Okay, so I said I would blog this THIS week. It’s late. It’s Friday… well, Saturday. 1am. I’m crazy but I’ve got insomnia and a wedding tomorrow! Ha ha… but here it goes!
I love flowers. They’re probably my favorite part of weddings. This wasn’t the case when I got married, but since flowers make each event so unique and so diverse… I’ve really grown to love them, admire them, and appreciate them for what they are and what they bring to an event. Last year I made my sister take a weekend morning adult education 4-week course in floral design with me. I learned how to use a floral knife and have been stoked on that ever since. But, I’m really not so great at it [and in no way consider myself qualified to floral design... though I did take care of Carynn's wedding flowers entirely myself...]
Anyhow, I got my resale permit last year and early this year I got my permit to the LA wholesale flower market [a 2 year pass] and it is my love. This was the FIRST time I really got to dig in like a pro and get there at the same time as the rest of the trade does- we arrived around 3am. The Market, every other weekday, opens at 2am for the wholesale industry. I knew from moment one I needed to be a part of that action!
My husband took most of the pictures for me, seeing as I was completley and utterly distracted by all of the beauty…
Here’s a shot of what we saw when we first walked in…
Sunflowers are my mom’s favorite. I remember for my mom’s 50th birthday, my dad got her 50 stems of sunflowers… they filled the house. It was insane. BUT, I didn’t buy… I was on a mission [for green and white only!]
You know, just perusing over my options!!!
I ended up buying 4 dozen green roses… These packs you see are 2 dozen per pack [the blooms are stacked on top of one another in that white packaging... crazy]
Much more thinking to do…
Can you tell what time it is by Josh’s tired eyes? It’s probably around 4am at this time.
We saw some incredibly gorgeous flowers…
There was so much BLUE floral selection [from really BLUE hydrangea, to BRIGHT blue roses, to this...]
Some things were just totally crazy….
And we got some incredibly insane deals…
***Keep in mind, however, this is NOT me advocating the DIY wedding flowers. If that’s something you feel up to, you can go ahead, but I really feel 100% that it’s easier on the bride and the whole wedding party to have a professional take care of you in the floral division- you’re paying them for their talent, time, creativity, experience… so many things. So many WORTH it things. Seriously. Unless you’re SUPER familiar with flowers, I really don’t reccomend it! Ok, off the soapbox now…
This was one of my husband’s FOUR trips he had to make to the car. He looks thrilled, right? Such a trooper!
And this was the last trip we had to make…
My sweatshirt casualty from carrying fresh stems… [don't worry, I'm just pouty cause it's late, but water dries... um, clear-ly].
And of course, our purchases locked and loaded in the buckets I brought with me. We filled the back of our Yukon easily. It was amazing. I would do this once a month if it was at all economic for me, my business, or my life. Ha!
My white dahlias can easily be seen in that one…
And there are my “green tea” roses which were my FAVES of the bunch, probably. Oh, but I did get some INCREDIBLE green gerbera daisies that you can see in the pics of Carynn’s wedding. They were SO perfect.
Ok, so, that’s my first trip to the WHOLESALE portion of the LA flower market. Are you in love? I am IN love. I really had a great time. All in all, the trip took 1 and a half hours of driving, triple digit dollars, and a boatload of decisiveness! That was the hardest part!
We arrived home at 5:38am. Slept until 9am, and began our normal days in serious sleep draught. Of course, a very special thanks to our friends, Tom and Steph, who stayed up with us and grabbed some pretty great flowers for themselves! They were definately a pair of troopers…
SO… now that it’s about time for some off-wedding-season activities… who wants to visit the market just for kicks? I’d love a reason to go again!! Any takers??
:)
