Winner of the WeddingWire 2012 Bride’s Choice Award!

Thank you to all our brides! We can’t wait to be a part of more beautiful weddings in 2012!

Fresh and fun!

 

Just recently we had the pleasure of doing a private party for one of our Old Town clients.  She was looking for a fun and funky modern look and Ashley had a great time making them.  Flowers are a great way to show your guests your personal style. 

Decking the halls for Fall!

Last week we took on the challenge of converting a home on Lee Street from its Halloween haunts to full-on fall flair! Why wait to decorate for Christmas when you can put up these Autumn adornments ?! We loved the result and hope it inspires you too!

A week in the life at The Enchanted Florist

This is one of the floral arrangements we made for the photo shoot at Bishop Boutique. Thanks for the picture, Kelly!

Hello blog readers! Sorry for the delay in posting, believe me I’ve been getting a lot of heat from Ashley about not posting in a timely manner, so for that, I apologize. I’m not making any excuses but I think once you read the blog you might be able to forgive my tardiness.

September 26th-30th

What was supposed to be a low key week proved to be the exact opposite! Instead it ended up being a busy week with a few surprises, some fun and some that completely flipped the shop upside down.
Our crazy week started when Monday our internet went down! So with no way to print out work tickets we had to go old school with hand written card messages, handwritten work tickets for the designers and handwritten delivery slips. Monday closed out with the internet still down and we crossed our fingers that our provider would get us back online before Tuesday morning!

Our wishing and hoping didn’t really work out for us because Tuesday our internet was still down and we didn’t get back online until Wednesday morning. So as we started getting back into the groove it was finally time to fit a Starbucks run into the equation. Midafternoon Ashley and I decided to detour from our usual Starbucks (King & Union – they ROCK – no shady words on cups) so that we could make our way to upper King Street to check out the new boutique in Old Town, Bishop Boutique and to meet Kelly, the owner. Gina had worked with Kelly earlier in the week and provided floral arrangements for a photo shoot that Kelly was having at Bishop. Gina loved the clean, modern and edgy vibe of Bishop Boutique and talked about how cool it was for three days straight that Ashley and I couldn’t resist checking it out for ourselves.

From the moment you walk into Bishop Boutique you immediately feel as if you’ve been transported to a cool and edgy boutique in your favorite shopping district in New York City! Her shop has such an inviting vibe that it really draws you in, so much so that within the first five minutes of being there I found an amazing necklace that I immediately purchased (I actually saw a rockin’ pair of heels too but I had to refrain…trying to be more disciplined with my shopping). Kelly was so sweet to us, she was so engaging and personable and so relaxed as Ashley and I badgered her regarding the shop and about her background!

As it turns out Kelly made her way to Old Town via New York and DC! Her background includes time with Martha Stewart Living and years of experience working in great boutiques. We were quite curious to know how she chose the name for her shop. Kelly says she and her husband were talking about how the street names in Old Town, King and Queen, reminded them of a chess board and that BB are her father’s initials! Love the chess board connection but really love the connection to her father! And yes…Kelly can attest that we were on our Starbucks run, although we were a little embarrassed running around with our giant trenta cups so we had them hidden in a brown shopping bag! Next time we stop by Bishop we’ll make sure to include her in our Starbucks run and take her a beverage too! Thanks for chatting with us Kelly, and you might see me sooner rather than later because I can’t stop thinking about those rockin’ heels!

Wednesday ended on a great note and it looked like the week was going to get back to normal…I thought wrong! Thursday morning calls started pouring…is Phyllis okay, is she really in London, stuck with no money or way of getting home after being robbed at gun point in the park – NONE of it true! Uh oh! Phyllis’ personal email has been hijacked! 50 phone calls later we call Melissa (see last week’s blog) and ask her to help! 125 calls and one blank check later (a long time customer was so concerned she came to the shop with a blank check to help Phyllis get home) a mass email is sent out saying “disregard”! The calls wind down and it’s time for lunch, the morning was a wash!

After Thursday mornings excitement we get back to work and are able to focus on all of the beautiful wedding work that is scheduled to go out Saturday! Cecile back to designing wedding bouquets, Ashley and E focusing on wedding arrangements and everyone else doing what they do. Overall, even though this week was crazy…it really wasn’t too different from most weeks around here!

P.S.
Bishop’s web page has not gone online yet but you can stay connected with her and the shop through Facebook and you can follow her on Twitter!  She’s open Monday – Saturday 10:00 – 7:00 and Sunday 11:00-5:00 and she’s on a great part of King Street! You can stop off and buy yourself a cool pair of rain boots (the rain has been crazy lately) and a great necklace and then you can make your way over to Hank’s Oyster Bar for oysters and cold beer! Shopping and eating…sounds like a great day to me!

Melissa moves on…

This morning I woke up and it occurred to me that our very own Melissa is leaving us today!  I’m in shock and disbelief (even though I have had lots of time to process it) and am concerned that we may never find a replacement that will be able to belt out show tunes the way she can!  Melissa has been a key player in the shop for more than a year and although we will miss her, she and her husband are embarking on a fantastic adventure that will be taking them out of the area.  So as I realize that today will be our last day with her it makes me think about some of the great times we’ve shared with her.  Most days (not all) working with her went a little like this:

9:50 – Melissa calls, she’s headed to Starbucks and wants to know if she should pick up the usual for everyone.

10:05 – She’s a few minutes late…but it’s okay she’s four cups heavy with Starbucks and we’re all happy to see her.

10:05-12:00 – In the basement working hard on proposals and event/wedding preparations.

12:00 – Melissa uses the intercom to call upstairs to say “Is it lunch time yet?”

12:00-12:30 – We all sit upstairs and have lunch together.  Melissa’s lunch looks delish and we all tell her how tasty it looks – she immediately says how easy it was to make and offers to give everyone a copy of the recipe.

12:30–1:00 – Melissa stays upstairs and helps out for a little bit before she heads back down stairs.  While she’s upstairs she belts out a few songs, “Sisters” , from White Christmas being one of her favorites.  Melissa and Aggie also continue to belt out a few random songs…Aggie never knowing all of the words and Melissa kind enough to pick up the slack and continue the song without making Aggie feel like a dork!

1:00-2:30 – Melissa meets with a client…the shop is quiet.

2:30 – Ashley gives Melissa the look and proceeds to ask her if she’s ready for another Starbucks run…Melissa assures her that she too is ready for another Starbucks.

2:30-2:45 – Melissa and Ashley make an afternoon Starbucks run….they return with Starbucks and Ben and Jerry’s!

2:45 – 4:30 – Natalie and Melissa work in the basement – We hear laughter upstairs – not quite sure what’s going on down there!

4:30-5:00 – Melissa’s back upstairs, she’s doing some of Gina’s recommended stretches and asking if anyone wants a little wine.  She tells E that she’ll make the boutonnieres and corsages for the weddings.

5:00-5:30 – Phyllis joins the party and Melissa entertains us with her afternoon repertoire of songs .

5:30-6:00 – Melissa finishes up for the day and suggests that we all head over to Jackson 20 for cocktails.  After absolutely no prodding Phyllis, Gina, Natalie, Ashley and I all agree that cocktails at J 20 sound like a great idea.

We’re really going to miss you around here Melissa…there’s no one like you.  In such a short time you’ve come to know us, and the coffee and tea we drink, you’ve come to make us laugh with your special gift of knowing what seems like every song ever written and you’ve added a little something to everyone’s recipe collection.  I think everyone in the shop would agree when I say, you went from coworker to friend.  So we will not say goodbye, we’ll just say…see ya later!

Delicious Fall Florals

Plum dahlias are all the more delightful surrounded by other tones of grape and raspberry!

Behind the Scenes…

…on a wedding day!!  We thought it might be fun to share a few “behind the scene” pictures that were taken during set up of last weekend’s wedding.

Phyllis, Lindsay, Ashley, Natalie, and Melissa started the day off at the warehouse, loading the van and Phyllis’ car with flowers, vases, supplies, etc.  Lindsay and Ashley headed in the van to the Ritz Carlton Downtown to load in all of the reception flowers and drop off the personal flowers to the lucky bride!

Phyllis, Natalie, and Melissa took off to the Church where they constructed the chuppah, covered the stage and stairs, placed pew markers, and tossed petals down the aisle.

I spy Natalie!

Upon completion, the three ladies headed to the Ritz to help finish with setup.

Figuring out the placement of centerpieces in the room:

Lots of vases to fill with water, dendrobium orchid blooms, and floating candle!

Attaching orchids to the escort card table arrangement:

Time to place the centerpieces…since there were 20 tables, we came up with three different centerpiece concepts:

The finished product:

We were hoping the rain would hold off…it poured just as we were living the Ritz!

And that’s our behind the scenes peek!

Another HOT Centerpiece

Similarly to our last post, we’ve created yet another hot summer centerpiece for a VIP event!  This time we’ve used orange roses, white and baby green hydrangea, spray roses, gloriosa lilies, and kaleidoscope phalaenopsis orchid blossoms with aspidistra loops!

Hot Summer Centerpiece

A few weeks ago, we were asked to create centerpieces for a VIP luncheon.  Our design team came up with lime green and orange as the color story.  It turned out to be a brilliant mix of color!

We’ve re-created this look a few times because our customers are raving about it!  The texture is what we think is so unique…we’ve include wrapped variegated Aspidistra leaves, green trick Dianthus, apple green phalaenopsis blossoms, clementines, and kumquats to make it a bit more intriguing.

Coordinating Cocktail Arrangements:

New Summer Wreathes!

Just got in this gorgeous faux hydrangea wreath which is also available in deep red!