Rehearsal dinner

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 Dahlias, candles and random china set the mood for Dianna and Ryan's wedding rehearsal evening

A sit down dinner for 23 on a gorgeous summer night!

Dahlias from  ~ (link)  Ferncliff Gardens - dahlia farm

The plate and candle holder collection were from my super
talented crazy mosaic friend Sharlene...... now think about
that inspiration to creation..... "look at this plate, wow if I
smash it I can glue the pieces to a milk can" .....now you
know why she is my friend.... check out the milk can!




anyway back to the party......

Floated a wreath in the pool with tea lights

took 4 of us to make it in 10 minutes, 5 minutes before the party started! 

was worth the scramble! 

Smoked salmon was one of the appetizers awaiting the arrival from the rehearsal along with
a rhubarb / orange punch!

First plated appy was fresh figs stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in bacon rolled in brown sugar
and broiled .....then plated with strawberry /fig balsamic reduction....personally love that flavor combo!

Next a mixed green salad with candied pecans, fresh blackberries, candy cane beets and an oil
 & vinegar dressing with ground papaya seeds & green onions

 the main course; filet mignon, grilled vegetables and little heart boiled ~ broiled ~ fried~ deep fried potatoes.... not kidding, the dinner was ready but the potatoes weren't!! it became a
mass group effort with the very entertaining "kitchen minions" as they liked to be called (lots of laughs there) ...to get them cooked!

Dessert brought some calm to the kitchen as we had a bit of time to prep it.

Lemon mousse in Meyer lemons, with mint sprig, meringue bites, strawberry cream drizzle, and blackberries 

 

The evening was aglow in candlelight.....

big thanks to the "kitchen minions" ~ Lara, Amanda, Kirsten, Alysha, Ruth and Barry!!

Congratulations Dianna and Ryan!

Roses

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How fun it was to play with this  huge bouquet of roses. I bought them at
 ~ link ~ Apko Roses - greenhouse
Look at them! This entire bundle was $20! They are seconds, which means the
blooms are a bit too open or the stems are not perfectly straight. I think there was about
7 dozen, random colors random sizes.... random fun! 

So I tried a few different arrangements

First I tied a bridal bouquet with the red "Naomi" roses
I know, a bridal bouquet.... why?
Because it's fun... I don't know! 

Here's how, in case your getting married next week or something....... ahahaha!

Just hold as many roses as you want in your hand and wiggle them around
until you like the look, some people like tight compact, some loose and airy....
once you like the look wrap the stems with floral tape, wire, anything
to hold them together. Chop the stems to the length you like.
Then wrap it again with ribbon, I added a few crystal pins ....  adding heirloom pins seems to be  popular with brides

Not an heirloom but I found this pretty dragonfly in one of my "treasure boxes"!

Ok so if your not getting married any day soon then just take off the jewels and ribbon and call it .......a lovely bouquet of roses!  ..... in my grandmother's silver sugar bowl

Next I picked out the  white ones called Avalanche 

.....now don't those scissors look like my grandmothers too?

I don't even know where they came from but I highly recommend NOT using them to trim roses, but in my social media crazed ~ aiming for beautiful pictures ~ totally staged ~ photo shopped to death ~ attempt ......I thought it was a better choice than a super sharp knife... which by the way is what you should use, (I'm sure you know!) and cut on an angle so there is more surface to absorb water, and a good idea to pull off those guard petals on the outside of the roses ...the ones that look a little  misshaped and usually have green on them (see pic, actually there, not intentionally staged!)

Anyway I trimmed them off short and tucked them in with grapes on a two tiered cake stand that has yet to see a piece of cake or cupcake! .... I just like cake stands ... now I've used it! hmmm.... still no cake in sight!

When I was done playing with the cake stand I floated the roses in this glass bowl 

Next a mixture of colors ..... a nice little present to take to grama? ....garden party?

The tea cup in the front of this picture I bought in England for my mom ages ago when I
went to "press" my clients wedding dress, she called when she got there with the dress and said "why don't you come to the wedding?", as I was humming and hawing she asked if it would help my decision if she said her dress needed pressing? haha, it did! ....such fond memories and I remember as I was leaving thinking what do you bring home from England .... china right? My mother has since passed but the memories and teacups live on....

Last but not least these orange beauties named Enya ...... They are flawless!

So, simple, stand alone in a vase .....or party ready!
The hydrangeas are also from Apko!

Ok enough about roses and enough photo shopping!

Hope you enjoyed these beautiful blooms!

~ Janet