Honeysuckle Rose

Every honey bee fills with jealousy
When they see you out with me
I don't blame them
Goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose

When you're passin' by,
Flowers droop and sigh
I know the reason why
You're much sweeter
Goodness knows
Honeysuckle rose
~Louis Armstrong~

Meredith and Rob

Meredith and Rob got married on what turned out to be a rainy day. I remember this wedding well because it was my birthday! I love this shot!
The flowers were all about the bold colours of chartreuse, purple, lilac and fuchsia. I used varying shade of dahlia and orchids. This is Rob's boutonniere.
The flowers are ready to be delivered!
Meredith and Rob were married at the Chief and Petty Officers Mess right on the ocean, as I was setting up this ship was just outside the window!
My son who was helping me set the wedding up swears he took this photo but I know better (hee!). I love this shot of the view through the windows of the venue.
All the photos labeled Bella Photography were taken by the professional photographer and we thank her for use of her images. The other photos were taken by myself. I left them unlabeled as to not confuse as the photographers business name closely resembles mine :)
Meredith and Rob had this cake topper made in their likeness. It really looked like them!
Cutting the cake. The cake was made by their friend who had never made a wedding cake before!! Amazing!
Here is a closeup detail I took of the cake flowers I placed on the cake.
Tied to the ends of the chairs bunches of colourful dahlia.
Each table at the reception was labeled with a song title. The bride had made blackberry jam as a wedding favour. Also, Rob is a dentist and Meredith is a dental hygienist so they provided their guests with toothbrushes!!
The night effect of the simple centerpieces I made with floating Dahlia, river rocks and floating candles.
The whole beautiful group.
Aaaah, love. Congratulations to Meredith and Rob, thank-you so much for letting me participate in your very special day!

New Years Wishes for You!

May your coming year be filled with magic, dreams and joy. I hope you kiss someone who thinks you are beyond amazing. I hope you LOVE yourself above all things. I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself with your strength of spirit. I hope you sing a new song and dance a new dance. Above all, I wish you the beauty of a single flower.~xox~ Sarina

Get In the Groove: Winter Inspiration

A little winter inspiration to get you in the mood for the season!
Nothing really gets me in the mood except The Vinyl Cafe Christmas themed stories especially the one called, "Dave Cooks the Turkey". It seriously makes me laugh out loud every time! I never tire of it!
Tonight we put up our tree and decorate the house. We tend to leave it until later. It gets us really excited, and there is nothing like fresh pine for Christmas as opposed to a tree dropping it's needles! Did you know it is better for the environment to actually have a fresh tree than an artificial one? It's true, they did a study. If you have an artificial tree, do not worry you can always use my " Murdered Tree Soy Candles" to scent up your home. (hee hee)
We put on the Christmas carols and sing our hearts out. Oh, and eat goodies.....I better get the baking done!!! Sarina out. xo

Time to Cozy Up

It's time to cozy up with the weather getting crisp and cold.
Bring those pine cones inside, scent them with cinnamon, drink gingerbread lattes, put on that shrug and your woolly slippers.
We are getting ready for the Christmas season too at Bella Fiore. We put up our Christmas lights outside. We still have to add some more. You can never have too many lights! No Christmas tree yet because we like to wait until it's closer to Christmas. We have been making our Christmas line of soy aromatherapy candles though, and the studio is smelling divine, REALLY divine, like chai spice. Yum! Stay tuned for pictures coming soon.
In the meantime you can check out our online shop http://www.bellafiorefloraldesign.com /shop.cfm for Christmas gift giving ideas. Mention this blog when you order and get free delivery on local Victoria, B.C. orders placed on or before December 11 2010. Our little early Christmas present to you!!

Flights of Fancy

I'm obsessed with everything about this inspiration board. I think with the addition of silver it would make an incredible winter palette.
I love the robins egg blue, the birds, the twigs, the feathers.....the dress....and how about the twig and candle chandeliers? Do you love?

Rockabilly Inspiration

It's no secret that I have to play music when I'm creating my floral designs, or creating anything actually! So when I saw this inspiration board based on rockabilly styles I just loved it! It's so bold and edgy, vintage, yet, so modern. The use of bold primary colours and leopard print. Love!

Laina and Paul: Simple Elegance

Married! Paul and Laina got married in a fabulous backyard wedding. Table centerpieces of white hydrangea and orange ribbon.
Laina is a simple and elegant bride. Her Grecian styled wedding dress was beautifully complimented by these amazing mango calla lilies.

Laina made the bridesmaids dresses. The girls carried white calla lilies wrapped in bright orange ribbon. The boys corresponded with white calla lily boutonnieres, except Paul who had an orange calla.
I LOVE this shot! Cool sophistication. All the professional photos were taken by Georgie Wilson Photography. She did a fantastic job! Thank-you Georgie!
For the flower girls I made cream coloured cones with bright orange ribbon; they tossed bright orange rose petals.
Who really wants to wear high heels for dancing?
I love the flow of Laina's wedding dress. Stunning.
Close up of Paul's Boutonniere with a grass wrap.
All the boys wore these orange and white argyle socks and bright orange ties. Loved it!
Paul and Laina made blackberry jam as wedding favours. Good idea!
Cupcake details carried through with their theme colours of bold orange and white.
Congratulations Laina and Paul.Wishing you much happiness. You all looked so stunning!

Boo-ti-full Gothic Wedding Inspiration

It is no secret that I love Halloween; always have always will! Here is a little Halloween inspiration to get you in the Halloween mood.... Have a Boo-ti-full weekend!!

Canadian Thanksgiving: I Almost Forgot!!!

Canadian Thanksgiving!! Eek! I almost forgot with everything else going on. How could I? Autumn is my favourite season and Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays....I mean food, feasting and flowers...hello!!
Now, I am going to have to scramble, run to the store, buy feasting items, bake stuff....my kids will not be happy if I don't have those mini marzipan pumpkins...good thing I work well under pressure!
I hope you all have a lovely weekend with family and friends. I hope you eat well and enjoy all that life has to offer! xoxo ~Sarina~

Maria and Daniel: Boundless Beauty

Maria originally contacted me via email from Washington. She explained that she was having a destination wedding in Victoria and would I be able to help her organize her wedding flowers? The first thing I need to determine is the bride's style regardless of where they are coming from, once I have determined this, all things are possible. Maria told me she liked roses and hydrangea,her colours were blue and white, she liked pearls and butterflies....a "garden romantic" I thought to myself!
Here is a close up of the custom bouquet I made for Maria. I wired stephanotis with pearl inserts and white butterflies into the bouquet and made a trailing aspect with hanging amaranthus and pearl strands. So romantic. So perfect for Maria.
Maria and her family came to meet me at the studio one month before her wedding to finalize details and meet. It is always so wonderful to meet a bride before her wedding; it doesn't always happen with destination brides. When I met Maria and her family for the first time, it was such a pleasure! They originally are from Siberia and I loved her Mother and Father's accents. Her mother was so beautiful and gracious and her father was the strong silent type; the type of father who only wanted the best for his daughter.
Maria is soooo beautiful! I love her dark hair and blue eyes. Her eyes are the most unusual shade of blue. I just love them.
This is her groom Daniel's boutonniere. Pearls and a rose. Masculine,yet romantic.
Handsome Daniel waiting for his bride to be.
The vows. The white fabric hydrangeas in Maria's hair are from her mother's wedding dress.
Setting up the reception at The English Inn. White roses and blue hydrangea with butterflies. Maria wanted to add blue water to the centerpieces. What the bride wants she gets!! The table was further dressed with floating candles and crystals.
The bride and her sister. Just beauties! I want to hire them both for a photo shoot!!
A gorgeous shot. All the professional photos were take by Leslie Holden Photography.
Married!
Swept off her feet! Love it! I am such a sucker for romance!
Off, into the sunset....Thank-you so much Maria and Daniel for choosing Bella Fiore to be a part of your wedding day. What a pleasure! Wishing you all the joy and happiness your hearts can hold!

Fall-ing in Love

I love fall and everything that goes with it; sunny crisp days and toffee mocha lattes. There is wood smoke in the air and the leaves put on their multi-coloured coats. The colours are rich and warm. I love adding a little bold accent like chartreuse; it just makes all the other colours pop. The use of unexpected votive holders fashioned from Granny Smith apples brings an added dimension to a table setting. Incorporating fruit into Autumn weddings works so well; try apples, mini pumpkins,eggplant,dark grapes and cranberries.
One of the things I always worry about in Summer weddings is will the boys be too hot in their suits? In an Autumn wedding I wonder if the girls will be warm enough! To me fall is the perfect time to introduce wonderful shawls and caplets to the bridal attire. I do love a beautiful caplet!
So put another log on the fire, pour some nice wine,snuggle up to your sweetheart, and start fall-ing in love. When you are ready to plan your wedding come see me...I'll get the toffee mocha lattes!

A Beautiful Family :Tony and Nikki in Spring

Well, I'm finally getting around to blogging some of my weddings. I finally, have some time to sit down and blog! Blogger is doing something strange and not letting me see what the pictures are as I blog so I am blogging at the end of the pictures as opposed to my usual comments after each picture.
Tony and Nikki were married in May. I remember when they first came for their consultation and thinking to myself what a gorgeous family! Nikki was pregnant and I love pregnant brides. They always look like Goddesses and Nikki is certainly no exception! Also, their little daughter was so adorable and interested in everything I had in the studio. I had her draped in ribbons and playing with little birds. ADORABLE.
The flowers were bright and bold. I also made Nikki a custom hair flower for her hair that you can see in the picture where she is kissing her little daughter. I love that picture! All the professional photos were taken by Mary Jane Howland Photography and I thank her for sharing some of the images of their special day with me the rest are taken by yours truly.
Congratulations Nikki and Tony and your beautiful family!!

Lavender= Heaven

Today, I was on a big clean in the studio. It was getting a little disorderly in there with all the weddings, boxes of vases, spools of ribbon, bits of this and that willy nilly everywhere. Serious disarray,enough to drive this order loving Virgo nuts. Nuts, I tell you! I still have one box of vases to clean. Sigh.
This is not what I wanted to write about though, oh no, I wanted to write about lavender; that beautiful purple fragrant flower. I have it everywhere. I love it because it's purple. I love it because every time I walk by a bunch I get a big whiff of it's fragrance.I love it because you can cook with it. Oh yes, I cook with lavender, organic lavender. Lavender scones and tea. Yes, please! Lavender raspberry jam. You'll never taste anything better. Herbs de Provence? Nothing without lavender.
So today, when I was on this big cleaning spree I put some in a pot of water on the stove and simmered it slowly. Yes, my friends heaven. Nothing like a lavender infusion to clean the air and brain. Lavender is a wonder flower. Good for so many things. I make a lovely lavender lotion, soaps and candles too. Yes, I put them in floral arrangements, but really the best thing about lavender is it smells like heaven.

Walking on Sunshine

I have this fascination lately with bright bold weddings. The use of bright orange,yellow, hot pink, lime green they all make me happy. How cute is this yellow wedding? I love the detailing on the bottom of the bridesmaid dresses, the cheery white and yellow flowers, the brides yellow shoes. You couldn't help but feel you were walking on sunshine in those lovely yellow shoes!

In the Orchard

I adore orchards of all types with a passion. There is something magical about them I swear.When I was a child my elementary school bordered a huge apple orchard that had mile high grass. We would make forts in the grass, each of us with our own fort. We would lug boxes, crates and treasures from home to make it more homey. Hours and hours were spent here with my friends. We found tree frogs,crickets and gardener snakes.Riding our bikes to the corner store to buy penny candy and soda; we would stay until dinner time. As we got older, some experienced their first kisses in these same forts. I think orchards are romantic; they conjure up memories of hot summer nights and juicy fruits. The fruit from orchards make lovely favours and details for a wedding or celebratory event. Some days, I long to be down in the orchard. Happy Solstice!

Summer Lovin' in Orange

Love this inspiration board. Bright, cheery, orange....perfect for a sunny, summer wedding.

West Coast Wedding

I love simplicity at times, especially in images; a single chair, a window, a door, a bridge....these are some things that always draw my eye. I LOVE this inspiration board. I love the girls in bare feet....wild, carefree, beautiful. The pale,barely there blue... This inspiration board would work so well for a wedding in Victoria on one of our wild west coast beaches. Planning a wild, beach wedding? Come see me, I'll be in bare feet.

Trend Spotting: Succulents

I was in the garden center on the weekend and saw such beautiful succulents there. I love them in arrangements; they give such a nice textural element, as well as lend a slightly rustic air to an event. I have noticed them cropping up more and more in bridal bouquets, centerpieces and as wedding favours. What do you think? Do you like them? Would you like them if they were in a bouquet or floral arrangement?

Watermelon Cocktail

Today, my daughter pointed out watermelon in the grocery store. "Look Mom!" she said excitedly. Watermelons mean summer is on it's way.It means barbecues, picnics, beaches, camping,weddings, and feet dangling in a cold wading pool while reading a good book with one of my World Famous Cocktails .
I believe everything you do, should be "World Famous"; that is why I take such care, and put so much love into all of my floral designs.
I love this watermelon inspired board. I feel so refreshed just looking at it.Don't you?
I know you are just wondering what goes into this World Famous Cocktail. It's pretty yummy on a hot day if I do say so myself!

Here is the recipe:

1 large seedless watermelon, rind removed, fruit cut into 1-inch cubes
4 teaspoons superfine sugar or to taste
8 ounces silver tequila, vodka or gin
12 fresh mint leaves
2.5 ounces Cointreau or orange brandy
6 cups ice

Make watermelon ice cubes by putting some pieces of cubed watermelon on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Freeze for one hour, covered.
Take the rest of the watermelon plus the sugar and puree in a blender until smooth. Strain into a bowl. Put the tequila and mint in a pitcher and muddle. Then stir in Cointreau and watermelon puree. Pour the mixture into a cocktail shaker with ice and mix for each cocktail. Put watermelon ice cubes in a glass and pour the cocktail in. Garnish with mint sprigs and enjoy!

Aaahhh bring on summer!!