Pretty in Pink

The gazebo overlooking the valley at Wine Country Farm was the setting for Sara and Jesse's Sunday wedding.

Mokara orchids, fern curls, purple cezanne roses and waltzertraum garden roses from Peterkort Roses made a stunning bridal bouquet. We added just a tiny bit of hot pink feathers for a touch of whimsy.

A light strewing of flowers accented the table under the gazebo - ready for the sand ceremony, a symbolic merging of two lives into one.

Another Summer Wedding

Andrew and Teresa had a '40's-themed wedding at the Evergreen Aviation Museum. The ceremony was in the lovely shaded oak grove behind the museum, but the reception was in the museum itself - under the wings of The Spruce Goose! What a memory!

         

It turned out to be a beautiful day, and this arch swag really stood out against the summer sky. The gorgeous little kales were one of my favorite finds for this wedding.

Bridesmaids carried cream and green mixes, and the Bride got my all-time favorite Piano Frieland rose grown right here in Oregon by Peterkort Roses.

June Wedding at Wine Country Farm

Angelique and Kyle came from Colorado to be married in Oregon Wine Country. They were so lucky! It rained every day for a week around their wedding - but not on the wedding day. It was a beautiful day. The wedding was at one of my favorite venues, Wine Country Farm, and the photographs were from Jenny Hill Photography. Thanks, Jenny! There is nothing like professional shots to make flowers look their best.

Wedding Networking Event

Here are a few more shots from an event at Youngberg Hill a few weeks ago.
This is the event where we went "all local" on the flowers. All flowers and greens came from within 15 miles of the venue and of the shop. It was fun! Many flowers came from 4-T Acres, commercial flower growers near Dayton. Others came from my gardens and - I confess - roadside ditches. (That would be the wild Queen Anne's Lace. It's having its best year ever thanks to the wet spring and summer.)
Thank you to the wonderful Continuum Photography for the beautiful photos.

Networking at Youngberg Hill

How gorgeous is this as a place to get married? Youngberg Hill Vineyard and Inn is a working vineyard with eight guest rooms in the inn. And a wedding-day view you will never forget!

It was the site of our July meeting of Wine Country Wedding Professionals. Absolutely delicious tasty treats were provided by Virginia Murphy and staff of Cafe Uncorked. I could have made a full meal of the hazelnut custard topped with fresh local raspberries!

The flower arrangements were provided by The Garden Path. It was a fun and creative process. We pulled the containers from our personal collections of vases, and used only completely reusable mechanics (no wet foam!). All flowers were held in place by their own stems, or by glass frogs or metal pin holders. (Remember them?)
The flowers were "all local" - coming from within 15 miles of the venue. It was a trip back to my flower-arranging roots - back to the days when I used almost exclusively flowers from my own yard and gardens.
Many new contacts were made, and a wonderful afternoon was had by all.
Thank you, Continuum Photography, for the beautiful photos. There is nothing like pro shots to show off the site, food and flowers!

Wedding at Kelty Estate

Kelty Estate in the little town of Lafayette was the perfect setting for Rachel and Robert's vintage themed wedding. It is a lovely old home turned Bed and Breakfast, located in the heart of Oregon's Wine Country.

Rachel's favorite flower, the peony, was brought in from Holland. But the roses, sweet peas, succulents, Kent Beauty oregano - and even the baby's breath - came from nearby growers. You can imagine how wonderful it smelled! Take a look at the handkerchief detail in her bouquet











The estate's shady backyard garden served as the ceremony site, with vows being said under the iron arch.
Reception tables were set up on the front lawn with these cute little birdnests as the centerpieces. It was a beautiful day, and I hope everyone had a great time!

Kristin's Garden Wedding

The rain finally cleared and Kristin had a beautiful sunny day for her wedding in her dad's garden. The garden was lovely, and featured some of the same local flowers that I had used in Kristin's bouquets.
There was a bit of a vintage theme, brought out in the use of her grandmother's handkerchiefs. Kristin told me she remembered wrapping her dolls in these hankies when she was little. What a nice way to bring fond memories of Grandma to your wedding day!
In addition to an all-natural garden look, Kristin's inspiration was the colors of the sunset. She loved the idea of pods and berries mixed in. I was especially excited about finding the sea holly and the scabiosa seed heads. You can see both in the bridal bouquet. And - yes - that's another handkerchief in the bridal bouquet!
One of the unique things about Kristin's wedding is that our first meeting was only three days before the wedding! It was all done via pictures and through her wedding coordinator. She was really happy that we had hit her look so right on!

Peony Season!

Gail created this charming piece in a ceramic dish to celebrate peony season. Oregon-grown peonies are beautiful!
Unfortunately, local peony season is coming to a close. They're a prized wedding flower (currently "in vogue") and will continue to be available imported from outside the local area. We love them wherever they come from, but feel especially blessed to live where we have access to such lovely locally-grown flowers.

For many years I have created large garden bouquets for the graduation ceremony at Linfield College. I believe it's my favorite job of the entire year! (And the bonus this year was watching my daughter graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.)

Some of these flowers came from my own garden. The foxglove is almost a tradition in these arrangements since it seems to bloom for full show on graduation day. The tall irises and hot pink centranthus are also from my yard.

This was the second showing for these pieces, having been used the previous evening for the Baccalaureate Service. It rained for the Commencement, but no one expected otherwise from the rainiest Oregon spring in years. The flowers didn't mind the rain, and the graduates and guests all brought umbrellas!

Introducing The Garden Path Flower Shop

Thanks for dropping into the blog for The Garden Path Flower Shop. You'll find our physical store at 636 N.E. Baker Street in McMinnville, the heart of Oregon's wine country.

First and foremost - we're here because we love flowers! Have you ever seen anything more perfect than these sunflowers? They're field-grown about 10 miles from the shop. We are so lucky to live where we have access to such beauties.

Other local flowers we're using now include baby's breath, phlox, stock (love that fragrance!), dahlias, glads, lilies, hydrangeas - and more too numerous to mention!

I love that these flowers use minimal energy input to get to my shop. Why buy solidaster or sunflowers from South America when I can get them locally! They are fresher and prettier, last longer and make me feel better about my "carbon footprint".