Real Weddings: Nicole and Ryan / Marvimon, Los Angeles CA

Nicole and Ryan were married last November at the fabulous Marvimon in downtown Los Angeles. For their wedding flowers, we featured peonies, ranunculus, anemones, succulents, dusty miller, silver brunia, and seeded eucalyptus.

Here is a picture of the beautiful bridal bouquet!

… and the lovely bridesmaid bouquets.

November is when peonies start to become available again after no peonies in September and October. Ranunculus and anemones start to appear again in September after a long summer break.

Nicole and Ryan collected lots of interesting vintage finds for decorating their reception tables. Old books, a variety of different vintage cameras and vases adorned the tables. We also used mason jars for holding the flowers. Put all together, they make for unique and very creative table arrangements. Some of the titles for the books were a lot of fun (like a midcentury guide for being a good wife!). Both Ryan and his father are cameramen, so the vintage cameras were a nice tribute to Ryan and his family.

PUBLISHED!

So happy Marjan and Arman's wedding be published on

Ceremony Magazine

!  Chick on for more details!

Real Weddings: Jillian and Wil / Bel-Air Bay Club - Elizabeth anne designs

Everyone’s favorite wedding blogsite,

Elizabeth anne designs

, recently featured a wedding we did at Bel-Air bay club in Malibu. The flowers look simply stunning in these pictures taken by

Patrick moyer

Photography!

Here are some of the pictures:

Real Weddings: Tess and Jim / Westlake Village Inn

Tess and Jim were married at Westlake Village Inn, in the lovely rustic gazebo. Tess loves blue!! So we featured tiffany blue, light blue and lavender in her summer fresh wedding. 

Beautiful images provided by

Angela & Cedric photography

.

Tess carried a bouquet of ivory " polo" roses, white freesia, white dahlia, accents of light blue delphinium. The bridesmaids bouquets featured  with ivory "Polo" roses, light blue delphinium, lavender freesia and orange freesia.

Real Weddings: Nicole and Jabbar / Hilton Hotel, Woodland Hills CA

Nicole and Jabbar were recently married on a sunny Saturday in June.  The wedding was held at the Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills.  Their colors were blush pink and magenta and grey.  Here are some beautiful images provided by

 Kaysha Weiner Photography

.

Nicole carried a bouquet of white and blush pink flowers: white peonies, blush pink peonies, white “polo” roses, white freesia, and white cymbidium orchids with magenta throats.

bridesmaid bouquet

The maid of honor carried a similar bouquet but with magenta peonies, magenta dendrobium orchids, pink cymbidium orchids, white freesia, and white “polo” roses.

The bridesmaid bouquets were mostly white, blush, and pink with accents of magenta.

The ring bearer carried a pillow made of white cushion poms and decorated with pink cymbidium orchids and magenta dendrobium orchids.

Too cute!

.

We provided a large manzanita tree arrangement decorated with blush pink dendrobium orchids and crystals with the based covered with hydrangea and roses.2

A tall arrangement of all white hydrangeas accented the place card table.

Nicole was clever and wanted to use the reception table flowers as ceremony decor as well. The aisle was lined with clear glass cylinders holding magenta dendrobium orchids immersed in water as well as clear glass cylinders holding a pillar candle on a bed of blush pink rose petals. Both cylinder designs were later moved to the reception tables.

Real Weddings: Lauren and Adam / Shutters on the beach, Santa Monica CA

Lauren and Adam were married last year at lovely Shutters on the Beach hotel in Santa Monica. I really enjoyed working with these two — they are a fun and cute couple! I also was fortunate to work with them on their letterpress wedding invitations. Seeing them more frequently and also meeting their mothers were a treat!

The following beautiful images are from 

Hazelnut Photography

. Lauren and Adam’s fabulous wedding was also featured on 

Elizabeth Anne Designs.

FAQ

I am interested in hiring The Flower Lab for my wedding!  How do I proceed?

Wonderful! Make an appointment for a consultation either by email or phone and come by our studio in Santa Monica to talk about your floral needs.  You can request a consultation by email here or call us at (310) 592-3588 and leave a message.  We are available for consultations:

Do I need to prepare anything for the consultation?

You don’t have to prepare anything special, but many brides will come in with inspiration pictures they found in magazines or online to help illustrate what they like.  It might also help to look through the pictures on our blog for arrangements and flowers that catch your eye.  Usually we begin our discussion by talking about your wedding colors and any particular themes you may be going for.

How far in advance do I need to book?

We are busiest with weddings from May through mid-October.  If your wedding date falls within these months, it’s never too early to start planning your flowers!  We have had brides save their dates with us over a year in advance, and some brides contact us 2 weeks before their wedding!  About 3-6 months in advance is the average with our clients.

Who will design and make my wedding arrangements?

At your consultation, you will speak to Una, about your floral wants and needs.  I will be the one who creates the designs for your wedding flowers.  On the week of your wedding both Tweeny (my assistant) and I will make all the wedding arrangements together – the bridal bouquet will be made by me.

Can I see a sample centerpiece?

One sample centerpiece is included free of charge with your wedding floral over $ 2500 order.  If you would like to see additional centerpiece samples, we charge the cost of the centerpiece.  It is important that you schedule your sample centerpiece viewing about one month before your wedding date so the flowers are in season and we have at least two weeks to make any changes to the flowers or special orders to our suppliers.

What venues have you had experience with?

Here is just a partial list of venues and hotels we have been to:

The Victorian

Fairmont Miramar Hotel

Casa Del Mar

Shutters on the Beach

Loews Hotel Santa Monica

Le Merigot

Adamson House

The Four Seasons, Westlake Village

Calamigos Ranch

Calamigos Equestrian Center

Saddlerock Ranch

Westlake Village Inn

Sherwood Country Club

Marvimon

SmogShoppe

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Castle on the Green

The Anthenaem

Malibu West Beach Club

The Sunset Restaurant

La Chiquita Ranch

Cypress Sea Cove

… and many others!

What is the deal with candles?

It seems like every venue has their own special rules about candles.  Many are becoming more strict when it comes to open flame candles. They will ask that either you, your coordinator, or florist procure a fire permit.  For the fire department to grant a permit,  the candles need to be enclosed within a container such that the flame is at least 2 inches below the lip of the holder.  Hanging candles (such as those on manzanita branch arrangements) almost never pass because many times the structures they hang from are not fire retardant – such as a nice dry wood manzanita branch with flowers and greens hanging all over – very flammable.  For these reasons, we and most florists recommend using battery operated candles.  These actually look like the real thing – they even flicker.  You may have noticed a lot of restaurants these days using battery operated candles more and more.  They come as tea lights, pillar candles, as well as floating candles.

How much do wedding flowers cost?

Please check out our pricing guideline here to see how much we charge for the most popular wedding floral items.

Real Weddings: Katy and Andy / Japanese Garden , Cal State Ranch Long Beach

Real weddings: Jeanine and Scott /The Mountain Mermaid, Topanga CA

Jeanine and Scott were recently married at T

he Mountain Mermaid

in Topanga. The color scheme was white, blush pink, and light purple. Jeanine loved peonies so we included blush pink and white peonies in her bouquet and centerpieces. Here are some amazing images provided by

Ian Andrew photography

.

All lined up and ready to go on the tables.

A close-up of the centerpiece. Flowers include: ivory hydrangea, lavender “stranger” roses, blush pink “Anna” roses, blush pink peonies, and dusty miller leaves.

Real Weddings: Alexa and Evan /Bel Air Bay Club, Malibu CA

Alexa’s bouquet featured “polo” roses, succulents, delphinium, lisianthus, dendrobium orchids, and seeded eucalyptus for a natural, loose feel.

The bridesmaids bouquets had accents of soft pink lisianthus in addition to the “polo” roses, dahlias, delphinium, and seeded eucalyptus.

For Alexa and Evan’s wedding, the theme was natural and rustic, yet refined. After all, it was an evening wedding at a private beach club. The ceremony was held outdoors, and the chuppah was decorated with burlap draping accented with bouquets of white roses, dahlias, and lisianthus, and succulents and seeded eucalyptus. Under the chuppah were two pedestals each holding a tall, natural arrangement with curly willow branches, antique green hydrangea, queen anne’s lace, and tall stems of white delphinium. We lined the aisle with white rose petals as well as lanterns with pillar candles.

The guestbook table held a small arrangement of dahlias, roses, hydrangea, and delphinium. The table and birdcage were also decorated with jasmine vines and some loose rose and dahlia blossoms.

I really like what Una did with the escort card table! The middle and edges were decorated with a blanket of delphinium flower blossoms with accents of larger blooms including succulents, roses, and dahlias. Very cool!

We had a lot of fun making the centerpieces. 6″ glass cylinders were wrapped with a burlap ribbon and filled with a variety of flowers for a natural, rustic look. The flowers included: antique green hydrangea, “cafe au lait” dahlia, white delphinium, “polo” roses, queen anne’s lace, seeded eucalyptus, festival bush, Italian pittosporum, and jasmine vine. Interestingly, all but the hydrangea and roses were local California grown flowers!

Real Weddings: Niki and Evan / Loews, Santa Monica CA

Niki and Evan were married in April on the sands of Santa Monica at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Their colors were ivory with an accent of peach, orange, and green. Town and Country set up a walkway and platform right on the beach where we set up the chuppah and Niki’s family made the Sofreh spread of nuts, fruits, sweets, and pastries.

(Andre Niesing Photography)

Niki carried an all white bouquet of roses, peonies, lily of the valley, freesia, dendrobium orchids, ranunculus, and dusty miller leaves.

We decorated the chuppah with sheer, billowing white fabric to create a relaxed yet formal beach vibe.

On the aisle chairs were mason jars filled with roses, tulips, ranunculus, peonies, dusty miller leaves, and viburnum.

The reception was held in the Venice Ballroom at the Loews Hotel. We created elegant centerpieces in clear glass cubes filled with “polo” roses, peach parrot tulips, peach ranunculus, white ranunculus, viburnum, freesia, and dusty miller leaves,

Our work be featured on Loews's DM

FAQ

I am interested in hiring The Flower Lab for my wedding!  How do I proceed?

Wonderful! Make an appointment for a consultation either by email or phone and come by our studio in Santa Monica to talk about your floral needs.  You can request a consultation by email here or call us at (310) 592-3588 and leave a message.  We are available for consultations:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Wednesdays 8:00 am – noon

Saturdays 10:00 am – noon.

Do I need to prepare anything for the consultation?

You don’t have to prepare anything special, but many brides will come in with inspiration pictures they found in magazines or online to help illustrate what they like.  It might also help to look through the pictures on our blog for arrangements and flowers that catch your eye.  Usually we begin our discussion by talking about your wedding colors and any particular themes you may be going for.

How far in advance do I need to book?

We are busiest with weddings from May through mid-October.  If your wedding date falls within these months, it’s never too early to start planning your flowers!  We have had brides save their dates with us over a year in advance, and some brides contact us 2 weeks before their wedding!  About 3-6 months in advance is the average with our clients.

Who will design and make my wedding arrangements?

At your consultation, you will speak to me, Una, about your floral wants and needs.  I will be the one who creates the designs for your wedding flowers.  On the week of your wedding both Tweeny (my assistant) and I will make all the wedding arrangements together – the bridal bouquet will be made by me.

Can I see a sample centerpiece?

One sample centerpiece is included free of charge with your wedding floral over $ 2500 order.  If you would like to see additional centerpiece samples, we charge the cost of the centerpiece.  It is important that you schedule your sample centerpiece viewing about one month before your wedding date so the flowers are in season and we have at least two weeks to make any changes to the flowers or special orders to our suppliers.

What venues have you had experience with?

Here is just a partial list of venues and hotels we have been to:

The Victorian

Fairmont Miramar Hotel

Casa Del Mar

Shutters on the Beach

Loews Hotel Santa Monica

Le Merigot

Adamson House

The Four Seasons, Westlake Village

Calamigos Ranch

Calamigos Equestrian Center

Saddlerock Ranch

Westlake Village Inn

Sherwood Country Club

Marvimon

SmogShoppe

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Castle on the Green

The Anthenaem

Malibu West Beach Club

The Sunset Restaurant

La Chiquita Ranch

Cypress Sea Cove

… and many others!

What is the deal with candles?

It seems like every venue has their own special rules about candles.  Many are becoming more strict when it comes to open flame candles. They will ask that either you, your coordinator, or florist procure a fire permit.  For the fire department to grant a permit,  the candles need to be enclosed within a container such that the flame is at least 2 inches below the lip of the holder.  Hanging candles (such as those on manzanita branch arrangements) almost never pass because many times the structures they hang from are not fire retardant – such as a nice dry wood manzanita branch with flowers and greens hanging all over – very flammable.  For these reasons, we and most florists recommend using battery operated candles.  These actually look like the real thing – they even flicker.  You may have noticed a lot of restaurants these days using battery operated candles more and more.  They come as tea lights, pillar candles, as well as floating candles.

How much do wedding flowers cost?

Please check out our pricing guideline here to see how much we charge for the most popular wedding floral items.

Real Weddings: Anita’s succulent personal flowers

Sometimes our brides are more hands-on and crafty and decide to make their own centerpieces but hire us to provide the personal flowers. Here are some bouquets and boutonnieres we made for a recent wedding featuring succulents and dark “Schwarzwalder” mini calla lilies. We also inserted vintage buttons, which belonged to the bride’s grandmother, and incorporated them into the bridal bouquet.

The bridesmaids bouquets were slightly darker without any white mini calla lilies and were made of succulents, dark “Schwarzwalder” mini calla lilies, green hypericum berries, and green cymbidium orchids.

{One Love} Wedding Photography Workshop in Santa Monica

The Flower Lab had the pleasure of working with Sara of 

One Love Photography

, a photographer extraordinaire. Sara was running a wedding photography workshop in Santa Monica and we helped out by providing a bridal bouquet and matching boutonniere.

The pictures are STUNNING!!! For the bouquet, I had free run of whatever I wanted to create. Sara just wanted me to have fun with the flowers, and I did indeed! I had just consulted with a couple earlier that month and became inspired by their floral decor. So for this photo shoot, I planned to make a very natural bouquet with lots of interesting leaves.

At the market that week, I saw that my favorite phalaenopsis orchid supplier had buckets of these awesome bicolor yellow and burgundy orchids. I let these orchids set the tone for the rest of the bouquet and included deep burgundy mini calla lilies, burgundy anemones, dark brown/burgundy succulents, and burgundy amaranthus. In addition to the flowers, sword ferns, variegated Italian pittosporum, and large branchy leaves filled out the bouquet.

 hope you enjoy these photographs taken by Sara and her students. I love how they found such unique settings around the beach and pier for these images. Ahh Santa Monica — isn’t it a wonderful environment for your wedding and engagement pictures???

Real Wedding: Kathleen and Kenn / Santa Monica CA

Real Weddings: Jeanine and Rob / Adamson House, Malibu CA

Real Weddings: Nina and Alex / Calamigos Ranch, Malibu CA

Real Weddings: Molly and Jonathan / Marvimon, Los Angeles CA

Real Weddings: Annie and Ted / Palos Verdes Country Club.

Annie and Ted were married on a perfect June day at the Neighborhood Church, followed by a reception at the Palos Verdes Country Club. Their colors were ivory with touches of blush pink.

Annie loves peonies and it was the perfect time for white and blush pink peonies. We also used lovely ‘polo’ ivory roses and hydrangea.

Annie’s bouquet featured all white peonies in various states of openness.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of ivory ‘polo’ roses and blush pink peonies.

We placed a tall arrangement of hydrangea and peonies in the center of the escort card table with the escort cards radiating out from the flowers.

Each reception table held a low centerpiece of ivory hydrangea and ‘polo’ roses and blush pink peonies. We wrapped the clear glass cylinders with a band of gold ribbon.

Real Wedding: Holly and Gabriel / Temescal Canyon Gateaway Park, Los Angeles CA