Flower Wild | weddings

Beholden to Golden

May. 23rd

I love working with yellow.
Orange is cool too.

I took the leftovers from these samples to a neighbor…which really made me happy. I love unexpected flowers. Maybe some people don’t get that, but I don’t care. Flowers make me feel so good, even after all this time I’ve spent with them:)
Ken’s growing quite a wonderful garden this year. I’m excited to start using little bits from it for my bouquets and such. I’ve already stolen a few blueberry bush branches and the golden raspberries are just starting to pop. It’s me against the birds and the squirrels at this point!

Next up…chickens.
Trying to decide if we should get some. Alice is quite the animal lover and we eat at least 2 dozen eggs a week over here. Anyone with advice or thoughts on this? I would love to hear from you.

xo
k

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

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

7 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
Veronica

Mar. 6th

Hi there, I am an event planner and designer and I’d like to learn more about flowers. I am Italian and I was lucky enough to live and work in great places: from exotic Morocco( never see such variety of roses like there)to tropical paradises in the Caribbean.I recently moved to Los Angeles and I am looking to add to my experience, to learn and to grow. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty and I have a positive attitude. Please let me know if I can be of any service.
Sincerely
Veronica
http://www.VeronicaPranzoEvents.com

Wedding in Bel Air

Feb. 20th

A classic wedding at the Hotel Bel Air…
On Style Me pretty last week – you can view the full feature here.
Beautiful images by Gia Canali

Thanks to my lovely crew for making this one look so so good!

Foxy Foxglove

Feb. 5th

Sometimes things just come together all fabulous and it makes me so happy. This wedding was one of those things. It came together is such an amazing way – not without a lot of hard work and a ton of affection and thoughtfulness though. (thanks to my hard working crew!!!!) This family has a lot of love for their daughter and for each other. It was apparent in all of the attention to detail and the joyful approach they had toward the wedding in general. So nice to see that, be around them, and craft some small part of this day for Heidi and Brandon.
After the wedding, the Mother of the Bride had all of the phee-gee hydrangeas and foxglove from the ceremony planted at her house; which makes me smile. She even tried to give some of them to me as a gift:) Total heart melt…it was hard not to cry happy tears when she offered this generous gift – I guess I get sentimental.
Alas…my garden wasn’t ready for them yet.

Anyway, this is one of those lovely weddings where the images just speak for themselves.
Styling and Event Design by Kate Holt of Flowerwild
Photography by Lacie Hansen – a beautiful see-er of things.
Published on Style Me Pretty here.

Maybe I’m Afraid of the Way I Love You

Feb. 4th

Baby I’m amazed at the way you love me all the time
Maybe I’m afraid of the way I love you
Baby I’m amazed at the the way you pulled me out of time
Hung me on a line
Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you

-Paul McCartney

Watched a great piece of this documentary on Paul last night. I admit, I cried a little when they played this song over clips of him and Linda. He described so simply how she saw him, who he really was, and how they were just together – in the midst of a complete balloon of chaos really. Everyone else saw the Beatles…saw them break up. When it was over and done- Paul was still Paul. He was a man, he was himself, he had a little place on this planet, and she was by his side. He talked about her, how she helped him find his way back to music, back to happiness, she gave him affirmations, she said yes to him, she gently persuaded him, she created a warm family of love around him. It’s a sort of simple family, love story. It’s remarkable and then it’s kind of normal too.

To love truly, to love deeply, to know another person as well as you can…what else is there?
I’m really enjoying seeing new love out there…new couples I’m meeting…planning the beginnings of something sweet…maybe something remarkable.

Baby I’m amazed at the way you’re with me all the time
Maybe I’m afraid of the way I leave you
Baby I’m amazed at the way you help me sing my song
You right me when I’m wrong
Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you

almost all images by the lovely linda mccartney

Flower Gypsies

Jan. 25th

This particular wedding brings back a lot of warm snuggly memories from the spring, as well as some really heartsick, hard moments. I basically did a string of weddings back to back that kept me away from home for almost 4 weeks. Traveling solo part of the time…I migrated from Sonoma, to Carmel, to Big Sur like some sort of wandering flower gypsy; but I was wandering with great intent. Sourcing flowers from all new places, trying to have enough forethought to consider where and when I would need what containers, candles, and any other details along the way.

Ken and Alice came with me to Carmel for a few days then went off home again. Returning to real life and all the kids’ various routines. I stayed behind to produce all the flowers for the wedding in Big Sur, at one of the hardest locations I’ve ever worked, with virtually no crew. (big learning experience!) When Alice and Ken pulled away from our little cottage in Carmel, I could barely stand it. I practically chased after them down the road, then went inside to finish my work and have a little cry.
The allure of traveling for work is truly double-edged. You get to insert yourself into all these amazing landscapes and experience new places, food, flora, etc. It’s romantic – the notion; however, you also get tired, and have to say goodbye a lot – something I find hard to do.
There are good parts too. Every morning my duet of loves were with me, we walked hand in hand to breakfast- to a cozy spot called Bicyclette. We are creatures of comfort and like to revisit places we know we like:) (plus they had kale and perfectly poached eggs. YUM!) We sang and danced together, had fires in the fireplace, and Alice helped me make lots of the flowers.

She loved crafting the boutonnieres, tenderly pairing the little bits together and handing them to me so I could wrap with ribbon. Then setting them gently in their silver tray…sigh. I am truly the luckiest mom in the world. She tolerates so much insanity from me, understands when I am distracted and only half-listening, and has so much more patience than most grown women. Watching her soft hands and small fingers grab the bits of flowers and layer them one on top of the other, thoughtfully and artistically, well…there’s just nothing more rewarding than that. When she helps me with these weddings I know we are creating little memories together that will be the foundation of who she becomes. Sometimes just spending time quietly together is the best thing.

I guess that’s why these two got married – they really like just spending time together.
Rachel and Healey were married at Holman Ranch in Carmel Valley. When two people are so in love and so genuinely affectionate towards each other, it makes my work so worthwhile. You can see it in these images. Not to be overly sentimental…but I love that my little family helped in some small way, to make the day where they became a family, happen perfectly.

You can see more of this wedding, and the groom’s sweet story of the day up on Style Me Pretty.

All Images by Jose Villa
Styling and Floral Design by Kate Holt of Flowerwild

6 Responses to Flower Gypsies

janet

Jan. 25th

That bouquet, those centerpieces – breath taking!
Zachary + Wendy Stowasser {Stillwater Cinematography}

Jan. 25th

These two are so incredible! We had the honor of creating their Films! { http://www.stillwatercinematography.com/rachel-healey-holman-ranch/ }

Enjoyed reading your story about being on the road. Your designs and creations are worth it all! Thanks for being Awesome.
sherry

Jan. 26th

Everything looks so effortless…and love the organic elements!
Amy | Fly Away Bride

Feb. 2nd

This is like being in a dream! So amazingly beautiful.
Jacqueline

Mar. 4th

Hi!

I was wondering if you provided the flowers for the bride’s hair? If so, what kind were they and how did the bride attach them to her hair? I am looking to do the same thing for my wedding. Thank you!
Kate

Mar. 6th

hi Jaquueline – the flowers in her hair are evelyn roses I think! We wire and tape a few fresh flower heads for the bride’s hair/makeup person to thread into their hair and they usually pin them in easily. Hope that helps!

Published in…

Jan. 22nd

Nooooo….not in VOGUE silly!
Maybe one day.
Oh how I dream of being Grace Coddington, (pictured above in her early modeling days) pulling together genius editorials for VOGUE, dressing in all black, dancing around with models day and night, feeding my many cats…
Actually, I only fantasize about the first part of being Grace – the part where you have such a volume of experience that even Anna Wintour doesn’t scare you. And the ideas for creating beauty just flow out of you every moment of every day. Is that how it works for Grace?
I’ve been meaning to get her book and give it a good read… But I have so many half started books laying about that is just seems futile. Betting Grace reads books all the way thru, probably in a couple of days – maybe in a couple of hours; rather than the endless weeks it takes me to piece together and get through just a few chapters.
I actually love reading but have not made the ritual of it important enough in my daily routine for it to stick. Some days I really just want to keep my eyes shut for a few more minutes in the morning, other days I have games that MUST be played with Alice before hopping to and getting dressed for school.
Alas, I digress from the topic at hand which is that though I am not Grace Coddington, I am lucky enough to have this beauty of a celebration published in The Knot’s national issue.
A very lively New Years Eve fete- with two love birds I won’t ever forget. Anne and Scott. The California Club. Tails on his tux. Confetti Bombs. Flowers. Louboutins. Noisemakers and some serious L.O.V.E.

Photos by Aaron Delesie. Planning by Brooke Keegan.