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Turn of the century-themed wedding at Wisteriahurst
Jessica and Mike wanted a turn of the century themed wedding, and what better location than Wisteriahurst, the historic mansion and cultural center in Holyoke. After the ceremony they and their guests traveled to the Roosevelt Room at Union Station in Northampton – more of the turn-of-the-century theme as it’s the great hall of the railway station in Northampton, built right before 1900. Locations: Ceremony: Wisteriahurst, Holyoke; Reception: Roosevelt Room, Union Station, Northampton Photos by Brian Marsh Photography
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Wedding flowers for two “planty people” at Quonquont Farm
Michele and Graham are what I like to call “planty people.” Both work in horticulture. Both love plants. And so when they asked me to do their personal flowers for their September wedding at Quonquont Farm in Whateley, but said they planned on creating their centerpieces themselves using buckets of DIY flowers, I was happy to oblige. And when they asked if they could create these centerpieces themselves in my shed…well, I wouldn’t have let just anyone do it! But I was happy to let these two do it! (And actually, I might let more people do it in the future because we they had such a great time!
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A light, bright and (up in the) airy fall wedding at The Boylston Rooms
When I first met with Grace and Chris it was clear Grace had a vision for her wedding. She wanted her flowers to be unique – mainly orange, but not earthtones-of-fall-orange – orange and blue and white – with a very special element: balloons! Giant balloons! She showed me a picture of what she wanted and since I’m game for anything I said sure…but then was very relieved when she found a balloon specialist! All I needed to do was provide the flowers and foliage for the balloons, and voila – a super special tablescape was born. Location: The Boylston Rooms, Easthampton MA Photos by: Trish Kemp Photo Balloons courtesy…
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2020 in Review
2020 was weird. I’m going to assume that all of you have been going through it, too, so I won’t summarize the massive impact covid has had on all aspects our lives last year, but for my little farm it basically boils down to two main phases: PHASE ONE of 2020: ALL IS LOST AND THIS IS GOING TO SUCK! The weddings got cancelled, changed, and moved, so I was certain that I would make no money in 2020. I started my farm in earnest 4 years ago and within 2 years it was clear that wedding florals would be the best way forward for me in terms of a…
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2020 Flower Failure Report!
I don’t think I’ve ever documented my growing failures before, which is funny, because there have been A LOT of them. I think I’ve been embarrassed and I haven’t wanted my clients to think I’m sloppy or I don’t know what I’m doing. But when I think about it, I doubt my clients ever see the end result of these growing failures, since if I’m flowering a wedding or creating a custom bouquet I will do everything I need to – including purchasing wholesale flowers or from other farmers – to get them what I’ve promised. With that in mind, I’m hoping documenting this stuff will help other growers –…
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Cloudy with a chance of…happily every after!
Kylie and Anthony were married on the only rainy day of my 2019 wedding flower season – but guess what? It didn’t matter a bit! The slight rain and cool overcast skies only complimented the moody floral hues they chose for their wedding – and they and their wedding party – not to mention the staff at Quonquont! – were such troopers that their day was perfect. Cloudy with a chance of…happily ever after! All photos of Kylie and Anthony’s wedding are by Love and Perry Photography. Location: Quonquont Farm, Whately.
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DIY wedding flowers
Looking for DIY wedding flower options? You are in the right place. Looking for more information about FULL SERVICE weddings? Go here. DIY wedding flowers are personal My husband and I met while working at an assembly-line wedding venue. I was a banquet waitress and he was a bartender and most weekends we’d work at least 1 or 2 or even 3 wedding receptions in a row. This was not a nice, historic hotel, mind you. It was a chain hotel with bad food and tired decor. It was the era of the Electric Slide and the Macarena! Needless to say, when we decided to get married a few…
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Farm, flowers, and work work work work work work…2019 in review
2019, for me, was a year of work! Which is not a bad thing! If you’re doing work you love, you’re hardly working, am I right? Maybe. This was a year of exponential growth here at Passalongs Farm. I almost tripled my wedding work. I more than tripled my growing area. I built a studio that had electricity, air conditioning and heat!! I stopped doing farmers’ markets (mostly) but doubled the flowers I sold by the road. I hired people to help me! (That was a big step.) I put more money into my farm, but bought more product elsewhere. I started a reflowering project, where I re-made flowers from…
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Summer Sunset Colors for a Romantic Valley View Wedding!
When Dana told me she wanted her wedding flowers to be the colors of a pale summer sunset, I knew exactly what she meant. At the peak of summer, days in New England are long, just the right amount of warm, and perfect. And summer sunsets give way to summer nights! (Cue up Summer Lovin’, Grease soundtrack). Tell me more… Pale summer sunset. Yellows, pale pinks, peaches…a perfect color scheme to match what’s growing on the farm mid summer! Plus a few sunflowers, because: sunflowers! All photos by Kelsey and Liam, Ke-Li Photography. Location: Valley View Farm
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Purples and pinks and the Seven Sisters in the background: a fall wedding in Amherst
Sophie and Dane got married in Sophie’s grandmother’s backyard, which sounds sweet, right? And when Grandma’s backyard abuts the Holyoke Range state park, you get a view for days – a perfect backdrop for their family and friend-filled wedding. Something doubly sweet: Sophie’s parents were married in that same backyard! This wedding is a perfect example of a fall wedding with almost 100% seasonal blooms, but whose colors were anything but “seasonal.” September on my farm is full of all the colors, and I was thrilled that Sophie wanted purples and pinks and whites – I had plenty! Photos of Sophie and Dan’s wedding: Nystedt Photography Location: Sophie’s grandmother’s gorgeous…
