Suprise Christmas Treats from Marlowe Berglund Events

Yesterday, I came home to find a neatly packaged little box on the porch waiting for me from Melissa Frank of Marlowe Berglund Events. She's a great event planner in Northern California out of Menlo Park. But not only does she do great events, she's a great baker! So you can only imagine my excitement to these goodies she sent me. And I truly appreciated all the attention to details from the beautiful packaging to the individual labels of each cookie type.
Hope you enjoy the progression of opening my gift as much as I did!

Happy Holidays!

PS - Floral Sense will be taking a break from our blog for the remainder of the year. Be sure to check back!
We can't wait to see you in 2010!

Meet Gabrielle Feuersinger of Cake Coquette

One of my greatest weaknesses are sweets...chocolate in particular. Offer me cake and I can't turn it down. Combine cake with great design and you might hear a 'thud'...as in, I just past out and the 'thud' was the sound of my body hitting the ground. That's how I feel about my friend Gabrielle who is the FABULOUS creative mastermind behind her gorgeous cakes of Cake Coquette.
Here's a little peek:


Yeah, I knew you would love it. Brace yourself for a little gallery of her work.



This peacock one is my latest favorites.


Sprinkles, eat your heart out!

The next three cakes may not look real but they are 100% deliciously edible.




Oh, and did I mention she did not only 1 but 2 cakes for Jack Black?!



Jack Black isn't her only fan since she's been featured in magazines like Your Wedding Day, Gentry and Bride and Bloom. And she's starting to become a regular guest on View from the Bay sharing with the San Francisco Bay Area her culinary decorating expertise.
If you would like to see more of her fantastic work, be sure to check out her website and blog. You can find Cake Coquette on Facebook too. She's based out of San Francisco. Sorry for the tease if you're not in the Bay Area!

All pictures courtesy of Cake Coquette.

Featured Wedding of Richard and Christy Park

Want to meet the sweetest couple of the year? Here they are:
Richard and Christy Park

There is no denying the love between these two.

Our groom strut his boutonniere look with a cymbidium orchid.


And our pretty bride's bouquet: red Hearts roses and pink cymbidium orchids with bling and corset stem wrap!


This perfect pair flew in from the East Coast to have their wedding ceremony at St John's Church in Orange, California.


And their lovely reception was held at the Marriott in Irvine.

What a beautiful picture of the two at their outdoor cocktail lounge.

Here's a little collage of the reception.

Love the angle of our manzanita branch centerpiece picture? We do! Those flowers you see are individual blooms of pink and red mokara orchids all hand wired.

Check out these great shots of the bridal party.
Louis and Erin of Palos Studio took some stunning photos.




And since we know you appreciate the floral details:

A close-up of the bridesmaid bouquet.


A close-up of the toss bouquet.


The stem wrap detail on the bridesmaid bouquet
with coordinating wire accent on the groomsmen boutonniere.


Congratulations to Richard and Christy Park!

A special thank you to the amazing photographers of Palos Studio for lending us your beautiful pictures.
And thank you Nancy Park of So Happi Together for your wonderful event coordination.

Floral Inspiration from a zebra?!

Design can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. But the key to great design starts at the point of inspiration. And truly anything can serve as a medium. When I am asked to design floral arrangements for an event, the first place I usually look to is the person that the occasion is held for be it the bride and groom or the birthday girl. If I'm designing for a home, I look to the homeowner and their sense of style.

Except, this time, I was given just two words:
ANIMAL PRINT.

As in this?

Hmmm....this is going to be interesting. Mother nature is one of my favorite places to go for creative sparks but I've never been given an animal to turn into some fabulous decor.

So, imagine my excitement when I came across this leaf. And yes, it's real.


Give the leaf a literal little twist:


And viola!


Its amazing what a little inspiration can do. All you need is a place to start and ANYTHING can be your muse.

And the Winner is....

KIM!


It looks like our prototype arrangement was a hit.

Kim, hope you have a fantastically stylish holiday in your limo from White Knight. Thanks for playing!
Stay tuned for more contests with some great prizes.

Contest Time! Cast your vote for a chance to win

The holiday's are on approach and some may argue that they are already here.
So wouldn't it be fun to celebrate this season in style?
Enter the $250 voucher for White Knight International limousine service in Southern California:



If you want it, all you need to do is vote "Yay" or "Nay" to this arrangement:

We want to know if you would strut this Christmas look in your home or if you just think its a little too out there. Place your comments at the end of this post and your name will be entered into a drawing. The last day to vote is Friday November 13 and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 16 so be sure to check back!

Just keep in mind the fine print to the voucher: VOUCHER IS VALID WITH MINIMUM SERVICE PACKAGE OF $550 AND MUST BE BOOKED BY DECEMBER 31, 2009.

Good luck!

Corona del Mar High 36th Annual Home Tour

For the locals of Orange County, many are very familiar with the annual Corona del Mar Home Tour fundraiser for CdM High School and Middle School. For my readers outside of Southern California, this home tour is the only fundraiser held each year for these two schools and is a huge labor of love presented by its PTA. It was amazing to see so many members of the community come together in support of these schools including the local branches of Bloomingdale's, Williams-Sonoma and Crate and Barrel. And trust me, this is SO much better than selling wrapping paper. What an honor and privilege it was to participate as a sponsor for this amazing event!

This year's home tour took place on Tuesday in which eight fabulous homes were displayed. The Hayward Residence was the beautiful home in which Floral Sense custom designed the floral decor for. And Madeline, the ever-so-gracious homeowner of this Cape Cod Charm, was so fantastic to work with.

Shall we begin the tour?

Welcome to the dining room in all its glory:

Some of my favorite features to this room are the picture collage of botanicals and the natural lighting. The concept of 'less is more' was the way to go for this table with a minimal variety of flowers.

The beautiful tabletop settings were provided by Barclay Butera. Don't you just love the seascape details?

Moving to the kitchen dining table, Barclay Butera also provided these tabletops. Those little pails at each setting are actually candles. Love 'em! And the florals: take a closer look and you'll find the use of some unusual products. See if you can label a few.

My seasonal favorite botanical to use right now is the snowberry (the tiny white balls that look like little white berries).

As you can see, this kitchen is absolutely gorgeous so a simple collection of bud vases and an apothecary jar is all that is needed for this island.

For those of you wanting to do this at home, just take some curly willow and mini calla lilies and twist them around into the jar. Its so effortless but quite impactful.


Moving into more non-traditional flowers in the bathroom arrangements, here are two very different looks but still keeping true to seaside feel.




And welcome to the outdoor living room. These fabulous furniture and accent pieces were provided by Trina Turk. I just love the bright colors and designs! The flower arrangements, of course, by yours truly in citrus colors.


The close up reveals the varying textures. Want to know a secret? I used green cauliflower.


I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Thank you Corona del Mar Home Tour for allowing me to service you! And a special thank you to Madeline Hayward, Ray and Kristin of Barclay Butera, Jenna of Trina Turk, Lori of Feathers, Natalie of A Good Affair and Drexelle and David of D Park Photography.

Vintage Inspired Floral Decor in Muted Colors

Color combos are a sure fire way to set the mood in any room. Here's a great fall look that's a little different from the traditional red, orange and yellow.

We used muted shades of lavender, red and green to soften the look and give an edge of sophistication.


Here's another angle of the arrangement.

And to show you more variation, here's a simple mix of roses and hydrangeas.

These roses are called Amnesia. You could go with a rose a shade darker called Halloween. Fitting for the season, isn't it?

Wanna change up the shape of your arrangement a little more? Make a mini bouquet and give it away as a gift.


Happy Decorating!

Say I Do at the MUZEO: The Launch

For any of you who frequent the museums of Orange County, the MUZEO is one you may have visited to enjoy a taste of history. But my bet is that you have never thought of it as an event venue. Neither have I until this past Wednesday evening in which Floral Sense attended the "Say I Do at the MUZEO" event where nearly 50 vendors participated.

This picture was borrowed off of MUZEO's website. You can see that the property is rather spacious and with an event here, guests have the option to utilize the indoor of the front building and outdoor premises inbetween the two buildings.

This gorgeous tent was set outside by Platinum Peaks Entertainment who also brought the band.

It was the perfect mood setter for a evening event.


Right next door, Hyatt Regency set up this chocolate pop wall, something they can provide as part of their catering package. Since I can't seem to get enough chocolate, I opted for the chocolate ganache and I enjoyed my few minutes of chocolate bliss.

Deciding to explore the inside walls, I came across these sophisticated tablescapes and met Cindy Park of Floral Elements who was the creative mind behind the floral decor.


What a beautiful job! It was a true pleasure to chat with Cindy.

Oh, and I fell in love with these brooch bouquets by Floral Fantasy.

Gorgeous! And these are great because they will last forever.

I'm not sure how this happened, but I ended up in the photo booth by myself.

It was kind of like being in front of a mirror and making faces at yourself when you think no one is looking. But now you're being photographed. What, you don't do that too?

Now, no night for me is complete without my sweet tooth being fulfilled again and again. So its no surprise that I ended up at the Sweet and Saucy Shop's delicious display of cakes.

Here's a little bit o' chocolate.


Aren't these just too cute?


I just adored this sugar flower that Melody of Sweet and Saucy made for this cake.


And what is this, you ask? It's a cake pop and its the last one AND its all for me! Chocolate cake on a stick + covered in white chocolate = me in sugar heaven.


I came across cupcakes too. This one was baked by Tina and Donna of Morsels Baking Company and it really was as tasty as it looks. I ended my evening at the MUZEO with these two lovely ladies handing me this cupcake to take home.
Who doesn't love a happy ending.