Princess Lasertron » bouquets

Julie’s DIY felt flower bouquet and a February deal!

Princess Lasertron — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:55:58 +0000

I just read this e-mail from Julie, a lovely lady who ordered a kit to create a bouquet for her wedding last year. Julie sent me some pictures of her finished bouquet to share and I’m really impressed with the awesome work she did! She added some of her own buttons, brooches, and made some different shaped flowers with extra felt which I thought was very creative. That’s one of the things I love most about seeing finished work from our kits–brides always add such personal details that I wouldn’t have thought or known to do if I had made the bouquet for them.

I purchased your kit, and I must say this was the most fun, and honestly one of my favorite things from our wedding. I tried to do most of the decorations, cake topper, and favors myself, and the excitement of seeing my beautiful bouquet come together was so fulfilling. The best part of it was showing my mother how awesome it looked, when she was my biggest critic on the felt flower idea. She loved it and paraded it around the reception showing all of her friends..lol. So thank you so much for giving me the tools and ideas to help make that day so memorable.
-Julie

Want to make a bouquet of your own? You can order a kit to make a 16-stem bouquet just like my original felt flower bouquet–I send you absolutely everything you need (even needles!) in any colors you want. And in February when you order two kits (one for you, one for a bridesmaid?) you get a free posie bouquet for your flower girl valued at $75 in your colors. It would also work as a great toss bouquet!

Thanks Julie for sharing your pretty bouquet, and happy planning to all you sweet couples.

xo
meg

Amy and Dave’s Magical Telluride Wedding

Princess Lasertron — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:01:55 +0000

Amy is another customer who I feel has become a friend. She and I worked very closely together on her bouquet, which was a beautiful mix of handmade flowers, carefully embroidered leaves, and precious found objects (marbles? leather scraps? vintage millinery bees?). When Amy mailed all of the special goods to me, they came packed in a meticulously decorated package, covered in stickers by a girl she nannies. After all the work was done, approved, and shipped in a big white box to Amy, I soon found a lovingly wrapped loaf of cranberry walnut bread (with the recipe), and it was even vegan so I could share it with my husband.

Amy was kind enough to share some of her favorite details about her big day, as well as her professional pictures shot by Merrick Chase. Now, in Amy’s own words…

About the wedding location: Telluride, Colorado

We decided to get married at one of our very favorite places, Telluride, CO. We had been there a couple times before, and he proposed to me there on a trail overlooking the whole valley exactly one year prior to our wedding date, June 16th. Having a destination wedding in a remote town, on the opening day of a huge Bluegrasss festival made it logistically challenging, but we had a lot of fun with it. We knew that our guests would either be totally committed and pumped for the vacation, or not in at all, (which ultimately weeded out all the negative Nancys), and we ended up with an incredible group of close friends and family in an incredible valley in Colorado!!

About the dress: Something borrowed

My wedding dress was borrowed! I got so lucky, especially since I’m so short and petite. My friend, Nicole let me do whatever I wanted with it, and I will always be so thankful to her laid back attitude about a dress she wore only 3 years prior. We redesigned the whole back of the dress, and all in all it only cost me a few hundred bucks! I also wore a gorgeous turquoise necklace, and cowboy boots, complimented with simple makeup and a sweeping side French braid. I really love that I looked like myself on my wedding day, and didn’t go all crazy with hair and makeup!

About the ceremony:

The ceremony was tricky for us because without being religious we could really take it anywhere, and because our options were limitless it really almost stressed me out. Also by researching fun activities for our guests we came along the name of one of the oldest cowboys in town, Roudy Roudebusch. We loved his old-world approach and called him up to see if by chance he had ever preformed a wedding ceremony. To our delight he had! AND he was up for it, well, after he got to know us a little more personally. He had the right amount of sophistication, and humor, and had been married for over 50 years, and he looked awesome. However he did forgot to announce the part at the end where we kiss and I was like “Hey, aren’t we supposed to kiss?!” and everyone laughed and it made for some awesome pics, and our kiss was perfect! We were SO happy and it was just so natural. I absolutely love those pictures.

Reception decor: DIY driftwood place cards

We used small driftwood pieces that we gathered near our home in California as a twist on traditional place card holders. Dave cut a curved slice into each piece, and instead of using a name card, we collected old photos of each guest and put that into a piece of driftwood at their spot on the table. It was so cool for our friends/family members to be surprised with a picture of themselves. Some were totally wacky, like a ridiculous Halloween costume, others were 30 years old, like the photo we used for my mom on my parents wedding day, and still others were perhaps a unique photo that only the specific guest would be able to recognize, like a photo we used of our friend, Stacey, where you couldn’t see her face, but instead a view of Machu Picchu which was from a trip she took last summer. The photos were also an easy way way for each table to get the conversation flowing. Each guest also took their photo and driftwood piece home, which can be used again and again. We never wanted to do assigned seating in the first place, but it ended up being a necessity, and boy did we have fun with those pictures!

Advice for future brides

All I can suggest to an engaged couple is to have fun with it, and do it exactly the way you want to. After all its YOUR day, not your parents’, or your grandparents’, or anyone else’s, keeping things respectful of course. Ultimately, it should be a reflection of your love and commitment to each other, and there’s no wrong way to go about it! Shoot, we did it at a Bluegrass festival! The sky is the limit, and if you have friends that can help with the crafty side of stuff you can keep the costs relatively low. The most expensive part for us was lodging in Telluride. (because of the festival) Otherwise, we got creative and cut corners where we felt they could be cut.

More of my favorite details from Amy and Dave’s wedding:

♥ A New Orleans-style procession into the city for the wedding, with the band playing and all!
♥ Dave’s hand-drawn map of Telluride for people driving into the city
♥ Packages sent to each guest with a map, something to do in the car, CD’s for the drive, a magazine about Telluride, and custom SPF15 chap sticks.
♥ Forgoing the traditional wedding invitations for a wedding website designed by Dave

Thanks again Amy for the honor and privilege of being part of your wedding day, and congratulations to you and Dave on your continued journey together! Enjoy the ride.
xo
meg

All photos thanks to Merrick Chase Photography.

meaghan’s flowers

Princess Lasertron — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:46:48 +0000

Meaghan came to me about a year ago when she got engaged and asked me to make her wedding flowers. (She first saw my work when I made her sister Jen’s wedding bouquet in 2009. There’s no better recommendation than from a sister!) With a color palette of navy and orange with yellow and white details, I spent some time thinking of ways to interpret that color palette with elegance and whimsy, and not venture too far into Denver Broncos territory–you know how that can happen: strong, bold colors connoting sports teams. But we found some very beautiful inspiration photos that showed blends of orange and navy (like here, here, and the one provided by Meaghan here).

Here’s what we came up with.

Meaghan’s sister Jen brought lots of buttons and special keepsakes to our studio in Omaha, and I was able to use every single one in Meaghan’s bouquet.

Congratulations again to Meaghan and her fiance. Check out the rest of her flowers, including corsages and boutonnieres here in her Flickr set.

xo
meg

Ring in the new year with 20% off corsages and boutonnieres for your wedding!

Princess Lasertron — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 03:31:02 +0000

Congratulations to all of you newly engaged people out there and thanks to everyone who is thinking about ordering a Princess Lasertron bouquet or boutonniere for their wedding day. In the month of January I’m having a 20% off sale on all of our boutonnieres and corsages to give your wedding party, friends, and family in attendance a little something special. These accessories normally range between $17-40, so a 20% savings can really help all brides on a budget.

I love making custom wedding flowers and accessories. Here’s why.

Each flower order is made with vintage vintage buttons, trim, and other ephemera that I have been carefully collecting for six years.
I embroider each flower by hand, usually while watching Hulu or during Alice’s naps.
My bouquets have come a long way since I first started in 2005–I have learned so much about how to improve the quality and add more personal details that I take a lot of personal pride in.
Many of my customers have become close friends. I love to hear about each bride’s continued journey–jobs, houses, children, travel.

Start by filling out our bridal inquiry form so I can learn more about you, your partner, and what I can do to help make one of the biggest milestones in your life even better. You can tell me about the colors that inspire you, share photos to help me visualize your ideal flowers, and even post some of your own small treasures in the mail for me to integrate into your order.

This offer is good for all orders placed in January, so take advantage of it before it’s too late!

xo
meg

it’s a new record! adriele’s bright and happy last-minute bouquet

Princess Lasertron — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:30:27 +0000

Does anyone else watch that Punkin Chunkin’ show on TLC every Thanksgiving? My family does, and I sat on the couch with them finishing some more colorful little Cyber Monday bouquets and refreshing the tracking page for a box I shipped overnight yesterday. While I was thinking about my packaging for the Cyber Monday orders we’ll get, I had an idea for a waxed paper book cover tutorial that I think I should post Tuesday.

A lot of stuff I do is a little tightly-scheduled–these extra Made-on-Thanksgiving Cyber Monday Bouquets (I’m staying overnight with my parents so I had to bring something to do), any tutorial ideas I get (I have to make it before I forget, or before it becomes uncool), and sometimes I accept work at the last minute and then a miracle happens to let me finish in time. I’m always in a rush. That doesn’t mean I do things poorly–I never do shoddy work–but sometimes I dress poorly and parent poorly and eat poorly and sleep poorly. I manage because I see this work as a piece that fits into a life of long-term balance–there is time later to slow down.

Tonight while matching buttons to blooms, Punkin Chunkin’ played in the background and visions of record-breaking danced in my head (“He just beat his own world record!” “And that’s a new record for trebuchets!”) and it was like hearing the subconscious mantra that has driven me through this whole season physically manifested–do it better, don’t waste time, make this the best ever. Things happen to me that push me to challenge what I thought I could do. Yesterday Adriele and Marcelo from Brazil contacted me to create a bouquet for their wedding–and they needed it Sunday.

I read the e-mail, worked out the details with Adriele, packed up Alice early in the morning and went to CAMP for a long day. Our mission: Create a bouquet for Adriele in Sao Paulo and take it to the post office by 4pm to ship overnight.

Mission accomplished!

The time constraints posed by this order gave me the opportunity to try a few new techniques that I thought might save time–they worked, and I learned something. Her color palette (“I just like purple and blue and red–you can do whatever you want, I trust you”) was open for me to have fun and use my imagination. And Alice and I had fun during our long day at the studio–she was perfect, she had two good snacks and lunch, a little nap, and drew a cat on her whiteboard (she said it was a cat). She is finally able to sort small things without putting them in her mouth, so she even picked out two of the red buttons I used in this bouquet, including the cute wooden heart on one of the center flowers.

I wanted something bright and pretty to top the bow in the box, so I made a quick matching boutonniere for Adriele’s fiance, Marcelo. Sometimes when brides don’t order something that, in my opinion, they need (like a boutonniere, or a little hair clip, or shoe clips), I just make one if I have extra time and include it as a little gift. For Adriele and Marcelo in Sao Paulo, I felt like making a little something extra.

Thank you Adriele and Marcelo for the opportunity to design something for you that truly came from my heart of creativity. I wish both of you all the best and a lifetime of happiness together!
xo
meg

madi and guy’s flowers

Princess Lasertron — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:43:36 +0000

Sometimes with international orders I run into issues with customs.
46% of my business in international and I have learned that in many countries, customs is pretty much a dice roll.
With Madi, her package was unfortunately seized and so that caused a little worry for both of us, but it wasn’t long before the square white box of handmade flowers was safe in her hands.

I had a lot of fun using an eclectic range of materials for Madi’s flowers–wool felt and vintage buttons, but also lace, seam binding, pearls, and glass. Her flexibility and beautiful, warm color palette allowed for a lot of experimentation with texture and pattern, and I’m so grateful that she gave me the license to create an order that we both really love!

With this lovely style and their free-spirited nature, I can’t wait to see the photos from the beautiful wedding of Madi and Guy! I recall Madi talking about folding 1000 origami paper cranes…

See more photos from Madi and Guy’s flower order here in their Flickr set.

meg

brittany’s bridal bouquet

Princess Lasertron — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:03:36 +0000

Over the years doing Princess Lasertron, some of the most memorable weddings I’ve done have been for my friends! I think I’ve done about three or four weddings for people I know–not a ton–and it’s always such an honor and fun to make everything really personal for them. This bouquet is for my friend Brittany–she is a radio DJ and was one of Dave’s roommates a long time ago and later moved to Atlanta for work! She still comes back to visit once in a while and I love running into her.

Brittany sent me a ton of beautiful brooches from her great-grandmother which we integrated into her button flower bouquet. I love making these. You can’t imagine how heavy they get! On with the photos.

See more photos of Brittany’s bouquet here in her Flickr set!
xo
meg

ngahuia’s flowers

Princess Lasertron — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:02:42 +0000

Ngahuia is a customer from New Zealand marrying her fiance, Ian, from the United Kingdom, and she e-mailed me almost a year ago to create a beautiful red and green bouquet for their wedding back home in Wellington with their two children! She wanted to order her flowers from me so that she could share them with her daughter and have them as a keepsake for years to come, which I thought was really sweet. Ngahuia also had some special buttons made to represent her Maori heritage and sent me a pair of beautiful rings–one which belonged to Ian’s mother, and the other which was her mother’s engagement ring. What made me so excited to do this bouquet was filling it with the rich personal meaning from Ngahuia and Ian’s lives.

Here are some of my favorite photos we took of the flowers Ngahuia and Ian’s wedding. We did a bridal bouquet, a bridesmaid’s bouquet, several boutonnieres and a bunch of loose flowers for the flower girls. Look for the pretty rings in Ngahuia’s bouquet! I took these before we wrapped the stem, so it’s just bare. Before sending it I finished it with satin ribbon and pearl-headed pins.

See the rest of Ngahuia and Ian’s flowers here on Flickr. Congratulations again to Ian and Ngahuia and best wishes!

xo
meg

Amanda’s flowers

Princess Lasertron — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:39:38 +0000

Amanda and her fiance Chad are heading to Las Vegas this weekend to get married and they called on me to create a bouquet, corsages, and boutonnieres for the happy occasion inspired by the iconic Las Vegas sign! I admit it was a bit of a challenge for me–Amanda asked me to use a lot of blue and gold, and balancing it with the right amount of red and white was tough without making it look like “school colors.” I think I achieved a good balance and I love the finished result.

Consistently, my biggest challenge with bridal orders is avoiding “school color” themes. Purple and black? Go Blair Bears (my high school!). Red and white. Blue and orange. Green and yellow. Black and silver. I don’t want a bride to look like a Denver Broncos superfan going down the aisle and I don’t want her to look like she’s coming straight out of a post-prom party either. I know my designs are very nontraditional, and often whimsical, but I strive for a taste level that will leave wedding guests with an impression of style and elegance. So that’s a word on color.

Chad and Amanda are having a small ceremony with around 20 people in attendance, and she is wearing a cute little vintage-inspired dress from Dolly Couture (love them!). I can’t wait to hear more after this weekend about how they carried the Las Vegas theme into their reception!

Congratulations again, Chad and Amanda, and thank you for the honor of being a part of one of the biggest milestones in your lives. Enjoy Vegas!

See the rest of Chad and Amanda’s wedding flowers here in their Flickr set.

xo
meg

I want to sell this bouquet! 40% off our “Thank the Academy” one-off bouquet

Princess Lasertron — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:51:08 +0000

Hey fall brides! My “Thank the Academy” bouquet has been in the shop for awhile and it’s not moving, and I want it to go to a good home before the fall season is over, so I’ve listed it at 40% off.

This bouquet is made with red and black plaid wool and my favorite silver buttons–many of them extremely rare. Some of the buttons also have crests on them, which are my favorites to collect. The stem is wrapped tightly in green yarn. This bouquet is perfect for a cozy fall or winter wedding, and it would even look good simply in a vase on your favorite table.

I very rarely offer discounts on my work but I’m deep-cleaning my studio this week and I just need to move some product out to make room for all the new projects I want to do. Check out my listing for my Thank the Academy bouquet–I’m excited for it to find a great home!

meg