This morning I am very tired. I traveled over to the Olympic Peninsula for a wedding at the Alderbrook Resort in Union, WA. It will be a little while before the photography is released, but in the meantime I am full throttle pushing for fall. It rained last night, so this morning feels like an autumn Saturday morning.
If you've been following my Instagram feed, @firstandbloom, you might be familiar with the challenges we've had in finding someone to rebuild our front stairs. After a year of outrageously large bids, a contractor who abandoned the project, me taking the hammer and tearing down the stairs (with a friend), and much frustration, we finally have a gentleman arriving this morning to begin work.
Pushing through the tired weighing heavily on my body right now, I'm going to clean the house, catch up on laundry, and think about some fall decorating. To draw in inspiration, I'm thinking back on a fall collaboration I enjoyed so much in 2017.
Pacific Northwest flower farms are cranking out amazing blooms through September, so choose local and sustainable florists and farms as your source.
Involved in this shoot...
Photography @missy.palacol and Missy Palacol Photography
Tablescape Design by Dawn Parsons of @partytildawn
Flowers/Venue Dani Graham of Dig-It Flower Farm and @danidigs333
Floral Design @firstandbloom and First & Bloom
Designing with gorgeous locally grown flowers is easy when you know who source from. Dani Graham of Dig-It Flower Farm in Duvall, Washington grows some of the most high quality flowers I've ever worked with. She is meticulous about when and how to cut. This shines through on the quality of her blooms. Here she is standing a field of zinnias from 2017.
Who wants to join me at this table? Isn't it picturesque? I designed these florals on-the-fly the morning of the shoot. I often draw inspiration from the location I'm at. It's my preference to not pre-plan too much and take in the moment at shoots. We chose a back corner of Dani's flower farm where a few apple trees were overflowing with apples.
Ugggg…. Look at this café au latte dahlia. These are prized dahlias and extremely popular with brides in the summer wedding season. These dahlias are magical. Soft and blush toned in the early summer but deep and rich pink tones in the fall. This is my color right here. It will get me every time. And..... A cinnamon spiced Moscow Mule sounds fantastic right now. I'll have another, Dawn!
Dawn Parsons of @partytildawn designed the most darling fall inspired picnic ever! She had a rustic old table, a comfy plaid blanket, a vintage picnic basket, and deli sandwiches wrapped in parchment paper, a sprig of rosemary and more.
Even Dani Graham's barn cat couldn't resist this appleiciuous setting! Lil Buddy, as he's called is one tough kitty. You can see he's a vital part of this flower farm. He almost took a nap in that wooden crate!
So much fun! We actually were racing to try and beat the weather. It sprinkled on us the whole time, but we made it work. Dawn Parsons of @partytildawn looked so cute in her Hunter "green" Boots and grey felt hat. I added the little bloom of rudbeckia to the brim.
