Mayesh National Floral Design Contest 2012

Join Mayesh in their 2nd Annual National Floral Design contest by voting for your favorite design!  If you've been following us on Facebook and Twitter, you may recall some of the designs I submitted to promote this event with Mayesh.  Here is the design sample I produced a month back from the "exotic box". 

And you can view Mayesh's blog post here.

Designers across the nation submitted their floral art and here are the 15 finalists!  My favorite is the one by Dustin Guidry of Encore Creative in Chandles, AZ.  I love the fluid line movements created with the mini callas and greenery!!  

Best of luck to all the designers! Click here to vote!

Yours truly,

Joanna

Disney Princess Floral Interpretations by Floral Sense

What little girl doesn't want a princess themed birthday party? One princess is usually enough.  But our lucky birthday girl had FIVE princesses to grace her special day!  Linda Ly, lead coordinator of Grand Soirees, called me up with a challenge to create floral interpretations of Cinderella, Mulan, Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and Jasmine (Aladdin). The colors I needed to stick to were white, pinks and slivers.  So here is what I came up with!  Let's see if you can match the floral arrangement to the appropriate princess!  Good luck!

Yours Truly,

Joanna

Floral Sense's Joanna Park: Mayesh Design Star Contest Finalist

I am completely beside myself right now.  It seems that I made it to the Final 5 for Mayesh's Design Star Contest and the rest is up to voting from you!  You can go to the link here.

Take your time browsing through the videos and vote for your favorite!  There were 38 entries in all and I am SO honored to be chosen in the Top 5!  Actually, I'm also a bit terrified since I wasn't expecting my video to be viewed by so many people. I had no idea that I would even get this far.  All I had that day was a borrowed Flip camera (which I placed on a chair) and 4 takes to get a decent video.

So, there you have it.  Voting ends on October 22, 2011.  Crossing my fingers and closing my eyes in the meantime...I can't handle the anticipation.

A special thank you to Eva Chiou of The Wedding Pantry for allowing me to use your space to film!  And thank you to Wendy Ramos of Just Wenderful for being there to give me feedback between takes (and pressing the Record button)!

Yours Truly,

Joanna

Featured Wedding at Mastro's in Costa Mesa, CA

Looking for some fun, colorful, modern floral decor ideas?  Here is a great modern wedding Floral Sense participated in back in July.  The pictures were taken with a personal camera but you'll get the gist of it all. Enjoy!

 

Yours truly, 

Joanna

Fulfilling Your Childhood Dreams

I’m a little sad that the OC Fair is over but I really only go for one reason each year.  It's to win my boys one of these ginormous animals. That’s right.  I have talent like no body’s business!  

I won the cow this year.  

The frog is from the previous year. 

And who knows what next year holds.

I just want to clarify that I didn’t wake up one day and decide that winning these animals was going to be an annual tradition. As with most things for me, I had a great source of inspiration: Randy Pausch.  If you don’t know the name, you will want to know the name AND spend the next hour or so watching his Last Lecture.  (Warning: have a notebook and a box of tissues handy.)  I refer back to his last lecture regularly.  Each time I watch it, I leave with yet another lesson and find ways to apply it to my life.  There’s the head fake lesson, achieving dreams lesson….and the ginormous animals. Yes, Randy Pausch inspired me to fulfill my childhood dream of bringing home an oversized carnival toy.  And now I’m hooked.

I remember entering the wedding industry years ago for mainly one reason: To bring to life the childhood wedding dreams for a couple (ok, its usually the bride's asthetic dreams coming true and the man just wanting his woman to be happy).  There is something so satisfying after a wedding set-up to take a moment, step back and admire the hard work of creating a gorgeous setting for a grand nuptial celebration.  And yes, each of those details make a huge difference!  Whether its the specific flower breed used to remember the couple's first date or the family heirloom brooch adorned onto the bride's bouquet, they all play part to the special day.  Truly, nothing beats having a couple tell me that their wedding decor was more than they ever dreamed!

Cheers to fulfilling your childhood dreams! 

Yours Truly,

Joanna


PS - We are returning to our original Monday/Thursday blog post schedule!

Summer Bloomin'!

Summer in Southern California is definitely a favorite of mine. The smell of sunscreen and BBQ grilling signify that school is out and the beach is in. As for us wedding folk, we get the glory of being immersed into the full swing of nuptial season. And with that come some great summer blooms for the floral decor! You may even have the pleasure of coming across these beauties in your own garden. Here are a couple of my top picks for mid-year bloomers.

Lilac


Kangaroo Paw


Cockscomb


Euphorbia


Cosmos


Dahlia


If you're planning a summer wedding for next year, you may want to consider inviting these pretty things to the party. Happy summer lovin'!

Yours truly,
Joanna

All photos courtesy of google images.

Experience This!

It surprises me how inspiration can come from so many different sources. This particular blog post was inspired by recent personal experiences that have left me forever changed.
You may be familiar with this profound quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr:

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."

Before I stepped into the floral design world 10+ years ago, the only flower I seemed to notice were the typical grocery store red roses. It didn't take long for me to hit satiation and come to dislike the red rose for its overtly common purposes. At that time, I defined good floral design as any arrangement that displayed color variation in roses. I didn't really consider other botanical components mainly because I was not aware of their existence.

Fast forward a few years, I find myself in a whirlwind of new floral experiences on a weekly basis. If you are familiar with our Facebook fan page, you may have participated in our "Name that Flower" game. This has been a fun way to share my findings with you. Here are a few of them:

Blue Thistle


Gloriosa Lily


Lady Slipper


Snowberry


Coming in contact with each new floral experience is strangely magical for me. For that initial moment, the design possibilities are seemingly endless: What new color palette can I create with this flower? What kind of emotion can I evoke with this textured component? What new conceptual photoshoots can birth from this unique floral element?

As a result, my definition of good floral design is forced to be changed and expanded. The bar of excellence is set higher. And the best part is....I can never go back to the old dimensions of what I thought was great design.

Cheers to new experiences that may forever change you for the better!

Yours truly,
Joanna

WIPA event at Church Estate Vineyards in Malibu, CA

If you've been following the Floral Sense blog, you'll know by now that detail shots are a favorite to post. From the florals, to menu cards, to food presentation...love it truly in the details. And when you pull together the wedding industry's top vendors, no detail goes unnoticed. Last Thursday, Floral Sense had the privilege and honor to participate in providing floral decor for a beautiful WIPA meeting (all the vibrant, citrus colored arrangements). The chosen venue was Church Estate Vineyards in Malibu, CA. The location may ring of bell...its where Fergie and Josh chose to hold their nuptial celebrations! After sifting through these shots captured by Immaculate Immagery, you'll agree that this is a venue worth checking out. So grab a glass of wine, sit back and enjoy the eye candy!

Speaker Area:








Guest Speakers:




Cocktail area in the vineyards:








Lunch Lakeside:








The lake was complete with adornment of black and white swans.


Dessert - Fresh mini donuts!


Thank you Chris for this fab shot!


Participating Vendors:
Venue
Church Estates
Karen Waldron
Director of Events
6415 Busch Drive
Malibu, CA 90265
310-678-6199
kwchurchestate@aol.com
www.churchestatevineyards.com

Catering
Good Gracious! Events
Michelle Nowak
5714 W Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90019
323-954-2277
michelle@goodgraciousevents.com
www.goodgraciousevents.com

Catering – Desserts
The Fry Girl Inc
Shelley Beals
2052 W. 146th Street
Gardena, CA 90249
213-590-1710
minidonutgirl@aol.com
www.thefrygirlinc.com

Catering - Beverages
Stockholm Vodka
Stockholm Imports, Inc
Erica Swenson
30495 Canwood Street, Suite 101
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
310-999-5639
stockholmkrystal@gmail.com
www.stockholmkrystalvodka.com

Linens
Napa Valley Linens
Sharon Dexmier
1054 Shary Circle Suite E
Concord, CA 94518
925-459-0470
sdexmier@nvlinens.com
www.nvlinens.com

Décor Rental and Event Design
Raj Tents
Maurice Walsh
16921 S. Western Avenue. Suite 222
Gardena, CA 90247
310-329-8222 Ext. 25
maurice@rajtents.com
www.rajtents.com

Entertainment
Trio
818-217-6118
masatoshi.sato@hotmail.com
torio.bandcamp.com

Menu Design and Printing
Grand Soirees
Linda Ly
1940 E Deere Avenue
Santa Ana, CA 92705
949-274-7725
linda@grandsoirees.com
www.grandsoirees.com

Florals
Floral Sense
Joanna Park
Anaheim, CA
714-512-2443
contact@floral-sense.com
www.floral-sense.com

Bound, A Floral and Event Studio
Rhonda Clelland

(909) 208-2171

Rentals
FormDecor
Jeff Sigler
14371 Industry Circle
La Mirada, CA 90638
714-493-9501
jeff@formdecor.com
www.formdecor.com

Premiere Party Rents
Sandy Radicevic
12100 W. Washington Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90066
310-391-2552
www.premierepartyrents.com

Coffees
Andrew Resnick
The Cappuccino Club, Inc.
8005 Masefield Court
West Hills, CA 91304
818-347-0472
andrew@thecappuccinoclub.com
www.thecappuccinoclub.com

Photography
Imagery Immaculate Photography
Chris Griffiths
18818 San Felipe Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
562-537-6844
iiphoto@mac.com
www.iiphoto.net

DJ
Vox DJs
KC Campbell
500 S. Sepulveda Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
310-372-2222
kc@voxdjs.com
www.voxdjs.com

Thank you to our co-chairs for this event:
Sarah Kern Possick, Events of Distinction
Michelle Nowak, Good Gracious! Events

Events of Distinction
Sarah Kern Possick
310-463-6520
sarah@eventsofdistinction.com
www.eventsofdistinction.com

Good Gracious! Events
Michelle Nowak
5714 W Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90019
323-954-2277
michelle@goodgraciousevents.com
www.goodgraciousevents.com




Sending a special THANK YOU to Mike Kanaly for tech support.