Ah spring, the time when flowers are at their best and some of the most coveted varieties are readily avaliable (hello peonies!). This table was inspired by a vibrant spring inspired dress I bought from Anthropologie years ago.

To translate this dress into a tabletop, I started with the flowers: poppies, peonies, local garden roses, ranunuclus, sweet pea, viburnum, and bluepuerm all from Florabundance. Blooming jasmine and citrus blossom clipped from my yard added a hint of white.

To recreate the floral look you will need:

3 6″ hammered footed containers from Jamali Garden avaliable here. Cut three blocks of floral foam to fit the containers and soaked in water. Place in your containers and start arranging.

Spring flower shopping list:

4 bunches pink garden roses

4 bunches coral charm peonies

4 bunches yellow ranunuclus

4 bunches light pink ranunculus

2 bunches bupleurum

2 bunches viburnum

1 bunch jasmine

3 bunches pink sweet pea

4 orange blossoms branches (substitute with other flowering branches if not available)

Begin by placing your branches to create the base shape, and then add in bupleurum and viburnum. Place coral peonies and garden roses slightly higher than your ranunculus and poppies to create depth to your arrangement. Place sweet pea in gaps and add in the jasmine as a final touch.

To add a more casual vibe to the table, use your napkins as as placemats for a pop of color. If you have brass goblets laying around like I do, use them instead of a traditional wine glass (mine are vintage). A fleur water glass (available at Anthropologie here) looks extra pretty when set with spa water with colorful wedges of orange, lemon, and lime.

And here’s a cheat for the rentals from Town & Country:

1 8′ king table

6 wrought iron folding chairs

6 white square plates

6 stemless wine glasses

6 pink fleur water glasses

6 dinner fork & knife

Linens from La Tavola:

1 8′ king drape, lacy pearl

6 tuscany camelia napkins

And a big thank you to Jess Wilcox for capturing these images on film! To see more of this table hop over to Grey Likes Weddings.

More Inspiration:

I’m so happy my farm to table editorial was published on Snippet & Ink yesterday (check it here) so I can finally share some of the gorgeousness I captured with the amazing photographer, Karen Wise.

Nestled just before the foothills of Carpinteria a variertable flower wonderland of dahlias of all types and varietes trive under the Santa Barbara sun. On this day, I was picking up flowers for a little engagement dinner for Samantha of Could I Have That.

Varieties grown here range from dinner plate to petite red lollipop dahlias like these guys.

For Samantha’s table I picked a variety of bright summer colors, bright reds, yellows, oranges, and fuchsias.

Thanks so much to John of Greenwell Floral for hosting my little editorial project. I will be sharing more of the farms we shot and, of course, the delicious dinner catered by the Duo in the coming weeks.

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Evie & Nate were seriously a dream couple to work with; super nice, easy going, with amazing taste to boot, and the booked my girl Kirsten for the photos. The inspiration for the wedding design, was Evie’s Greek heritage. When we first spoke, she said she wanted it to feel like her grandmother’s garden in Greece. So we talked about using fresh herbs like bay and lavender, of course olive branches, and then mixing in fluffy garden roses.

In Evie’s bouquet I used a mix of Patience garden roses, bay leaves, lavender, olive branch, and queen anne’s lace and wrapped it up, with a strip of torn linen.

In keeping with the herb theme, I made petite boutonnières of lavender and rosemary and wrapped them with copper velvet ribbon. The bridesmaids carried simple dried lavender poseys finished with a tidy bow.

The ceremony was held at St. Barbara’s Greek Orthodox Church and decor was kept simple with olive garlands attached to the church pews.

After the ceremony, guests made there way to the rooftop of the Canary. I designed a “potting bench” seating card table using Town & Country’s potting bench bar. At the center of the table, guests’ names and seating assignments were spelled out on wood plant markers and tucked into moss. To finish the vignette, I used a collection of vintage watering cans, potted lavender, and stacks of rustic garden containers.

On the tables I used a mix of stone, and iron, garden containers and filled them with annabelle hydranga, Patience and Caramel Antique garden roses, bay and olive leaves, sweet peas, and dahlias. A soft green linen was draped over the tables and La Tavola’s cut lace linen layered over. A mix of gold and silver mercury glass candle holders added a hint of metallic glow.

A big congratulaions to Evie & Nate and a big thank you to all the vendors who made this day happen! To see more of this wedding hop over to Once Wed and Santa Barbara Magazine.

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Today I’m featuring a tabletop that was recently published in Santa Barbara Magazine and Style Me Pretty Living. It was a collaboration with the always amazing Nancy Neil and super chef Ayda Robana of Om Sweet Mama.

We set a simple table; with a god’s eye patter runner from Heather Taylor Home and china and flatware from Botanik.

Simple salads, like the panzanella with Haricort Verts featured farm fresh ingredients (recipe for the salad is here).

Instead of traditional flower centerpiece, I opted to make a flower garlad to keep the vibe relaxed but still very pretty. To make the garland you will need:

2 bunches of bay (depends on length of table)

2 bunches clematis

1 bunch hot pink ranunuculus

1 bunch wax flower

Begin by simple laying the piece of bay leaves end to end. I created a zigzag effect here so you could see the pattern of the linen. Then I simply took the blooms of clematis, ranunuclus, and wax flower and tucked it into the bay. You can wire all these pieces together but its not necessary. And that’s pretty much it! You can see more of this table right here and here.

PS I apologize for my blogging absence. A lot if going in my personal life and I will blog about it once things are more settled. For now, posting will remain on the lighter side. Thanks for hopefully sticking around here and enjoying some pretty .

More Inspiration:

I was so happy when Nancy Neil invited to participate in this spring entertaining story with Ayda Robana of Om Sweet Mama. We shot at a private estate in Goleta and setup this table on their private dock (you know to go with their private lake). I used a low wood bowl and placed the centerpiece at the end, so the star of the table, the FOOD would stand out.

A menu of seasonal and local ingredients made up for a delicious feast (post-shoot this was dinner for the crew, it was rough but I got through it). My favorite? The squid ink pasta with eggs over easy…

For the rest of the table, Nancy pulled gorgeous plates & glassware from Botanik in Summerland and used God’s eye linen from Heather Taylor Home.

Wine was generously provided by Cambria Winery. For recipes, and the floral how-to, hop over to Design*Sponge right here. There were two more tables we shot that day, including one that is being featured in the current issue of Santa Barbara Magazine and can be seen here. Thanks ladies for a fun, creative shoot!

More Inspiration:

Back in January, Nancy Neil and I put together this table for Ayda Robana at the sickest estate in Goleta (can you say private lake?). Anyway, hop over right here to check out the full feature on Design*Sponge and I’ll have my recap of the table up on Monday.

More Inspiration:

Blooming branches are so amazing this time of year. They add life to any room and they last forever (these were shot 3 weeks after I bought them… and lasted 6 weeks total).

Common blooming branches this time of year are quine, cherry, apricot and plum (these are quince). To ensure a long life, use a hammer to smash the ends of the branches to allow for proper water uptake. Place in a tall vase with water and change the water weekly. For a wedding, blooming branches work well for tall ceremony arrangements, welcome table or seating card arrangements, and on a dinner table as they add great height to a tabletop design. In your home, any buffet or console table will make them look great. And there you go, a little piece of spring inside your home.

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