Today is going to be a somewhat bittersweet day, you see last May I wrote this post, I decided that my time as a wedding planner had to end. My life has changed (with a growing family that I wanted to spend time with) and to be fair to my wedding clients it was time to change the focus of my company.  Today’s post is called from Maggie to Priya. Maggie is the first bride I sent down the aisle, she got married to Michael on a beautiful outdoor ceremony at the Lincoln Park Gardens in the middle of June with a reception at the Crystal Gardens in Navy Pier. Today’s bride is a lovely woman by the name of Priya. She is the last bride I will send down the aisle (twice! for an indian and western ceremony) in a couple of hours at the Metropolitan Club at the Willis Tower to marry Tony who is probably one of the most fun grooms I’ve ever had. He always has a funny joke and a huge smile in his arsenal.

There has been a countless number of weddings…. Indian weddings, jewish weddings, asian weddings, destination weddings, Christian weddings, non denominational weddings, logistical nightmare weddings (this one is a story to tell off the record!), New Year’s Eve weddings, outdoor weddings, winter weddings. Done them all and I had a great time while getting to know so many awesome couples, meeting their families and learning so much about other careers while planning their weddings. Hello FBI agents! Do I have stories to tell? Oh… Yes.I. Do.

To all the amazing couples who let me be part of their wedding day… thank you. I’m so grateful to have known all of you and that I get to keep in contact with so many of you! Nothing makes me happier to see you have children, buy homes, travel to new places, and see you enjoy life together as a married couple. May you continue to live happily ever after.

Follow me on Twitter today @alexjusino as I tweet about my day and sending Priya down the aisle.

Photo Credit by Priscilla O’Sullivan from  Bellissima Photography

Two weeks ago we got to be part of the monthly Thursday Therapy networking event in Chicago. This time it was taking place at Venue Six10 located t the Spertus Institute on Michigan Avenue. The venue is spectacular and boasts views of Grant Park, the lakefront, along with Michigan Avenue. Venue Six10 also has a small outdoor space! Perfect for any guests that would like to get some fresh air between dancing the night away.

Their space is a white canvas… perfect to do anything with it. Since it was April with lots of white space we decided to do a lot of bold colors. Hot pinks, hot oranges, corals and a touch of silver here and there.

I had a great time catching up with old friends from Wolfgang Puck. They provided quite the spread of delicious food for this event. Thank you to Kelly Marie from Fleur and Joan from Five Grain Events for letting us be part of this event and thank you to Bethany from Maypole Studios. Your pictures are amazing!  Thank you for sharing these amazing images with us.

We had to share this lovely peonies, lilacs and sweet peas bouquet from our wedding this past Saturday with Michelle Durpetti Events. We will share pictures soon from our first wedding of the season.

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of working with a wonderful bride. She wanted peonies. She was certainly in luck because the season for peonies is starting. Peonies have become THE most popular flower for brides thanks to Martha Stewart. If ten brides walk into my studio…. 8 of them will ask for peonies. Amazingly enough the growers around the world have known about this and started growing peonies. So when our season ends the season for another country starts. We are seeing peonies coming in from Alaska, Chile and even New Zealand. These peonies are beautiful, fluffy and soft, but it’s still not the same quality that we expect from a peony plant that is in OUR season. Today, I want to make a very important point about this with one picture and educate all of you out there.

A peony plant take years (I’m not joking) to produce a bud. Once the peony plant is about three to four years it begins to produce small flowers. Key word being small. So yes, the wholesaler is able to get peonies in the middle of August… but the stems that are grown are small in comparison to what has been in season.  Now lets get back to that bouquet that you really REALLY want but when the flowers you have your heart set on are not in season.

You see the peony on the right… thats a tree peony in season. Beautiful and truly majestic!  So big that both of my hands cupped around it are not big enough. You see the two buds on the left? Those are peonies that came from an immature plant. Not fully grown and I’m afraid to say so small they most likely will not even open; and even if they did it will not be the same size as the one to the right. So when I get asked for a peonies bouquet in the middle of August…. sure I can get it for you, but I will have to buy a lot of product. Most likely five times more the amount to account for the size of the stem to ensure the bouquet looks full enough to walk out of my studio and not embarrass me. Since I have to purchase five times the amount of product for something that is not in season I have to pass that cost along to you the consumer. Moral of this blog post? If you really  want it, I can get it for you, but I hope you’ve now understood why it will drive your cost higher with the picture below.

If you are looking for a great substitution to a peony when it’s not available in our season? Ask your designer about using garden roses. They are available year round and just as beautiful!

Last month the Chicago Opera Theatre had their annual fundraiser at Carnivale Restaurant. We were tapped by Michelle Durpetti Events to provide florals for the event.  If you’ve ever visited Carnivale it’s a latin fusion restaurant with a vibrant and fun mix of colors.  From the walls, to the artwork it is a blend of bright colors. With that in mind we created two tablescapes utilizing containers and vases within MDE’s in house collection.

Our first tablescape included a hurricane vase with a trio of pillar candles and loose mokara orchid blooms.

Our second tablescape included a monochromatic trio of deep purple stock, hot pink mokara orchids and red tulips.

Thank you to Carasco Photography for sharing these pictures and to Michelle Durpetti Events for letting us be part of the event.

Couldn’t resist to post this picture of a spring arrangement we created for your friend Colin Falco at Pulp & Ink. We purchase the vintage  jadeite vase recently and I will definitely try to get a couple more of them for our collection of antiques. The arrangement has pink peonies, hot pink garden roses called Baronesse, jasmine vine, ranunculus, wax flowers, veronicas and cherry blossoms.