A few weeks ago, my Mum came out to Los Angeles for a brief visit. While she was here, we decided to host a little picnic tea party. Mum works with a lot of SoCal wedding vendors, remotely, and she really wanted to meet some of those people in person.

You may have seen Bonnie Tsang’s ethereal photos from the picnic party over on Oh Joy!’s blog earlier today… here are a few more details from the day!

We settled on “Spring has Sprung” as our theme:
so the flowers were seasonal and color-saturated!

They were also incredibly fragrant. Hyacinth, tulips, ranunculus, spray roses, daffodils, paper whites, muscari, jasmine vine and maidenhair fern.

Mum calligraphed the invitations sitting at my desk in my living room. Simple and perfect.

Our favor baskets held floral-scented shower gels and mini spring flower nosegays, tagged (naturally) with more of Mum’s fab calligraphy.

Spring has Sprung!

Literary Bohemian.

I’m really not a huge fan of the color pink. I blame this on my mother, who adores pink. She adores it so much that I slept in pink bedrooms until I was thirteen years old. At thirteen, I managed to lay claim to a closet-sized bedroom on the third floor of the parental home: and for some reason, my mother actually permitted me to paint the room. I was such a rebel. I painted it periwinkle blue, and stamped gold stars onto the white ceiling.

As the oldest of eight children, I had many responsibilities… but there were a few perks, too. Apart from my brother Gabe, who was the only boy in the family for many years- I was the only sibling who got her own room.

All that has changed and my three young siblings still at home have their own bedrooms now, in fact most of them have two bedrooms all to themselves since their parents are divorced and living in different states. Divorce is a hard thing for families, but I have to admit I used to fantasize about that possiblitilty when I was young. I thought for sure that everything in my life would be better if my Mum and I could go live somewhere together, just the two of us.

I was so naiive. How did I not think of the possibility that I would then have to live in a completely pink house? Because that would have been inevitable…

Ah, pink! Like I said, I’m not a huge fan. But every once in a while, I find myself liking it. Really liking it. This is one of those rare cases. Don’t tell.

But right now, I like this pink.

The shades of burgundy and wine help… a lot.

And grey succulents. Well, succulents always help, don’t they?

Texture helps, too. Pink walls probably wouldn’t upset me so much if they weren’t so flat. And pink.

But this pink, it’s okay with me.

In fact, I’m down with pink. At least for today.

This photo by Desi Baytan.

I know I shared photos of this tablescape + bouquet yesterday, but today I received fresh images from Richelle Dante. I absolutely love Richelle’s work and I was just thrilled when she agreed to come shoot for me. Feast your eyes on this pretty overload… every artistic creation looks better through the lens of a talented photographer!

Details, details.

Textures galore.

Too much pretty.

Much thanks to Richelle Dante.

This tablescape didn’t turn out exactly the way I’d envisioned it, but sometimes “set-backs” make for an even better finished project. All that moss and those spring garden flowers… it’s so unexpected and wonderful in the middle of a table. Like a secret garden is unexpected and wonderful. I want a secret garden someday. In a major way.

A wooden box and three glass vases, completely covered in sheets of moss. Love.

Sweet peas, freesia, delphinium, stock, astilbe, scented geranium… and those GORGEOUS not-quite-ripe blackberries. Yum.

And here’s another of Desi’s shots of the accompanying bouquet!

As I was flipping though these pictures, I just couldn’t get the song “Wonderful” from Wicked out of my head. It is, admittedly, an incredibly narcissistic song, but I do love hearing “wonderful, wonderful” over and over again. ;-)

Last weekend I created some floral pieces for a bridal event, and today I received photos of my work from Desi Baytan Photography, the official photographers from the event.

Working from an inspiration board titled “Literary Bohemian,” in rich tones of pinks, purples, and greens, I created two full tablescapes, with bouquets to compliment them. The lovely models in these photos are wearing gowns designed by Deborah Lindquist. I DIE over the details on these gowns- the couldn’t have coordinated any more beautifully with the tone and textures of my bouquets!

A bouquet in hues of pinks & wines for the true romantic.

Wrapped in velvet ribbon and accented with lace,
this bouquet is simultaneously whimsical & luxurious.

Uber-fragrant sweet peas and freesia, combined with blackberries…
making me fall in love with a lavender/purple color scheme.

Much thanks to Desi Baytan for the gorgeous photos… more to come soon!