Christmas Tea

I don't normally post too many photos of food as I have a personal blog for that (although in the new year I am thinking of consolidating my blogs) but just had to post photos of the Christmas tea I had the other day at the Old Curiosity Tea Shop. In addition to the scones and tuna and mint sandwiches, we were offered cranberry turkey sandwiches, and a lovely cranberry and orange zest sandwich. I also had to share pics of the AMAZING mouse peanut cookies and other sweets. I think this would make a great theme for a holiday party!

6 Classic Ways to Decorate Your Home for Christmas

Even though we're missing the snow on the ground (and this post is a little late), I thought i'd share 6 different (not as cliche) ways I decorated my home for Christmas this year since people have been telling me that they're tired of the same old same old :) For more of my home ideas, visit my other blog at Creative Design Therapy! Merry Christmas everyone!

 Wreaths dont have to just be on your front door! Hang it above your fireplace or on a feature wall. I dressed up this otherwise plain wreath with some gingham ribbon and twine from the dollar store. Be sure to throw a cozy throw on the arm of your couch!

 Use the traditional Christmas colours of red and green in new ways. Here i've used yellow green hydrangeas, an arrangement of faux red roses and hydrangeas, a light green Lauduree box, and a teal green framed print.

 Add the unexpected in your traditional decorations. I've placed cast iron bunnies in the garland to add a bit of whimsy and create a story.

Dress up your dining table. I've used another wreath that I made dressed up with gold feathers, Christmas balls and acorns, and used it as a centerpiece surrounding 3 candle holders. Yes, it is ok to mix brass, silver and gold! Dont be afraid of breaking the rules.

 Here's another example of using things around your house for Christmas. I've used a celadon green vase with a sage coloured book to prop up an arrangement of red flowers in a cream pitcher. Books are the new Christmas decoration!

Instead of hanging plaques on walls, why not put it on a book stand? I've also used a small glass vase to contain mini Christmas balls and acorns.

Xenia and Derek's Wedding Flowers (Purple and Green)

For this wedding, the bride and groom had a very vibrant purple and green theme color combination. To soften up the look, I suggested adding cream hydrangeas. I also used coolwater roses, lime and mauve cymbidium orchids, blush coloured roses and green hypercium berries.

 Here are the lush and lovely bouquets waiting to be picked up by the groom himself! (You can opt not to have them delivered).  Such a fresh combination for a cold november day! Congratulations Xenia and Derek!

A French Garden Themed Wedding

It was a very, very hot and rainy July day when I made the bouquets for this wedding, but looking at the photos, it did seem like just another fresh spring day!  The biggest challenge for the design of this wedding was to recreate a French garden themed wedding in a contemporary church and gym (which is where we had the reception). One of the main features was this trellis we created using many wired fresh flowers and fresh leaves over the cake table. Carnations are a great sturdy flower for wiring and look great when wired en masse.

Above is the bridal bouquet I made with eucalyptus, lisianthus, garden roses, vendela roses and wax flowers. Below are the pew decorations made from hydrangeas and vendela roses. The flowers are held in paper "booklets" with a jewelled button.

A corsage for the sister of the bride with lisianthus, wax flowers and a rose.

A wrist corsage I created using a fuschia garden rose with wax flowers


 A fresh basket of flowers for the flower girl to carry made from green hydrangeas, pink roses and green pom mums

Celebrate Beautifully Goes Peach & Celadon!

It was an absolute joy to create the bouquets and decor for the wedding of my friends Mark and Harmony. The colour palette was peach, celadon, cream and pink and the result was a soft, romantic and beautiful garden wedding in the middle of october right before the big storm! The venue was Calvin Presbyterian Church in Toronto and One King West for the reception. Congrats!

Photography by Andreas Avdoulos / www.andreasavdoulos.com

Photography by Andreas Avdoulos / www.andreasavdoulos.com

Photography by Andreas Avdoulos / www.andreasavdoulos.com

The bouquet consisted of queen anne's lace, garden roses, ranunculus, star of bethlehem, lambs ear, and sage from my garden



I created two large alter pieces for the church.
Photography by Andreas Avdoulos / www.andreasavdoulos.com



The bride shared my love of ribbons and ruffles, so I created this bouquet handle with a bit of lace peaking through the bottom to match her dress.



I created the grooms boutonniere with roses and lambs ear.

The bride's ruffle cake with rose petals

Aerial shot of the head table from the balcony

The head table was decorated with roses, garden roses, and countless candles



I created two large rectangular planters with moss, roses and votives.

I decorated the dessert table in the same garden theme.

Celebrate Beautifully's Latest Wedding - Cream & Mauve Colors

I know it has been a very long time since I last posted but I wanted to share some photos of the wedding that I created the bouquets and florals for this past weekend. Very soon i'll be posting up my new website and portfolio, so stay tuned!

Beautiful pink garden roses, lisianthus and cream vendela roses.

I think this is one of my favourite bouquets of all time! The bride wanted an all cream bouquet so I created one out of vendela roses, blush garden roses, freesia, lisianthus and calla lilies.

A mother's corsage created from orchids, lisianthus and a large garden rose

Photography by Christopher Ryan

Photography by Christopher Ryan

A beautiful bouquet with garden roses, and large peonies

I created these two large alter arrangements using cream hydrangeas, purple hydrangeas, dahlias and cream roses

Celebrate Beautifully's Back!

After a long hiatus, Celebrate Beautifully will be back online. To celebrate our return, i'm announcing our new special for this season. Book with me in 2012 to get a free floral arrangements for your cake table or toss bouquet! Successfully refer someone that books with me and get a free $20 Starbucks or Best Buy gift card! If you're in the GTA, contact me for details. 

Ok now lets have some fun with colour! For those of you having issues describing the exact colours you'd like to your florist or designer, i've attached a colour wheel for your reference. Of course, these arent the be all and end all of colours but it's a start. Hope it helps you kick start your event journey!