Dancing the Night Away

White Rose Boutonniere

Red Rose Boutonniere with Blue Feather

Yellow Roses with Silver and Black Accent

White Roses with Tiffany Blue and Silver Ribbon

White Roses with Saphire and Silver Ribbon. In this corsage is a very small #24 made out of blue and silver wire. This was her dates football number. Fun idea for a keepsake.

Just a few of the corsages and boutonnieres that went to the Earlham and Adel Homecoming Dance last Saturday.

Photos belong to As You Wish Floral and Crystal Ruth

EHS 2010 Homecoming

This week was homecoming week for Earlham High School. It is a really fun week for the kids that is topped off with a parade, the crowning of the homecoming king and queen, a football game and then the homecoming dance.

This year we were contacted to provide the flowers for the homecoming court. We were excited to be a part of this event.

Congratulations to Earlham High Schools 2010 Homecoming 2010 king and queen, Derek Miner and Andrea Haus
Photo by Crystal Ruth

They Like Me, They Really Like Me

They like me, they really like me." That is what Sally Field said as she accepted the oscar in 1985 for her performance in Places in the Heart.

Those are the words I heard in my head the other day. For two consecutive weeks photos from two weddings that I had the opportunity to create the floral pieces for were featured on the Ubloom site.

Ubloom is a site were anyone involved in the flower industry can belong. There are blogs, articles, galleries where members can show their work, flower facts, instructional videos and forums where you can ask questions and get answers from a wide variety of wonderfully talented florist.

Fridays on the Ubloom blog are sometimes photo Fridays. Early in the summer I set a goal that I wanted some of my work to be chosen for photo Friday and last week on Friday I opened up the blog to see........you guessed it, there were the great photos (thank you Justin ) from Bo and Tims wedding in August. I really enjoyed this wedding. This wedding was challenging, had great colors that I had not worked with and the bride gave me the liberty to be creative. Lots of fun.

Then this week on Ublooms Facebook page they featured another of our weddings from the photo galleries section of Ubloom. Emily and Trent who were married last May. I had the privilege to do Emily's sisters wedding this summer. I saw the pro shots the other day and can't wait to share them. Really beautiful. But any way I am off track. Trent and Emily had a beautiful purple and green wedding. Again thank you to Justin of Justin Salem Meyer Photography for the pictures of both of these weddings.

So thank you Ubloom. You like me, you really like me.

Ashley and Nate

I also coordinated this wedding that was held at Willow Creek Babtist Church and one of the jobs of the coordinator is to lay the aisle carpet. The mother of the bride had monogramed this aisle carpet (it was spectacular DeAnn) and the monogram had to be in just the right spot so that the bride and groom were not standing on it but it was just behind them when they reached the bottom of the aisle. This is a picture the photographer took of my sister and I and the mother of the bride pinning it down. Just one of those things that goes on behind the scenes of a wedding.

White roses on black aluminum wire were submerged in 39 in. tall cylinder vases for the platform area. These vases are rental items of As You Wish Floral and have been a very popular item this summer. Its easy to see why. They are contemporary, have a clean look and striking. We floated a white rose on the top with two floating candles. You can never go wrong with candlelight for a wedding.

The photographer for Nate and Ashleys wedding was Catchlight Imaging http://www.catchlightimaging.net/. and they supplied us with all of these great photos. At the wedding they had cards for everyone with one of Nate and Ashleys engagment photos on it. It gave their information along with an approximate date that you could view the images from Nate and Ashleys wedding and instructions on how to get to the proofs from their website. I loved this idea and commend Catchlight Imaging for doing this. All of the photos were fabulous. I love their work and would highly reccomend them. Love the photos. Beautiful work Paul and Nicolle. Congratulations Nate and Ashley.

KICKING OFF JUNE WEDDINGS

June is typically a busy month for weddings especially in the midwest since the temperatures are usually moderate and sunshine is abundant. June for As You Wish is full of weddings. I can't wait to start showing off these beautiful brides and the gorgeous blooms that they chose to express their style.

The first wedding of June 2010 was held in Ames, Ia. The second of three for us in Ames this year. I think that I will never forget this couple and especially the brides family. They introduced us as family and I considered that a high compliment. First we delivered the personal flowers to the church and were there in plenty of time for pictures. The church they were married at was one of the older churches in Ames and had no air conditioning. Yikes. The bride and bridesmaids were in a room with just a fan but still the bride looked gorgeous. It takes a lot more than a little heat to bring a girl down on her wedding day.

My husband helped me to deliver the wedding and even helped the grandmother of the bride get her shoes on. What a guy.

The bride Rene only had one thing that she really wanted. An arm bouquet. The picture that she showed me was of large bloosomy flowers in bold colors of wine and rasberry with ivory. The picture that she showed me was all peonies. It is important to share with brides that often they can have the same look with different flowers. Peonies that don't have a water source will wilt quickly and they can easily shatter when not tucked in with other flowers to support it. So we used David Austin Garden roses. I loved the colors and the look. The garden rose will give you that same full romantic look like a peony.

After pinning on everyones boutonnierres and corsages and instructing the bridesmaids how to hold their bouquets (and helping grandma with her shoes, we are a full service florist :) we were off to set up the reception. Rene had wanted centerpieces that would be mixed between the shorter and taller sizes. We used 24 in tall cylinder vases with roped submerged roses and cubes with blue ice crystals, a submerged led and with a pink hydrangea floating. A picture is worth a thousand words and so I will let the pictures do the talking here. I love these colors, dark burgandy, rasberry, soft pink and cream. They made me swoon. Through in a little candle light and it was perfect.

Couldn't Forget the Guys

Wouldn't want to overlook all you guys. I love the opportunity to do some fun and unusual things for the guys. Here are just two of our bouts from this year.

Just a few prom photos

Fun, fun, fun. Prom is a great opportunity to have fun with your flowers. I loved the wire and feathers. Thank you to everyone that ordered their flowers for prom from As You Wish Floral.

Romantic Flower-Ranunculus

Beautiful bouquet of pink ranunculus, pink spray roses, white lily of the valley and nerine lilies (InStyle Weddings 2008)

The Look Of Love

Romantic flowers are hot, hot, hot this wedding season. Full, round, lush these are all words that describe romantic flowers. What are some of those flowers types? A name that often comes up and many brides have in pictures of bouquets that they like are peonies, pronounced pee-0-nees. Just look at them. Large wavy petals, full round flower heads and soft feminine color that becomes more concentrated at the base. I love peonies of all colors but especially love the Sarah Bernhardts.

Peonie season is not lengthy but peonies can be found through July but be prepared to pay a hefty price. But if you love this flower you might say it is worth it. Truly a romantic flower in my book.

Prom 2010-Tradition Is Not Dead

Your flowers for prom should be an accent to your dress and style. Your prom dress is a reflection of your taste and style. One thing that never goes out of style is a word called pretty.

Pretty is often a fuller more

more romantic look. Traditional often includes roses or babies breath or lilies or orchids. This look is always a winner. How can you go wrong with roses or orchids. I mean, come on. I still love this and never get tired of seeing it. But, then again I love flowers.

Call As You Wish Floral at 515-201-5135 to order your Earlham Prom 2010 flowers.

As You Wish Floral will be donating 20% if each order to the Earlham After Prom Party.

Whats Hot For Prom 2010-WIRE

You have probably seen this material often used in submerged vase centerpieces. It is a very popular material right now and for good reason. You can make swirls, curly-q's, abstact and geometric shapes to use on either a corsage or boutonniere. I used this trend many times in last years wedding season and it continues for 2010. Accent wire comes in many colors including, silver, gold, black, green, blue, red, purple,copper and pink. Be sure to see our previous post for more pictures of wire being used.

As You Wish will hand make just for you a wristlet out of silver wire and add texture with beads or pearls. Your wrist corsage can be mounted to it with a removable base and after prom you have a keepsake. Check out the photos here for some examples and to see the unique wristlet.

Once again, check out our other prom 2010 blogs to see more photos to spark your imagination for your prom flowers.

For every Earlham Highschool Prom order As You Wish Floral will donate 20% of each order to the After Prom Party.

Whats Hot For Prom-BOLD COLORS

Prom season is just around the corner. A time filled with shopping for dresses and jewelry. Manicure appointments are being made and tanning sessions have begun

Now the big question! What is the flower trends for prom 2010. There are some fun choices out there.

Bold and bright color combinations. Bright color combinations like orange and red, orange and purple, green and black, yellow and purple, hot pink and black, the choices are endless.

Call As You Wish Floral today to order your flowers for prom 2010.

As You Wish will be donating 20% of all orders to the After Prom Party Fund.

West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner

When the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce called and asked us to talk to them about centerpieces for their annual dinner that they were having at the West Des Moines Golf and Country Club we said absolutly. In talking to them we found out that they were launching a new logo for the chamber this year. They sent us a copy of the logo and we tried to show off both the design of the logo and the colors that they used in the centerpieces. They were a hit.

The large glass cylinder vases you see in the picture on the left are our vases that are 39 in. tall. They were filled with blue water pearls, lime green carnations and roses and copper metalic mesh relecting the colors in the logo. They were used on the podium in front of banners with the logo on them .

The table centerpieces were lit from the bottom with submersible LED lights. The rooms lighting was low so it made the centerpieces really stand out.

The West Des Moines Golf and Country Club is a great venue for corporate events or wedding receptions. For more info go to www.dmgcc.org

NCMIC 2009 Holiday Party

This years NCMIC holiday party was held at The Science Center of Iowa. What a great place to have a party. Thank you NCMIC for letting us spend the holidays with you.

Surprise News

Earlham, IA January 21, 2010 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced As You Wish Floral has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Flowers and Decor.

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

As You Wish Floral is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that As You Wish Floral is among the very best Flowers and Decor within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at Ealham IA-January 21,2010- WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced As You Wish has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Floral and Decor

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

As You Wish is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that As You Wish is among the very best Floral and Decor within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/as-you-wish-earlham/a63e172aab2d6a1b.html
About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

Thank you to all the brides that gave us such awesome reviews. I enjoyed working with each of you. Nothing is better than when to see the brides face when she sees her flowers for the first time. Amazing!

The 2010 wedding season is apon us and I am looking forward to each of the weddings we have coming up. New ideas, colors and venues, oh my. It is a wonderful life.

Website On A Little Break

As You Wish Floral Design is changing it up a little on the website.  My media director a.k.a. my husband is giving the website a face lift.  If you would like to see more of my work and some of my recommendations you can go to weddingwire.com and look under As You Wish Floral Design or the zip code of 50072 and do a search under flowers. 

So the break is just temporary and the new features should be fun to have and easy to use. 

Here is a fun picture of a couple taking a short break while

 giving the brides feet a time out between pictures and the

 ceremony along with a few others by Blush Photography.   

 I never tire of red as a wedding color.  So many combinations to

 put together.  Always delightful , red.  This was a wedding that I did September of 2008 at First Assembly in Des

 Moines, www.desmoinesfirst.org.

Photo courtesy of blush photgraphs.com

Fall Weddings

It is hard to believe that the fall wedding season is here.  September, October and November all are the months that hold fall weddings.  In the fall we welcome deep rich vibrant colors like deep purple, plum, navy, burgandy and amber.  This fall and winter another color to look for is  soft creme brulee along with bronzes, coppers and black.  Yes, black is back.

For weddings during the fall season don't forget the deep rich tones of fall in with rich reds, deep golds, royal purples and outstanding oranges. 

What About The Flower Girl

Flower Girls have been known to be a show stopper at weddings (that is until the bride makes her entrance of course.)  

Not only do the wedding guest look forward to seeing those adorable flower girls and lets not forget the handsome and charming ring bearers but also look forward to any surprise behaviors that might arise as they

 make their way down the aisle.  Even at my own children's weddings these members of the bridal party did not disappoint. 

Tradition has it that there is usually one flower girl but more modern weddings can include more than one flower girl.  I remember getting up at 2:00 a.m. to watch Princess Diana's wedding on television.  Her flowers were amazing and had me gasping.  I had never seen anything like that in my life, only in my floral day dreaming but here in real life was the largest, lush bouquet I had ever seen.  Oh, sorry back to the flower girls.  She had a large number of young ladies that accompanied her down the aisle.  Adorable. 

The flower girls dresses can be a duplicate of the bride or different in style but in a color that matches the bride.  They can also be in the same color family or complimentary to the attendants.  This is your wedding so do things the way you want.  Make up your own etiquette once in a while.  After all that's were trends come from. 

Some flower options could be the traditional basket with loose petals for them to drop as they make their way down the aisle, a pomander ball, a small nosegay, a flower wreath for their head, a wrist corsage (this will give them something with color for your pictures), or a single flower to carry.  

Who Gets Flowers?

Frequently during a consultation with a bride the question of who gets flowers will come up.  So here is a check list of the many different people involved in your wedding.

Boutonnieres:

Groom

Best man

Groomsmen

Ring bearer(if he is at least 3yrs. old)

Fathers

Grandfathers

Ushers

Friends helping at the wedding (officiant, guest book attendant, musicians, readers)

Host and special family members

Corsages:

Mothers

Grandmothers

Friends helping at the wedding (officiant, guest book attendant, musicians, readers)

Hostesses, special family members and sponsors

Of course this list is a complete list of everyone who could receive a body flower.  But you should adjust this list based on personal preferences, cultural issues and budget.  Very often the bride and groom choose not to give out flowers to anyone beyond the bridal party, parents and grandparents and this is absolutely o.k. 

Notes on Etiquette:

Step parents:  The day of your wedding is not the time to let people know how you feel about your step parent.  Any unresolved issues should be taken care of prior to the this day.  I would advice against giving something smaller to your step parent or not giving them something at all.  I have coordinated  several weddings where the step parent was treated in a manner significantly different.  Step parents should be honored in the same fashion as your blood parents.  Better to be a peace keeper today than to bring any issues like this to the attention of others.  This is your special day.  Don't let anything seem larger than it should. 

Honor their wishes:  Some people really , really dislike wearing a boutonniere or corsage.  Ask your friends and family what they would prefer.  Women have many options.  Corsages can be worn as a pin corsage, a wrist corsage in their hair, on a purse or carry a small posy bouquet.  

Sorry guys you are limited to a boutonniere however if the wedding is very casual and no jackets are going to be worn you can not have boutonnieres worn with no harm done. 

A reminder: If you have a question about what direction your corsages are supposed to be in the answer is .......(drum roll please) if there is a ribbon it goes at the bottom.  Flowers go in the direction they grow.  

Image by Justin Smith of Smash Photography