Juniper Well Ranch

Have you been searching for a secluded rustic northern Arizona venue for your wedding? Well look no further. We have found a gorgeous spot just 20 minutes from downtown Prescott. Juniper Well Ranch in Skull Valley is a charming rustic ranch, featuring a vineyard, multiple gardens, patios and cabins/cottages. The property is lush with vegetation, including a canopy of 1,000 year old alligator bark Juniper trees covered in ivy. This area is perfect for shading your guests at the ceremony, which can hold up to 150 people. Juniper Well Ranch is amazing! Check out their website for more information http://www.juniperwellranch.com/weddings.html

10080 W. Tough Country Trail Skull Valley, AZ 86338 928-442-3415

If you decide to get married here, give us a call we would love the chance to go back and of course help you with all your wedding bouquets, wedding centerpieces, and wedding flower decor.

DIY Wedding Flowers Warning

I posted this almost two years ago (1/2009) but it still holds true today and thought I would share this story with you again, as similar stories have been coming up more and more lately.

PREVENT A DISASTER WEDDING 101: Do it yourself FLOWERS.

This is a very risky idea that could end up costing you more money than having a professional floral designer help you with it. I had a bride who I quoted $1,000. This would cover her bridal bouquet, 3 bridesmaids, a flower girl, about a dozen boutonnieres, some corsages, 10 small centerpieces, cake flowers, and delivery & set up. Sounds like a lot of money, but it was actually pretty decent for all the things she wanted and the flower choices that she wanted. However, she decided that she could save a couple of hundred dollars if she went to Costco and bought and designed her own flowers with the help of some "creative" friends.
The bride decided that she would start working on the store bought flowers a few days before the wedding to give her enough time. So she went to Costco bought what she thought she needed, had her friends over to help her, and then started on it. This was harder than she thought. But they were all having fun and when all the flowers were used up, she had to make another run to Costco to get some MORE flowers, and then a third run because she didn't realize how many flowers she actually needed to make the bouquets look decent. Now she was getting worried because she was actually spending a bit more money than she thought. However, she was still under the $800 mark so she figured she still did good.
The bride had finished most everything a day ago, put the flowers in her refrigerator and felt that they would certainly do great in there. WRONG! Refrigerators have food products in them which give off ethylene gas and kill fresh flowers. This is exactly what happened to this DIY bride. Most of her flowers had gotten too cold, froze, and then turned brown due to the ethylene gas and some of the other flowers wilted due to the culture shock between Costco, the car ride home, the mishandling of the flowers by the unprofessional "creative" friends who helped design the flowers, and then going into the fridge. So the night before the wedding, the bride is now at a grocery store ordering her flowers. She ended up with whatever the grocery store had available, which was not exactly what she had wanted, and spent about $500 more here. Her total for flowers between Costco & the grocery store ended up being $1125.
It is not worth saving a few hundred dollars when you are working with perishable items. Leave this work to a professional florist who not only knows how to handle and design the flowers, but can guarantee them as well.

Melissa & Tyeson's Royal Wedding

Imagine a dream wedding starring a gorgeous bride and a handsome groom. Now imagine an unbelievable venue with more gorgeous photo opportunities than you can count. Let's make the venue the famous Royal Palms Resort. Now envision a reception site with lots of shimmering crystals and the soft glow of candlelight with candles everywhere. Let's go ahead and add a hint of fuchsia for accent color, against an otherwise all ivory event. Can you hear the mariachi's as they play their acoustic instruments and lead the guests from the post ceremony cocktail hour to the ceremony site?

All this really happened and Ever After Florals was very excited to be a part of this special day! We worked with the bride to provide her with an exquisite all ivory bouquet made up of hydrangea, peonies, garden roses, and soft accents of sweet peas. Her bridesmaids also carried all ivory flowers including garden roses and spray roses with sweet pea accents. When we designed the centerpieces we added a bit of color and made the flowers a nice mix of ivory and fuchsia. Set upon 30" tall pilsner vases and strung with crystal garlands, this wedding reception's flowers were definitely dramatic and memorable. This is one we will never forget. Congratulations Melissa & Tyeson, your wedding was absolutely stunning. Special thanks to A Day to Cherish event coordinators for all their attention to details and to LaTricia Soucy with Marriott Photography for her beautiful photos.

Irish Bliss

This was a very special wedding for several reasons. First, I was referred to this bride from a prior bride which is the best compliment ever. Second, the bride and groom chose St. Patrick's Day to exchange their vows which was very fun for me to include some gorgeous Bells of Ireland as the green accent for their flowers. And third, the groom looked very familiar to me and during our flower consultation we discovered that we had gone to high school together. It was a very "small world" moment for me. I never in a million years would have thought back in high school, that one day I would be designing his wedding flowers.

Karla & Patrick were such a great couple. I truly enjoyed working with them both and loved their laid back, easy going personalities. Karla wanted lots of bright happy colors to pop off of the green dresses she chose for her bridesmaids. We decided on hot pink with orange & green accents. Using mostly Gerbera Daisies, roses, stephanotis, and of course Bells of Ireland we made the flowers really stand out. The bride and groom had a gorgeous Catholic ceremony followed by an amazing reception at Anthem Country Club. They included a hint of St. Patrick's Day accents, such as, green chair ties, four leaf clover confetti, and some green mardi gras beads for all of the guests to wear at the reception. Congratulations Karla & Patrick O'Brien. Or shall I say, "Comhghairdeas or Maith thu!"

Bella Giardino- Venue spotlight

Every now and then we focus on a special venue here in Arizona that is extraordinary. We have been fortunate enough to find a wonderful North phoenix location that is guaranteed to make you excited! Introducing, Bella Giardino. Located 1/4 mile north of Jomax off the I-17 Frontage road. It is an oasis in the desert. Once there... you forget where you are. You are instantly transported into a lovely Spanish Mediterranean style location that is guaranteed to make you feel like you spent thousands on a destination wedding. Bella Giardino is going to be the next wedding hot spot which will be booking up faster than you can blink. Why? Here is what we especially loved about this particular wedding spot:

• Choice of indoor/outdoor reception spots
• Gorgeous views
• Terra cotta walkways, wrought iron accent lighting, covered patios
• Beautiful Mahogany Chiavari chairs (included)
• Elegant floor length tablecloths, linens & overlays (included)
• On site professional & experienced coordinator to assist before & during event
• Nine hour rental time
• Large archways in reception area to offer wonderful views of the lawn & grounds
• Luxurious bridal suite and groom suite with private patio
• Waterfalls, trees, flowering bushes, & rose garden
• It is the only one of it's kind in the Northwest Phoenix area!!

For further information and to to book your dream wedding location visit: http://www.gotobella.com/ or call 623-582-3905 today!

Fresh From the Kitchen LLC

I was recently invited to a special tasting with Fresh From the Kitchen and a few fabulous brides to be & their fiances. It was a wonderful evening for all of us to try some of the wonderful food selections that Fresh From the Kitchen has to offer. Everything that I tasted was absolutely delicious and so perfect! If you are still in need of a caterer for your wedding, rehearsal dinner or even for an after party, I highly recommend Fresh From the Kitchen for your next event. They provide the highest quality ingredients, a wide variety of delicious food selections, and the best customer service EVER! Call today 602-694-2878 or visit their website at http://www.freshfromthekitchenllc.com/

Just Peachy!

Gorgeous couple Erin & Chris were married March 20th at St. Francis Xavier church and celebrated with a gorgeous reception at the Pointe Tapatio Cliffs resort. Her flowers complimented her peach and celery color palette. Her bouquet was made up of peach roses, champagne spray roses, rice flower, white ranunculus, white sweet peas, and white peonies, wrapped in ivory satin ribbon with pearls down the handle. For her bridesmaids we used all peach carnations, peach ranunculus, peach spray roses, peach peonies, and champagne spray roses ribbon wrapped in celery satin ribbon with pearls down handle.

This peach & celery looks absolutely DELICIOUS!

Our ad in Arizona Bride magazine

We are so excited to have our first ad in next month's Arizona Bride Magazine "Best Of" issue. They hit stands in June, so be sure to pick one up!

Luscious Lockets

Many brides & grooms are always looking for special unique gifts to give one another on their wedding day. Well, I think I found THE perfect solution. Tina Steinberg in Temecula, CA has a very exciting collection of jewelry that is super personal and cannot be duplicated. You will undoubtedly have a one of a kind design when ordering these luscious lockets! We love the fingerprint cuff links too. For more unique ideas go to: http://www.tinasteinberg.com/luscious_lockets_collection.html type in "Meesh" as the coupon code for free shipping. Or contact Michelle at meesh@tinasteinberg.com for assistance in ordering and/or creating something beautiful for your bride or groom.

Laura and Alex's Simple Elegance

From the moment I met Laura, I instantly liked her. She was passionate not only about her wedding plans and the man she loved, but she was also passionate about her flowers. She was not wanting the traditional standard type of arrangements either. She was brave and excited and seriously fond of millionstar gyp (a.k.a. baby's breath). Millionstar gyp is a variety of baby's breath that has many more smaller blooms to it, which makes it much fuller and less weedy. We kept the church and the bridal party in all white/ivory flowers with a bit of green. Laura had a bouquet of hydrangeas tied with an ivory satin bow. The bridesmaids dressed in a pretty coral pink, clasped large puffs of millionstar gyp bouquets tied off with celery satin ribbon. At the church we lined the aisles with wreaths covered in millionstar gyp as well as decorating the podiums with bouquets of gyp and some larger pieces of white & green blooms. Then Laura and Alex decided on a "cocktail party"style reception at the Arizona Country Club. They had various barista tables, some lounge furniture with low tables, a few round tables and a cigar station. At the reception they wanted to add a bit of pink to the mix. There we used two different sized mint julep cups filled with a variety of pink, white & green flowers such as, hydrangea, sweet peas, peonies, garden roses, million star gyp, ranunculus, and dianthus. It was very chic and simple elegance! We LOVED how this wedding turned out.

Photos by Drew Brashler Photography & Ever After Cake by Lulu's Cupcakes