Blog Moving

Thank you for everyone who has followed my blog.  I will be relocating my blog to my website.  I hope that you all will follow me there and continue to enjoy my work.

Lori
La Petite Fleuriste
Www.lpf-design.com

For a direct link my new blog:
www.lpf-design.com/blog

NWI Bridal Expo

This past weekend I was fortunate to participate in my very first bridal expo.  It was an incredible experience.  I ran into a few acquaintances, was introduced to some great vendors in the industry, and met some pretty wonderful brides-to-be. To top everything off, the expo was extremely organized and well run, all thanks to Louie's Tux Shop.  I can definitely see myself participating in years to follow. 

In addition to showing a few different seasonal and color options, I also wanted brides to be able to see that there is no limit to how flowers can add to a wedding. A bouquet completes a bride's look, draping garland adds incredible character to a long table, and nothing is more precious than a flower girl adorned with a head crown.

Winter weddings are starting to become more popular.  There are so many options for a winter bride with whites, greens, silvers etc.  I even had fun with the above when I curled and spray painted galaxy leaves.

 

A hair piece to complement the theme above.

Bouquets do not always have to be overly floral.  Sometimes the beauty can come from more natural and organic elements.

 

The calla lilies above provide a few fun and different options for high boys and centerpieces.  Flowers submerged in water always have a dramatic feel to them, and who doesn't love floating candles? 

 

Matching centerpiece, head crown and flower girl basket all in a pastel tone that works great for spring and early summer weddings.
 

Garlands can be a fun addition to many aspects of a wedding: The head table, connecting the bride and groom's chairs, and lining the aisle at the ceremony just to name a few. 

A huge thank you to my two wonderful sisters for helping me out all day.  I couldn't have done it without you!
 

 



Deck the Halls

I am in love with the Christmas season.  Shining lights, snow, family celebrations, and let's not forget DECORATIONS! I am especially fond of natural adornments.  For this reason, I decided to give my mom an early Christmas present last year.  I created matching decorations for her front porch.  She absolutely loved them, and they lasted the entire Christmas season.

Marti & Marco

This past June, through the shop I work for, I did flowers for a Chicago bride and groom.  Marti and Marco were incredibly delightful, easy going, and knew exactly what they liked --- the perfect couple to work with.

The wedding colors were blue and white. For nostalgic reasons the bride absolutely adored blue hydrangea.  After viewing the wedding photos, I could not have been more pleased to see how well the blue of the hydrangea complimented not only the blue bridesmaids' dresses, but also the simplicity and elegance of the entire wedding.

A close up of the bride's bouquet. Blues and whites with hydrangea tucked in.

Due to strict rules in the church, the flower girl was not allowed to toss pedals.  Instead, she carried a miniature version of the bride's bouquet.

I loved the simplicity of the groom's and groomsmen's boutonnieres.  A simple white rose.  The groomsmen's also had a slight hint of blue included in theirs.

Gerbera Love

Back in September I did flowers for brother-in-law and sister-in-law's wedding.  The bride's absolute favorite flower is the gerber daisy, so of course everything revolved around that! They wanted to keep it simple.  I provided all of the personal flowers (bouquets, bouts, etc.).  The bride had a cute idea for simple centerpieces (which I was able to help with!). Sometimes simple is best.

The deep red and orange of the gerber was a perfect fit for the late September wedding.  The ceremony was held at The Lighthouse in Cedar Lake, IN.  As the ceremony started, the sun peaked out from the clouds making for a perfect setting.  The pop off color from the flowers was enhanced even more with the sun coming off of the lake in the background.

The bride's bouquet was mostly gerbers.  We decided to add callas for a touch of elegance and the kermit mums to make the gerbers pop that much more. 

The bridesmaids' bouquets were simple and tasteful.  

The bouquets lined up in the bridal sweet made for the perfect pre-ceremony decoration.

The beautiful bride and groom.

The groom and best man (aka my wonderful husband!).  Matching colored mums were used for the boutonnieres.  We considered using gerbers, but I was afraid they would be too large and fragile.  The mums worked great. 

I usually recommend using each bouquet as a decoration at the reception.  They are such beautiful pieces.  It would be such a waste to forget about them after the ceremony!

 For the reception the bride came up with the idea to use silk gerber daisy heads.  They were placed around the reception hall to add color.  By using silk, we were able to decorate the day before.  Always a perk!

For anyone looking for flowers for upcoming events (wedding, showers, etc.), please do not  hesitate to contact me! 

loriahorst17@gmail.com

Fall Festivities

Last month I did the flowers for an absolutely wonderful couple.  They are my sister's in-laws, which practically makes them second family.  I had such a great time working with the bride, Amy.  We started discussing her wedding details back in the spring.  From then on we bounced ideas back and forth to create a beautiful setting.  

The ceremony and reception were held at Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro in the NorthCenter neighborhood of Chicago.  It is a large space, full of warm colors and beautiful wood work.  The location's decor worked great for the fall theme that Amy was going for.

An autumn color pallet of oranges, reds and truffle browns was used.  I also incorporated pumpkins and small gourds to add even more fall spirit into the room.  The bride's love of candle light worked perfectly to enhance the overall look of the darker decorated room.  Ball jars with floating candles and tea lights were used in abundance.   

Pumpkins are such a fun alternative for containers! They add so much character.

Over the last few months, Amy collected a lot of cute fall decorations.  They worked perfect scattered throughout the room.

The beautiful bride and her sister as the maid of honor.

One of my favorite things to make for weddings are hair pieces.  It's always a great way to tie the wedding colors in with the bride.  

The pumpkins and gourds were are great way to add an extra pop of color to the room.

The bouquets were used after the ceremony as an extra decoration.  Always a great idea!

The restaurant really was a very beautiful space.

My Best Friend's Wedding

After doing the flowers for my sister's wedding last summer, I told myself I was done working on weddings that I was part of.  They make for a crazy, hectic couple of days!!  Just a few months later, I went completely against what I had said and did the flowers for one of my best friends, Nichole, when she married her husband, Dan, in November. I wouldn't want it any other way! No one knows Nichole's taste in flowers the way I do, and I absolutely couldn't pass up the opportunity to have some fun with her decorations.

This time around, I was a little smarter. We were able to do some of the decorations a few weeks before; this was a huge help.  I also decided that I would not be doing the bouquets or corsages myself.  I gave that responsibility to my co-worker at A New Leaf.  By doing so I was able to spend the whole morning getting ready with Nichole and our friends, relax a little, and not have to worry about the final touches with the flowers.

The wedding had a wonderful rustic and natural feel to it.  The ceremony took place in a very simple, yet beautiful, church; and the reception was at County Line Orchards in northwest Indiana-- a beautiful barn that has so much character all on its own.

Nichole's wedding flowers and colors were chosen based off of her favorite flower-- dahlias!! I love this flower and the deep/rich colors it comes in.

For the church we decided to keep decorations simple. We constructed two archways (which  we completed weeks in advance) that were placed at the entrance and the front of the church.  They turned out great, and I absolutely love how they framed the couple in some of the pictures! 

I decided on a very eclectic look for the boutonnieres.  For the natural, country look, I really liked using a wide variety of small blooms.

This wedding, just like many others, is another instance where a very important person could not be there.  I was more than happy to add this little touch to Dan's boutonniere to keep a little piece of his beloved grandfather with him all day. 

The centerpieces at the reception went along with the same eclectic, natural feel.  A mix of flowers and floating candles were placed in Ball jars that we decorated with different kinds of burlap and yarn.  Multiple jars were placed on each table- around 200 jars throughout the entire barn!  

A huge thank you to Morgan for doing such a BEAUTIFUL job on all of the bouquets.

This is me with three of my favorite people ever.  We always have to show a little C1 love :)