The Full Bouquet

TURQUOISE & RED HOLIDAY DECOR WITH THE BRIDES CAFE

Several weeks ago I went to Richmond to visit my friend Janie Medley. Many of you know Janie as the editor of The Brides Cafe, but she is also an amazing floral designer. Janie was working on a table design for Kathryn of Snippet & Ink and she asked if I would like to be involved. Janie chose the fabulous color palett of turquoise and red. Since I did not have any holiday decor in turquoise, I got to go do a little shopping before I headed to Richmond.

The first blooms we arranged with were Janie's ranunculus and they were absolutely perfect. I loved seeing her amazing flowers.

I brought the red peony, red cabbage roses, and some red anemone. I have to admit though, I liked Janie's amemones best.

On my shopping trip I bought lots and lots of turquoise ornaments and we put them to good use.

I also bought these small turquoise candle holders.

Janie even had a pretty little cake. All of this was photographed by the wonderful Katelyn James. Katelyn is awesome and I have been dying to meet her in person. Katelyn shot one of my weddings last Spring, but somehow I missed meeting her. We have had several fun phone chats so being with her was an extra gift of the day. I am so glad I made the trip to Richmond. Plus I even got to use the ornaments here in my little office.

Happy Monday!!

A HOLIDAY ARRANGING CLASS WITH THE WOODLEA GARDEN CLUB

Yesterday we had the pleasure of designing with the ladies of the Woodlea Garden Club. 25 members came for a visit and a flower arranging lecture. Those who wanted to take home a holiday arrangement paid a small design fee.  Some ladies even came with their favorite containers.

We provided several different types of greenery. Some of the greens are harvested right here at my flower shop home. We lined up pine-cones, pods, berries, ornaments, picks, and ribbon. The budding designers chose whatever elements their heart desired. This was a fun and relaxing change from the hustle and bustle of the wedding season.

Even Elijah got in on the action.

The hardest part of the class was remembering that Samuel needed to be picked up from preschool right smack dab in the middle of the class. I kept begging Debbie, Myriam, and Casey to help me remember that we had to go and get Samuel. It is so easy to lose track of time in the flower shop. We look at the clock and it's hours before pick up time, the next glance at the clock always reveals we are late. In addition to floral design all of the ladies help me with the kids. You have certainly heard the saying " it takes a village" around here it takes the whole flower shop team. 

I was totally impressed with the designs that were created. It is incredible to see 20 women come up with completely different designs. Every person has their own unique vision. That is why floral design is an art!!

The ladies all had a great time designing in the shop. Evergreen designs will last well into the New Year. The women of Woodlea Garden Club will be enjoying their pieces for weeks to come, and each time they see their designs they will think of their time at Holly Heider Chapple Flowers.

After we arranged our centerpieces, we left the flower shop and headed to the dinning room. We had fun setting up a little mini brunch for the ladies. I have an amazing set of The Johnson Brothers, Friendly Village China, and it is perfect for the winter holidays. The china belonged to Evan's grandmother and it is beyond precious to me. Grammy used this china as her everyday china and I have so many fond memories of being at her table. Each plate, bowl, saucer, and platter, depicts a different winter scene. One of the guests told me it is actually one of Martha Stewarts favorite collectibles. That was a fun little fact to find out. There are many days I wish I was more like Martha.

Evan's birch containers come in seriously handy this time of year, they are one of the many things he made me for this wedding season.

Designer Casey made these really cute pillows for her house, but she brought them over to my place just for fun. Casey is going to make one really super bride this year!!

The mantel is one of the few things already decorated and ready for the holidays in our home. My whole house is in a holiday holding pattern until this weekend. We wait for the big kids to come home from college, which of course is very annoying for the little people in the family.

 My office is however ready for the holidays. I am in love with Casey's moss snowman.

Many thanks to the ladies of Woodlea who came to visit. A special thanks as always, to my flower shop girls who helped me teach, helped with the kids and helped to host a lovely party.

HOLIDAY DECOR FOR CORP. AND FOR WEDDINGS

These lovely designs were loaded up and headed to Alexandria for a wedding this past Saturday. Surprisingly enough we still have weddings. Mix the weddings in with the corp. work and we are crazy busy.

Our bride wore this awesome corsage on the sash of her gown instead of holding the typical bridal bouquet. The corsage was stunning and matched the look of the day perfectly. The wedding featured one long king table with 10 very full and lovely centerpieces and then clusters of hurricanes and candlelight. I heard the catering staff was in awe when we left the site.

Our next event was a corp. party for the Immix group. The holiday party is typically held in the corp. offices. The above, all white design, greeted guests as they arrived.  It is amazing to me the way designer and Senior Account Executive Meagan, of RSVP catering, can always transform the space. This year was truly remarkable. Meagan turned the whole entire media center into a lounge complete with furniture and a white dance floor.

 All red designs were added to this completely white space.

These fun white cocktail pieces were displayed outside of the lounge where the walls are red. It was fun to play off the colors of the rooms.

Long contemporary designs flanked the board room tables. I loved the look of these designs. It is fun to be contemporary as well as classic, all in the same weekend.

Three large snow balls were created and placed on clarinet vases with silver balls. The vases lined the hall and the food stations.

Mini snowballs were used for cocktail tables on the opposite wall. These designs were so freaking awesome. I literally woke up in the middle of the night wondering if I could roll carnations in white glitter to make them look like snowballs.  To make certain that the glue and glitter would not harm the flowers I did a test early last week. We also rolled the glass square vases in glue and glitter. I loved this inspired creation.

The file cabinets were converted into an incredible floral showcase.

I left this job just in time to head back to Leesburg for an event at Rose Hill Manor. Here comes the classic vintage look...

Three 40 feet long king sized tables were created for this event. A huge round of applause to corp. planner Beth who came up with the concept. I was in love with the linen and the theme.

Each table featured 3 manzanita trees with hanging votives and crystals. Silver foliage's and dried wheat were our accent colors with the cream flowers.

Each table featured designs in mercury glass vases and designs in burlap. We loved the look of these elements with the black toile patterned linen.

Guests were treated to carriage rides by Harmon Carriages and a lovely dinner provided by Occasions catering. This was such a beautiful event and I was so thrilled to provide these super designs. BTW, I now have enough mercury glass for next years weddings. I am sure the mercury glass is going to be huge next year!

Many thanks to photographer Anne Robert who was willing and available to come out and photograph the tables. I can't wait to see the images from this event. One big problem I have found with corp. work is that there is often not a photographer at the event.

Since Anne was coming out I popped these two bouquets together just to give her a little more to shoot.

Another successful weekend.

CORPORATE AND HOLIDAY "IN THE COOLER"

We truly have created some of our most inspired designs for this weekends corp. events and our one and only bride.  We even made snowflakes, pretty impressive I know. The snowflakes were made by rolling clear tape in a tube and then dunking them in snow powder. The little rolls of tape were inserted onto the branches of our manzanita trees. There are times it actually boggles my mind that I can be so insistent on a design that I will sit and roll up tape and create snowflakes. Obsessive...

These pieces truly make my heart sing, from the wooden boxes made from old barn wood, to the natural wheat. I am thrilled with these designs and I can't wait to pair them with the mercury glass designs and our vases covered with burlap. The only thing that will be more awesome is the incredible linen they will be placed on. We are using a black toile table cloth, and I can t wait to see this come together.

We have a really wonderful wedding, and contemporary corp. party, also chilling in the cooler but we have had trouble with the blog tonight.  Each event is truly stunning and I will bring you images as quickly as I can.!!!

Congratulations to our son Alex who finished his masters dissertation today. You are an amazing man!!! Next comes marriage!!!

EVERYONE NEEDS A LITTLE HOLLY AROUND THE HOUSE AT CHRISTMAS

For 4 years straight, I had a remarkable holiday open house. We held it right here in my family room. Past brides, clients, and the community, were invited to come to our home to purchase their holiday decor. The open house was a ton of work but we loved having the freedom to create for creations sake.  Our pieces and our open house were truly amazing.

Can you imagine hosting something like this in your family room with small children? I was pregnant with Grace when we did the last open house, and last year and this year I just simply did not have the courage to destroy my family room with 3 small children, not to mention the four other kids who live here as well. You may have noticed it's hard for me to say no, or to use brakes, but I just had to find some NO for this event.  Its sad not to have open house for so many reasons, first off, it was awesome to be visited by our brides, I miss them so much after they marry. Secondly our designs are stunning and it was nice to be able to share them.

For those still hoping to have some Holly in the house we are happy to create designs specifically for you. We offer wreaths, roping, garland, kissing balls, centerpieces, as well as private design consultations for your home, so please feel free to give us a call and place an order. We will also be offering some of our designs at On A Whim Antiques as well. Fresh evergreen designs will last well into the New Year if watered.

Happy Holidays!!!