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This summer I provided the floral decor for a wedding at a ranch on Mt Diablo called Diablo Ranch, a rustic and very cow and cowboy location in the East Bay.

The bride really was the design force behind the tablescapes and style.  Gorgeous and Green's take on bright, natural, eclectic and exuberant plant and flower life was a great match.  With collected items from both her and my collection of vintage silver pieces and china, all the containers were reused vintage pieces that gave her tables a bohemian and bright version of Miss Havisham.  (something named right away during our conversation about the wedding since I'm a fan of the book: Great Expectations) I used locally grown flowers, a lot of dahlias, celosia, passion flower, scabiosa flowers, lupine, sweet william and other flowers.  The colors were a stunning mix of reds, pinks, oranges and plenty of greens.

a lovely vintage urn of the Bride's collection filled with colorful blooms and branches

all photos by JRotstenphotographer.com 

In Local Green Love,

G&G

OOps, forgot to mention a while ago, that some lovely designs by Gorgeous and Green were featured in a blog post on 100 Layer cake featuring the owner of Mignonne here in Berkeley and A and B Creative. Photos by Delbarr Moradi Check it out....

www.100layercake.com Pilar

We've been busy at Gorgeous and Green with weddings, so I apologize up front for being behind on my posts!  But, it does mean I have tons and tons of pics to share from events and designs we've been working on! Here's a few pictures from a wedding Gorgeous and Green provided floral decor for at Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma in May (we worked with the coordinator Vera of Va de Vie Events)  It was a wonderfully hot day. Luckily the flowers made it through the warm weather as we still had lots of late spring flowers and early summer flowers blooming in May. The colors were yellows and oranges with some pewter/grey accents, and lots of greens.  We used a lot of locally grown icelandic poppies, crespedia, ranunculus,  dusty miller and succulents.  Here's a pic of the tent and some of the tablescapes.

 We used a lot of my vintage silver and etched glass from the rental collection for the containers.  Very sweet.

Recently I was approached by Ceremony magazine to do a tabletop design for their new Bay Area magazine.  They have a beautiful wedding magazine in southern California, and are launching one up here. Gorgeous and Green finally fit the shoot into our busy schedule and were able to make something happen this week!  Here are some sneak peak shots of the table decor my assistant Ryan and I came up with.

I collect a lot of vintage glass and items, both for the boutique and for my personal use.  I am also a big fan of the show Madmen, so as you can imagine, the two mingled together to form this table design.  Not only was it super cute, but very green.  Local and unsprayed flowers and greens.  Even my vintage purse made it into the picture!

Using vintage luggage in muted jewel and primary colors as well as a lot of vintage glassware, the scheme came out very mad men-esque and playful.

I even included a vintage typewriter and some cigars that I asked Ryan to make especially for the shoot.  They are just for looks of course.

We tried to maintain a style and design that would have fit in with the time period, the early 60's.  We didn't want to get too modern, so the arrangements themselves were fairly simple and monochromatic.  And although they may have a rounded floral foam look, they definitely lack it, since we never use it. I couldn't help but include some more modern flowers like flowering kale and airplants.  The colors were also kept to a muted tone, not overly flashy and more a signature of the glassware that was used during that time, ruby and dark red, butter and egg-yolk yellow, forest and emerald green. Anyway, we had a lot of fun and look forward to the pics in the new magazine. In green and health, G&G

Earlier this year Gorgeous and Green helped a bride and her savvy friends decorate a sustainable wedding at the Brazil Room in Tilden Park.  They had a small budget, so many of the sustainable elements were also budget friendly as well. She chose a floral print dress for the bridesmaids that they thought they could wear again.  An important thing to think about when you are choosing dresses.

Photography by Claire Mulkey and Daniela Fedorowicz

The colors were dark jewel tones in the purples, pinks and blues.  I used a lot of local scabiosa and amaranth, as well as local anemones, dahlias and celosia.

She provided a collection of found vases for us to use as her centerpieces, and each arrangement consisted of a trio of vases artistically filled with blooms, ferns and branches.  Most of the vases were salvaged or reused and then reused again when she invited guests to take them home.  The arranged centerpieces were all different, and I loved how they turned out.  I only have a few pics to share, but you get the idea:

A good friend of the bride made some paper flowers to use in the decor and I attached those to a fern garland I lined the aisle with.

Even the boutonnieres were delicate jewels with both local scabiosa flowers and pods.

In Green and Health, G&G

 

This week at Revival bar and kitchen, the flower arrangements Gorgeous and Green created included some bright protea and local berries.  Here are a few pictures of the week's arrangements.

 

The host table has one yellow pincusion in a vintage candlewick drinking glass.

 

The Large French bucket in the back is stacked with bushy branches and some bright organic and local sunflowers.

 

The vintage vase (my favorite vase) has some pink protea and lovely local amaranth, organic bells of ireland and local branches and berries.  

  In green and health, G&G

Here's a post from my Green.Weddings.com blog that shares an interview with Vera Devera, of Va De Vie Events, here in the Bay Area.  I've worked with Vera on a few events now, and we've had a great time.  Thanks Vera for the interview!

I just posted a short picture story of a wedding I did a few weeks ago that was very local, very sustainable.   We used locally grown flowers, vintage vases, and I even used a leftover piece of beautiful sage ribbon to tie up the bride's bouquet.  We kept spending low but elegance was high...

Photo by Terry McCarthy tmcphotography.com

Read more about this wedding at my other blog location on the Knot's Green.Weddings.com website. I have many more weddings and pics to include, so I'll be posting in the coming weeks, stay tuned. In Green and Health, G&G

I just did a quick blog on the Green.Weddings.com website for the Knot, and mentioned that it's super green to go vintage.  Not only are you keeping lovely items from going into the landfill, you're reducing the carbon impact that making and selling new items has on the world. In the G&G boutique, I keep on stock a lot of vintage glass.  I love the idea of using vintage items for weddings and events. I've also had many brides use not only used dresses, but vintage dresses for their weddings.  Vintage lace and silk, it's often so beautiful.

Photo Courtesy of HeartStudios

Check out the cool designs from a local shop here in the Bay Area at Recapture: In Green and Health, G&G