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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Thanks!

Oh my...next year we will be celebrating 10 years of rocking out stunning, fashion forward wedding and event floral design. A special thanks to team Blooming Flowers, Shawna, Mandy and Kim, and all of our friends and family that have helped in any way, and for putting up with our ridiculous schedule. It is through your commitment that we are able to be flower spectacular and together we help make wedding dreams come true. Most importantly we want to thank our wedding flower family of Brides and Groom's, without you we would not be Blooming Flowers. Thank you!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Backwoods Home Festival and Country Living Fair

 What a nice surprise to see my friend Connie after 10 years.  She contacted me and wanted to visit, but didn't want to just sit around and chat, so we planned to visit The Backwoods Home Festival in Thornville, Ohio, on Friday and The Country Living Fair on Saturday.

The big weekend arrived, and we set out for the Backwoods Festival on Friday morning.  We planned to arrive when the gate opened at 10am.  Connie's friend Sue has an awesome gourd booth at the festival and warned us about the traffic coming in.  She was right....turned out that cars were backed up 3 miles out from the entry to the festival.  It took us an extra half hour to maneuver through the extra traffic and then we had to stand in a long line to get tickets.  But we were enjoying each others company and the time passed quickly.  People were exiting the festival as we were standing in line to get in.  Rumor has it that you can obtain tickets before the show.

Backwood's Home Festival, the long line to get in


We cruised through half of the vendor's booths, ate a BBQ sandwich for lunch, because it was the shortest line, and headed out to see the other half of the vendors.  For dessert, I wanted to have an apple dumpling or cream puff but we were too full from taste testing mix dips at several vendor booths along the trails.   

At the Backwood's Festival you can expect to find all kinds of craft items and folk art in booths built along a path in the woods.  Several booths were selling dip mixes, herbal and natural cosmetic products and pet collars.  Lots and lots of primitive decor items were available, which was a prevailing theme of the festival along with anything with OSU, ravens or crows on it, and silhouette's.  The trail's are a bit difficult to maneuver with the large stones on them and would be very hard to push a normal stroller.  Apparently last year the paths were lined with straw which was easier on the feet.  

There were many "street" musicians lining the paths, in the food court, and also performing by an informal seating area of straw bales.

Musicians at the Backwoods Home Festival

 My friend Connie had to wear a pedometer for work and we were really disappointed when we looked at our total steps taken at the end of the day, about 3000.  Surely something was not right with that meter, because we felt like we had walked at least 3 miles.

Saturday we headed north to The Ohio Historical Society, Ohio Village in Columbus, Ohio, for the Country Living Fair.  Despite the huge construction project on 71 we were able to make it into the fair with light to medium traffic at 9:30am, a little before the opening time of 10am.  While at the fair, I heard some tales of people screaming at each other while trying to merge on 270 and 71 on the north end of town.  I cringed a little on the way into Columbus on 71N when I read a sign that they were using the same exit for the OSU game and the Country Living Fair.  Trying to get back on 71S after the fair was excruciating, so I ditched the idea entirely after being detoured around 670 only to have the 71S entrance ramp closed, and headed south on Summit to hit 70 with little problem.  

We ordered our tickets online for the Country Living Fair, but not early enough to have them delivered through the mail so we had to pick them up at will call.  The ticket lines were not long, but we saved a few bucks by ordering online.  The actual line to get into the fair before the gates opened was quite long, but moved quickly once the gates were opened.  The edge of the road that we were instructed to line up on was in severe need of repair and one elderly lady tripped and fell, but thankfully was ok.

Country Living Fair, waiting to get in


Once in the fair I headed over to the Rustoleum booth, because they were offering a free gift to anyone that brought a picture of a project they worked on using their product.  My son just finished painting his car with Rustoleum, so I picked up a free tote for him.  He is at college, so when I told him what his gift was, he said I could have it...score!  haha, I am going to paint kitchen cabinets with the new Rustoleum cabinet kit, so this booth was very informative for me.

Next we wandered around the different vendor booths until we met up with one of Connie's friends, Marianne.  The price points were alot higher at this show, but the goods being sold were more artisan.  For example, hooked rugs, paintings, jewelry, photography and antiques.  Also common were re-purposed items from several artists.  For example, making jewelry from items such as silverware, gears, fabric, paper or antique optician glass.  Making new furniture from old furniture, like benches made from wood beds.  Old windows and doors were also a common theme.  Anything vintage like lace, tablecloths, chandeliers were given new uses and being sold.  A few booths were selling felted items and/or items made from old sweaters.  Some primitive items were also available to purchase.  Artists and author's were available to sign their items.  This show also had it's share of food mixes and natural cosmetics.

Old flower paraphernalia, lol, because my post has to have something flower related, right?


Food lines at the Country Living Fair were unusually long and at least a 20min wait at each.  We opted for a baked potato and after we waited our 20min, we were informed they were out of potatoes and it would be just a few minutes for more potatoes to arrive.  So we waited, and waited.....and waited.  Finally my new friend Marianne (Connie's friend from Toledo) decided to wait in the long food line for the booth next to us.  Marianne said, "See who get's waited on first".  Well, she did, lol!  But I abandoned my post at the potato counter and gave her my money and Connie's money for food, at this point, we didn't care what it was.  We were finishing up our taco salad just as the potato line got moving.

We did not see any live musicians, except for one lady singer that wasn't very good.  There might have been scheduled shows, but we were too busy with the vendor's booth's to take in any shows.

Overall, it was a fun weekend.  For sheer entertainment I preferred the Backwood's Home Festival because of the friendliness, the abundance of country musicians performing, and a better, more accessible food court.  If you are looking for antiques or unique items, I would suggest the Country Living Fair.  Both shows seemed to have their share of people buying stuff .  Better yet, make a weekend of it and go to both shows.

Note:
Backwood's Home Festival, parking is free, tickets are $8 ea
Country Living Fair, parking is $5 and tickets are $13ea before the fair, or $16ea day of




Monday, June 18, 2012

Tracie and Nathan's Wedding

Oh my, what a fun group!  Love, love this photo, it captures the true essence of this fun couple. 

After our final wedding flower consultation with Tracie and her Mom, I realized I had been at their home before...now when was it?  Oh now I remember...Tracie's Mom made a cake for my son's birthday about 10 years ago.  At the time, she was semi-retiring her cake business to spend more time with her daughters.  I was kind of sad, because it was the best birthday cake ever! But now I can see that her time was well spent as an investment in her beautiful daughter Tracie.  What a lovely young woman she has grown up to be.  Congratulations Tracie and Nathan!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Sneak Peek, Purple and Cream Bouquet Sample, and Wild Bout


A big THANK YOU to YOU!  Blooming Flowers is very grateful for your business and referrals.  Wedding season is in full bloom, so here is a peek into our week.

Gorgeous sample meeting flower bouquet of purple and cream.  The sample meeting was especially scrumptious because we had...finger food, courtesy of my dear hubby.  

Having a bit of fun today with unusual but gorgeous boutonniere materials, berries, miniature green apples and grass.  What a yummy combination for a wild and beautiful boutonniere.

Lots and lots of work, but here is my first David Austin Garden Rose harvest.  I know, three roses, right?  But I am excited to see these first beauties.  We planted quite a few rose bushes, so hopefully we will be harvesting lots more.




Mounds of paperwork, meeting with new brides, finalizing plans with our brides, sample meetings, emails, fb, blogging, sketching ideas, reading and researching, and...weddings.  We love what we do!



Saturday, April 28, 2012

Greener Weddings, Growing Local Wedding Flowers

Ouch!  You may have thought I was in a fight with all the scratches I had on my face and arms.  We have been working on our overgrown, bramble property, reclaiming it to grow flowers.


Even gloves did not help.  My finger got poked by a rose thorn and it became very scary swollen. After we cleared the brush, we burned most of it.


Our tiller conked out on us, so we had to hand turn over all of the dirt; two times!  Good thing my hubby is such a good sport, and a good digger.  This is only a small part of the reclaimed area.  Weeds be gone!

Plants researched, flowers ordered or started from seed.  Lots of spring planting done, and more to come.  Can't wait for everything to start blooming and using the flowers for our wedding flower business.  A little gift for all of our hard work, these tulips are what started our flower growing project.


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Our First Freebie, Free Wedding Invitations from PartyPOP

A free Wedding Invitation offer is brought to you by the very generous folks from PartyPOP.  There are six designs to choose from; printed and shipped for free.

Using this offer?  Leave a comment, we would love to hear from you.

Thanks, PartyPOP!

Free Printed Wedding Invitations

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Mamma Mia Wedding Dress Inspiration

I just watched Mamma Mia for the first time on DVD.  Dear hubby got it for me as a Valentine's Day present...and being the lazy day that it was, it was a perfect day to enjoy this light-hearted movie.

Everything about weddings is fascinating to me, and especially interesting is where designers draw their inspiration from.  I searched online and found this nice quote from the Mamma Mia gown designer, Ann Roth, "I was inspired by the statues of Athenian Maidens of the Acropolis, known as Korai..."

Pictured below is Amanda Seyfried in the Mamma Mia wedding gown, and on the right a statue of an Athenian Maiden.  Notice the layering, draping, and diagonal features they have in common.  Just beautiful. 


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Casting Call for "Say Yes To The Dress" and "Randy To The Rescue"

We think all of our brides are ♥amazing♥  Here is an exciting opportunity for our Bride's to be. 

Message from website (bloomingflowers.net) - 02/01/2012 at 12:54:06 PM CST

Name: Jessica
Email: randytotherescue@gmail.com

Message: Greetings! My name is Jessica, Associate Producer for TLC's "Say Yes To The Dress" and "Randy To The Rescue" I came across your site and thought I would reach out to you on our hunt for amazing brides! We are heading to Cincinnati OH. on March 18th, in the meantime we are spreading the word about this exciting casting opportunity. If there was anyway you could email blast your files, a friendly Tweet, a Facebook message, or even allow us to post a mini blurb on your site we would greatly appreciate it. You might even have a specific bride(s) in mind who would be a good candidate for the show? All of the details can easily be sent in your direction, either way we would love to hear back from you! Thanks in advance.
Casting call info:

Do you dream of walking down the aisle with the help of New York City’s premiere bridal expert but your budget doesn’t include a trip to the big apple? Never fear! It’s Randy to the Rescue!

For the first time ever, TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress fashion expert (and resident “FOB” – friend-of-the-bride) Randy, is heading off the floor ofKleinfeld and behind the wheel of a big rig – to bring his favorite gowns, his unsurpassed dress knowledge, and his signature “head-to-hem” styling approach to you!

If you love TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress but don't live in the NY area, now is your chance. Email us with your name, age, location, and wedding date ASAP to randytotherescue@gmail.com.


http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/randy-to-the-rescue


http://www.theweddingguys.com/randytotherescue.html
THEIR NEXT 2012 STOPS…
New Orleans, LA-2/26
Nashville, TN-3/11
Cincinnati, OH-3/18
Boston, MA-4/1
Minneapolis, MN-4/15

Friday, January 20, 2012

Jennifer and Beau, July 16, 2011

Perfectly stunning and elegant red roses for a sweet and lovely couple.  So blessed to be a part of their wedding, congratulations Jennifer and Beau.

 





Wedding and reception held at Grand Oaks Events
http://www.grandoaksevents.com/

Photo's by Heather Claypool Photography

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Martina and Greg, September 24, 2011

A stunning vintage wedding with lots of hydrangea, lots of fun, laughter, and a special day to remember.  Congratulations Martina and Greg!










Wedding Ceremony: St. Joseph Cathedral
Reception held at: Columbus Athenaeum
Photograph's by Derk's Works