LeTs bE MaRRy!!

Bicycle built for two

2012-01-30T21:41:00.000-08:00

The Flourist finally got to do a wedding that featured decorating two of our favourite things...a bicycle and a mini cooper ;)

We booked this December wedding quite early on, though some of the details were only finalised closer to the date of the wedding. It was fantastic to be back in the swing of things again, after the short baby break.

The theme was purple and white, and the bride and groom wanted a country look for their wedding. So we used simple heart shaped frame with orchids for pew ends, and tall arrangements for the altar. With the colour theme, we used a lot of orchids for this wedding - from the accessories to the church decoration. The altar arrangements had to be tall to be seen - so we used the idea of a hand bouquet of orchids and adapted it for a vase arrangement. We tinted the water for the altar arrangements to make sure it was in theme...

The wedding was at a church on Tanglin Road, and had an interior decor with wood panelling and wooden pews with plush seats that went well with the country theme. Add to that a bicycle out the front to greet guests at the wedding - the country quirk was perfect. We had such a lot of fun decorating this wedding! For the bicycle we used purple brassica (the cabbage looking flower) and lots of little daisies - the idea was to have a just picked look for the bicycle. We then decked it with ribbon in case the bride and groom decided to use it as their get away vehicle ;)

The only departure from the purple country scene was of course the bridal car... but I love the mini cooper, and obviously so did the couple and it was their day - so who cares if the red clashed with the purple...we simple left out the purple for the car, and used white gerbera daisies and roses and lots of green to make the flowers pop.

It's the new year!!!

2012-01-24T22:20:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012 everyone!
yes we have been very very quiet last year - and we have kept the reason very quiet which was naughty. the truth of it is we have been so deliciously pre-occupied with an addition ;)

lil K was born on 30 June 2011, and while we have done a few events since then, it has been crazy trying to keep up with a little human who changes on a daily basis, and DEMANDS more time than our clients! difficult to imagine, but true I promise you.

so, this year we promise to be more up to date in our updates, and if we are on a whirlwind of experiences we will be sure to let you in on the secret so you can rub your hands in delicious excitement too ;)

stay tuned for some updates of some pretty special weddings we did toward the end of 2011, and look forward to more weddings in 2012!

lets be marry everyone!!

Did you see us??

2011-05-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

Now that The Flourist is a member of the ABC Singapore, we put out a joint ad in Style Weddings March issue ;)

I love the art work that went with it - Thanks to Jonathan Goh of ABC.

We are featured!!

2011-02-16T02:10:00.001-08:00

Remember the Garden Asia themed shoot we did last year?

Well the article is finally edited and now online!!!

go check us out ;)

http://www.extraordinary.com.sg/feature_contents.asp?feature_subID=74&feature_sub_subID=159&mclick=1&layout=2

Tiffany blue to say I DO!

2010-12-23T00:31:00.000-08:00

December was a crazy month - there were quite a few things going on with photo shoots and planning for other projects, and the usual rush to the end of the year.
In the midst of all the madness, the blue should have been the calm - and I guess in many ways it sort of was. thankfully for this wedding we had sufficient time to turn the ballroom into a masterpiece - the theme started off as a wintry wedding, and then suddenly morphed into a tiffany blue, white and silver number, with a touch of frost.

So, we had cherry blossom trees with babies breath tied on them to create a three dimensional effect of snowy boughs, table centres had mock tiffany boxes all wrapped up with a simple white floral arrangement in the centre and tiffany blue chair sashes. The ballroom was set up such that the main table was elevated on a platform in the middle of the ballroom (idea courtesy of the wedding planner Wedding Acts Pte Ltd) and it was just a blue blue blue all the way - chair sashes, table overlay and a tall centre piece arrangement in the middle with blue and silver trimmings.

we covered the base of the platform with some green and white foliage and flowers bringing a bit of the forest undergrowth inside!

and in a nod to the latest trends for weddings these days, the couple opted to have a candy table - blue and white candy, silver wrapped hersheys, blue candy canes, marshmallows and jelly beans. sadly with most people watching their sugar and no children about to take full advantage of the candy, a lot of this went to waste :( but the display looked lovely!

PSSST - handy tips
Now for those of you who are planning a tiffany blue wedding - a word to the wise... it is not an easy colour to source stuff, and it gets lost if it is an evening function with low lights - SO if you are happy with white light everywhere and sourcing for a good few months before your big day go right ahead. look for vendors who will rent you stuff cos it will be difficult to repeat the colour at an event at home - whereas red and white always works for all manner of merry-making.

Tis our last post for 2010 - we hope you have enjoyed the work as much as we have enjoyed sharing our experiences with you -
come back for more posts in 2011.
till then HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Sneak Peek - photo shoot at GardenAsia

2010-12-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Just in case you had not heard, we are now the selected few vendors who have partnered with Extraordinary Weddings (Singapore), an online wedding website for all your wedding planning needs.
So to commemorate this new partnership, The Flourist was roped in for a quirky photo shoot out Kranji Way in a lovely green lung called GardenAsia.

While we wait for the official photos, I thought I would tempt you with some sneak peaks...
the theme was relaxed solemnization, a touch of vintage with bright cheery colours. The fun part was that we used very different flowers than the normal roses et al, which was a welcome change.

I just know you are loving it and are already planning for these colours for your big day! Go for it - this is a perfect example of less is more - the budget can be easily kept low for a set up like this, and is so effective - though I would recommend it for the cosy laid back touch of retro couples.

PSSST!! by the way Extraordinary Weddings has a promotion for couples planning the knot, with a promotional card filled with discounts and goodies from selected vendors - pick yours up now!!

we are members!

2010-11-25T18:38:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce we are members of the Association of Bridal Consultants ;)

Coming from an accounting background where professional memberships were the be all and end all of all our exams, this is an interesting development. Now at least we are accredited so to speak.

The Association consists of consultants, venues and vendors, and the idea is that we all work together and learn from each other - and most importantly we are on the same page in terms of educating soon to be newly weds ;)

So make sure you look for the stamp when you engage your wedding vendor.

Red Black and White Drama - is there any other kind....

2010-11-24T18:15:00.000-08:00

So this was major - my largest wedding party and in a verrrrry prestigious hotel in Singapore, and for a partner of weddingfavours who have been very kindly sending business my way.... Talk about pressure!

In addition to all that, the hotel had a wedding luncheon on the same day which only ended at 4.30pm - which gave us realistically only 2 hours to set everything including chair sashes and candles and aisles and entrance pieces up - stressed - YOU BET!

I had four little elves this time, and my husband who were very helpful on the day, and put up with my stressed out self and we pulled it off! the ballroom looked fantastic - and the couple walked in decked in white - verry dramatic ;)

So - we had RED chair bows (yup the kind Mini Mouse wears) on every other chair - all chairs were in white, and the table cloths were black. For the centrepieces, we used jars with the wedding card motif on and the wedding favours in the jars. The wedding favours were red pens with a silk flower and feathers on the end. This way once every guest claimed their favour, the jars could be removed in time for the chinese dinner to be served.

(TIP - this is a great way to save on your flower spend - usually for chinese course dinners these table arrangements get removed, so if you are on a budget, try and come up with other ideas for the table centre that you won't feel so bad when it gets removed - get your florist to help ;) )

The couple had in mind roses and cage like arrangements, and so i worked on a style that was in the same vein but with different touches - mainly black feathers, tall willows spray painted in black, lanterns instead of cages etc...

The stage and the entrance pieces were the same, while the aisle were smaller pieces - rattan cage balls with red roses clumped together all over - i loved this effect. It was the first time i had attempted something like this, and was very pleased with the effect.

The two main tables were tall arrangements with roses and other red and black foliage, with beads hanging down - I kept tables simple with candles and minimal petals for a clean look.

There was also a candy table for which the main arrangements was done in feathers, and a few small rose blocks - there was so much candy on offer there was hardly any place for flowers!!!
I was pleased with the effect of this, and pleased we pulled it off in such a short time for set up - complete with a few transport dramas!!
Photos by yours truly ;)

first corporate gig

2010-11-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

yup - we don't only do weddings people ;)
we were very fortunate, thanks to our association with Wedding Acts to decorate the opening of a very large and prestigious law firm here in the Red Dot.
The location was the swanky new address in Anson Road, and it was held on the terrace which has a beautiful landscaped exterior to die for - lots of water features and up in the sky with a view of the business district - i wish all events could be in these locations - the breeze though was a little scary - seriously tables were swaying!!

anyway, the theme was to fit in with the logo, which was blue and white - so out came the hydrangeas again. And to add a touch of whimsy i used my little birds with peacock feathered tails in the cocktail table arrangements.
The taller arrangements were more modern, and the registration tables used chinese inspired blue and white bowls to keep within the theme.

The cocktail tables had little dark blue bows tied at the base - making them look like little white penguins all in a row. I had fun with this one more than any others cos it was up to me to come up with a simple design - and keeping it fresh and modern with clean lines.

photos by yourstruly

step right up - next sept 18th couple

2010-11-04T02:52:00.000-07:00

The second couple for this auspicious day was M&S. M is Malaysian and I met her on my very first assignment with Shangri-la hotels. Those were the days when i worked for the hotels, and i used to drag anyone who would care to come along (usually M was the poor unsuspecting soul) to all the ballroom deco days to see what they were doing for the events happening at the hotel.

So when she called and asked, how could i say no... the only problem was because I work with a small number of people, i could not do as much as she wanted (ie the car etc etc etc). But it all worked out.

M met S on the internet, and it worked - he came to visit her in Malaysia, and was hooked on both! They both looked so happy and filled with joy that night it was a lovely sight to see.

So, their theme was mainly green and white, with a touch of pink - and the venue was Bangsar Seafood Garden and Restaurant. The garden was the main thing that we had to spruce up. I did the wedding accessories and the venue deco.

The bride wanted big bold lilies in her bouquet, and thats exactly what she got for her morning tea ceremony. I did not confuse the bouquet with anything else but some huge dark green foliage- unfortunately the photo does not do it enough justice...or at least so i say ;)

The corsages were lisianthus with christmas greens, and we even had mini corsages for the mini members of the wedding party ;)

As they had the tea ceremony in the morning, and then the dinner in the evening, and given her choice of flowers were lilies, i did not trust the flowers to last the day - so i made a smaller bouquet for the evening - still with lilies, but this time with a few lisianthus thrown in.

The staircase up to the garden area was decorated with tea light candles, and the bannister had little test tubes of flowers hanging on them - i used lisianthus and roses for this - and the origami birds from a previous wedding made their appearance here. When you got to the top of the staircase you were greeted by the huge lanterns with the tall reeds ala balinese style - I know i know you are thinking you have seen these before - well yes, i did re-use the arrangement from the first wedding, but made it slightly different with the ribbons, colours and the bird cages in the styling.

Unfortunately I did not manage photos of the bannister and the entrance, but got the rest - so i hope your imagination is running wild!

the aisle was decorated with the same idea as the morning pews, but with the benefit of time, we managed to add more foliage to the cups and finally achieved the look that I was happy with - my hardworking team really pulled together for these. Sadly some children thought it was fun to knock them over - thankfully only after the happy couple walked down the aisle - note to self - don't forget to secure the cups to the ground!!!

The signing in table borrowed from the birds hanging at the bannister and on the trees in the garden, and so included the bird cages with lilies and roses in them.

the table arrangements were simple and pretty - unfortunately they were removed by the time the second course was served - a lot of the reason why I usually discourage couples to have something on the table for a chinese dinner, cos it is a displacement of your precious budget.

This was a great experience and i was so pleased to be doing it for someone who was there when the seed was planted (excuse the pun) with my flower and deco stuff -

congrats M&S - I really hope you had a lovely day.

Photos courtesy of YouStudio and yours truly.

the first sept 18th couple...S&J

2010-11-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

So - as you have probably already read in the last post, in a temporary moment of insanity, The Flourist agreed to decorate two weddings in the one day.
One was booked WAAAAAAYYYY in advance all the way from London, and the other was slightly last minute but was a close ex-colleague whom I used to drag to all the ballrooms in the hotels were were auditing to check out the decoration ideas.

The first couple for the day were S&J - they had contracted me to the church wedding, a wedding cake for the luncheon, all the wedding accessories, car decoration and the main table centre-piece for their dinner.

S&J were stunning on the day - not to say they were not stunning otherwise (hole getting bigger here - help!) but really they looked like suave movie stars of yesteryears. S's dress was so unique and beautiful - i have done a lot of weddings and this dress has to be up there in dream dresses category - and J in his suit cut really a dashing figure.
they were so stunning in fact, that for the first time in a departure from my usual philosophy of keeping the couples anonymous, I am putting up a picture of them at the end of the day - now who would not want to get married after this shot!

S&J seem to have been together for longer than most people which is a fantastic achievement in itself if you ask me. Stories I have heard of J paint him to be the cutie pie that all the girls flocked to, but he only had eyes for the husky long haired beauty, S. And their friends and family are amazing - fun loving, supportive and very creative judging by the video that was created for their dinner ;)

The first call was mainly to make their wedding cake for the afternoon of the luncheon after the church wedding. This was going to be my first commercial wedding cake - not counting all the practice sessions and simple one that I have done in the past! Go to www.theflourist.blogspot.com for more stories on this one. I started on the sugar flowers for the cake a month in advance!!! definitely a story you will want to hear.

The theme - red, pink and white.

We did the car the night before - usually my car designs are very simple - mainly because my couples are on a budget and rather than wasting flowers on a car that people see maybe for for 15 minutes, I tend to go for the less is more -
in this case it was quite a BLAM effect with a white car and red ribbons and tulle.

The church pews were meant to have branches but at the last minute, my supplier pulled out - which meant I had to invoke plan B of tall green foliage - I have to say I was a little disappointed with the pews - the lack of time meant I did not have time enough to check them, so they ended looking a little meagre on closer inspection, and I should have used a different ribbon - hmph not pleased. but with the pedestal pieces at the entrance stealing the show, I think everything looked good.

The altar and crucifix pieces stayed at the church, so were done quite simply to keep in line with the budget.

The pedestal pieces at the entrance to the church were huge pieces set in lanterns with tall foliage tipping the height at 7 ft!

The bride's bouquet had a centre cluster of red roses, surrounded by white and red anthuriums. I loved the way it turned out. the bridesmaids were her lovely sisters, and had lovely lisitanthus posies dotted with red hypericum berries. sweet!
The corsages were simple within the red and white colour theme for the groom, groom's men and parents.

The Flourist also provided the centre piece for their evening dinner held at GlenMarie Resort - the original design that the couple wanted had flowers going down the entire length of the support, however given the budget that they wanted to stick to, i compromised with a little gap and flowers are the base. By sheer luck the hotel had thankfully used similar flowers and stands for the aisle so it all looked lovely.

and the bride and groom? just stunningly, happily married!

photos courtesy of Alan from 'photoz' and yours truly

September 18th lucky for most

2010-11-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

September 18th was a very busy day for the team at The Flourist.

We had already accepted an earlier booking which included a church wedding, and the provision of the centre-piece for the main table at the evening reception.
And then at the last minute, the chief received a request from an old work colleague to help decorate her wedding venue on the same day - thankfully only for the evening event.

So after much thought and planning, the team took on the challenge of doing both!

The first wedding was a red white and pink theme, while the other was white and green with touches of pink. In the interest of the environment and of course many budgets, we opted to keep similar themes for both events, with changes in the set up and of course the colours used.

Both events turned out great for the most part, and yet again we learnt some valuable lessons, hopefully never to have to be learnt again ;)

We will feature both weddings separately as they both deserve due attention - so make sure you read both posts!

Malaysia Day Nuptials

2010-09-24T00:51:00.000-07:00

Red and gold was the order of the day for this lovely couple.

The Flourist met A&G we did in May. They were MOST taken up with the eggplants and the limes that we used in the deco for that wedding, and sought us out for some decoration assistance.

A&G were getting registered and wanted some simple enhancements for the groom to be's home where the deed was to be done ;)

So, I went a rummaging in my bag of tricks and found these brilliant baubles. Who says they must only be used at christmas time I say! These were really nice ones (none of the gold dust laden ones thank you) and were not being used any longer, and so I adopted them some months ago waiting for the right opportunity to use them - and voila! I thought it would be cool considering the bride was catholic, the groom hindu, and they were being engaged on Malaysia Day! (yes for those of you who are unaware, in addition to the 26 days of holiday Malaysia already has, they fought for yet another!)

The groom's home had these very convenient wooden roof supports that were begging to be adorned - and far be it from The Flourist not to oblige ;) So up they went at the entrance of the home, and there were some hung inside the house.

I also used the large crab claw plant (heliconia). These are loud and big (a little like yours truly) so even if they cost a bit more, we did not have to use very much to achieve maximum impact. (that is a tip just in case you missed it those of you on a budget ;) )

We then did simple table arrangements for the registry table and little extra interest points around the house using mainly chrysanthemums and local blooms.

Unusually I am having trouble with some of the other photos I took, so once I solve it I promise I will bare all. Till then, enjoy these prize shots by Suthesh Nathan budding photographer, soon to be papa, and friend of the groom.

Cuddling up to cosy weddings

2010-09-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

Finally someone with a bit of sense. The couple were already married in Germany, and were in Malaysia for the next set of events. A stroke of genius-ness meant that the wedding was planned in the bride's home which was big and spacious enough to hold about 200-300 people - yes people that is a cosy wedding - ceylonese style ;) Believe me - it is a far cry from the 1000 - 1500 normal guest count ok - which made for very pleasant eating and merry-making - again a huge difference from the norm where most people leave as the Thali (symbol of marriage according to the hindu custom) is being tied so as not to have to wait to stuff their gutts - why guests do this is beyond me - I mean it is not like they have been made to fast the morning and night before like the bride and groom right? anyhow, I digress....

The theme was red, fuschia and orange - and yes fans of my lanterns will be happy to know they made an appearance at this merry-making event. Though this time the family rented quite a lot of the decorative items from me, and decorated the area themselves. TheFlourist was only responsible for the massive flower balls with carnations which were placed at the foot of the dais on a black vase, and the table arrangements which were a mix of green foliage, gerberas and chrysanthemums.

The family swing took centre stage as the bridal seat, and at the family's request we decorated it with jasmine strands.

Simple-ly striking - just like the bride who although I did not get to see her all dressed up, I am sure looked a vision that day.

These photos are once again my saaaaad attempts at photography - when I get the professional ones I will put those up ;)

Singapore Garden Festival

2010-08-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of the highlights from the official site -
the photos are definitely better than mine -
so enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B24pnqyrXRA

Starting young (singapore garden festival 2010)

2010-08-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me personally, know that I usually have a lot to say about what some of the schools in this little island do - not least since I live across the street from TWO of the more competitive schools on the island!

And it is a rare occassion that I am thoroughly impressed with some of the programs held at the schools.

So it was to my surprise at how impressive this was.
At the Singapore Garden Festival, there was a large area dedicated to the Nanyang Primary School (NPS) FLORAL HARMONY programme.
There were some amazing creations from parents and teachers... and students - some of them as young as 8 years old, and there was a good mix of girls and boys!
It was so impressive - of course the entries were a result of an internal competition etc - but wow! I was completely humbled!!! So much I could learn from them! balance and design was amazing!!!

Apparently it is something that was the brainchild of the PTA of the school, and started off with the parents enrolling in these classes (taught by a professional) and soon encouraged their kids and voila!

a big KUDOS to NPS for encouraging something like this, and KUDOS to the kids and parents for such a fab job!

These were some designs by the parents and teachers from the PTA

and these are a selection from the students!! the one with the bird cage is by a boy age 10-11!

the one with the large sunflower in the pictures below was a design by a little 8 yr old girl!

Alcoholic garden at the Singapore Garden Festival

2010-07-30T02:10:00.000-07:00

Hic! Hic!

yes it has taken me awhile to start posting these.
The Singapore Garden Festival was on the 15th July for a week, and i went on the first day and promptly flew off on my travels for July hahaha
So this (and some of the ones to follow) will be slightly delayed...
but as they say GREAT things come to those who wait... sooo

- those of you who went would have seen these - but I loved these as a great and quirky idea esp if you live in a box in the sky like me.
save your bottles - even the sauce bottles will work with this, though you miss out on the colours that come on the etched alcohol ones
put in a little earth/compost and either start with a baby plant or seeds and away you go -
clear bottles obviously work best cos you need the sun -

and then put them in a crate, box, planter, pot, anything that you like and you have your garden all bottled up ;)

May you bloom and prosper

2010-07-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

Yes as corny as this sounds this is exactly what a client recently told me - i thought it was quite sweet - cos I really did not think he had it in him!! yes it was a HIM - can you beat it?

anyway, that got me thinking that so many of you out there have been encouraging me and offering help, and giving me the opportunity to do what I want -
and so thank you -

thank you for trusting me with your/your friend/your sister/ your brother/ weddings and booklaunches, and engagements and dinners.
If I made u upset I am sorry - if I made you smile and laugh and clap your hands in glee then I am happy to.
If I made you do both.... hmmm not sure lah - but thank you thank you thank you.

and the bride wore lace

2010-06-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Flourist did a wedding last weekend - it was to be the sweetest wedding so far.

The bride is Malaysian, and the groom a charming lad from Manchester (yes they do make them charming out there). Theirs was a courtship of 5 yrs (yes yes not quite as long as me and D)
and finally they set a date for June (which incidentally happened to be her best friend's wedding anniversary) - so cool right!!!
M looked absolutley moviestar-ish in her lovely lace wedding gown with the killer lace inspired heels, and R so dashing in his suit - certainly cleaned up good - not bad for a shopping trip that lasted about 20 mins!!!

As the bride lives in the UK, her bestfriend and I worked rather closely to arrange things for the wedding - from changing the layout of the ballroom set up, to drapery over the stage and deciding on the decorations.

The theme was white and green, but of course the bridesmaid had to get a teal dress - so i included pink in the wedding accessories (oooh but the teal dress was loverly! and she is allowed to lah after all she is a pretty little thing ;) )

I used lisianthus and eucalyptus leaves, cymbidium and dendrobium orchids, and cyprus brooms - and the most interesting of all was the inclusion of the succulent cactus in the bouquet and the main table arrangements.
i was so pleased with the effects - esp after trawling sungai buluh garden shops for the right kind ;).

i created hanging decorations from hula hoops and paper - and hung baubles from them - they were so lovely slowly turning from the draft of the vents - lovely lovely lovely - next time I must do more I think - or at least make them a little longer perhaps.
thanks to my little helpers for climbing on the scaffolding to get these all hung up.
candles everywhere and low lighting - sooooo befitting the romance and love at this wedding.

congratulations mr and mrs H.

Again these are my lame photographic attempts just before I ran out the door before the guests arrived... professional ones as soon as i get it ;)

the bride's bouquet

the bride's maid bouquet

the groom's corsage with feather detail ;)

the other corsages

the pillars had banana leaves around them with cyprus broom and tuber roses

these were in the cocktail foyer

these were at the entrance to the ballroom while the circular designs were inside the ballroom hanging over the dance floor and tables

this was the main table arrangement

Bride in crisis

2010-06-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

So now you have seen the wedding dinner, (and yes I know I owe you more professional photos which I will get to you just as soon as the creative work by the photographer is done)...

there was a small crisis on the bride's side the weekend before the dinner - which the wedding weekend!!

I was commissioned to do some simple arrangements at the bridegroom's home and nothing else till the dinner. Lucky I am anal and always have contingency plans in place - cos on the day before I left Singapore I got a slightly panicky call from the normally calm bride -

the lady who was to help decorate the bride's home was caught in a sad and tragic family crisis and there was no way she could come and help, let alone attend the wedding.

So there was the bride's mum in an absolute state with no other flowers or deco planned at all!!!!

if only I had a superhero's costume and sad cheesy slogan now... anyhow TheFlourist to the rescue.

so armed with grainy mobile phone photos of the bride's home and places where flowers were needed and the only other instruction being that NO PURPLE ONLY PINK was to be used for the bride's home (just in case you missed the profusion of purple in the rest of the wedding ;) ) I made these and drove with them in the car to Melaka and completed set up there.

Again these are the amateur photos from my i-phone and will update with professional ones soon - I promise ;)

duck not included ;)

eggplants and limes anyone?

2010-06-02T01:15:00.000-07:00

May weddings are always fun - it is like that middle of the year break where everyone gets together to have fun, drink and be merry - and lots of dancing -
of course yours truly was working working working - but somehow found time to party ;)

so - the bride and groom story - now this one is really the clincher... they met a long time ago - liked each other's company and dated. Then the bride got itchy feet and decided to let her career take her where it would (sounds familiar but NO it is not me ;) ) years later the bride returned to home country, bumped into mr original and it was like she never left - all this time he was right there under her nose ;)
and they looked lovely together - most importantly happy and smiley.

the wedding took up two weekends. The first one was in melaka, the bride's home town. I did not do very much for this one, but just the groom's and bride's home.

the second weekend were the two dinners. one at passion road, and the other was at the groom's home.
Now this one was a HUGE deal. the colour theme was purple and white - of course I could not leave well enough alone - and so added the green to the combo to bring the purple in the bride's contact lenses - hahaha ok ok I just added that for extra ;)

I used orchids mainly - the groom's mum loveeeeees these, and the bride very sweetly agreed to the choice of flowers - talk about scoring brownie points early huh.
and I thought it would be interesting to pair the long sinewy stems of the orchids with round fruit - so I added eggplants, limes and chillies to the mix - perfect for the hot, sweet and tangy couple ;)

these photos are my sad attempts with my iphone - except for the first two which I pinched from a friend of the bride and groom ;) - i promise to replace my sad attempt with the official ones soon ;)

celebratory lanterns

2010-05-15T03:40:00.000-07:00

January was a bonus job ;)
I spoke to LH after being referred from a mutual friend (it turned out we actually had several mutual friends and even worked in the same firm though different states...we had never met!!!)

LH was getting married with all the ceremonies thrown in, from two different cultures. She needed help organising, decorating, and managing both sides of the families - and was weighing up doing it herself or engaging a wedding planner... After having a chat, quote etc LH decided to just go with a wedding planner and said thank you very much but no thanks.

So it was a pleasant surprise when I got a call from LH closer to January asking about the possibility on renting my lanterns for her dinner party for the same wedding she originally called me for!
So there we were, the three of us, one hot afternoon putting up lanterns and baubles on these trees that were installed for us at the Hotel ballroom. The theme was fushcia and orange, perfect colours to reflect the couple's happiness.

Some of my lanterns were also used by the hotel flourist so we tied the look inside and outside together.

I love these colours - they just look fantastic!

late but surely not to be forgotten

2010-05-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

Remember how I mentioned I did a wedding in December? No I am not in a time warp...I so realise it is presently only May - i meant December 2009!

heh

yes I am a bit tardy, but to be fair I only got the photos in March, and then between then and now I have seriously not stopped long enough to say BOO to you right?

I mean who else would i say hello and write to if not to you my small but faithful readers of my blog.

So as i was saying... wedding in December... How did I get the job, I shamelessly plugged my services, met them, and tried to work with them to get the look they wanted within their budget. This couple went through quite a lot of planning dilemmas and issues, trying to organise not one but TWO occassions in TWO different countries!! it all turned out beautifully and so kudos to them.

I learnt some very hard lessons with this one, and at one point was about to drown myself in some very yucky flower leaf water..., but thanks to my mum, my aunt, my best friends and my husband I got through it. I am not too sure how I did. But you know how even if most of the project goes well, the one bit that didn't is the part that gets enlarged and keeps playing over and over in your head? well that was me... like a scratched DVD I kept rethinking and replaying it all over and over again, and learnt from it (fingers crossed)!

So thank you to the bride and groom for giving me a chance, and thank you for being gracious and letting me know what you thought so that I could be better.

enough of baring it all... back to the theme. White vintage and pistachio green were the main colours. I decorated the church with tall foliage and chrysanthemums and babies breath on the pews - an idea the bride saw at another wedding and wanted replicated for hers. This lady has known what she wanted for a long time, I just had to help her get there. The original idea had a lot more colours and expensive blooms to create the look - using different flowers and the idea we got her look for less.

For the bridal chairs, I made up some simple chair covers, and used the babies breath as the focus at the base of the chairs. I love the way these turned out...especially with the applique motif of the floral on the chair covers coming through with the frame of the old fashioned church chairs.

the car was done with the image of the bunches of the babies breath in mind. But this time instead of babies breath I used net and feathers and plain ribbon. Against the dark blue of the bridal car it looked quite regal. The photo does not quite show it in a lot of detail - so you will just have to take my word for it ;)

For the wedding party accessories, I played with the colour elements from the brides maids and flower girls dresses. baby pink, pistachio green and white carnations, orchids and fish fern were the stars. the carnations really made the flower balls work well, and the colours were so lovely together.

The corsages were kept simple and light with mainly greens for the groom's men, and the anthurium for the groom's corsage to match the bride's bouquet.

The bride's bouquet was my downfall :( we had agreed on phaelanopsis orchid bouquet - the style was to be quite tight - which meant we would have to work with the blooms off the branch. While I had worked with the flower before, i had not worked with it in such heat.

Yes, i know what you are thinking... it is so expensive!! but it was the perfect match for the lovely dress the bride had picked.

Anyhow, to cut a long story short, the flowers wilted the minute I started working with them, and were dying before my very eyes. bleary eyed from the long work day and crying in frustration, I stuck in some reviving solutions to try to make it work for the next morning.

The next morning, while they were looking better, I did not think they would last the whole day.

So, for the first time, I had to call the bride and give her stressful news. that was probably the lowest point for me.

so that morning, while my lovely lovely volunteer worker bees got going at the church i ran out to the florist to get alternatives. anthuriums, peacock and white roses.

it was not what I wanted for her, let alone what SHE wanted for herself!

and as a wedding florist for me to admit that I messed up on of the key elements is not easy. Its like the most important thing to get right! I don't have a picture of it, mainly cos it was so mad that morning, and I was so disappointed with it.

I did not have back ups which is something I ALWAYS have - but with such expensive flowers and trying to keep the cost down I thought I would be fine.

Moving on...

for the reception, we had tree branches with photos of the couple and flowers and pearls strung, and for the table arrangements, we reused the babies breath bunches from the pews on the tables with the addition of some candles and clear christmas baubles which I had decorated with feathers and ribbons.

For the main table, the hotel had provided a large circular arrangement, which we filled in with baubles to match the guest dinner tables.

Another lesson - make sure you clarify with your clients if they are happy for their clients to keep props as keep sakes. I felt like the police sergeant from hell as I was packing up the baubles and finding people with BAGS of the baubles tucked away!! i think my polite attempts at telling them that these were not quite keepsakes may not have been taken quite so well but some!!

This was probably the largest and most emotionally draining project I took on, but it was certainly made me stronger and I learnt so many things.

All photo credits to Ms Sharon Lam

the legend of 9 suns - HKflowershow

2010-04-09T03:10:00.000-07:00

This next display was based on a chinese legend about a warrior in the Yao Dynasty who shot down 9 suns, leaving just one to serve the earth and its people. when writing this story I found so many versions - only one kept me interested...
It goes like this...

Long ago, during the reign of Emperor Yao, Di Jun, the eastern emperor of the sky and his wife Xi He had 10 sons--er, 10 suns. Each day the ten suns would travel with their mother, the goddess Xi He, to the Valley of the Light in the East. There, Xi He would wash her children in the lake and put them in the branches of an enormous mulberry tree called fu-sang.From the tree, only one sun would move off into the sky for a journey of one day, to reach the mount Yen-Tzu in the Far West. Much like a bus driver might tire of the same route after a few centuries, the boys grew bored and decided to take their celestial walk all together.
When Di Jun and Xi He found out, they were horrified to see their 10 sons in the skies. On Earth, crops were drying out, forests were bursting into flames, and the seas were boiling. If the ten suns persisted in their promenade, all living creatures on Earth would die.
To prevent the destruction of the Earth, the emperor Yao asked Di Jun, the father of the ten suns, to persuade his children to appear one at a time. They would not listen to him, so Di Jun sent the archer, Yi, armed with a magic bow and ten arrows to frighten the disobedient suns. However, Yi shot nine suns, only the Sun that we see today remained in the sky. Di Jun was so angry for the death of nine of his children that he condemned Yi to live as an ordinary mortal in the earth.

this display reminded me about why i started doing floristry in the first place - using everyday stuff, or stuff that we used to use everyday before microwaves and electric steamers and fastfood came in to our lives - to create design...
this was my style - IS my style - unfortunately in trying to build a business, sometimes not everyone's vision is the same, and sometimes I have to sacrifice my style for the sake of a happy client somewhat...

and the colours!!! sunset related colours - my favourite kind ;)

i love the use of the traditional steamers here - they have been modified a little and only the shell remains - better here than in the rubbish heap ;)

Bamboo-zle me at the HKFlowerShow 2010

2010-04-09T02:47:00.000-07:00

heh - do you like the title?
yeah corny I know - but hey it is my blog and i can be corny if I want to...

ok so here are the hong kong flower show photos - hahaha look at me writing to people whom i think are reading this - i sound as nutty as Julie in Julie and Julia - but I believe - baby I believe you are out there reading and taking notes and hopefully waiting to work with me...

of so enough about my insecurities - ha!
I promised you pictures.... and because there are so many photos, i am probably going to post them in sections - otherwise I am going to keep putting this off till I have a good 3 hours or something like that - which is stupid - and I cannot keep my imaginary friends waiting can I???

so first up .. the bamboo extravaganza - if you had not already guessed from the title - HA!

This display was really quite natural - it almost invited you into the forest of bamboo branches to discover the bush - which from afar looked like a bunch of dried leaves, but it was really a massive arrangement of orchids and foliage. I love it for the fact that a whole forest of bamboo probably went into the recreating of this - which may not be entirely 'green' ...hmmm

what was cool though was that the bark slates and the dark backdrop in the booth recreated something of a harry potter scene.
as you can tell i got pretty close to it, which did not amuse the 'guards' at the flower show!

Hong Kong Flower Show

2010-03-24T09:46:00.001-07:00

Yup thats where I am now. well not exactly at the flower show as I write it - I mean come on people it is past midnight you know, and a flower show is not exactly like a fashion show where i can just sit there as the flower designs waft past like some other more famous bloggers - right I digress...

I am in Hong Kong for the flower show yes...
I expected it to be bigger than it is - I mean I finished it within a day - I have lots of photos which I will of course share once I am back in my little cubby hole in Singapore ...

till then, you will have to just trust me when I say some of the designs were amazing - there was a lot of dragon references (well... it is Hong Kong) and there was a lot of pussy willow use (after CNY and all that) and surprisingly a lot of Ikebana influence - and some of the works that have resulted are just poetic!

pictures to follow soon.... stay tuned ;)

Raffles Hotel

2010-03-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

I wrote earlier about a new tie up with Wedding Acts... well I was given a chance to work with them recently... It was a 40th birthday party to be held at the Raffles Hotel lawn in Singapore.

I was so excited and nervous all at the same time!!! This was the event that may decide the fate of THEFLOURIST, so it had to be good!

With this one though, some of the designing was done for me..the look for the flowers and place-card holders was decided before hand, the napkin rings design came during our discussions.

The venue of course was amazing - I mean hello it was the Raffles. we could have put frogs on the table and it would have looked fab!! relax - no animals were harmed in the making of this event...

Blue and green were the colours - my fav colours of all time - (HINT HINT) For the blue we used hydrangeas and table runners, and we had green chrysanthemums and foliage. we also had blue and green candy, and Jonathan got name cards printed with the blue and green!

So with my lovely husband and great friend M in tow we pulled it off!! Thank you to them both without whom I would have tanked!

and thanks to a cheeky invite on FB, all photos are courtesy of the very talented Mr Jon M Pinto!

yellow yellow lovely flower

2010-03-09T02:06:00.000-08:00

was at my suppliers today, and early in the week it is usually quiet - and i love it - cos it means i can spend my time with the flowers, get to know them - walk around multiple times and not worry about getting in anyones way.
it means I can linger with new flowers and foliage and think of ideas in my head and experiment with the broken flowers on the ground just to file away in my head for another day.

so anyway - today they had the loveliest golden yellow calla lilies in stock - imported of course but it is so rare to see them so beautiful. really they were almost singing!!!
found some field daisies going cheap (this is singapore everything costs money ;) ) and got some for my dining table.

created some napkin rings - these are perfect for a garden wedding, and you can dress it up as much or as little as you want. you can virtually do this with any flower - just the greens you have to get something sturdy like bear grass or acorus (which is just a fancy name for local bear grass) - dont use wild lalang you will cut your hands and it will tear when you knot it.

you will recognise the biscuit tin from charlene's book launch - the yellow of the callas really pop and the pink just brings out the psychadelic in me ;)

purple fever

2010-02-24T01:18:00.000-08:00

Some work i recently did after learning some important lessons from an event i covered -
always always go with your first instinct and colour matching...

dont you just love the purples yellows and greens!

new tie ups

2010-02-23T23:17:00.000-08:00

The Flourist - which is the name of my company if you don't already know has recently tied up with two other illustrious wedding industry providers here in Singapore.

Wedding Favours (www.weddingfavours.com.sg) is a cute lil website offering quirky fun and cute favours that you can incorporate into your wedding details. Thanks Liz for the helpful link on your website!

Wedding Acts if one of Singapore's leading wedding event planner - thank you Jonathan for allowing me this opportunity to work with you!

heres to a fruitful and successful partnership!

October wedding

2010-02-23T23:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all
I know i know I have been lax in updating this - but was looking for inspiration and waiting for photos and then and then... forgot that I had not updated you!!!

Okay, so October 2009 was like the event of the year for my family - my sis in law was getting hitched - after a whirlwind courtship. G was lovely and they looked lovely together on a regular day - what more on the wedding day ha!

ok so of course she put me in charge of the deco - i dont think i would have let her rest if she did not! so really she did not have much of a choice. And because my outfit is not as big yet, I needed to rely on other providers for some of the items of the decoration.

The concept was to be very simple - we used gold white and green to complement the wedding card, and also so that it would match all the bridal outfits - of course the groom was always in theme as he wore a regal white and gold number the whole time ;)

I wanted to use the concept of birds to symbolise freedom and beauty, and used banana leaves in the table arrangements - which were kept simple and unfussy to aid the high table turn over at the dinner. I used the motif from the card to make paper birds to hang along the bannister, to include in the table arrangements. I also used glass birds on the trees that were placed at the foot of the stairs to the hall and also the hall foyer. I also got a large print out for the backdrop at the stairs.

We used the same motif paper to make cones for the jasmine we offered to the ladies - traditional at an indian/ceylonese wedding.

On the bride's suggestion we used hanging palm fronds done specially by a specialist provider for the entire eating hall. These same suppliers created a palm leaf border for the jasmine at the entrance to the hall. In the eating hall outside we hung indian cloth lanterns to add to the marry-ment ;) The

While i designed the look, I had to work with one other wedding decorator who was used to larger weddings, to provide the stage and the frame for the backdrop to the wedding and also the floral arrangements and hanging jasmine at the entrance to the hall.

I wanted to step away from the traditional Ganesha statue and since we were already including the kolam of ganesha (from the card motif) we decided to use the Shiva and Parvati statues that were the bride's mothers. These statues usually sit in a little window in the house, and oversee everything in the family home, and it was so fitting that they too participated in this wedding.

To match the black statues, I used these black standing lady statues, which were borrowed from my grandmother's home!

The wedding dais was also designed by me, but completed by the wedding decorator that we worked with. It as a simple frame with greens and white roses, with a simple cream backdrop.

the rest of the decoration was completed thanks to family who pitched in on the night before!

I was also in charge of the bridal car and also made up her bouquets - one for the wedding and one for the reception that was hosted by the groom's side - unfortunately this photo was only taken at the end of the night - which accounts for the nicks in the anthuriums :( - but it was a beautiful combination of anthuriums and cymbidiums the colour of light salmon inspired by the bride's outfit on the day (its the one on the left!).

All photos courtesy of Jon Pinto.

Fresh start

2010-01-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

This year i have decided to advertise the flower services properly - and what a good start.
'The Flourist' is now on the leading Singaporean wedding directory...

http://iwedding.sg/latest.html

fingers crossed people find me - come on people find meeeeeeeeee

a - christmas set designing we go

2010-01-04T01:16:00.000-08:00

I did my first set design here in singapore - been trying to drum up more business here in singapore, considering this is where I live and this is where my company is set up I would like to do more business here lah.

I got up the courage and wrote to a photographer by the name of Zurina Bryant, and by chance she had a couple of opportunities! so I delved in, and was fortunate to work with her for the cover shot for the December Finder magazine!
It was great fun and I hope we get to work together on more stuff.

thanks for the lovely shots Zurina! these are Zurina's kids in the photos - and I thot I would only choose the best of 5, but they are all so cute, I have decided to add them all here!

here come the doctors - part 2

2010-01-04T00:55:00.000-08:00

this is the formal evening - where we used golds and bronzes to keep with the hotel's existing colour scheme and therefore work within the budget. we used a garden theme in the front to make a grand entrance and we got some material draped above the entrance. we were a bit late in completing the decoration, and when some of the guests came in on the dot of 6.30 for cocktails we were still putting the finishing touches - crap! oh well, live and learn - this is what I meant by it being difficult when I am not in complete control over everything - hmph -

here come the doctors

2010-01-04T00:23:00.000-08:00

This is an event I did last year, but did not have the time to post this before the new year. or year end... whichever way you look at this time of year.

This time I was asked for the idea for two events for the Manipal Malaysia Alumni gathering. This was a new format where I only provided the ideas and someone else provided the decoration. It was indeed a learning experience for me, and I also felt a little helpless cos it was not entirely in my control.

They wanted a black and white theme for the first evening, and a more formal setting for the second evening. I worked with a hotel's in house decorator Sheri Eliza to provide the decoration while I oversaw everything to make sure it tied together.
It was easy in terms of the amount of hard work and physical labour it normally takes out of me, but it was tough to keep clients happy and not tread on the toes of someone else's creative work.

Its only just begun

2010-01-03T22:59:00.000-08:00

So its 2010 - who would have thought that I would be working for myself in a small and budding (heh pun intended) venture all on my own! craziness! but I have all my lovely family friends and clients to thank for this - I am glad for the support I am so lucky to have and I hope you all stay tuned for more posts and adventures.

A shameless plug

2009-12-01T04:23:00.001-08:00

Hey my lovely readers -

'The Flourist' which yes is my other blog about cakes - needs some followers -
follow me lahhhhh
and tell alllllll your friends to follow me tooo!

long time no see

2009-12-01T03:58:00.000-08:00

so it has been a while since the last post -
what can I say it has been CRAZEE!
Most of October after doing the tribute was spent pretty much on the causeway travelling to Malaysia - seriously someone should have just slapped some advertising on my butt the number of times I whizzed through.
I digress...
so helped my sister-in law with her wedding decorations - it was stressful and fun - I know i am wierd - ALL whom I have told have just ended with - yeah but you loved it right? heh what can I say - I am a sucker for the running around!!
anyhow - am waiting for those photos - I came up with the design and outsourced some of the areas of the work since there was no way I could finish it all in time!
Then was busy with some christmas photo shoot set designs that I worked with Zurina Bryant in Singapore with - those photos should be out soon too ;)
and I have also been busy being a design consultant for a popular medical group in Malaysia!! It has been a good and busy run and am now gearing up for some events in December.
Keep coming back and I promise to have more photos up soon!

Tribute to a storyteller full of grace

2009-10-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

Yasmin Ahmad... the late Yasmin Ahmad. it still feels really strange to think and refer to her as the late.
but passed on she has - and we are the losers. If the afterlife had movies I bet she is busy creating her next quirky, truthful, sentimental take on life in heaven and how it used to be.
watching Talentime that night at her tribute in Cathay Cineleisure in Singapore, found me (other than being in tears) missing all those things that made my childhood fantastic - the peeling walls of the school corridors, the stage stairs that we used to run up and down all the time rehearsing something or other and the piano... the piano that I never wanted to practice on at home, but somehow the one in the school hall had a magnet-like attraction.
yes - of course my mates - all the colours of the rainbow - some of whom thanks to facebook I am back in touch with again - as usual in her casual grace she reminds us of all the things we want back in this Malaysia.

I had volunteered to do a couple of arrangements for the gala night - and I chose tuberoses as these I was told were her favourite bloom. I also used elements from all other cultures - like the chinese wedding basket, and the banana leaves for the table arrangement...

thank you Thomas Chia for allowing me the opportunity to contribute.

and most importantly thank you Yasmin, if you are listening - for allowing me the opportunity to reminisce, and hope...

rIp Yasmin Ahmad

Simply September in Singapore

2009-10-13T02:40:00.000-07:00

This was my second gig in singapore which is nice - because I did not have to travel to malaysia just to meet the bride and deliver her flowers!!
and of course trying to operate in two countries all the time does get a little tiring, and I really would like to get a little more business in singapore.

the ceremony was very simple, and really was a gathering of dear friends. the bride carried a single white lily, and I managed to find a beautiful slipper orchid for the groom!
I loved the fact that I could work with such a rare gem - hope you like the simple designs!

Panjang gets married!

2009-09-17T00:56:00.000-07:00

V aka Panjang ;) finallllly got hitched - and what a quick romance this was. One minute she was telling me about all the hits and misses she kept being subject to, and the next thing you know she sends out this photo and the caption reads the love of her life??!!! in true form V had to be rather dramatic, and yes the love of her life is now her husband for life...
I was given the honour of taking care of decoration arrangements in the bride's hometown.
We were definitely both on the right brainwave when I sent her a picture of my ideas and she had happened to be thinking along the same lines!!
V decided on fuschia pink, orange and brown for her Sangeet ceremony, and the wedding was to be a red and white affair. The Sangeet colour theme kept making me think of lollipops!!! SOOOO... we used lanterns and a lot of wood and then more sedate arrangements for the Gurdwara (sikh temple) the next morning.

This was my first wedding of doing multiple events, what a learning curve!! and I had all V's aunts and cousins helping - they probably hate me by now, but hey! I pulled it off...V and N heres to an eternity together.

Some photos are courtesy of Chin Aik Lee, who was official photographer for the event - some are mine (the less polished looking ones ....sigh....)

Introducing 'theflourist'

2009-09-06T03:47:00.001-07:00

Hi
so if you remember I had a couple of posts about the cakes I have been making.
In the hope that there will be a lot more, I have set up another blog that is linked to the merry making - I have called it 'theflourist'.

Do become a follower and fan and most importantly check back in often for updates!!!!

flower ball drama

2009-09-06T02:22:00.000-07:00

This is such a classic look and is really popular these days - the style is compact and close, and there are so many options that you can choose from. Here I used lovely iceberg roses, carnations and even baubles. the black butterfly adds an interesting texture and detail to the design.

Winter Wonderland

2009-09-06T02:16:00.000-07:00

This was a lovely project to be involved with - we used painted birch branches, dendrobium orchids, and white roses and would love to do this again!

Sing me 'I DO'

2009-09-02T00:43:00.000-07:00

This was a lovely May wedding surprise. The couple were related to a close friend Sharon Lam and had not thought about flowers or decoration for the church - so I happily pitched in to help.
KC and Gen were lovely! They met while acting and singing in a musical, and that was that!
They were the most un-fussy and down to earth couple you would ever meet.
He wore a tuxedo and tails! and the bride wore a lovely A line ivory dress.They exude this old world charm how could I not help out.
so enough about the couple - the flowers!- it was to be very simple. the colour scheme was really taken from what we already had - I picked lavender (from the cards that were meant to be printed blue but turned out lavender) burgundy cos the bridesmaid dress was burgundy and white from the bride's dress! the style of the flowers were borrowed from English country style which I thought went well with the character of the couple.I used chrysanthemums in little silver buckets for the pews, and the same flowers for the bride and bridesmaid's bouquet.
It was great to be given the opportunity to work with this couple - even more to be able to witness a wedding so full of love and regard. The church was packed with their family and friends of from different walks of life! Judging by their friends who were all easy going and who pitched up to help out with the set up at the church, it was obvious that these two have love all around them. Their friends even put on the entertainment after the ceremony and made a whole lot of lovely noise while guests ate lunch.
for all the lip-service our politicians are doing for 1Malaysia - KC, Gen and friends achieved it just by being themselves.

The following photos are courtesy of Ms Sharon Lam

Busy is good??

2009-08-27T02:23:00.000-07:00

So they say - but then it means that I dont have the time to update the blog.

The last couple of weeks have been busy, and promise to only get busier as I start some research and planning on some events later on in the year.

Last weekend saw me working a wedding and a corporate cake order, and this weekend I have a little girl's birthday cake order to complete...

so I will update with more photos once I can take the baking gloves off.

till then, be happy!

TAXI!

2009-08-10T23:38:00.000-07:00

my close friend, Charlene Rajendran recently published her book called Taxi Tales on a Crooked Bridge (yes its a plug - its my blog and I can plug if I want to!) about taxi drivers, their quirks, the relationship between passenger and driver - it also inevitably touches on identity, belonging, perception and life as a malaysian here in singapore.

the book was launched in KL, and recently in

singapore - to brighten up the space she asked me to bring a little flowerpower action along!

this one was fun, cos I had the perfect vessel for the flowers - as the book and author are rather quirky, I used an old biscuit tin, and included flowers which were a fun take on old favourites -like ping pong chrysanthemums, local asters, and even found the gloriosa lily - especially cool since her mum (who is named after this particular bloom)

attended the day!

FOLLOOWWW MEEEEEE

2009-08-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

So today I read in the papers about this lady who started blogging out of sheer boredom, and as a result her blog was used for like 3 movies - 3??? I mean COME ONNNNNNN!!!!

so anyhow, it got me thinking about blog-fame -I WANNNNNTTT ITTT!!!!

ok ok really I dont need to be famous - though my work needs to be ;) well at least it does if I hope to keep doing this for a while and not go back to the corporate world with my rose stripper tucked away behind the ever-heaving, ever growing, pile of politicking-bickering-nagging thing they call work!

Must..keep...going....

must... get... more...followers... (i mean heck it is more than fun than twitter right??)

Gothica

2009-08-07T00:09:00.000-07:00

For the dark and mysterious types. Candelabras add fantastic gothic drama.

autumn

2009-08-06T23:58:00.001-07:00

these were done around halloween and autumn as the theme in london.

of buttons and bouquets

2009-08-06T23:25:00.000-07:00

it is probably the hazards of being the new kid on the block - imagine the thought process - ''she was an accountant - and then now she is a florist??''

so sometimes I get asked to

do bits of the flowers rather than the entire event.

the little details are great! sometimes I get artistic license - other times the bride and groom (ok ok who are we kidding really...) the bride is pretty clear about what she wants.

these are a mixture of bouquets, wrist corsage and buttonholes for different weddings.

Time to Play

2009-08-06T22:42:00.001-07:00

the nice thing with event floristry is you get to play and test things out before actually doing it - unlike accounting... and surprisingly enough it is cheaper!!!

and it is still work! ha!

I experiment with colours and different flowers, particularly if I have to prep for an upcoming event and I can see the idea in my head, but am unsure how long it will take or how many flowers I need etc etc... it also gives me a chance to work with flowers that may not usually be popular but may be an option for different budgets and looks.

from romania to orissa with love

2009-08-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

now this is the ultimate love story...

S is from Orissa, M with her wild curly red hair hails from romania.

they met in this little obscure township called cranfield in the UK, and before you knew it he was smitten!

they studied, loved and graduated, and he got a job offer here in singapore.

so they upped and moved everything out here, and decided that they were going to be married.

they did us the honour of asking us to be witnesses at their solemnisation ceremony, and I offered to help with the flowers for their little shindig.

they chose a beautiful spot by the sea, and it was a sunset ceremony, with new and old friends coming together to celebrate. the bride was really keen to push the island theme so we came up with coconut shells and pineapple table centres.

the bride decided against a bouquet, and opted for flowers in her hair, and around her wrist. the groom not to be outdone had a suitably grand corsage to match.

I also made their cake, which was a two tiered simple coconut cake, adorned with the same cymbidium orchids used in all the other arrangements.

It was great fun and a great experience - and the more I help out the more I am happy to have the smaller scale events as my niche - the budgets are smaller, but the personal touch is priceless!

You'll never walk alone!

2009-08-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

really this should say work - but I figured I would try and keep my husband happy by the inclusion (for those of you who are perplexed - it is the liverpool FC tag line).

I work on my own - which is at the best of times challenging. trying to be the 'ideas person' and the one who sources the stuff and then the one who does all the grunt work is hard.

But it usually turns out that I am not alone.

the condition of my hire is that the bride/groom give me their family or friends for a few days. this way you get your family and friends involved in the preparation of the wedding, you lend a personal touch, and they are out of your hair when you are trying to finalise the seating plan! I have the added advantage of a pretty talented and obliging mum and encouraging dad ;)

the only down side is I become my alternate ego 'Major Painintheass ' ;)... all in a days work I guess.

So far in all the weddings I have done, the additional help has been priceless, and I have made some lovely friends and contacts as a result. so as much as I would love to able to hire someone, think I will stick with this model for now.

(psst - for those non Liverpool FC fans - please dont hold the association by marriage against me!! I adapt real well )

The one that got me going

2009-07-30T02:09:00.000-07:00

Since I was pretty sure I would be out of a job in January of this year, I offered to help a good friend with some ideas and perhaps work her wedding in kuala lumpur.

It turned out to be THE mega wedding to kick off the year and

what luck that she decided to trust me for some of the stuff! I was asked to come up with an idea for the pews in the church, the car, and the dinner at home for close family and friends for the day after the wedding.

Her theme was pearly white, which was a lovely look, until it came to stringing the pearls into different lengths so we could use it for different things!!!

We did little pom pom balls for the pews in the church, hung from sheer white ribbon and complimented with pearly strands. these flower balls adorned every other pew, with simple sheer ribbon bows and pearl strands on the remaining pews. nothing like this had been done before at this church, so I was pretty chuffed. these did take a long time to do up though, thank goodness for the bride's international friends who lent a helping hand the day before the wedding!

The car was decorated very simply. I wanted to use the same flowers she was using for the rest of the event, so opted for white dendrobium orchids and the beautiful dark green monstera leaves and white ribbon (rather than the tulle which is so often the trend).

We decided to reuse the flowers from the beautiful setting of the bridal reception at the hotel the night before, and the church altar for the home reception the next day. the colour theme for the house reception was white and pink. so I used many of the arrangements as is for the stair case leading up to the house, with pink pearl strands draped on the flower stands. we pulled the remaining arrangements apart to create two large arrangements at the top of the stairs, and rearranged the rest into smaller arrangements for the tables. we used the beautiful pink rose candles that the bride had ordered as part of the arrangement, with little pink pearly wheel

accents in the table arrangements.

we had all the cousins and aunties in the house that afternoon pulling tables together and tying the flower balls from the pews to the tent posts and stringing pearls for the chair backs. with all their help we managed a fantastic effect! what an experience that was, and was great training and first job for me. It was only after this that I truly beleived that I could... possibly... maybe...?

perhaps... make this work!

This is it!

2009-07-30T01:43:00.000-07:00

So after months of telling myself and anyone who asked that I am simply trying on this thing I call 'event floristry', I have decided to put my money where my mouth is... or in this case my flower work where my blog is!

The blog is called 'lets be marry', a pun on lets be merry - and so really includes all kinds of merry-making!! If you like my work, and want to add an extra something to your event it will be grand to hear from you.

(psst: I specialise in churches, small location weddings, launches, birthday parties)