The Special Event 2009

Next week Monday I will be heading to sunny California to attend The Special Event 2009.  This incredible conference is for professionals who work in the world of special events. My week out west will be spent attending workshops covering subjects such as latest trends in wedding and party work, business development and going "green" to name a few.   One particular lecture I'm most excited to attend is the wedding workshop which is sold out every year.  The keynote speaker is Carley Roney, Editor in Chief of The Knot, Inc.  I'm sure this luncheon will be the highlight of my week!  

When I opened Modern Day Floral I made a commitment to attend a minimum of one conference a year that would help us stay ahead of the curve.  However in the last year I'm thrilled to say I have attended three conferences.  No small task!!!  Although the financial contribution is substantial I feel the end result is well worth it.  Not only do we benefit but our customers benefit.   I feel it is very important that we stay up on the latest trends because our clients want and deserve more from us.

I will be sure to take lots of pictures and blog when I have time in-between programs.  Next week promises to be a creative whirlwind and I can't wait to share all the tasty  knowledge nuggets with all of you.  Stay tuned!

love,

Jenn

The Real Professional

Last week we designed a NYE wedding that was absolutely fabulous and definitely ranks up there with one of my favorites.  In an earlier post I shared photos taken with my camera but I'm so excited to share the shots taken by a real professional.  Lynell Shooks of Lizzie Weddings is a real peach and her work speaks for itself.  Enjoy the shots and be sure to check out her blog.  

Enjoy!

Ode to Mr. Wonderful

It's another sleepless night over here at the Ederer home and I thought I would follow my previous post with an "Ode to Mr. Wonderful" blog.  David is my amazing husband who puts up with my over the top personality.  Bless his heart for putting up with my unbelievable work schedule and for his attentive nature.   I still have no idea how he sits through a meal listening to me ramble on about the latest fabulous event.  He's a TROOPER!   I know I say it all the time but I'm so blessed.

Ring in the New Year

Last night downtown was buzzin' with the anticipated excitement of ringing in the new year. Rosa Parks Circle was filled with Grand Radians bundled in their warmest gear to see the ball drop. Inside the Amway Grand Plaza we were all abuzz getting ready for our long awaited New Year's Eve wedding. Tracy had certainly become one of our favorite brides and her wedding was so incredible.

The ceremony took place in the Imperial Ballroom, my personal favorite. The grand staircase makes for the perfect backdrop for an elegant wedding and by adding gorgeous fabric and lush, opulent floral the overall effect was magical.

Once the ceremony concluded the guests were escorted to the Pantlind Ballroom where they enjoyed scrumptious small plates and cocktails. The floral decor was very elegant and simple. Several of the tables were adorned with large calla lilies artistically designed in our amazing Anabel vase. The entire design stood over 5ft tall! The remainder of the tables contained candle collections and the bridesmaids bouquets were used along side votive candles on the high tops. Tracy had 10 bridesmaids so we had plenty of bouquets to work with! :)

While the guests were kicking off the festivities in the Pantlind, we were working hard along side the Amway staff to transform the Imperial ballroom. We had just an hour and a half to turn this space into a swanky hot spot to bring in the new year. We chose a bold color palette of deep rich garnet and black accented with black feathers, red glassware, mirror crackled containers and crystals! It was such an incredibly hot look! Unfortunately I was unable to take shots of this room because we were so pressed for time. Stay tuned...

The photos on this post were taken by my dear sweet husband David. Bless his heart that he takes time out of his already busy schedule to appease his impatient wife. We both love to take pictures but it is definitely just a hobby. If you want a sneak peak at the real professional shots check out Lynell Shook's blog at Lizzie's Wedding.

This was the first time I worked with Lynell and she was such a peach. I can't wait to see more photos! Thank you for letting me stand next to you and play photographer...you were so gracious!!

Enjoy the post and I will let you know as more photos become available.

Jenn

Officially on Grace Ormonde!

How exciting! Modern Day Floral is officially on the Grace Ormonde website!!! It is truly an honor and an accomplishment for our team.   Please be sure to check out our fabulous photos and listing.   

I also need to send out some blog love to the amazing and talented people we have had the honor to work with; Jodi Bos with In Any Event and Jen Kroll of Jen Kroll Photography.   We worked together on two of the spectacular events that are featured on the site.  Thanks ladies for continuing to be true leaders in the industry.  

MDF girls I couldn't possibly forget you...What can I say, "you ladies ROCK!"  The incredible passion and unbelievable talent is a true blessing.  Thank you for believing in Modern Day, for bringing your "A GAME" and for believing in the "GO BIG OR GO HOME" philosophy.  You know it's still love when you're pinching yourself years later.  Thanks for keeping the passion alive.

with love and appreciation,

Jenn

 

Can you believe that Christmas is right around the corner?!  You know what that means snow and little sunshine for 6 months.  UGH!!!  However on a brighter note it means the studio is all a'BLING with shiny things,  tinselly trees and enough glitter to cover a small city!!! 

 Last January I flew to Atlanta on the hunt for the most fabulous holiday decor and what Karen has done with these items is truly magical.  This girl knows how to decorate a tree.  We tease her that if the kitchen sink were available she would put it in there!  :)  I affectionately refer to her as Miss Christmas and thanks to her on the job training both Emily, and I, are now master Christmas tree decorators.  I think the most valuable lesson I learned from Karen is to not be afraid of filling up a tree.  The use of mesh, beading, ribbon, and branches go a long way in adding dramatic effect while ornaments, and a lot of them, is also key to a magnificent tree!  

As an example of her crazy decorating genius, Karen took our square moss wreaths that been hanging on our wall and used them in our copper tree. One of regulars had been admiring the wreaths for weeks and when asked where they were the client was amazed at the unconventional application of the wreaths.  Another example of her "out of the box" thinking is the cool way that she displayed the glass ornaments in the white and platinum tree.  She took the collection of grapevine Christmas trees, flipped them upside down, and stuffed them with the ornaments.  Although I realize this application does not apply with home trees I want to encourage all you amazing people to THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!  If it's pretty and it matches put it in the tree.   Here's my philosophy and it's pretty simple, "if you see more decorations than you see tree than you have a masterpiece.  The tree is merely a place to hang all your glamorous goodies so be sure to load it up!"

I encourage all of you to stop down to the studio to check out our amazing trees.  We have 4 ranging from traditional to contemporary all of which I love.  Karen works in the studio daily so bring your questions and if decorating is not your thing we would love to help.  We offer free home consultations and we still have availability to help with your holiday decorating.  

...one more quick side note, we're  offering 25% off all Christmas decorations.  Sorry this is a blog not a commercial however I had to mention the sale because I LOVE sales especially if it involves purses or shoes.  

Hope to see you soon.

Jenn

 

PAY IT FORWARD

I'm so excited to post this blog because it is so near and dear to my heart.  Several weeks ago I had shared with you how after events I experience this overwhelming feeling of sadness coupled with relief.  It's like the feeling you have right after Christmas or coming home from vacation.  There is so much heighten anticipation and when it finally arrives and is over there is a brief period of melancholy.  In an effort to prolong the sadness we have started a new program where we disassemble the centerpieces and donate the flowers to a local nursing home or hospital.  When we design large events it is nearly impossible to send home all the flowers with guests and it kills me, and the client, to just throw them away.  So in an effort to "go green" while paying it forward we have come up with this very rewarding program.  I like to call it therapy!  

Can you believe that these hand-tied bouquets were once the HUGE centerpieces from the remarkable event? It took us nearly 2 days to dismantle the designs but we were able to donate over 75 hand-tied bouquets to not just one but two nursing homes in the area.   This program has certainly become a trend with our clients and although it is time consuming the rewards are GREAT!  It is an incredible feeling to touch the lives of others through the beauty of flowers.  

Special thanks to John Pottenger with Coastline Studios for coming down short notice to shoot these bouquet for us.  I wanted our customer to see what an amazing gift they were donating.  Hope this warms your heart!  

Much love,

Jenn