roses are re...wait!

Whew!  What a weekend!  As per usual it went too fast.  I am exhausted and sore (from 8 racquetball losses yesterday!), but happy to be able to share the details of a wedding that I helped with this past weekend.  Ever since my best friend's wedding last October, I have been keeping a close eye on many things, but flowers are my current obsession (in case you haven't noticed).  I was particularly impressed with the flowers at said friend's wedding-maybe even more so now that I have seen how much flowers can add or detract from the overall theme, and I have been itching to get some hands-on experience with florals.  Thus, I decided to reach out to Sadie of Sadie's Fine Floral Design, the studio who provided for Kristen's wedding, to see if she would let me shadow her for a day.  Luckily, she had a bigger wedding on tap and so invited me to spend the day with her crew this past Saturday at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, MN. 
I arrived at their new studio space-which they share with Fete Perfection-and was immediately in love.  Even though it is an older, warehouse-type building, I was enamored with the space, particularly the garage door-style loading dock that doubles as a wall of windows, the fanciful embellishments to the 'lounge' area, and the intoxicating aroma of various blooms.  I learned quickly that I really never knew quite what went into the prep for a wedding-I can only imagine what kind of activity would surround two events on one day...
This wedding in particular was a bit unique in that the ceremony, dinner and reception were all held at Interlachen Country Club (a gorgeous, but adequately pricey venue)-with the ceremony and reception in the same room, so during the cocktail hour, the entire arrangement had to be changed out-something that Sadie had not yet done before-but planned and executed perfectly.  We arrived with all the supplies, ready to conquer the otherwise, fairly 'blah' space, and within a few hours, the club was transformed.  My favorite part of the entire design were the enormous arrangements at the head of the aisle, constructed of spanish moss, white roses, amaryllis, lillies, hyacinth and curly wood.  If and when I figure out how to get photos from my phone to the computer, I will post them here...stand by.
The aisles were lined by 8-3 1/2-foot tall glass cylinders, filled with water, orchids and topped with an illuminated floating candle.  Each window bay was decorated with smaller glass cylinders of varying heights also filled with water and a floating candle; all in all, over 100 cylinders were filled and arranged throughout the room.  After the room flip, the taller cylinders were placed atop every other table, and large arrangements, similar to those at the head of the aisle, were fixed atop (precarious, and anxiety-inducing, but gorgeous).  The 'odd' tables-were topped with a nine piece arrangement, consisting of three smaller vases, filled with water and smaller arrangements, staggered and surrounded by cylinders with water and floating candles.  The head table was adorned with a beautiful, 6 foot long arrangement in the center, which helped to create a harvest table, at which the wedding party sat on all four sides. (Damn me not being able to transfer those photos...but make sure to visit the gallery on Sadie's website to see more of her amazing designs).
The mix of flowers and candlelight was so dreamy and romantic.  And to be honest, I was also thoroughly impressed with the Interlachen staff.  They were helpful and hard working-without them, a well-executed flip would have been impossible.  One note of caution: when hanging votives from flamable materials, like... say, curlywood, be careful to allow enough space between the flame and the material so as to avoid a fire.  The banquet manager at the Club nearly had a heart attack when he thought that he saw smoke just before the ceremony was about to begin.
Needless to say, by 6:30 PM I was exhausted.  Not only was there an enormous amount of prep, but a similiarly significant amount of physical labor-probably part of the reason that Sadie and her staff are in such incredible shape (I wouldn't lie).  As I drove through the Edina neighborhoods on my way home though, I couldn't help but recount the day's events and marvel at the creativity and workmanship that goes into the smallest of details.  I was truly impressed with and proud to have been part of this event and I thank Sadie and her staff for not only allowing me to tag along, but for so graciously showing me the ropes.