California trip: flowers flowers everywhere

Not long after we made our travel plans to visit family in California this summer, Gabe's little sister, Sarah, called to tell us she was getting married. And she was nice enough to plan it for the same weekend we had already decided to be in California. The timing was perfect.

And since I offered to do her flowers for the wedding, the day before was set aside for all of the arranging. But first we had to go to the growers to pick up the flowers.

This was a new experience for me. When I've done other weddings in San Diego, I always sourced the flowers from San Diego Wholesale, choosing the flowers by handling them, setting them side by side, and working with what was available the day I showed up to purchase them. Here in Arkansas, my process has been the same, except I only had the not-so-great selection at Sam's Club.

But Santa Maria is full of the growers that supply the flowers all across the country. Buying direct meant that I could have any flower I wanted, but it also meant that they had to be ordered in advance. Placing that order was tricky, but Sarah had visited the grower a few weeks before hand, and wrote down the names of flowers that caught her eye. That's what I worked from, and it turned out great.

I had never been to a flower farm before. Acre after of acre of greenhouses. Some flowers at their peek, some past their prime, and others just starting out. It was easy to see how they can keep up with the flowers throughout the growing seasons, which is pretty much year-round in California.

Cindy really did most of the leg-work. She found the grower at the farmer's market and made all of the connections to make all of this happen. Her mom, Gabe's Grandma Roberta, came along Friday morning to help with the flowers.

Seeing the flowers in mass quanitites was really quite a sight. These snapdragons were taller than me!

Not only were their many varieties to choose from, but the color selection was impressive as well.

Dahlias in red, cheery and bright.

Dahlias in red, dark and dramatic.

Here's what we left with: roses in three different shades, gerbera daisies, snapdragons, bouvardia, baby's breath, hypericum berries, pom poms, ranunculus, dahlias, freesia, stephanotis, and two types of greenery.

It ended up taking me all day to finish them. It was a lot of flowers in a lot of arrangements. But they turned out beautiful.

the bridesmaid's bouquets

the bride's bouquet

I love making flower arrangments for weddings, but when they are for family, it's all the more special. Thanks, Sarah, for allowing me to be a part of your wedding day.