Bright and Cheery Bouquets

This bride loves gerbera daisies and wanted them prominently featured in her wedding. I've been getting more requests for personal flowers only as couples find alternative centerpieces to save money. For this wedding, the bride's friends placed bright orange paper lanterns on the reception tables. The bright orange gerberas matched perfectly for a lovely overall look.

Finding the mini yellow gerberas to match was a crap shoot, but I snagged some bunches for the bridal bouquet as well as the bouts. For the corsages and the groom's boutonnieres, soft yellow matsumotos and creamy cushion mums. Very cute.

Orange and Chocolate for Gina and Bao

Still catching up on weddings! Here's one that took place at Occidental College last month. A lovely orange ruled the day, paired with touches of chocolate brown. I love using a lot of twigs and barks to bring brown in, but as this was a more traditional affair, I kept the twigs to a minimum and let the brown chiavari chairs do the heavy lifting.

I took the arch apart after the ceremony and brought the flowers back into the reception. The main arch at top was slightly modified and placed on the gift table. It's a great idea for getting more mileage from your flowers.

Featherbeds and Duvets

Here's a quick and easy way to make your own duvet or featherbed cover. Why would you want to do such a thing, you ask? Finding a featherbed cover at your local mall is a near impossible feat. And, while duvet covers may be easy to find, they're usually on the pricey side. This project solves both problems.

My trick is to use flat sheets instead of yards of fabric. At discount stores like Marshalls you can usually find high-quality bedding at affordable prices. I find attractive colors and plush weaves, trim the sheets to fit whatever I'm covering (if that's even necessary -- a pair of queen sheets covered our king-sized duvet perfectly), and sew up the sides. To seal the ends, I use random buttons that litter my sewing box. It's so easy!