La Petite Fleur Blog

Here’s my house decorated for the season this year.  I went a little crazy, as usual! 

I also decorated my friend’s, Amy and Mark, (see blog entry http://lapetitefleurmn.com/news/?m=200607 for pictures from their weddingblog) stairwell for a surprise gift. (Their stair decorations are the bright green and orange with the sparkles and butterflies near the bottom of the post.)

Mark said it was “dope” and Amy said it made her like her house more.  I’m so glad they liked it!

Wow, I had so much fun with these beautiful flowers!  Cymbidium Orchids, Sunset lilies, Flame Callas, Pincushion Protea, Safari Sunset Leucodendron, green and red Hypericum, Crocosmia, and Myrtle made for a stunning combination of blooms for this beautiful bride’s bouquet.

The groom’s bout was a Flame Calla, Hypericum berries, myrtle and accented with red wire on the stem.  The rest of the men wore Dendrobium Orchids.  The women wore Rover Mums and Lilies.

The reception was at the historic Landmark Center (http://www.landmarkcenter.org/) where apples were abundant in all the arrangements.  Centerpiece trios consisted of a vase filled with either Haralson or Granny Smith apples up-lit with a submersible LED light topped with a large bloom of either a Spider Mum, Lily, Cymbidium Orchid, or a Rover Mum, a vase filled with grapevine and Hypericum berries, and red and white floating candles.  The beautiful cake was decorated with the wedding flowers and accented with Granny Smith apples. 

Next to the cake we set up a candy table with all the candy in the wedding colors- how fun! The head table had 15 feet of Grapevine garland accented with clusters of the wedding flowers and the bride and maid’s bouquets were to be scattered evenly on both sided once they arrived.  I can’t wait to see the pictures of the tables after they were all set. Pam and Ryan’s champagne flutes were accented with Dendrobium Orchids- how cute!

Next to the time capsule where guests write some words of wisdom or well wishes for the bride and groom to read on their one year anniversary, was my favorite arrangement.  perched upon a large vase brimming with granny Smith apples was a spiky arrangement of all the flowers used in the wedding.

 Quote from Pam:

I had an extremely positive experience working with you! You were honestly the only vendor that I was completely happy with and I knew after meeting you that my wedding flowers were in good hands! You were so easy to work with and I had a great time collaborating with you on what would look best and work with my budget. The colors and variety of flowers were exactly what I hoped for; absolutely amazing!  Everything was perfect and one of the favorite parts of my day was seeing all the flowers and how gorgeous they looked. You did such a great job and I can’t thank you enough for your hard work and attention to all the details! We received so many compliments on the flowers and I would definitely recommend La Petite Fleur to anyone looking for a florist with a great sense of design, keen eye for detail, and excellent customer service!
 Thanks for helping to make my wedding day beautiful and more than I ever imagined! I already told two friends that are getting married about you…hopefully they give you a call!
 Take care,
Pam

What a complete honor to be one of a handful of talented floral designers to be invited to decorate the Governor’s mansion for the holidays! 

The team, hand selected by Ardith Beveridge (see Blog entry All hail Ardith Beveridge, Queen Florist), met at Koehler and Dramm for a short meeting early Saturday morning and then caravaned to the Mansion.  I felt pretty special when the Guard open the wrought iron gates for us to drive  into the private parking lot.  My excitement grew as we walked up the stairs to the beautiful front door. (note the cheesy picture I took of myself!) 

Inside we were greeted by the very accommodating and pleasant staff in the Solarium, which was filled with boxes and bags packed full of wonderful items for us to decorate.  I felt like a kid in a candy store! We were given a tour, ate a wonderful breakfast, and drew from a hat to find out which room we were fortunate enough to decorate.

One other designer, Amy, and I picked the Formal Dining Room. I was so excited! I wanted the focal point of the room to be the chandelier, which I proposed to turn into an upside down christmas tree.  Amy was a bit apprehensive at first with the idea since the chandelier was shaped the exact opposite way, but I was so excited about it, that she went along with it whole-heartedly.  I asked a Mansion Staff member if they had any fabric I could use. She brought me down to the wine celler and into a linen room where I found the exact fabric I was looking for, gold sheer- What Luck! I also found a beautiful soft green sheer fabric that went with the rug and chair upholstery in the room, that eventually became the tree skirt.

We started with the greens of the tree and then put on the skirt.  From there we added sparkly bead picks, a variety of bulbs, brown and gold ribbon, bejeweled stars, feathered and gemed birds, bows, and a “topper” of an ornate ornament in the shape of a sunburst. Thank you Amy for going along with my crazy idea- we did it and it turned out better than I imagined!

We filled the punch bowl with a variety of ornaments and set it in a large berry wreath that we finished off with a sparkly leaf garland and even more ornaments.  The arrangement mirrored the bowl of fruit painting above it quite well.  Lights were adorned with Poinsettas, pretty gold ribbon bows, beaded garland, and ornaments.

We decorated the windows with evergreen and beaded garland, ornaments, candlesticks with bows, and large marble urns.  For a window centerpiece, I filled a chafing dish with greens, beaded garland, a large jeweled star, and ornaments and topped it with the ornate lid. 

The fireplace mantle was adorned with decorative little trees (also mimicked the landscape painting above it), a jeweled bird, candles, vases full of ornaments, and sparkly beaded pics set upon a garland of that sheer gold fabric and beads.

After learning the fireplace was inoperable- I decided to decorate inside the hearth. We replaced most of the birch logs with a bed of greenery, amber colored lights, one of the logs, Poinsettas, pine cones, and upside-down pointed ornaments to make it look ablaze- It was hot! (Pun intended.) 

I had such a great time and met so many wonderful people.  The time just flew by and I was excited the rest of the night. Thank you Ardith for a once in a lifetime, amazing experience!  Don’t hesitate to ask me to help again in the future, I LOVE this!

Please feel free to tour the mansion to take a closer look at the beautiful, historic Mansion and the design team’s hard work. To schedule a group tour of 15 or more people, call 651-297-2161. Tours run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., are free of charge, and are guided by the docents of the Minnesota Historical Society Women’s Organization. A photo ID is required for admittance. http://www.admin.state.mn.us/buildings/residence/

The only thing better than going to meet a new baby is to bring flowers to meet a new baby.  Here are a couple arrangements I’ve made for such events, as well as some painting I did for little Ethan.