Candi's Floral Creations

As you can tell by a few weddings on my website, I LOVE feathers!!!!

I was hired for a Bar Mitzvah to create tall Purple Ostrich Feather centerpieces.  I was so excited when I got the call because I love making these centerpieces, they are so much fun.  This was the first time I had used the purple color and they came in vibrant, to say the least! Loves them!

I arranged them to sit atop a tall tower vase (eiffel tower vase) filled with white water beads for a little more flair!

This event took place at Cascade in Hamden. Their chandeliers are to die for!  A very classic place to have any special event.

These centerpieces and any other color ostrich feather centerpiece available for rental!

You can click on the pics for a better view!  Enjoy!

Okay, so this centerpiece you’re about to see is HUGE, so get ready!  I was invited by Winvian (an extraordinary resort tucked away in the Litchfield Hills) to partake in a exclusive bridal show of preferred vendors.

Winvian is home to many unnamed famous clients whom enjoy the horses and vineyard while they stay in the eclectically designed high end cabins.

Since I knew that it would take place in the barn they rent out for weddings, I wanted to go with warm colors and a harvest feel.  I love mixing unique items with flowers such as champagne grapes, wired covered moss balls, artichokes, candles, moss covered candles etc  Especially in the fall, bringing natural elements into the design really completes the harvest feel.

This style of design is a perfect impression piece for a wedding place card table, a hotel foyer, a restaurant entry way etc.

Click on the pictures to see more of the details!

Base of centerpiece

napkin flower

My sister-in-law was getting married and since they were going to a tropical island for their honeymoon, she wanted her wedding to have that same feel.  Since she and her now husband are young, fun and love a party atmosphere, we thought the luau theme would be perfect.  Unfortunately it was a rainy day, but once you stepped into the room, you were transported onto the tropical island where rain was the last thing on anyone’s mind.

This tropical theme can be used for birthday parties, bridal showers, rehearsal dinners, jack and jill showers and much more!

You can click on picture to get a better view.

Entrance into the dining room

Palm Tree Centerpieces

Every Guest got a lei and a hand-made maraca. The Bridal Party wore fresh orchid leis!

a REAL Coconut to hold the table number!

My sister-in-law was getting married and she donned me “Wedding Planner, Floral Designer and (lucky me) Matron of Honor”  WOW!  What a task!  I had a blast.

For her bridal shower I wanted to do something totally different.  She’s young, stylish, popular….so the Sunday afternoon, long, drawn out shower wasn’t gonna cut it!

I planned a COCKTAIL PARTY!  It was SO much fun that I would definitely recommend everyone plan a shower this way.  Her young friends had fun and even the older gals loved getting out of the house on a Saturday night.  It’s even a little cheaper because you serve hors d oeuvres and make your own cocktails!

I had all of the bridesmaids make a cocktail that were different colors, alcohols and flavors, then we chose hors d oeuvres that coordinated with each drink.  We displayed the pairs on their own table with about a dozen drinks already poured into the fun shaped glasses for a great visual affect.

I chose long banquet tables, for a relaxing, casual setting.  The centerpieces were simple table scapes and every table was a bit different.  I took advantage of the fact that the party was at night and used a ton of candles, but mixed it up with bright pink Gerbera Daisies and limes!  I thought of every different combo you could design and ran with it: floating Gerbers, arranged Gerbers, floating lime slices, submerged whole limes, and then mixed the 2 together.  I used all different types of vases for the flowers and the candles and adorned the candle holders with funky ribbon.

I can go on and on about the details…..but the pictures say it best!  My sister, the photographer, took all the pics for me!

Remember that you can click on the picture for a larger view.  Cheers!

Personalized Drink mixes for Favors

Drink and food Stations

YUMMY!

Deeee LISH!!

The invitation!

Every year we decorate a few area businesses for the holidays.  I’ve chosen to feature Cafe Allegre; an upscale Italian restaurant and Inn located in Madison, CT.  The owners, Vicky and Silvio, also own and run The Woodwinds, located in Branford CT.

Decorating 8 Christmas trees, 2 mantels, a 20′ bar area, 3 rooms, and the front entrance, etc it can get a bit pricey.  My cost cutting solution this year was to use glittered gold garland, and a lot of it!  Since it takes up so much space, I didn’t need as many ornaments on the trees, garlands or wreaths.  Plus, I found these great plastic ornaments that were decorated with a gold glitter design….they looked fabulous and no one could tell they were plastic!  They were perfect to use on all the outdoor wreaths, trees and garlands.

Another trick is to use a lot of ribbon.  Although really nice ribbon can be expensive,  it takes up a lot of space.

When I decorate my trees, garlands, or wreaths, I always start with a theme.  Cafe Allegre’s theme is gold and burgundy.  Once I knew my colors, then I start on thinking of about 4 main things to decorate with.  I find that if you use too many things, it becomes very busy, which is not good for a restaurant.  You want to keep it simple, but full.

I chose: A gold Glitter Garland, Burgundy and Gold Ribbon, Burgundy Poinsettias, and Gold and Burgundy mixed ornaments.  Some of the main trees and garlands had a bit more, but not too much more.  You want your trees to have personality and to look intriguing.  You don’t want to just fill them up with all ornaments…that’s not creative!  Once you choose your 4 main focal pieces, then you can have fun and be creative with mixing up the colors, hanging ornaments from ribbon, adding ornaments to the center of poinsettias…etc

I hope you can get some ideas for you home, enjoy!

Remember, you can click on the pictures to get a better view.

Decor for the "Garden Room"

More for Garden Room

Moss Ball Topiary for the Garden Room

Every job has it’s “downs” and one of them, for me, happens to be funerals.  It’s a big part of floral design, not the happiest part, but a big part.

I have had the pleasure of working with such a compassionate man named Sal.  He had contacted me a month prior to his mother’s passing, she had been in hospice. He had been planning this for some time.  He was going to have a video montage of her, photos of her, an Italian priest to prepare the funeral in her native language, and also a broadway pianist to play her favorite songs,  What a farewell!

He contacted me because he wanted the best…his words!  He wanted to design something that was very unique and extravagant for his very traditional mother.  Not traditional in the sense of style, but traditional when it came to morals, family values, and modesty.  He spoke so highly of her, it was very heartwarming.

So, he wanted to give her the best he could ever give her, because she gave him her best.

We designed an all white casket spray of mostly calla lilies.  There were many tropical accents such as cataleya orchids, aralea leaves, denrobium orchids, brunia berries, ti and aspadistra leaves, etc    I braided lily grass together to cover the wire that I used to bind the flowers together.  I love this technique.  It can be used in many different ways such as wrapping around the stems of bridal bouquets!

Sal wanted the casket piece to literally be made up of all little bouquets.  I had to group flowers together and bind them so no one could see that there were bouquets.  He wanted to be able to just pull flowers out of the spray as bouquets that he could give away to close friends and family members.

This not only took design skill, it took patience!  I had a total of 15 mini bouquets bound within the casket piece.  It was a challenge, one that Iolanda (Sal’s mother) helped me achieve.

He also needed accent pieces to coordinate with the casket spray.  We flanked them around the casket and scattered them throughout the room.

When I got to the funeral home, there were a ton of the very ugly (dare I say) and traditional funeral arrangements.  So Sal and I spent about an hour rearranging the entire room by moving these other pieces away from the casket.  We moved them to other rooms, the corners of the room, the hallway!  I even redesigned some of the arrangements themselves to make them look more elegant.  You know, taking the babies breath out, clipping the browning petals…..even taking flowers out of one and putting them into another to create a more cohesive color combination.

I have to say, Iolanda would have been so proud and was probably smiling down at Sal for being the son that she raised!

You can click on the pics below to get a better view.

Calla Lily Casket Spray

Accent Piece with Calla Lilies

Braided Lily Grass Wrap

Tropical Aralea leaf

I took the burgundy "throat" off of this green cymbidium orchid because I did not want the burgundy color to stand out. It makes the orchid look even more tropical.

Don’t you just love these!  Of course, this is a just a sampling of all the “paper” items for rent or for SALE.  Whether your event takes place in the summer or is asian influenced, whether your theme is colorfully bright or elegantly gold,  we have what you’re looking for.  The fans, parasols and lanterns come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, designs and what’s even better is that they can all be coordinated with each other and a variety of votive holders, hanging candle holders and petite vases!  Lanterns look great hanging in a tent.  Fans are a great to give to your guests at your outdoor, summer wedding.  Have your Bridesmaids hold parasols in your wedding photos!  You can also make a centerpiece out of the parasols if you order them on a wooden stand.  Add a floral wreath and it’s perfect for even a bridal shower!  Most lanterns can be lit, too. We are an exclusive retailer of this company and their products have been featured in Martha Stewart and local bridal magazines. We love this collection, the combinations are endless!

Check out some formal wedding pics where the bridal party held parasols!

http://www.candisfloralcreations.com/marianne_paul.html

Paper lanterns, parasols, and fans

Parasol Centerpiece