Charlotte Design

Charlotte Design featured in The Knot Magazine

2008-12-28T14:30:00.004-05:00

Some of the arrangements I created for a recent wedding in Canton were featured in The Knot Magazine.

Alison & Daniel: An Outdoor Wedding in Canton, MA
Crisp white tablecloths embroidered with a brown floral pattern were topped with three vases filled with pink roses, hydrangeas, and orchids.
Centerpieces: Charlotte Design Flower Boutique, Walpole
Photo By: Paige Brown Photography, Canton

Tied in ivory ribbon, Alison carried a simple, sophisticated bouquet of calla lilies.

Bridal Bouquet: Charlotte Design Flower Boutique, Walpole

Photo By: Paige Brown Photography, Canton

Vibrant pink blooms like hydrangeas, roses and nerines were combined with ivory calla lilies and hypericum berries.

Bridesmaid Bouquets: Charlotte Design Flower Boutique, Walpole

Photo By: Paige Brown Photography, Canton

For more info on The Knot, go to http://www.theknot.com/

Dover Library Holiday House Tour

2008-11-09T20:00:00.002-05:00

The Friends of the Dover Library held their 21st annual Holiday House Tour on Sunday, Nov. 9, giving patrons the opportunity to visit four magnificent private homes in town. Houses were festively decorated by local garden clubs and floral designers (including yours truly), and offered gourmet fare from local restaurants and caterers.

My work was inspired by the Japanese and tropical influence present in the house, using simple Ikebana style to create a peaceful and reflective mood. I used the dominant colors of each room as the basis for each presentation.

In the kitchen, I used the motifs from the house owner's vases as inspiration using yellow cymbidium orchids and red peppers.

For this presentation, I used the earthy green tone of this vase to create an exotic feel.

Here again the modern style of the vases called for simplicity. White roses and white hydrangeas provided the perfect match.

For the dining room, I wanted to create the feel of a mini tropical garden to convey calm and serenity.

Macy's Bouquet of the Day

2008-04-01T16:33:00.003-04:00

This spring, I had the opportunity to participate in Macy's Bouquet of the Day again. This event is in its second year and takes place at the Boston Downtown Crossing Macy's department store. Macy's invited "Boston's best designers" (their words, not mine!) to showcase exotic floral centerpieces. Each artist had free rein to create an arrangement in the main entrance of the store and leave it on display for a couple days. Here are a few photos of the topiary I created.

You can find out more on Macy's press release.

Setup had to take place at 6:00 am!

I had arranged most of the topiary at my workshop in Walpole and assembled it at the location, putting the finishing touches by adding greens and orchids.

Et voila!

Lakeview Pavillion Tasting

2008-03-07T17:13:00.003-05:00

In March, I decorated the dinner tasting a Lakeview Pavillion as one of their featured florist. This was a great opportunity to feature my unique style of French and Exotic flower arranging.

Located in Foxboro MA, Lakeview Pavillion is a great location for a wedding or special event. They have such courteous professional staff and the location overlooking Lakeview Pond is just wonderful.

Here are a few photos of the presentations I created for this event.

Boston Museum of Fine Arts Demonstration

2008-02-10T19:35:00.000-05:00

On Feb 5th, I was invited to demonstrate floral design technique to the flower committee of the Boston MFA. I created several arrangements taking into account the spaces in the Museum, the material that would look best, and shared some useful tips with the flower ladies, the volunteers who are in charge of creating and maintaining the arragements for the MFA. This was a great opportunity to work within such a great establishement and seeing my arrangements there, in a fine arts museum, made my day!

Dover Library Annual Holiday House Tour

2007-11-05T19:00:00.000-05:00

On November 4th, 2007, I was invited again to participate in the Dover Library Annual Holiday House Tour. The house I decorated was a majestic French manor house on Center street. I had a blast decorating the house with festive presentations as I was free to let my imagination go wild. See what the Dover press had to say about it.

Charlotte Design at Macy's

2007-04-07T11:44:00.000-04:00

Macy's recently contacted me to take part in their Downtown Crossing "Celebrate Spring" event. Five designers from the Boston area were asked to create a unique flower arrangement to be featured at the downtown Macy's store from April 1 to 14. My presentation was on display April 6th and 7th.

Here are some photos where you can see the arrangement taking shape in the store.

6:56 am, the empty pedestal is ready for us to start

6:58 am, the big cement basket (170 lbs!) is placed on the pedestal
6:59, first half of the pre-assembled foundation is placed in the basket
7:00 am, the second half is added
7:04 am, I add the center section and some amarilys
7:31 am, twigs and other accents are added7:37 am, Purple orchids are added 7:41 am, can you tell what changed here?
8:02 am, added cascading grapes, and putting the final touches 8:05 am, et voila!

Foxboro Bridal Show Expo 07

2007-02-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at the Foxboro Bridal Show Expo on Sunday! The show was a great success as many couples braved the cold weather to see the various vendors.

If you didn't get a chance to talk to us or if you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We offer free estimates for wedding flowers and party planning.

Here are some helpful tips when selecting flowers for your wedding:

Go for individuality rather than convention
Bold and colorful arrangements make a stronger statement than traditionally romantic flowers. Modern, and even monochromatic designs featuring only one flower offer a more distinctive design than mixed flowers and colors.

Hand-tied French bouquets also make a striking design statement. Cascading bouquets will always be popular, but why settle for the norm?

Pay attention to details
From vases to candles, work with your florist to select interesting and distinctive items. Even for smaller intimate weddings, these details will add style and make a big design statement.

Think outside the box
Beyond the common uses for wedding flowers like room and table décor, use flowers to enhance other aspects of your special day, for example:

- Welcome gifts for guests
- Thank you gifts
- Rehearsal dinner and wedding brunch décor
- Bride hair

Select the right florist
choose a florist who's style you like. Ask to see pictures of other weddings they've decorated to get a feel for their style.

Let your florist know as many details as possible about your wedding: date, location, wedding dress and bridesmaids dress style and color, church, etc. If you can, bring photos of arrangements you like and dislike.

Remember that not all flowers are available year around. Ask your florist for the flowers more likely to be available on your wedding day.

Flowers are an important part of your wedding day, they will create a style that will be remembered for years to come.

More photos from the Bridal Show...

Dover Holiday House Tour

2006-11-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

On November 12th, I had the priviledge of decorating one of the homes for the Friends of the Dover Library 19th annual Holiday House Tour.

The Holiday house Tour is sponsored by the Friends of the Dover Library to benefit the Library's many programs and services.

Four homes were decorated and catered by local vendors. The house I decorated was the home of Randy & Jean Raymond on Strawberry Hill Street. It is described as new Greek Revival with open contemporary feeling inside. It showcases exotic Brazilian walnut floors, beautiful box paneling, and a light filled British Colonial kitchen.

Indeed, the house is gorgeous, and I had a great time comming up with arrangements that would complete the house.

I am sure some people thought it wasn't really typical holiday decorations, but in my mind, that would actually have ruined the feel. The house has a very simple and minimalistic elegance, so I wanted my flowers to match that mood. It is festive without relying on typical holiday decorations.

2nd Year Anniversary Open House

2006-10-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

On October 14th, we celebrated Charlotte Design's second year anniversary with an open house. This event also coincided with the announcement that Charlotte Design will now add party and event planning services to its full service flower boutique.

Local event services joined the festivities with appearances by Domenic & Anthony’s Catering, Rentals Unlimited, DifferRentals, and Table Toppers. The anniversary event also included a raffle with proceeds benefiting the Jimmy Fund for Cancer Research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

This was a lot of fun. Many friends and customers stopped by trhoughout the day, tasting the delicious food of Domenic & Anthony, and taking advantage of the sale. The tent and chocolate fondue (yum!) were courtesy of DifferRentals.

Linens and table setting by Rentals Unlimited

I did a demonstration of an autumn wreath and a Thanksgiving arragement using asparagus, artichoke, apples, red peppers, orchids, dalhias, roses, and unusual foilage.

Table Toppers Linens

Look forward to an event bigger event next year!

Fenway Park Wedding

2006-07-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

In July 2006, I had the opportunity to create the floral design for the wedding of Jill Lieber, USA Today Senior Sportswriter, and Jim Steeg, San Diego Chargers Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Fenway Park.

The reception took place at the EMC Club.

Bridal Show at Foxboro Stadium

2006-02-19T13:00:00.000-05:00