Paula Dean--Diva of Southern Cooking!

My sister, mom and I went to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining show in downtown D.C. for the day. It was filled with fun! My mom, Jeanie, gave us an early Christmas gift by buying tickets to Paula Dean's book signing and luncheon. It was so much fun to see her up close and personal. She's one lovely lady! I took her a hand-tied bouquet of luscious roses in coral and deep pink, mixed with white crane kale, bear grass, bullet allium (part of the onion family and has a beautiful hue of purple), and hypericum (St. John's wort) wrapped in a organically friendly paper and tied with raffia and dried okra finish. Everything to tie together a cook's love for flowers!

Next, we went downstairs to the show area and looked around and visited many booths. What great food vendors! Then came the cooking show with Paula. Yum...chicken enchiladas....pico de gallo...her version of Spanish rice. She has a way of just having fun and allowing people to ask questions.

The later afternoon show was slated with Giada de Laurentiis. She is one of my favorite Food Network host's as well. Okay, the biggest question--How does a tiny lady have the ability to stay tiny when making some of the best tasting pasta? Her recipes are delicious and mouthwatering.

We came away with great recipes, smiles, and memories that last a lifetime. Who wouldn't want that type of Christmas present?

Design Competition

Okay, it took a while, but I'm finally posting the design competition results.
I placed 2nd, which was awesome for me. What an experience.

It's like Iron Chef for florists. Essentially, we walked into a room that had tables set-up with supplies and buckets of flowers. The sympathy design was to come up with an arrangement to adorn a cremation urn. The wedding design; well, we were given a faux cake to design. And our original piece was of our own choosing. they had containers to choose from and we could use whatever flowers we wanted. The permanent botanical was something we had to bring with us.

Needless to say this was an eye-opening experience. I can't remember the last time I had been under such pressure. We had two hours to complete everything. I completely flaked on the cake design, which should have been my best piece. I think that being short on time made me overthink my design and under perform. This gave me some great opportunities to get some constructive criticism on my work, especially under pressure. I know, given the opportunity again, that I would concentrate on working faster.

The other bright spot of the evening was winning the Teleflora scholorship to their design center. Out of many applicants in our unit (D.C., Maryland, & Virginia) the application were sent to headquarters and chosen by them as to who would win an all expenses paid trip to their design center for the class of my choice in 2009. I never would have dreamed that I would win this trip! I can't wait for them to post the class schedule for 2009. I'll keep you updated on which class I choose.

Upcoming Competition

Well, tomorrow is a big day for me. I am one of three competitors in the Annual Capital Cup Competition. We have competitions at three times during the year and each one has one winner. I was one of those winners in March. So, tomorrow the three winners meet at one location and bring a permanent botanical arrangement they have designed. It is a holiday theme. Mine is done in a contemporary feel (I'll post a photograph later). Then we'll have what's called a "surprise package" competition where we are told that we will design a wedding piece, a sympathy piece and a designers choice. We can only bring our toolbox. We will be given a half hour to go into the room and see the flowers, containers, accessories, etc. and have that time to sketch ideas. They will tell us spefically what types of wedding pieces or sympathy pieces we can do: for instance, a wedding piece can be a wearable piece like a corsage or head-wreath, bridal bouquet, or even a flower girls piece. The sympathy piece could be a standing easel spray, or table arrangement.

We'll have two hours to produce all three pieces and then we'll be judged on principals and elements of design, mechanics. I'll give you the categories after the competition.

The winner gets to do the design show next year in October focusing on the Christmas holidays. This show is in front of all the Teleflora shops in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area. Boy, would I love to do that!

So, I'll take all the prayers I can get. I'll post pics and stats after the competition. Stay tuned!!

Washington Wedding Show Update

The Washington Wedding Show was a fabulous time. We had a beautiful booth full of gorgeous flowers. Our bridal bouquets were featured in the fashion show and were a bit hit. Brides came anywhere from West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia--even Georgia.

The wedding vendors were top notch and made the professional success of this show overwhelming. I was looking over the timing of the upcoming weddings of the brides who attended the show and they were ranging from November, 2008 to undecided. Most of the couples have dates in 2009. My question is has the state of the economy kept brides from making decisions until closer to their wedding date? Are the shows on television hurting brides by showing the platinum weddings? This sometimes put the brides at a disadvantage to get the world on a dime. I know that as a floral designer for over 20 years, I want to give the best I can for the money each bride has to spend in her budget. I do think that the television has made it harder to brides by showing these luxurious weddings that aren't exactly able to fit the average bride's budget.

In order to give bride's a better way of budgeting for their special day, Bergeron's has a wedding floral calculator that helps them put together what will be needed for their wedding. Check out our event website and you can download onto your computer and get a budget for yourself. Our event website is bergeronsevents.com.

By the way, our photos are courtesy of David Madison Photography. He took the time to come to the show to photograph our images exclusively. He does a fabulous job, doesn't he? We recommend him highly if you are in need of a photographer to capture your special moments. Thanks, David!

Workshop with Phil Rulloda

Renowned florist guru--Phil Rulloda shared his love of the florist industry and poetry by sharing with 25 students at a recent workshop in Charlottesville, Virginia. Phil traveled to Virginia from his home in California where he has a school of floral design. He rarely travels anymore, so it was a great opportunity to learn from him.

This two-day Advanced Floral Design class was filled to capacity where people traveled anywhere from Louisiana to Pennsylvania and everywhere in-between. We learned weaving techniques with foliage, even learned how to make birds from hala leaves. That took some time to learn! Rosettes made from galax leaves and larger rosettes made from aspidistra leaves. Designing with tropical flowers and beautiful foliage intensified the beauty of great design.

Phil delivered beautiful recited poetry and his passion for flowers. It was so encouraging to meet someone who loves this industry and has an intense passion to pass on his knowledge. He feels that his legacy is furthering the industry by teaching the care and design of flowers as an art.

Who wouldn't want this gorgeous design with a dozen roses? The weaving of the "cone" for each flower is stunning, isn't it? Ahhh, the beauty!

Hitomi Gilliam--Awesome Floral Artist

What an experience....two days closely working with Hitomi Gilliam. I had been looking forward to this for weeks. I was sick, but made sure I got there! Hitomi was awarded Gold Medalist at World Cup in Singapore this year. Well, it's no wonder. She's been one of my favorite designers for years and she lived up to my expectations (not that she has to live up to mine!).

Hitomi was serious about the industry; graceful in her design; helpful in teaching technique; and, powerful in her presentation. Teleflora sponsored her to come to our area and do a wedding show. She had helpers for two days as we constructed the pieces to show. Two of us were Capital Cup winners in '08 and another had taken a class with her in the past. Setting out for Maryland, I arrived at a local floral purveyor at 8:30 a.m. and worked until 7 p.m. the first night. Making bridal bouquet handles and constructing large armatures, we put to use our own ideas and learned new techniques and heard her share about the industry and her vision.

The second day we arrived again at 8:00 and worked hard until the culmunation resulting in a show that delighted everyone who attended. We had a packed house and florists in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia area we amazed at the wealth of knowledge and stunning designs she presented.

It was such a great experience.

Wedding show at Waterford

Well, Bergeron's will be participating in the wedding show at the Waterford in Springfield, Virginia on the 28th of September. We're excited! This is the first big show we've done in several years. Bergeron's had exclusively shown only at the Macy's wedding shows for the past five years.

We will be the exclusive florist for the fashion show, which provides us great opportunities to show off our fabulous bouquets. I'll post the pictures after the show. Tune back in!

Design Show with Rene Van Rehms

Spectacular! The one word that all of us at Bergeron's thought about going to see Rene van Rems recently at a local floral purveyor. We had a fantastic time watching a renowned designer show us his winning ways especially with hand-tied bouquets. His new book called "Rene's Bouquets" has such timeless information. Check out some of the pics from the show.

Also, that day there was a design competition of local designers, of which I competed once again. The competition was strong and it was such fun. We saw some fabulous designs. The theme was to use spring flowers for a centerpiece. The sky was the limit with a $300 budget. You can imagine how beautiful and artistic the designs were in a room full of floral artists! I've chosen some of the designs that you can see from the show as well.

1st Place Winner @ Design Competition

Well how exciting was it that a couple weeks ago I won first place in a regional design competition called "Capital Cup". I was speechless. Our task for the competition was to design something for a "get well" in a hospital setting, so we had height and price limitations. Out of several designs submitted from all over the Washington D.C., Maryland, & Virginia area I took 1st place.

This was a great day not only for me, but also for Bergerons Flowers & Events! Look for the final competition with all the Capital Cup winners of 2008 to compete in the fall. Can't wait!

Bridal Bouquets--Clustered Trends

Bridal Bouquets have dramatically changed over the past 20 years. It used to be common for brides to choose a cascading mix of all-white flowers. Today, the beautiful mix of compact, rounded bouquets have been made the statement of beauty and poise. The colors range from all white to monochromatic deep red with all the colors inbetween.

There are many new flowers on the market that are also hot choices: hydrangeas in many colors; miniature calla lilies in assorted colors, tropical orchids: oncidiums, phaleonopsis, cymbidiums to name just a few.

What fun is it to pick, order, and finalize your choices. Brides really should have fun picking out their flowers to hold on that special day! Check out just some of our selections online: http://www.bergeronsflowers.com

I really enjoy making weddings special and individualized. Who wants to just pick from a grocery store magazine, when you can pick from all sorts of flowers that are in season just by contacting your local florist for a consultation?

Tune in for more updates....I've got a bunch!

Design Show with Andrew Pascoe & Writer Amy Stewart

What a fun day! I spent today watching Andrew Pascoe, a London-born floral designer who now resides in Oyster Bay, New York, designing for many hot customers like the New York Times and featured in Architectural Digest. He was very informative with a truly English garden type design style.

I have to say the best of show in my book was the design done reminiscent of the Flemish artists. The design included David Austin roses, which were spectacular! Imagine a soft peach rose that has about 4x's the amount of petals of the regular hybrid rose with fullness and fragrance to knock your socks off! This arrangement was designed with red ranunculus, red/yellow parrot tulips, single peonies, bells of Ireland and more. Extraordinary.

The afternoon session was filled with hearing Amy Stewart talk about her findings in her book, Flower Confidential: The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers. She has toured the world finding out the chain of the floral industry, from breeding, growing, producing, packing, shipping, right down to the delivery to your local florist. We are local florists are an endangered species with the major changes that are happening in our industry. We, at Bergerons, are still so proud to be here to supply your needs. Keep our business growing! Amy was extremely informative and I even got her to sign my copy of her book.

Spring-the Perfect Time for Flowers

Spring flowers, oh, the beauty!
What exactly are the spring blooms that come to my mind? I love tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, viburnum (which means that hydrangeas are going to come into full bloom as well), ranunculus, peonies...the list goes on.

Keep in mind that some of these gorgeous blooms are phototropic, which means that they bend and curve with the sun and light; and they will additionally grow. So, don't be surprised when you bring home those fabulous tulips that they will need some re-cutting and have a mind of their own. That's the beauty of them, so enjoy!

At your local florist shop, you will find many varieties and colors to choose from. Often times, more choices then the grocery store or big super chain stores might offer. At any rate, enjoy these fabulous flowers while you have the chance.

Buy a bunch of tulips or hyacinths and drop them into a cylindrical vase. Tie some ribbon around the vase for accent and viola!--you have a beautiful presence of nature inside your home.

I'll be bringing some other design ideas on the next blog.
Until then, Happy Spring!

Design Show with Joyce Monheim

My staff and I had the opportunity to go to a design show with Joyce Monheim, AIFD. Boy, were we blown away at some great design ideas as well as some great tips. It's always exciting to see the hottest new trends and fabulous new varieties of flowers that are out there on the market today. Everything from everyday design to design for event work.

One of my favorites was this piece that use a floral sphere covered in blooms set inside a beautiful mix of botanicals. This piece was just calling my name! I love the contemporary work.