Flower Wild | Creative Direction and Floral Design by Kate Holt. Napa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles

This girl…

Apr. 17th

5 and half.

5 and half years of pure goodness and delight in my life.

it’s better than good to be her mom. thank you ken for giving me such a gift.

Rumi

Apr. 14th

the moment i heard my first love story i began seeking you,

not realizing the search was useless.

lovers don’t meet somewhere along the way.

they’re in one another’s souls from the beginning

-RUMI

Featured on Style Me Pretty recently here.

And in the Pages of MagRouge
Beautiful photography – Lacie Hansen
Creative Direction and Flowers – Kate Holt of Flowerwild
Coordination – Jill LaFleur
Invitation Suite and Day of Paper – Amber Moon of Pitbulls and Posies
Calligraphy, table number, and Rumi poem art work – Chelsea Petja of Oh My Deer
Hair and Makeup – Mar of Team Hair and Makeup
Wedding Decor and Rentals – Elan Event Rentals
Venue - Ojai Valley Inn and Spa

the tides

Apr. 9th

Things are moving and shifting here, I love it!
Wanted to post something quick while I have a chance.
All images here from our first April wedding this year, and the studio brimming with spring flowers!!! Peony, sweet peas, lilac…dogwood!!!!! Oh my!
My smile couldn’t be bigger:)
More to come as soon as I have another late night.

xo
k

California Raw

Mar. 29th

I spent the last two days on the road. Form here to Carmel and back. Alone. I much prefer to do this with Ken and Alice…so I missed them a lot.

I can say this – California is beautiful friends. When you are driving it all alone and you just witness it’s insane beauty, just watch it rolling by you, and the light just gets better and better, it’s almost like you can’t get enough. You don’t want it to end…you want more, and more.

You pass through vibrant green, smooth shouldered hillsides, on to rough rocky patches splotched and dripping with wild poppies, blue lupines, or yellow mustard. The sky changes from vast and open, to ethereal and rainy, dark even… then soft. Close and foggy. Almost too close. Almost on top of you. All around you.

Trees sprawl out. Cast their shadows. Inching ever closer to the sunny, most westerly side of their little plot. They dawdle and kick around, gently touching a nearby embankment or slope in a way that says – we’ve been here together, a long, long time. I know you. Sometimes they sway, kissed with sweet mossy bits that make them look somehow human or animated. More alive than you might want them to be on a lonely road at night. Like they might scoop you up. They seem so stately and ancient, even though they are here now. They feel so perfectly timeless…

Truth…The land here just fills you up with goodness. Sometimes shouting from the mountaintops doesn’t seem like enough. Drives like this, make me certain we live in an amazing place. And yesterday, California was just killing me with it’s raw beauty.

Getting to see these hidden and not-so hidden parts of the state make me crazy happy. Giddy, really. It’s the kind of stuff you want to share. Even if it makes you get all poetic and sappy:) Who cares. It’s real. It’s how I feel. I love it here.

There’s no appropriate segway for this so I’m not even going to try! My English teacher, Mrs. Kelly, would not be thrilled. But I honestly, almost always abide by her very wise instruction. This time, I’m just too pooped.

Here’s a little something pretty from Audrey and Jeff Dunham’s rehearsal dinner at Sunstone Winery. Planning by Jill LaFleur.
Images by Corbin Gurkin….an amazing amazing photographer you should all know. I was lucky enough to do the flowers for her wedding in Ireland this last year. Yep…she’s that gal behind that crazy adventure:)

Oh…and we are about to announce 2 more workshops for this year. One of which, Corbin will be shooting! So stay tuned…

xo
k

Desert Dreaming…

Mar. 25th

I am so determined to get back into the swing of things with my blogging…we had some technical issues last week; and on top of that we were hosting our workshop in Palm Springs- which was fabulous but BUSY. So, I wrote a post late last night, clicked on the “save draft” button…and poof! The whole frickin’ thing disappeared. I suppose this is basically the universe’s way of telling me to let the pictures tell the story.

In short:
14 talented women from around the world, converged on Palms Springs last week for our Flowerwild workshop.
It was awesome.
It was inspiring.
I want to do it a LOT more. A lot lot more.

HUGE thanks to my husband for his genius rigging, making my crazy ideas a reality, and moral support. I love you. Thanks to little A for making me smile always.
Of course many thanks to Jose Villa, Mar of Team Hair and Makeup, Jeni Maus of Found Vintage Rentals, Erica of Twine Events, my assistant Corinne, and The Ace Hotel for hooking me up and sharing their talents so generously. To all the wonderful, creative, and beautiful women who came and shared their visions and talents with me – I am so glad I met all of you and am crazy excited about all our new friendships. WOW!

I’ll be posting film photos from Jose later on…but in the meantime here’s a glimpse of our week in the desert.

images by Kate Holt, Ken Holt, Joel Seratto, and Jose Villa.
xo
kate

Road Trip

Mar. 6th

Tomorrow Alice and I are headed up north together. Mommy daughter adventure! I’m sure there will be tons of spy games and goofy imaginings on our 6 hour drive – at the insistence of Little A.

Not sure how you all pass the time on a long drive with kids..but I must say Alice has to be one of the most patient kids under 10 out there. She definitely has more staying power than I do. She prefers interaction and imaginary games to any sort of electronic device. Oh…and singing. LOTS of singing. Yesterday she was singing “Dirty deeds!!! Done dirt cheap”…the whole time we were at CVS picking up a prescription. Ha! Not sure how many other 5 years old know and love that song; but clearly, Alice is a fan of AC/DC, thanks to Ken. Endless good times with this one!

I’m more of a dreamer when we travel. Though I do love to sing, I really love to look out the window and wonder about other people and their lives…their place on this planet, their home, their walk to school, their morning coffee, their bedtime stories, their dirt, their pets, their closets, their blankets and books, their keepsakes. Did so much of that as a kid myself, on long car trips to south carolina from chicago or a couple of cross country train rides from chicago to the golden state.

What a way to see the country. Really see it…or, at least see a lot of the forgotten places, wayside towns, all the spots that rest between here and there. The non-destinations so to speak. I like seeing all of it and having Alice see it too. So she understands better that not everyone lives the same life, or comes from the same place, or has the same story. It’s good for the imagination right? It helps expand our perception and develops our sensibilities – traveling.

I’ll be instagramming from the road I’m sure. If you don’t follow me there already…please find us @flowerwild

Weekly Loves

Feb. 27th

I’m sick. On the tail end of an icky spell of something and I can’t wait to be done with it. Stronger everyday, head a little clearer. Which is good, because I’m juggling a lot of projects lately and trying to stay on course with each one can be a challenge. Hard to keep them from overlapping and spilling into one another.

Here are some images I am loving this week, and looking to for inspiration. Workshop attendees beware! These are the beginnings of something for you.
Only a few more weeks till we are soaking up sun in Palm Springs and getting very very serious about flowers and all that jazz. YAY!!!!

(images:top left -irving pen for harper’s bazaar, top right- mario testino
the rest of images unknown with exception of bottom left, blue artwork by valerie hammond)

Intern Internally Eternally at Flowerwild

Feb. 23rd

Ok. Maybe not Eternally.

But we need some fresh meat around here. Join the high society of Flowerwild ladies and gents (not pictured.) We’re Fancy…almost never. I like hard workers, I like go-getters, I like people who know when to be quiet, I like people who are creative, I like people who know how to use drills, staple guns and can climb ladders, I like people who make me look good. Is this you?

We are offering intern programs with Flowerwild
on various dates from April to October of this year.
We need people in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Napa/Sonoma areas.

Days of work are flexible…with Saturdays being a must.
This work is hard. You will get dirty. It’s not glamorous. You will scrub buckets and trim flowers, eat sandwiches standing up. You will inevitably help load thousands of candles into vans. It will be sweaty and hot work some of the time, but you will learn a lot, see a ton of gorgeous flowers daily, and get a peek behind the scenes of numerous event installations. Meet fabulous people, form friendships. It’s not too shabby.

Please email me @ info@flowerwild.com
if this is of interest.

Image by Irving Penn

6 Responses to Intern Internally Eternally at Flowerwild

Charmain Chen

Mar. 13th

Dear Kate,
I met Nancy Teasley at a Little Flower School class in LA and she referred me to Flowerwild’s internship opportunity. How exciting! I live in Pasadena and would love to find out more information on the various dates of your intern program in LA and Santa Barbara? I’m a mom of two girls and I am just at beginning stages of starting my own freelance floral design business. I would love to find volunteer opportunities to help out and to learn.

Thanks for your consideration!

Warmly,
Charmain
Kate

Mar. 14th

Hi Charmain -

Wonderful!!! I’ll be out of town next week for our workshop but would love to connect with you after that. We will be meeting interested interns then and discussing possibilities! YAY!!!!

Glad you went to little flower school and met some of my favorite flower ladies!
Such great people to be around:)
Warmly,
Kate
Charmain Chen

Apr. 3rd

Thank you so much Kate! I hope your out of town trip went well! Do let me know when you might be meeting potential interns as I would love the opportunity to find out more! You can email me directly at charmain@gmail.com

Take care,
Charmain
Chelley Brenner

Apr. 4th

Kate,
I have been following your blog and website for 2 1/2 years. I am in love with all you do in floral creation. I have been trying to figure out how to meet you for years and have an email saved in my drafts from 2 years ago that I never got the nerve to send you wanting to see if there would be any way to intern with you. This would be a dream come true! My friend Carly Brannon had a boutique down the street from you when you used to have a shop on Magnolia but both of you had moved when I found this out. As far as I have been able to tell, you no longer have a shop, but I would love to meet you and be thrilled to intern with you. I am a hard worker and can do whatever you need me to.
Happily yours,
Chelley
Kate

Apr. 5th

H Chelley -

This is such a sweet note! I would love to meet you. We are pretty busy this week and next, but email me at info@flowerwild.com and we can set up a time for you to come in.
-k
Rochelle Wall

Apr. 5th

Hi Kate, I’m just so in awe of your gorgeous work. Yours is truly a beautiful level to aspire to. For a few years now, I have been doing freelance wedding planning, and my true love is florals. This year seems to be getting bigger and better for my little venture, but I want to learn and grow. I would be beyond honored to be considered for an internship – I just have such an incredible passion for flowers, as well as this business, and want to absorb all I possibly can.
With fond regards,
Rochelle

http://www.delightfulbyrochelle.com

My Little Gal

Feb. 22nd

She’s getting big. The picture above is from when she was only 2. She had just made Ken her first arrangement. Isn’t it fabulous? I love how she is so admiring and proud in this image.

Like every mother, I often feel like I want to suspend time. I know I can’t, and the truth is, witnessing her growth is the greatest reward. Her expression, her experience, her humor, her frustrations, her wit, her delight – all of it. I love all of it.

This will be her last full season mostly at home with me in the studio. Next year is kinder, and I will hold these memories close. The sometimes crazy, sometimes wildly frustrating time we’ve spent together making flowers, and painting, and singing, and snacking, and dancing, and boutonniere-ing, and even yelling at each other. True.

I know many of you out there are also juggling career and family. I admit it’s a daily struggle and I need reminders. How do you manage it?

“mom…”
“mom.”

“mom!”
“take a break already!”

ok ok…good idea Alice! Let’s go to the park:)

all images by Ken & Kate Holt