April Showers Bring May Flowers....

Many years ago...ok many many years ago...one of my very first jobs was working at a plant nursery and florist.  I loved watering in the green houses - the musty smell of green plants and dirt always made me happy.  I loved pruning the young maple trees....and I really loved it when I got to go inside and watch (and then finally one day help) the designers making the flower arrangements.  Tom and Millie...they taught me so much about making beautiful flowers....Tom taught me how to hand wire a wedding bouquet - and I have always been proud of the fact that I am able to do that!  Thank you Tom!

Well last Spring I had the pleasure of doing the wedding flowers for one of our favorite ballerinas - Miss Sarah!  Which meant to start off the fun I got to go to one of my all time favorite places...the San Francisco Flower Market!  It is an amazing place.

You can find anything you could imagine there...from gerber daisies to...

daffodils....

to any kind of tulip you can think of....

to which ever shade of ranunculus that you might be looking for....

need dried flowers?  They have those too...

maybe some flowering branches...you get the idea it is all there!!!

I got my first taste of the flower market when I worked for a florist in Emeryville.  A trip to the flower market with her was a story in itself!  Great memories!

So for Sarah's flowers we went to the market with her and her mom a month or so ahead of time to get a feel for what she wanted.

Another wonderful thing about the San Francisco Flower Market is the cafe there...and we were treated to a wonderful lunch!  It's something you should do when you go!

And then just before the big day in May...my girlies and I took another trip to San Francisco to pick up what we needed!

We had ordered some of our items and then tooled around the market looking for the best prices on the other items we needed.  Hydrangeas, ranunculus, viburnum, amaranthus....

So.... the results of our labor...the photos at the wedding were taken by Patrick Pike - if you are looking for gorgeous, innovative, unique, thoughtful photography he is the one for you....AMAZING

Here are some photos that we took at home....nothing like Patrick's so please make sure you go to his site and look at his!!

To see pics of my flowers (mine and my girlies...they helped a lot!) go to Patrick's site - there is a little bar on the bottom of his pics to scroll left and right...scroll to the right to find #115 that is Sarah's wedding and my flowers!

So last spring the April showers brought Sarah's May flowers...and I so enjoyed being in the midst of flower making again after a long time away from it.

xoxo     Elizabeth