New Year, New Brides

Congratulations to all Brides!   Last Saturday, we participated in an awesome wedding show.  Here's a picture of our booth, where we try to show all styles:  natural, elegant, classic, funky, dramatic, soft, and many more. . .

I met with over 300 brides, and gave each one a hand-tied bouquet of dried lavender.  Not only do I see lots of brides, but I enjoy catching up with vendors, too.

Favorite bouquets?  Well, definitely the bolls of cotton tucked into a hydrangea, the classic calla lilies, blue orchids and the "pink mink" protea bouquet were the hit of the day.  Because the overall wedding theme for the show was "Candy", I added a pink vanilla candy fountain, which was fun.

Want to see more pictures?  Go to our photo album here: flickr.com/dahliaonline

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Dahlia is Featured in TALK Magazine

Back in September, TALK magazine contacted me for this article.  I had to get into the holiday spirit, and pull some of my favorite items together for the photo shoot.  I have seen many women photographed by TALK magazine's photographer, Josh Norris, and always thought how beautiful they looked.  So, I had total confidence that he would do a great job.  Now seeing the pics, I'm very pleased, but wish I would have worn a glittery red turtleneck, to tie in the look, but it was so hot that day!

In the photo shoot, I was surprised at how efficiently Josh and his assistant worked!   They breezed in, took about 25 shots, and called it a day.  Of course, I planned ahead of time what I wanted them to take pictures of, to make sure the article gave you, the reader some great tips.

Click on this picture to be taken to the TALK magazine's article!

We have been up to lots of things in the mean time:  Decorating BMW's tree for the St. Francis Festival of Trees, going to clients' houses to decorate, hosting Sugar and Champagne at the shop, and conducting wreath workshops for Smoak Public Relations in Patrick Square in Clemson.

Regarding St. Francis Festival of Trees, make a note that it is predominantly at the Marriott at the Parkway, due to renovations at the Hyatt.  Our tree this year is very glamorous!  I was inspired by the Whitehouse's lobby trees, which gets double the reflection from the lights, because it is placed on a reflective marble floor.  I ran with this idea, and placed mirrors and silver wrapped presents underneath the tree for that added OOMPH!   The tree is full of red garden roses and aluminum wire sphere.  I carried the mirror idea by adding mirrored garlands down the tree.  You may need your sunglasses to look at it, fair warning!

Regarding Sugar and Champagne, it was so much FUN!  Since I had guests RSVP, I hid presents from Santa around the store with their names on them, so not only did they shop in every nook and cranny, they had to find their gift.  Also, Soby's really came through for me on the sugar.  I spoke to pastry chef, Michal, and inspired her with my album of inspirational candyland pictures. 

As for the wreath decorating class, the biggest tip I can give you is to "think in triangles".  Our eyes naturally try to put like things together.  This could be shapes, colors or textures.  By keeping this in mind, create as many triangles as you can in your wreath.  The more triangles you have, the more interesting your wreath will be!  And one step further, your triangles should be as BIG as possible.  In other words, don't group 3 red ornaments in a small space, but keep them as spread out as possible, for the biggest triangle.

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BOOtiful Candy Trees to Give

This is for your best friend or favorite grandchild!  What could make them smile and laugh more than a candy tree?  We have two themes featured:  "Fall Harvest" Tree and "Trick or Treat" Tree.  Both are most festive and candy sprouting up everywhere.  We offer 3 sizes, too!

Custom trees are limited. . . so call us and order now, before they disappear. . .

The trees look even better and so much more exciting when placed near a wall with a candle close by.  The wall turns into a haunted forest!   OOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOoooooo!

Notice the painted and decoupaged clay pots, with Spanish moss bubbling over the edge.  The sticks are painted black (but we could do any color).  I really think purple would be a great contrast to the orange, being that they are complimentary colors on the color wheel.

One of my favorite things about Halloween is a chance to be silly.  Since the decorations we put up, are going to come down quickly, there's no pressure to be PERFECT.  Just have fun and enjoy the festivities!

I was so inspired by this Candy Tree project, that I painted my version of a flower still life (of course, glitter was added). Deep red dahlias, green and red apples and golden sunflowers nestled together in a compote really say fall, to me.  Why not take apples, hollow out the center, and insert a votive candle?  THEN, place them in a metal tub filled with water.  They float!!!!  This is the adult version of bobbing for apples.

Bottom line, breathe in the clear cool days.  And, smile!

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Fall Events - The Lion King

Our week is off to a great start!  First thing, Monday morning, we delivered flowers to the Peace Center for a promotional event.  The Lion King is coming to Greenville, and Disney asked the Peace Center to host an event to promote ticket sales.

Carrie and Lauren, over at the Peace Center, asked us to come up with some designs that had an African theme, without going to silly.  We used lots of African pods and grains inside the vases, which I love!  Being that the colors evoke a sunset, this worked well with this time of year.  We even included a flower call "Lion's tale", which was just awesome.

I love to put flower "nesting" in a collar of Spanish moss!  Some of the food table arrangements included hanging Jinga pods, straight from Africa.  The green privet berries came from my yard.

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