Tess and Erik | Bermuda Beachside Ceremony

You know, in a way I am happy that it sometimes takes months after a wedding to get the albulm all set up and ready to print. The hardest part is putting together the best images, telling the story and EDITING. Impossible to to when you have an amazing destination wedding on your hands. That is what we had for the wedding of Tess and Erik. This wedding happened last spring on the beautiful Island of Bermuda. Have you been there? If not, I highly suggest it. The first time that I stepped off of the plane on that bit of English heaven in the atlantic, I knew that I would be inspired. It is not tropical, but has tropical elements. It is not English, but it has English elements. I adore it!!

Bermuda Destination Weddings | The Fairmont South Hampton

It seems as though the minutes are ticking by, counting the moments until Tess and Erik's wedding at The lovely Fairmont Southampton, Bermuda. We have been in the best of hands with Wendy Rustalsis, the wedding specialist of the resort. It probably would have been better to install a watts line between our two offices. My last meeting with my bride brought a wonderful moment that comes in the course of planning a wedding, to be stumped looking for more questions to be answered. We are there, we know the details, we know who is coming when, and who is leaving when. We are on it !

Now that the bride and groom have approved the flowers and the look of their wedding, we can get to work sending these very photos that you see here to our partners that we will work with in Bermuda. One of my absolute favorite florists is Flowers by GiMi, located in Hamilton, will work with me to produce a lovely collection of flowers for both the ceremony and the reception. If I could pack these precious little flower arrangements filled with roses, tulips and sweet pea, I certainly would. I have to trust, oh and I do, that GiMi will do an amazing job interpreting these flowers for the wedding. I will be in town early and of course, I will make the jaunt across the harbor to check things out at their studio prior to the wedding.

As I look and try to find something to edit in the look of this wedding it is oh so very hard. One of my partners, Kelli at à deux deserves a special little Bermuda round of applause. Her work on the print material is a quintessential facet to this whimsical and colorful wedding design.

Two weeks and I will have my little french painted toes in the pink sand of Bermuda again.

Wedding Floral Collections | What do flowers for a wedding cost?

Although my company offers many creative services, I never forget that I got my start with flowers. There is a serene peace that I get when I am in the midst of their color and of course their scent. Believe it or not, I sneeze like crazy because of them and I take this as a price to pay. Life is filled with dues and I am happy to pay them to live in such a beautiful world.

We often are called on just to do the flowers for an event. Sometimes other wedding planners will call on me to work with them to make their events a bit more special. As a company we have quite a few clients that call on us constantly to bring the fragile beauty of flowers as a showcase to their restaurants and corporate offices. The vast majority of the time I am working with flowers for a wedding. My process begins with our initial consultation either here in my office or by way of phone. In our conversation I hope to gather enough information to create flowers and a price estimate that are inspired by the brides vision and expectations. It is also important to discuss budget as fresh flowers can be expensive. They are flown in from all around the world. I can always work some magic on a budget as I have a vast collection of vases and decorative accessories that we as a company have amassed over the years. I offer these collections to my clients on a rental basis as an effective way to keep costs for floral costs down.

People often ask what do flowers cost? Of course that depends on so many varied details. My individual arrangements begin at 65.00, available for local delivery only. Floral collections for weddings and events begin at 500.00 and often range in price from the low end of 2500.00 to upwards of......let's just say a lot.

Most of the time, I tell brides that they should first allocate their budget to the bridal bouquet and the flowers for the attendants and family. These arrangements will add a special touch to the day and can often be maximized by placing in vases to be displayed at the reception. Flowers for the ceremony can often be moved and used later on at the reception. One thing, I never fight with a church. If they insist on keeping the flowers, I look up to the sky and say to myself, not a chance that I am willing to take, ha. ha. Ask your priest what they prefer, if your budget allows it, leaving flowers at the church is a nice way to say thank you to the church and to show off your style to the congregation for Sunday's Mass.

When it comes to table top displays we often create cocktail collections and dinner table collections. I create one or two different styles of flower arrangements to add an eclectic, but styled look to your reception. That really is more of a basic look for the flower collections that we are asked to create. From there we have worked almost at every venue on every budget and can create couture collections that collaborate with linens, lighting, decor and many other style layers that we offer as a company. If you read this and love my flowers, call me personally at 508.999.1120 to discuss your project. I am always happy to chat, I am always flexible and creative and I would love to work with you.

Grace Ormonde Design

The design process for me begins with drawing out what I see in my head. I have worked for years with pen and ink and then finish off the renderings with French, colored pencils that have a wonderful watercolor effect when you take a brush to them. I often draft a few ideas and when I feel that I am ready, will start and finish a sketch in about five hours.

This sketch that you see here is a conceptual rendering for a photo shoot that I worked on for Grace Ormonde's Magazine . While the actual design was miles away from the bold coral and denim blue that you see here, I thought that it would be fun to show.

 

Farm to Table Photography

 

 It is so wonderful to show up at an event having no responsibility for any of the planning, set up, serving or cleaning. I had the great opportunity to be the photographer at the second annual Farm to Table Dinner held last night at the famed Great Hill Farm in Marion, Massachusetts. The event, is geared toward the promotion of local farmers and bringing food from the local farm to the table in an elegant and stylish way. Kudos to How on Earth in Mattapoisett for their fundraising efforts for SEMAP.

 

 

 

Journey To Nepal

Each of the past three years, I have had the most amazing opportunity to have traveled to the remote country of Nepal. My friend Sally Hunsdorfer of The Himalayan Project introduced me to this amazing place three years ago and I have not been the same since. I have used almost sixteen weeks traveling through the country as a respit from the western world to document, with my camera a remarkable journey from Kathmandu, high up into the Everest Region. I hope that you enjoy this digital presentation of my photography work.

Welcome CMP to facebook

I have found that my greatest creative moments have come with the integration of technology into my business. I have had a blast designing weddings, events and peoples homes, and love sharing my work with the world by displaying it on-line through my web site, blog and my newest addiction, Facebook. Become a fan and take a peek at literally hundreds of photos from my creative projects over the years. Share your thoughts with a comment or wallpost. I look forward to hearing from you! 

Designer follows his passion

Many thanks to Laura McLean of the Standard Times for interviewing me for this article. It was great to see it locally and in the national paper, USA today.

As a floral designer and wedding planner, Chad Michael Peters has to be concerned with details. The same applies to his home. Whether it's a flashy affair for hundreds of guests, or a small corner of his living room, his strength is capturing emotion in the settings he creates.

I visited him earlier this week in his period Fairhaven home, which is soon to become the base of his business, finding myself wrapped in seasonally inspired surroundings with many personal touches. "Green" — a catch phrase for ecologically sound practices — is an ongoing theme of my column, so I asked Chad how to define it in the context of Christmastime. His response is not surprisingly something that hearkens back to his early boyhood.

"Being green means to use what we have around the home. Having the wonderful scent in the house (of natural greens) stirs memories. It's so much better than a flashy blow-up ornament for the front yard," he said.

"From the time I was six years old — growing up in a Rochester cottage with the bare minimum of conveniences — I remember going into the woods for a half hour's walk and coming to a holly tree laden with berries you dream about. My father and I would prune a few branches, being careful to keep the tree's shape, and would use the branches for planters, garlands and wreaths."

The following year, Chad set up his own stand at Lloyd's Market, selling homemade wreaths, garlands and yule logs made from materials gathered in the woods, and completely sold out on his first day of business, something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This veneration of nature comes through in his home, shared with his mate Kevin Beaulieu. The living room is a place to unwind amid treasures collected in his travels near and far. It isn't overdone, as you might expect a decorator's domain would be. As in a well-designed garden, there are places for the eyes to rest and pleasant little "ditties" as he calls them, adding to the luscious overall picture.

"As decadent a world that I exist in for a half a year (weddings namely) "¦ there really is a humble aesthetic here. It conjures memories of family and friends." These are visually referenced in some way — through books, objects, heirlooms and in the colors and scents that nourished his early craving for the field of design.

Tea berry (gaultheria), a native plant whose berries he recalls chewing as a youngster, sits on a side table — a subtle touch of Christmas. And there are other lovely floral details set in amongst the furnishings — cut amaryllis blossoms; a bunch of "Star of Bethlehem" flowers; white and chartreuse roses; tuberoses — woven with the ubiquitous white pine of our local woods. Balsam in the form of a tree and a swag add fragrance and holiday patina, and candles and white lights give it glimmer.

He tells me that the candles are something he is developing for his own brand and this one is supposed to convey the smell of a walk through the woods, combining frankincense and patchouli, among other ingredients. The tree is tall and slender and adorned in earthy tones, bejeweled with antiques and dried pomegranates and orange slices. Family cards are displayed and lovely golden ribbons are an improved version of tinsel, adding gleam. The tree topper is a Nepalese temple finial — one of a number found in his travels. It's obvious all that he does is a labor of love.

"My heart tells me that I have to embrace my love of flowers and design. So many people go through life and ask the question, 'Why am I here?' My heart has spoken to me. I am fortunate that I get to live my dream," Chad said.


Chad is now preparing to move his business here from a Mattapoisett location opened three years ago. Despite the economy, his business has done well. In 2008 he planned 40 weddings and two major interior design projects, including a major period-inspired kitchen renovation project in Concord. Flowers are 35 percent of the business, used for floral productions for weddings, events and for day-to-day customers.

But he is venturing into associated areas, too. A transportation company resulted from the wedding work (getting people from one place to another). He devotes the same attention to detail in this realm as any other custom service. "There is a difference between a bunch of customers and a group of clients," he stated.

Another feather in his cap resulted from his contributions to charity this year. He used his multiple talents (he is also a wonderful photographer and chef) as a featured silent auction gift to host several themed dinner parties at his home. This raised $15,000 for local concerns including the New Bedford Art Museum, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and Nativity Preparatory School in New Bedford. As one might expect, his involvement is total.

"Creating is a complicated thing. It's hard to put your finger on it "¦ There are times when I'm in the midst of a project and I'm so completely over-stimulated by it that I wonder if I'm even human," he said with a laugh.

Meanwhile, another facet of his work is bringing him into television. He was chosen as the featured florist in WJAR Channel 10's Wedding Giveaway, a group of 12 vendors who give their expertise to a lucky bride and groom.

My last question seems superfluous:

"What is your appeal?"

"The end results certainly, but the passion in getting there," says Chad.