Let the Party Begin!

Mercy! One intense snow storm later, Christmas holidays with children and grandchildren taking center stage, and many kitchen clean-ups behind me, finally, the photos of over a week ago of the holiday centerpieces for my client's event! Where does time go?

Low cylinder with wrapped ivy and fresh cranberries at the base. This is a great photo of the baby kale. You can see several red amaryllis peeking from behind flanked by the red and pure white roses. I didn't realize how similar the kale would look to the roses! I like this shot which profiles the green portion of the kale beautifully. (Sorry about the orange tea towel!) I was using the tea towels to catch the water from the glass prior to packing!


This shot makes the hydrangeas look a bit purple. They really were dark burgundy red with green accents. Perfect!




Note the green kermit mums. I thought they added a spark of color in the spirit of the holidays. I love the monstera leaves for drama. Once again, the baby kale looking very rose-esque!


Closeup of the white and red amaryllis. These babies are very fragile! It took four days for them to open to this point. They drink water like crazy!

Amaryllis tied together and spread for drama. The roses were cut and placed upright at different heights. A few floating cranberries add a seasonal touch. Note the wide white satin ribbon I used to tied the amaryllis stems together.

This was another of the tall arrangements. I just love the seasonal colors of lime and red derived from the fresh lime slices along with some whole limes, and the cranberries.

There was just no good place to shoot this trio without background distractions. I designed the small square vases with the same assortment to flank the tall centerpiece. This was the main dining room design.

A trio of the large straight-sided glass vases with packed low design. I think these were my favorites!

By the time we loaded the van and made our way to Princeton, the weather was really beginning to develop. Snow,amaryllis,red roses, baby kale, red hydrangea---I'd say that was the perfect Christmas combination! The tables were set for a grand celebration to be sure.


Christmas celebrations and dramatic fresh flowers arer perfect together. Merry,merry.

Paris, Susan style!

While in Paris, several weeks ago, I wandered through the most delightful florist shop and was inspired by several interesting designs. I noted the designs in my idea notebook for future use.

Lucky for me (!) one of my clients asked me to design fresh floral centerpieces for her holiday party this year. Take a look at the selection of fresh floral that I was able to get my local supplier to bring in for me! Just like Paris!

Red, yes, red hydrangeas with delightfully Christmas green accents!

Remember, I talked about these baby floral kales that we found in the Parisian floral designs? Well, I got them too! So cute. So stylish.

To carry the holiday theme through, I am also using these crisp white and red roses.

In addition, I have the red and white amaryllis (not photographed, as they are still in the opening stage)...I'm praying that they open tonight while I sleep!

I added these lime green kermits for a little pop to the mix, along with medium monstera for drama.

Tomorrow is my design day. I'm looking forward to it and will post my holiday designs soon!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, indeed.