Past Events | Beautiful Days Wedding and Event Planning, Floral and Lighting Design

Archive for the ‘Past events’ Category

A Spring Baby Shower!

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

It goes with out saying that I love all of my brides! Designing and creating special floral arrangements and party decor for their wedding celebrations is truly an honor. It is extra special when I get to be part of more of their beautiful days! This past spring I was fortunate enough to create a bright, modern and crafty baby shower for dear bride Sarah. I had a ton of fun playing around with bold colors, a mix of fabrics and some local, handmade pottery.

The fabric swags added that extra layer of joy to the festive occasion. I worked with local potter Amy Clark of Ocean Fire Pottery to create these custom white clay vase trios for the centerpieces…perfect for highlighting simple groupings of yellow spring flowers. The vases were then given to VIPs at the end of the party.

Yup that’s me mixing up the party’s cocktail of prosecco, limoncello, and lemonade. It’s no wonder ranunculus are a favorite flower for so many – how it fits soooo many petals in one flower bud is beyond me! Guests were asked to write down some words of mama wisdom which were then read aloud after lunch -yes there were a few tears but alot of laughs too!

I had to include this photo of my gift to Sarah – my son’s gently worn Converses increase the gift wrapping cuteness factor by at least 10! The fresh lemon slices of the party cocktail fit right in with the party’s color scheme of course!

The napkins at each place setting were wrapped with strips of fabric used in the ceiling swags adding another punch of color. I LOVE how clean the vases are and that you can see the texture of Amy’s hand work in the clay from throwing them on the wheel.

The guests were invited to decorate onsesis and burp clothes which a new mama cannot have enough of!

The day really was lovely and the space at the Brixham General Store was the perfect location…sunny, bright and open…and Brixham catered a delicious luncheon for the ladies.
Congratulations to you and your beautiful family Sarah! I hope I’m around for the next celebration!!!
You can get a glimpse of Sarah’s wedding flowers here or see her and her family (pre baby) be the best models ever for a Beautiful Days inspiration shoot here.

A special thanks to Wendy Freedman of New Castle, New Hampshire for the photos, Amy Clark of Ocean Fire Pottery of York, Maine for the collaboration and perfect vases and Brixham General Store of York, Maine for the great spot and fantastic food!

Posted in Decorations, Flowers, Inspiration, Past events, Spring | No Comments »

Beautiful Bridal Shower in York, Maine

Monday, February 21st, 2011

I love the tradition of bridal showers as it brings together a bride’s closest women in her life in a spirit of love, friendship, family and shared experiences. And really aren’t some of the best times you’ve had been when it’s just you and your favorite girls!? When Sam from Gus & Ruby Letterpress asked me to create the flowers for her dearest friend and business partner Whitney’s bridal shower I was of course honored and excited! The luncheon party was at the chic, modern and super cool Blue Sky on York Beach, Maine. The color palate was a soft and pretty pale pink and peach which came to life in the flowers: peonies, garden roses, stock, astilbe and the sweetest wild roses that I found overflowing on the side of the road! I had been collecting some old white china and glass ware with gold accents which were the perfect vases to create vignettes on each table. The vintage vibe of the flower design along with gold mercury glass votive holders worked wonderfully against the modern, funky atmosphere of Blue Sky. Sam included fantastic details including adorable pink spun sugar nests with egg shaped cookies from Cookie Creatives by Jennifer at each seat. Each one was in a clear box accented with the perfect peach toned velvet ribbon. Special thanks to Emilie Sommer for the photos…fantastic photos as always! Stay tuned for coverage of Whitney’s beautiful summer wedding!

York Maine Bridal Shower Wedding Florist

Dwhitneyshower

Gwhitneyshower

Tags: Emilie Sommer, Gus & Ruby Letterpress
Posted in Bridal Showers, Decorations, Flowers, Past events | 1 Comment »

Winter skating party on The Sweetest Occasion!

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Baby it’s cold outside….so put on your skates and then keep warm by the fire with sweets and treats! Last winter my family and I hosted a little skating party in our back yard (actually woods and a pond!)….We all had a grand time! Cyd at The Sweetest Occasion thought it was great too and highlighted the party on her blog – thanks Cyd!! Check it out and get inspired for some winter fun!!

Posted in Decorations, Inspiration, Just for fun, Past events, Recent press | 1 Comment »

Taste of the Nation, Portsmouth, NH

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

This past June Beautiful Days once again took part in decorating the VIP tent for the annual Share Our Strength Seacoast‘s Taste of the Nation fundraising event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The goal of Share Our Strength is to end child hunger in our communities. During the holidays, a time of abundance and indulgence, warmth and love, it is easy to overlook the many children who will not celebrate around a table overflowing with food and whose daily basic nutritional needs are not met.

It is truly an honor to be part of such a crucial cause in our community. The theme for the VIP tent was local, seasonal food highlighted by foods framed in old windows, a farmer’s table highlighting the offerings of the season, greens potted up from my garden and a farmer’s porch. Enjoy and be inspired to do your part to end child hunger in your neighborhood.

Be sure to get your tickets for the 2011 event! It’s a great way to start off the summer and always a fantastic gathering!

Special thanks to Geneve Hoffman for the fabulous photos!

Posted in Decorations, Flowers, Inspiration, Lighting, Past events | 1 Comment »

Beautiful Days featured on fantastic blogs!

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Creating gorgeous floral designs and unique and thoughtful event design is a work of love! I am truly honored when our work is recognized as lovely and inspiring by others. Some of Beautiful Days’ work has been recently highlighted in two great blogs so distract yourself for a few minutes and check them out!

The lovely Kittery, Maine seaside inspiration shoot is on the fabulous Grey Likes Weddings. Dreamy, vintage seaside story with Sara O’Brien of Griffin-vites and Brea McDonald.

And bridal shower perfection with pink and white flowers and gold accents on The Sweetest Occasion! Loved collaborating with Sam at Gus & Ruby Letterpress to help create the fantastic florals for her best friend (and business partner) Whitney’s celebration at Blue Sky in York, Maine. Captured perfectly (as always!) by Emilie Sommer.

Tags: Brea McDonald, Emilie Sommer, Griffin-vites, Gus & Ruby
Posted in Decorations, Flowers, Inspiration, Past events, Recent press | No Comments »

York Maine Wedding Expo

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

A few weekends ago I was part of the Greater York Chamber of Commerce’s annual Wedding Expo. A lovely event for brides getting married in Southern Maine. I am always amazed at how many people flock to this area to tie the knot! It was alot of fun and a great excuse to play with flowers in the middle of winter!

I am LOVING the mussel shells with the hydrangeas, succulents and anemones! Perfect seaside colors with a contemporary twist! A few other lovely seaside blues and whites but a bit softer and romantic. The red amaryllis and red roses weren’t coming together until I added the yellow kangaroo paws and billy balls – HOT! I saw the pink protea and had to have it…fantastic combinations with the deep purple and pink mini callas, fluffy pink roses, jasmine vine, fiddle heads and dark burgundy ti leaf wraps. The classic white parrot tulips with ferns and hyacinth are given a vintage feel by arranging in a silver pitcher I’ve had for ages and the wonderful green and white bouquet that complements it is so fresh and sweet. And finally the butter yellow arrangement was inspired by a perfect little pear!

Extra special thanks to Geneve Hoffman for the great photos!!

Tags: Geneve Hoffman, York Maine weddings
Posted in Flowers, Past events | 2 Comments »

My kind of party….

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Here it is fall already and I am just now catching up on sharing the great events from the summer! I thought I’d start off with one of my favorites…My brother Peter has a company called Tidal Rock that sells excellent clothes with cool graphics representing The Cape, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Our family grew up on Nantucket and even though we don’t live there anymore we are deeply connected to that very special place. This summer Peter hosted his second annual BBQ,Bocce & Bluegrass party to benefit the Nantucket Conservation Foundation. The first year was a huge success and this year’s gathering was even better! Friends and family came together to make it all happen…putting up outdoor lighting, installing last minute bleacher seats which were a must have, creating court signs, prepping food, organizing the tournament, picking up locally brewed beer from Cisco Brewery , some of the first corn from the fields of Bartlett’s Farm and ice cream from The Juice Bar, setting up tables and chairs, laying out the courts and ALOT more! Thankfully it was a gorgeous day and all the hard work paid off. Island locals and visitors grooved to a bluegrass band, feasted on fantastic BBQ, drank excellent beer, and oh yeah played some bocce. My brother Jake and I paired up to hopefully redeem ourselves for placing second last year – we were close but had to sit on the side lines as the final players went head to head under the lights. This was my kind of party because it had all makings for the perfect gathering…family, dear friends, babies and kids, great simple food, local brews, live music that all ages enjoy and a clear summer sky that went from sun filled to a full moon with the smell of the ocean lingering in the background. Next year’s benefit is already on my calender and I can’t wait!

Posted in Just for fun, Lighting, Past events | 1 Comment »

Taste of the Nation

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

This June Beautiful Days had the opportunity to decorate the VIP tent for Taste of the Nation benefit hosted by Share Our Strength Seacoast. The design direction was inspired by the gorgeous photography of Alexandra de Steiguer. We worked with black, white, and blues to capture the feeling of her dramatic shots of landscapes and weathered coast lines. The flower arrangements included lacquered black manzanita branches, white peonies and roses, silver dusty miller, blue sea holly and poppy pods. Mussel shells lined the flower vases - now every time I go to the beach with my son he thinks we are there to collect mussel shells! Edibles were also included in the taste table and the entry flowers – blackberries, artichokes, garlic scapes from the farmers market and kale, mizuna and blueberry bushes from my garden and yes I was picking these at ten pm, in the rain with a head lamp on! A sea of large paper lanterns in pale blue and white hovered over the guests who lounged in special adirondack chairs from Scott Masi of Chairman of the Board . The chairs were finished with custom silkscreened pillows that were designed and created with the talents and help of my neighbor Rachel of Schumacher Designs. Guests were treated to some fun with a great photo booth courtesy of Maine Photo Booth Company - I will admit that I did it four times – silly stuff! It was truly an honor to be part of such a fantastic fundraising and awareness effort for making sure no child in the United States is hungry. A very special thank you to Geneve Hoffman for as always creating beautiful photos and to all the volunteers who helped us out!

Tags: Chairman of the Board, Geneve Hoffman, Maine Photo Booth
Posted in Flowers, Lighting, Past events | No Comments »

York Wedding Expo

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Two weekends ago I participated in the York Wedding Expo hosted by the Greater York Chamber of Commerce. It was very inspiring to play with flowers in the middle of winter and meet some lovely brides and grooms who are in the midst of planning their celebrations.

I ended up using alot of fruit accents….wired strawberries in a lush all red arrangement, barely ripened blackberries with sunflowers and dramatic deep plum calla lilys, bright orange kumquats filling a tall vase that was finished with a sunburst spray of yellow oncidium orchids, yellow tulips and orange and yellow star of bethlehams and still green kumquats on the branch with olive tree like foliage to accent yellow calla lilys and white daffodils. I also played with creating a looped and wired variegated aspidistra leaves that were the base of a more modern arrangement of white oriental lilies, green hydrangea and green spider mums. A smaller version used variegated flax leaves. I finally got to play with pink and silver and made a lovely bouquet of pink hyacinth and sweet peas accented with jasmine vine surrounded by a cuff of silver dusty miller. And I couldn’t resist creating a monochromatic bouquet in an elegant pink using calla lilies, ranunculus , tulips and jasmine vine accents. Everyone who passed by had their favorites and I have to confess that even though I loved them all the sunflower centerpiece and the calla and daffodil bouquet were my favorites.

First four photos courtesy of Geneve Hoffman.

Posted in Flowers, Past events | No Comments »

Valentine’s Day Flowers

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

For the first time this year I offered Valentine’s Day floral arrangements. I had so much fun creating sweet nothings for some very special people! Lovely ranunculus, calla lilies, roses, freesia and tulips were accented with strawberries that smelled like summer…a few went out the door with a decadent chocolate heart lollipop from Cacao Chocolates of Kittery, Maine which is one of my favorite places to indulge my sweet tooth.