORDINATOR.”

If a couple decides to scale back on vendors and tackle the decor, flowers and other aspects of their wedding alone, the more they’ll need to hire someone who will be able to execute their vision flawlessly.  {Enter Coquette Events.} They may have ample family and friends who are willing and able to help, but will Uncle Bob know what the centerpiece should look like or will Aunt Sally know how to arrange your dessert buffet?

These are the wise words of Karen of Huckleberry Karen Designs. I had the pleasure of meeting her this weekend. Along with nine other women, I gathered in Karen’s SF studio on Saturday afternoon and eagerly awaited for her to drop some floral knowledge on us at her Design Floral Workshop.  After three fun-filled hours, we all successfully created a boutonniere, a pin-on corsage and a bouquet!  We also learned how to choose our blooms, process the flowers and a few other skills that are valuable assets in any coordinator’s repertoire.

Here’s a few images from the workshop – all photos were taken by Greg Ma.

:: Karen teaching us the ABC’s of flowers ::

:: processing some roses and spider mums ::

:: my finished bout and pin-on corsage ::

:: working on my bouquet / getting some help from Caroline, Karen’s assistant ::

:: my finished bouquet!! I stuck with a white color palette and designed this for a garden wedding. I used vendela roses, spray roses, spider mums and wax flowers.  What do you think?? ::

:: my classmates and I pose with Karen (on the left) and our bouquets ::

Creating that perfect bouquet is not as easy as one may think.  What bride hasn’t thought to herself “Why is that bouquet so expensive?  It can’t be THAT hard to arrange the flowers together.” Well, I learned on Saturday that it does require a lot of patience and skill.  On countless occasions, I stared at my bouquet with looks of bewilderment.  I kept thinking to myself that something was wrong … but what?  Finally with the help of Karen, I realized that it was a bit lopsided.  Being the Type A person that I am, I could have kept staring at it, but for the sake of sanity, the class was ending and I needed to wrap it up (literally and figuratively.)  For a first try, I think I did a pretty decent job.  However, I now have a much greater appreciation for florists and their abilities to create that perfect arrangement.  Kudos to Karen and others in her field!!

Tags: bouquets, boutonnieres, bouts, DIY, Flowers