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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…
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Black and White and Stylish All Over, The Boylston Rooms, Easthampton
Sometimes couples want all the colors, all the flowers, and all the decor, and sometimes they want something more understated. Classic, even. Rachelle and Eric’s wedding at The Boylston Rooms in Easthampton was a great example of simple, but gorgeous and effective styling. Keeping it simple allowed the industrial chic atmosphere of the venue to be front and center, or rather, front and center, but behind the bride and groom! All photos are by Dan Piasecki Photography. Location: The Boylston Rooms, Easthampton, MA The Boylston Rooms is situated in the Keystone Building, one of Easthampton’s renovated (and in process) mill buildings. Funnily enough, my first connection to The Boylston Rooms…
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Fun + Feathers = A Bespoke Summer Wedding at Quonquont Farm
The photos that include Hilary and Ross’s flowers, courtesy of Lex and Jake, show a gorgeous couple enjoying an amazing, thoughtful, curated day, courtesy of Quonquont Farm in Whately, surrounded by family and friends… …but the real story of this wedding (or at least the last half of it) was the bride’s Instagram feed, which showed an amazing PARTY that lasted all night long. When you get a text from the bride at 5 a.m. the next day thanking you for your amazing work you know a good time was had by all! Photos of Hilary and Ross’s wedding: Lex and Jake Location: Quonquont Farm
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Jewel-toned Florals for a Sultry Summer Evening at Montague Retreat Center
When I arrived at Montague Retreat Center to drop off the flowers for Julia and Doug’s August wedding I was worried about rain. The forecast called for the kind of brief, but intense thunderstorms that happen a lot in New England in the hottest and most humid part of summer, and while I can set up an arch installation inside as well as out – there was no arch inside the venue. A couple of texts and phone calls later and the call was made: we’re doing it outside. Photos of Julia and Doug’s wedding: Kissick Weddings. Location: Montague Retreat Center, Montague, Massachusetts. Planner: Events by Pamela Joy.
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A Summer Meadow’s Worth of Flowers in a Day
My home and farm is a little less than 4 miles from Valley View, so it’s a real treat when I’m asked to flower a wedding there. I’ll travel, and I enjoy it, but staying close to home, incorporating my own flowers as well as those from other local growers and including thoughtfully chosen sourced flowers, and popping right up the road on wedding day – perfection. For Charlotte and Ross’s midsummer wedding all of that happened. A perfect, slightly-warm-but-not-too-warm summer day, a floral color palette that was basically “all the colors,” and lots of fun, special floral touches throughout the ceremony and reception made this one of the…
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Each married their favorite person: an early summer wedding at the Boylston Rooms!
Jules and Rachel are adorable. Their instagram feeds (because yes, I’m a follower!) read like mini love letters to each other. So of course their wedding was equally as adorable and personal! I quite literally squealed when I saw the photo album West on Jade sent over – every single picture of them is ridiculously cute, just like they are. Location: Boylston Rooms, Easthampton, MA. June. All photographs by Juliet Cannici of West on Jade Photography.
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Spring Blooms in the Berkshires: a glorious wedding at Race Brook Lodge
Apparently the only way to get from where I live, Northampton, to Sheffield, is “the back way.” The roads were curvy, bendy, and forked, but the day was gorgeous! New England spring was on full display: the perfect backdrop for Jessica and Chris’s family and friend-filled wedding on the grounds of Race Brook Lodge. A side note for all of the couples reading my blog posts and considering me for flowering your wedding: every single event I’ve done this year that’s been outside has had PERFECT weather. Including one where there was a hail warning – the hail skipped right over us. I’m good luck, obviously. Anyway, back to Jessica…
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No floral foam for me! An environmental and sustainable guarantee.
I started in this business as a home gardener. For years before I owned Passalongs Farm or made a single wedding bouquet, I tended large perennial gardens, tried to grow veggies, and worked at a farmers’ market, where I fell in love with farmers and farm culture. Personally, I’ve always recycled, cooked from scratch as much as possible, and tried to reduce waste. I’m thrifty, environmentally conscious – oh, and happen to be partnered up with a husband whose business is energy efficiency in all forms. We are not as green as some, but greener than most. When I started creating floral designs beyond simple bouquets I was astonished at…
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Flower Arranging workshop with Gardeners on the Green!
When Jill, the event coordinator for Gardeners on the Green in Longmeadow contacted me to see if I’d do a workshop for her group, I was really excited! March in Massachusetts is fairly dreary: still cold, despite the calendar saying it’s spring, and we have plenty of snow and ice. Usually there’s not a flower to be seen! Luckily there were plenty of flowers at the wholesaler and I chose a Rosie Posie vase for the gardeners to work with, since this shape vase is really great for a low, wide arrangement but can also be used for a rounder, taller arrangement as well. First I told them a little…
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Who knew? 2018 in review!
Last night I was at a New Year’s Eve party with friends I hadn’t seen in person for a couple of years. We moved to Massachusetts in 2015, and so while most my North Carolina friends and I stay in touch via social media, many of them I usually only see once a year, if that. Here’s the cool thing, y’all: every single one of them told me how beautiful my flowers were, how much pleasure they got out of seeing the bouquets, and many of them also said: WHO KNEW? Who knew you could do that? Who knew you had that business in you? I didn’t. I hadn’t. But…
