I love mixing seasonal produce in floral arrangements, here blackberries on the branch add texture to this pink, purple and red arrangement.

I used a mix of clematis, hyacinth, ranunculus, anenomes, sweet pea, hellebore, and blackberries to create this wild and organic look. To re-create this look:

Start with a low bowl, using clear floral tape, tape a grid across the top of the bowl. Go around the rim of the bowl with another piece of tape to secure your grid to the bowl. Begin placing the berries to create your base shape. Follow up with placing: hyacinth, hellebore, sweet pea, anenome and clematis. You will need approximately a half bunch per flower type. Happy arranging!

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I love fall and winter flowers and for this centerpiece I was inspired by bold red anenomes with their black centers.

Coupled with fall maple leaves, bittersweet, black dahlias and chocolate cosmos, I love the rich saturated colors paired with the darker, moodier flowers.

To make this arrangement you will need:

Supplies:

-floral shears

-floral foam

-container, I used this one from Jamali Garden

Flowers:

1 bunch maple leaves

1 bunch black dahlias

3 strands of bittersweet

1 bunch chocolate cosmos

2 bunches orange dahlia

2 bunches red anenomes

1 bunch frizzy orange/red tulips

1 bunch black scabiosa

Begin by placing the bittersweet and maple leaves first to establish shape. Then add in your larger blooms at different heights. Remember to turn your centerpiece periodically so you end up with a good shape from every angle. Layer your smaller flowers into the arrangement and ta da! You have a beautiful fall centerpiece!

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To create yesterday’s thanksgiving centerpiece, begin with a shallow, oblong bowl.

1. Since this container is wood, line the bowl with a piece of plastic (a trash bag would work).

2. Then soak two bricks of floral foam and place on the top and side.

3. Cut a piece of floral foam in half, length wise, and wrap with aluminum. This is where your stack fresh persimmons will go (and guests can take if they want, which is why I wrapped that piece of foam in alumnium, nobody wants their fall fruit with bits of floral foam!).

4. Begin placing the persimmon branches and bittersweet to create the base shape of your arrangement.

5. Place your dusty miller to cover the foam and use floral picks to place persimmons at different heights.

6. Place your flowers at different levels, alternating dahlias, ranunuculus and brunia to create texture and interest. Rotate the container regularly so you can make sure you’re arrangement will look good all the way around.

7. Place a stack persimmons in the lower right corner to finish and you’re done!

You will need the following for your arrangement:

Flowers:

-1 bunch of persimmons on the branch

- 8 large persimmons

- 1 bunch bittersweet

- 3 bunches orange dahlias

- 2 bunches of dusty miller

- 2 bunches of ranunuculus

- 1 bunch brunia

Supplies:

- 3 blocks of floral foam

- floral shearers

- floral picks

-piece of plastic

Alternatively, if you’re a bit strapped on time, grab some persimmons, place them in a low bowl and entwine bittersweet around the fruit.  Happy arranging!

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Its that time of year, Thanksgiving is a little more than a week away and it can be daunting to figure out the decor for your table in the midst of food prep and family arrivals. So to get you inspired, I used rentals from Town & Country’s new Santa Barbara location for those who want to add a bit of pizzaz to their celebration. But honestly, the best part of renting china/flatware/glassware? You simply have to rinse your plates, throw them back in their crates and Town & Country will clean up for you (heck while you’re at it, you might as well rent platters and serving utensils and really make a dent in your dishes pile).

For the table, I used their vineyard table, which has a rustic wood plank topic which is perfect for the season. For the centerpiece, the vineyard oblong wood bowl holds persimmon branches, dusty miller, bittersweet, whole persimmons, brunia, orange dahlias, and ranunculus (all flowers from Florabundance). The vineyard cane back chairs add a hint of elegance to the look.

I placed the  burlap wing backed paris chair to cap each end of the table.

At each place setting I used a Provencal plate (no need for a charger for a casual dinner), Riedel stemless wine glasses, fleur de lys glasses for water, and coppery Morocco flatware. Simple linen napkins in oyster are folded casually and placed under the flatware. And finally, a simple sprig of bittersweet graces each plate.

I then used some leftover bittersweet and ranunculus to make an impromptu mini garland.

Then I stuck a leftover ranunuclus in my hair and lit the silver and gold mercury glass votives from Jamali Garden. And stay tuned, tomorrow I will show you how to recreate the centerpiece for your own Thanksgiving table.

 And here’s a cheat sheet of all the rentals you’ll need for a party of 6:

2 Paris high backed chairs

4 vineyard cane backed chairs

6 provencal dinner plates

6 of each,salad fork, dinner fork, dinner knife and spoon in Morocco

1 6′ foot vineyard table

6 oyster linen napkins

6 fleur de lys water glasses

6 stemless riedel glasses

1 oblong bowl (for centerpiece)

Happy party planning!

*Town & Country, Florabundance & Michael & Anna Costa are sponsors of Santa Barbara Chic.

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I worked on this wedding last year, and it was so much fun to do something very out of the ordinary. First up, the beautiful bride wearing an amazing J. Mendel cocktail dress with the biggest, most amazing fascinator I’ve ever seen! The bride used to own an art gallery and she gave me the concept of the “bower bird” as the inspiration for her event design. The bird builds an elaborate bower (sort of a nest cave) to its attract mates… So with that in mind, I created a moody, forest-y, slightly gothic design for this wedding…

For the bride’s bouquet,  I used a palette of hot pink and blue with touches of black all cuffed with black feathers and then wrapped with gold sequin trim. For the bridesmaid’s bouquets a palette of purples, blues, with a touch of green via forest-y leather fern.

For the ceremony, I strung a cluster of confetti system pinantas for this rock n’ roll couple.

For the head table, I made a runner out of black river rock to reference how the bower bird collects items to decorate his bower. Containers were a mix of metallics and wood. Local jewel tone dahlias were mixed with anemones, orchids, scabiosa pods, moss, and leather fern.

Guest tables were set with a cluster of arrangements surrounded by gold and silver mercury glass candles. For the table numbers, I used a piece of cut blue glass and wrote the number on it. DJ Smiles spun tunes and guests enjoyed a buffet of pie rather than wedding cake, a fitting end to very unique wedding!

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Back in June I had the honor of designing this sweet wedding for Selena & Erik. Selena wanted a wedding with a soft pink and feminine feel with a vintage touch.

She wore a stunning Vera Wang wedding gown with a etheral long pearl necklace. For her bouquet I mixed cafe au lait dahlias, peonies, sweet pea, astilbe, garden roses and a few bits of maidenhair fern. She wanted her bouquet to be slightly “jagged=y” but with soft, big, blooms mixed in.

I love how the bridesmaids wore different muted dresses in mint-y soft greens. The color worked perfectly with their pink astilbe bouquets. And how handsome are the groomsmen in their suspenders?!

The ceremony was held under a large willow tree at a private home. I made the willow tree “bloom” by attaching white dendrodium orchads to the strands of the tree.

I love how the tree moved in the wind during their ceremony.

For the reception we used Town & Country’s vineyard tables and the bride made the adorable eyelet runners. For flowers, I continues with the soft pink and white palette and placed blooms in footed old silver pieces. Congratulations Erik & Selena!

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I’m simply in love with this editorial styled by Joy de Vivre and photographed by Kurt Boomer. Shot on a ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley with Pervuian horses, what could be better?

Joy draped the table in La Tavola’s aqua Tuscany linen for a slightly casual feel then ramped up the elegance by pairing Town & Country’s cane backed chairs and elegant rimmed china. Flowers by NLC Productions added a punch of hot pink and sherbet.

To finish off the design, elegant paper goods by Lazaro Press in a palette of gold and hot pink. To see more of this editorial check out the new magazine Flutter created by Tracy of Lazaro Designs and Kim of Love Mikana.

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