Wedding Channel's Bridal Blog Awards

The Secret Life of Flowers is nominated in the Wedding Channel's first ever Bridal Blog Awards. If you like what you read on our blog, help second or continue the nomination by clicking here and leaving a reply! 

Red, White, & (ut oh!) BLUE

In celebration of 4th of July this weekend, I thought I would do a blog on blue flowers. Many times, we have brides that come in with blue as one of their wedding colors. However, much to their dismay, blue is an extremely hard choice of flower color with very few options of choices, and many times they appear more purple. I usually suggest they bring in the blue tone to alternate areas such as table linens, containers, ribbon, fabric, etc. and keep the flowers in a complimenting color. Not to mention, with the wide range of beautiful blue shades out there, it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to match your blue bridesmaids/invitations/etc. to a specific flower. However, it is quite easy to find a wide range of fabrics, ribbons, and textures in whatever shade you desire. Here are some great inspiration boards I found online from bride's that had blue as one of their wedding colors.

** Note: floral work is by various florists- The Hidden Garden cannot take credit for the beautiful design work {this time} in the following inspirations boards

Beautiful Antique Bouquet

Going through our pictures, I couldn't resist sharing the pictures of this beautiful bouquet. Tessa's bouquet was all white with an antique feel including roses, hydrangea and tulips with accents of white feathers, crystals, and a special keepsake of the bride's mother.

Beverly Hills Hotel Wedding

Sneak peak at some of the pictures from the wedding we did at The Beverly Hills Hotel last weekend. The chuppah in the Crystal Garden was so full and lush, and the yellow flowers were breathtaking! The Crystal Ballroom was so dramatic and elegant with all the gold and crystal details. These are just the pictures we took with our camera, wait until you see the pictures from the photographer!!! Beautiful!








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Montage Beverly Hills

This past Saturday we had the pleasure of designing Megan & Bryan's wedding at The Montage Beverly Hills. Megan & Bryan's wedding was the first "garden" ceremony that the hotel has had since their opening. The Hidden Garden was honored to design such a romantic chuppa and aisle for the Landman Family. Megan choose a beautiful hue of magenta, soft blush pink, ivory and celadon green to set the tone for this elegant evening.

A Chance To Win Free Wedding Photography!

I am always game for a great contest, especially when the prize is something as priceless as free wedding photography by the oh, so talented Katee Grace! So, all brides-to-be take a break from planning to share your love story and a little about your special day with Katee and you could end up with the pictures of a lifetime. More details are below and good luck from all of us at the Hidden Garden.

Dear Bride to be....

All couples have unique, beautiful, and special love stories, yours included.

So with that said, I would love to hear yours! How did the two of you meet? What makes your heart race about your soul mate? What are you most looking forward to about marrying the love of your life and living happily ever after?

I would also love to hear how you will translate your personal flavor into the details of your special day. Are you keeping it small and intimate using Grandmas fine china and heirloom linen in the family backyard? Or are you declaring your love in a poppy filled field with tall grass at sunset.Whether formal, hippie-chic, DIY or sky's the limit wedding plans? your story + my camera = a day filled with special memories to last a lifetime.

Katee Grace is giving away one free wedding photography package to the winner!!

Congratulations and Good Luck, Can't wait to read your Love Story!

love katee grace

little details...

With your story include your wedding date as well as a digital photograph of you and your love.

Engagement Session (Date Night) with Katee Grace.

7-8 hours Wedding Day Coverage with Katee Grace.

Online Proofing of your photographs for your family and friends.

Online personalized website with your slideshows and story.

Add-On options of albums or profession prints or canvas' optional.

Deadline for me to receive your story: July 25th, 2009.

Announcement of the winner: August 5th, 2009

Travel expenses apply for travel outside of the Santa Barbara Area.

email stories to:katee@kateegrace.com

Wedding Weekend Extravaganza

It's a SUPER busy weekend here at the Hidden Garden!!  Just thought i would give you a "peek" at some of the things we are creating.  It's such a rush to see the array of florals throughout the studio!  Look for pics on the blog next week showcasing all the events. If you are at Casa Del Mar, Montage Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Hotel or Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes over the weekend....we'll see you there! 

Jewel Tone Wedding

Going through our pictures, we came across these pictures from a wedding we did in the past that had such beautiful and vibrant jewel tones. The deep red, magenta, raspberry, and lime green tones made a most dramatic wedding day. The wedding took place at The Four Seasons Los Angeles.

Hummingbird Ranch

Check out these pictures of the wedding we did last weekend at the amazing property, Hummingbird Nest Ranch. Poko Events organized the production, with the help of the bride's mom who is a fantastic designer with great vision. The flowers had a very natural and textured feel incorporating succulents and natural greens. The flowers were in shades of tangerine, rust, golden yellow, and ivory.

My Guest Post On Pretty Bride

It was so much fun being a guest blogger for Christina's beautiful Pretty Bride blog. My post "Making Your Wedding A Hollywood Affair" is all about my take on celebrity floral trends. We got you covered on everything from colors to ambiance to adding the Hollywood touch to your bridesmaid's bouquets.

South Pacific Affair

Last weekend The Hidden Garden had the pleasure of collaborating with Linda Pitelli from Eventful on a South Pacific wedding reception. The ceremony and dinner were held at a private estate that helped inspire the design decor for the evening. An array of coral peonies, celadon gladiolas, vibrant orange roses, white phaleonopsis and a mix of various tropical foliage were used to create the floral designs at the event. Linda's design sense is impeccable so it was fun creating floral designs to compliment the fantastic elements used for decor.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Four Seasons Westlake Wedding Beauty

Heather & Steven had a most beautiful wedding at The Four Seasons Westlake Village. Heather chose all classic white and ivory tones for her flowers. She especially likes the look of full and open white & ivory roses with hydrangea. She didn't particularily like greenery, so we kept all the flowers tight and compact to not show any of the natural greens. The chuppah was adorned with a clean line of roses and hydrangea, with the aisle criss crossed with white rose petals. The bouquets were a mix of white and ivory roses to create a timeless look. The centerpieces were tall wrought iron candelabras holding glowing candles with full displays of white and ivory roses & white hydrangea. Thank you Jules Bianchi for the amazing picutres (take a look at a sneak peak of the wedding pictures)! Beautiful!

Wedding Coordination: Tobey Dodge
Photographer: Jules Bianchi
Flowers: The Hidden Garden
Hair & Make-up: Tara Dowburd-Luftman
Candy Station: The Sweet Spot
Wedding Coordination: Envision Productions
Venue: The Four Seasons

Coral Peonies

One of the most commonly requested flower in floral design is a peony. It's just a favorite amongst the brides and our daily clients. In southern California, we don't have the luxury of growing or purchasing peonies year round. It's very seasonal which in turn makes it a hot commodity. The past few weeks have been "peony season" in Los Angeles. From the flower market, flower shops to local grocery stores they are readily available to the consumer. The peony is not inexpensive in the realm of flower purchases but it definitely worth every penny spent (i should say dollar...cause they aren't cheap!).
One of my favorites is the coral charm peonies. They are open, vibrant.....essentially "eye candy!" The flower head opens approximately 6 inches across when in it's peak display. It's color is so beautiful! As the flower "ages" it starts to turn a pale pink color then shades to a butter yellow....and then the petals start to shed. Grab a few stems for your house - it's worth it!

Flower Market This Week

The LA Flower Market was beautiful again this morning. Wednesdays are always the best days to go....everything is so fresh and abundant. It's virtually impossible to not fall in love with all the color! Today some of my favorites and new on the market for the month were Eremerus & Giant Aliums. Both strange names..and interesting looking flowers actually.
The Eremerus come in 4 -5 foot lengths in shades of white, yellow, peach/orange & pink. They last quite a long time.
The Giant Alium balls come in this great purple tone (sometimes in white but we don't see them much). Super fun and funky!

Of course, i can never get enough of the hydrangea. The available colors right now are so yummy!! Sherbert peachy/pink, vibrant fushcia, petal pink, purple, blue, lavender....i can go on and on! Hydrangea is a staple flower in our shop so when the variety of color hits the market i'm just so excited!

Baby Birthday Celebration

Here's a another great Baby Birthday celebration that we created at The Hidden Garden.

The base of our oversized birthday cupcake was created from a pave mass of pink carnations (yes carnations!) tightly packed together. How cute is that!

Our centerpieces for the tables where created from an abundant amount of pink rose petals. Each petal was glued one to one another ultimately created a single oversize rose bloom.