My forever boyfriend is a very Sweet Pea!

 When Justin and I First started dating in Sept 2007, he harvested all the Zinnia he had grown from seeds and gave them to me a bunch at a time.  Here I am holding one of the larger bouquets he gave me.  I thought this would be a nice way to announce our ENGAGEMENT!! Stay tuned for the floral extravaganza of the century

~Sweet Pea

A Sink Full at the Michigan League

The Michigan League and Union are full of stunning , Gothic and oh so romantic rooms for rent and each one has its own catering closet.   I just loved putting these flowers together on-site. 

Mounds of Roses fill the sink to drink
while a bride grooms

and I close the door to keep in all the good smells.

The Pendleton Room inside the U of M Union seats 120 at tables and rents for $315 for 5 hours or $472 on Saturdays. This is one of my favorites because it is cozy with a fire place.

The Feast of the Holy Family

Bridgit and Tom Cook were married in Dexter on on the Feast of the Holy Family December 30th 2005.

The night before with a car full of flowers I got in a car accident. Shaky as I was the flowers still came out right, I wish I had more photos but this is the only one I could find.  The wedding was stunning and the holiday season provided such a festive setting.   Bridgit has always been elegant and tastefully unique, at her wedding it was in every detail. As a side note Bridgit and Tom Cook's marriage has given rise to two of the worlds cutest kids!

Shining Star Crystal Diamond Ties the Knot

Carly and I traveled to Portland to stand up for our Anna.  My wedding gift was the flowers which we purchased at a near by Whole Foods Market and arranged in Anna's crowded apartment the day before.  Anna made her own dress, I am blessed with such talented and amazing friends!!

P.S. Shining Star Crystal Diamond is the nick name that Carly's adorable little sisters gave Anna when she was here.  I did not get a nick name boo hoo but I was told by Maggie " Did you know the planet Venus is named for a Greek Goddess, the Goddess of Beauty....If I was the Goddess of Beauty I would make you." So there.

Anna met Darren Cools at St. Thomas Aquinas University in Ojai, CA while visiting one of her many great brothers (she has seven).

The wedding was on one of many rainy days in Portland. I suppose all that rain is the reason that the even the rocks are green there. BEAUTIFUL Can't wait to visit again.

The bouquets featured Hydrangea, Ranunculus, Stock, and these amazing pink tulips that had 5 or so layers of petals, opened all the way up to expose a cute fuzzy yellow center. They almost look like miniature poppies but they are tulips scout's honor.

We all sucked in our breath when Anna appeared at the back of the church radiant as the sun. Actually as you can see in this picture she is giving off so much light that it is hard to get a good shot of the flowers :)

I think that the soft Victorian look of these flowers fit really well with the whole event. The reception was held in an adorable old hall on the country side and the music included classical guitar, fiddle and more all played by friends and family,

I knight you lady Daisy of the flower children
Just look at those tulips!! And me in the back wiping my nose??

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Cools, We love you to bits and are so glad you found one another (seriously you should have seen the people Anna dated before Darren) (Seriously Seriously that was the pot calling the kettle black)

Best Girls and Fern Curls

My best girl Carly got married this summer, I did her flowers as my gift and got lots of assistance from the other bridesmaids.

Oldies but Goodies,  So yes it is November and I am just getting around to posting these Pictures from Carly and Paul Bower's Wedding in April.  Actually there is more to confess, Due to a raucous baccalaureate party  the night before I arranged these flowers with a bit of a head ache, worth it though :)

Surrounded by friends outside Holy Trinity the Catholic chapel on campus at Eastern Michigan University

The day of the wedding Sally helps me wrap the bouquets with ribbon, I learned at Anna's wedding not to wrap them and then stick them in water over night unless you want a drippy slimy mess on your hands (literally) Sally helped all day the day before too including ribboning the corsages which I was dreading. She is really good at this and I hope she will come play flowers with us again.

Please don't tell the health department

My roommate Laura and I discovered after three years living together that we wear the same size so I lent her a dress for the wedding (I wore that dress to a junior high dance in the 90s but its still hot) Here she is delivering the corsages to the groomsmen. Please notice the rad bat tattoo on her head. Laura is an amazing piercer at Pangea Piercing in Ann Arbor

Here at last all of our work behind us Melissa and I relax at reception in the hall below St. Thomas Down Town Ann Arbor. Carly and Paul are Hitched and everyone is gearing up to dance the night away

Ypsilanti Corner Health Center Open House

These flowers were hand selected for the Corner Health Center Open House. The Open house was to reveal the newly renovated building to the community and to honor all of the donors.

I went to the wholesaler at 6 in the morning Monday (Yawn, stretch, fumble fumble) I was so excited to find these terrific erygnium(spelling?) otherwise known as blue thistle

Also found some screaming red ranunculus, fiddle fern curls, hybrid delphinium, french tulips almost 3 feet long, and my favorite oncidium orchids (the yellow ones)

Vases anxiously awaiting their passengers and then........

BAM!! Thank you flower muse (mine is St. Therese' the little flower) This arrangement was the favorite and the first thing guests saw upon entering the Health Center. I think it was the texture of the thistle and the uniqueness of the Kale roses that made it such a hit.

Thanks Beau and Ellen for gifting us this vase (and the other 20 I have waiting in the closet)

These french tulips would have stood alone and been unbelievably elegant but I couldn't help myself because the color combo here is so yummy and an opportunity to show off the fiddle head fern curls. Everyone was shocked to discover that they are organic not fake.

Thank goodness for Melissa swooping in after a long day/week/month training to be a Certified Nurse Assistant. She put this arrangement together so flawlessly and gave me my second wind. Not to mention crawled around on the floor with me cleaning up escaped stems, leaves and miscellaneous garbage that had been whimsically cast down.

Bravo Melissa!!

10 corsages made to complement the arrangements. All the colors for this project were drawn from the mural outside the clinic and the new Donor Board. Gem tones happen to be my favorite.

Mr. David Lutton graciously posing for a picture while my guitar teacher and dear friend Beau Deloach pours him a glass of Spanish red. Beau tended bar for the event and was looking as dapper as can be.

Justin had to help me deliver these arrangements because...... I couldn't lift them

Sweet Pea is so grateful to the Corner Health Center for the opportunity to contribute to the good in our community and to attend the open house which was very impressive. Thank you, we hope your new surroundings help you to carry out your admirable mission. - Sweet Pea

Chirp Chirp For a Good Time Follow Pea

Piles of Pomegranate Created for Chrysler

This was a big Day!  Zingerman's Catering pitched our design services to one of their clients.........Chrysler!! We Dreamed up these three for their product release tent gala.  They are supposed to be saying "What a lovely fall day" without being Kitschy, you know with gourds, hay and fake cob webs.

Sincere thanks to our logo artist the delightful and talented Hannah Metler http://www.hannahgracedesign.com/  We had actually put a non-refundable deposit down with a different artist in New York but saw Hannah's design and decided to flush our Ulysses Grant(the face of 50) and go local!!    

Botanical Gardens Wedding Reception

Wedding reception at the Ann Arbor Botanical Gardens What an inspiring venue we actually spent one day a week or so here last winter just basking in the sunny humidity of their indoor tropical garden. There is a nice table on the mezzanine with a cafe umbrella which you need to prevent sun burn even mid winter. You can even buy a cup of really good coffee here.

The Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor has 5 gardens available to rent for weddings of 150 people or less they range from $950-$1100 and the sweet white chairs are provided.  a florists dream wedding (this florist at least)

The Offices at Zingerman's Deli Become a Flower Shop

Our first Zingerman's Catering job, a small wedding at the University of Michigan.  We arranged the flowers at Zing deli and here they are sitting on the desk in Melissa's office.

Market in Bloom

It is truely wonderful to see the Ann Arbor Farmers Market in full bloom. I hopped over to market this morning and picked up this bunch of beautiful Dahlias to brighten up the office. It is simply spectacular to see what beauty can grow from Michigan soil.!

Sweet Pea

Dunske Wedding Flowers By Sweet Pea Ann Arbor

Diane and Joel's Wedding was one of our first big events this season.  Melissa was not only the florist but actually wrote and conducted the wedding ceremony.  In this picture you see the book she read from as she officiated the wedding.  Bride's Bouquet is composed of Dahlia, Roses, Cymbidium Orhchids and ruscus.

The wedding was celebrated at Lyon Oaks Country Club and the Ceremony took place outside on the patio right in front of these Hydrangea bushes in full bloom.  Diane was stunning!!

We asked the photographer to snap some pictures for our portfolio and  he did!  This is a close up of the maids bouquets.

We made 7 each of 3 different centerpieces, these were my favorite

Ranunculus, Dahlia, Atilbe, and Hanging Amaranthus among other things.

The star shaped flowers in these are "blushing bride"  

This was the third type of arrangement composed of Large White Calla, Bells of Ireland, Curly Willow Tips and White Denrobium Orchids in a Cylinder Vase. 

Look at that Bouquet - Great job Melissa!

I'm so glad that photographer took this shot with the ring nestled among the blooms