Mocha Rose ~ Things we love

2012-01-31T12:30:00.011-05:00

Valentine's Day 2012

That's right, for the first time ever, the staff at Mocha Rose will be offering 3 signature designs for your sweetheart! The designs will ONLY be available through a pre-order by FEB 10th at 6pm and the quantity of orders will be limited. So book soon!!

We know that the choices are endless when it comes to what kind of flowers to get so we set out to make this easy on the guys.

Here's how to order:

STEP ONE:

Pick a style:

Vintage Garden: This arrangement will be presented in a vintage milk glass container and will be over flowing with soft and sweetgarden flowers like ranunculus, lavender, roses, orchids, poppies, sweet pea and tulips. $75-200

The Classic Reds: Does she love diamonds, champagne and shoes? Get her the ultimate sign of romance- gorgeous red roses with a modern twist. $85-250

Funky Cube: This will be an overflowing glass cube filled with the most unique and colorful flowers we can find. $60-150

STEP TWO:

Request any flowers and colors that you know she'll love. (Bonus, if you are a current or past wedding client, we keep this information on file and already know what she loves and what she doesn't!)

STEP THREE:

Decide on a price in the ranges for the styles above. If you are requesting more expensive flowers like peonies, orchids, garden roses, etc. we will let you know of the pricing.

STEP FOUR:

Decide when you want to have your flowers ready. Valentine's Day is on a Tuesday this year. Do you have a romantic weekend planned and would like the flowers on Friday or Saturday? Or would you rather surprise her on Valentine's Day itself? Deliveries will be limited and there will be a $20 delivery fee for the Pittsburgh Metro area. Pickups will always be free (and preferred).

STEP FIVE:

Call us at 412-361-4141 or email us at contact@mocharose.com to place your order with the information above by FEB 10th at 6pm. We will be accepting credit cards for this holiday.

Lori and Mark at The Club at Nevillewood

2010-11-11T22:14:00.002-05:00

Boy do I have to catch up on the blog! Our peak season is over and we had a wonderful year. I have so many weddings to post so I'll just get started.

This one took place in May at The Club at Nevillewood. Www.theclubatnevillewood.com Leeann from www.leannmariephotography.com sent over these fabulous shots from Lori and Mark's wedding.

How gorgeous was Lori's dress??? Her bouquet was a soft pink and was made of roses, peonies, orchids, calla lilies, stephanotis and crystals.

They were married on the balcony at Nevillewood and of course the weather was perfect.

Their centerpieces were made of hydrangeas, roses, lilies and crystals.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Vintage Rustic Wedding at Armstrong Farms

2010-08-16T16:08:00.011-04:00

We have a TON of weddings to share from spring and summer, but some times it's hard to get a second to share them with you. We are trying to get a little better at this because we have received 100's (if not 1,000's) of photos from fellow vendors and past brides.

I'll start with a fun one that took place in May at Armstrong Farms. These shots were taken by the wonderful Aly and Derrick of Studio Bash

I loved everything about this wedding!

The bride is an amazingly talented seamstress and is the owner of Annabel & Ruby, a dressmaking studio. If you have a second or still need a wedding dress, check out her gorgeous vintage inspired dresses.

Let me introduce Jan

2010-06-24T22:21:00.006-04:00

I’m still behind on wedding blogs and promise those will be coming very soon. Today, I’m going to depart from the usual style for a very important reason. You’ll have to bear with me as the story might get a little long, but I promise it will be worth the read.

Throughout my business, one of the most important things I’ve learned is to just go with the flow, be patient and the answers will come to me. When 2010 started, there were so many unanswered questions. We had outgrown the old shop. Where could we possibly find the perfect place? By the end of January, I had my answer and the construction began on my dream studio and we were ready to go in March.

Even more important than the location of the shop, I needed the perfect employees. The answers came one by one. I only had three interviews. I didn’t need to go any further. I didn’t put an ad in the paper. They all came to me. I have to say that as a team the four of us are pretty unstoppable. We all have our strengths that might overlap another’s weakness (probably most of the later are mine). We all have the same witty personalities that make it so much easier when we are working until 12am on a Friday. We all have a great love for flowers and love nothing more than opening up a new box of flowers to see what is inside. Most of all, we are all pretty good people that genuinely care and get excited for each and every event we do.

A few weeks ago, I had Jenni Grace of http://www.jennigracephotography.com/ come into the studio to do head shots of each employee so that I could introduce each one on the website/ blog.

I’m starting today by introducing Jan. Even though Jan was hired last out of the three, this week is a pretty important week and Jan needs a pedestal. On Saturday, Jan will be turning 50. (You would NEVER guess it either!)
Long before Jan started to work with us, she created a “Bucket List” that was inspired by this landmark birthday. Jan created a blog to document this process http://jansbirthdayblog.blogspot.com/ One of the items on her bucket list was actually “Work for a floral design company”. So Jan found our website and applied with this cover letter:

“Dear Ms. Schwietz,
I am asking to be considered for the part-time floral designer position you have available. Last year I saw your floral designs on the Mocha Rose web site. After clicking through the pages I said, “Oh! I want to work there.” I love your design esthetic. I appreciate your business philosophy, attention to your clients and your choice to be a floral design company with a focus on events.

My career as a floral designer began when I was 8 years old and secretly intertwined tulip and daffodil stems into my neighbor’s vintage swing set. The neighbor correctly guessed who the “flower fairy” was and later told my mother about a floral design contest at Northland Public Library. I entered and won first place in my age group. I was 10 years old. I have had a love affair with floral design ever since.

While I eventually grew up to work as a nurse, nurse manager and ultimately nurse educator, floral design has always been an avocation for me. I remember critiquing flower arrangements sent to patients in the hospital and my co-workers asking me how I knew the names of all those “posies.” I am the one that friends and family come to if they need flowers for an occasion, such as an anniversary, birthday or school dance and, most recently, a wedding.

At this point I am being intentional on making artistry forward in my life instead of in the background. I consider myself to be bright and a quick study and have the ability to “figure things out” and make it work. I have taken on large planning projects in many realms. My students tell me that they know I care about them not just as students but about who they are as people. That isn’t just what I do, but who I am. I would very much appreciate the opportunity to meet you and confirm that I am a good fit as a floral designer with Mocha Rose.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Jan …. “

Let me just say that Jan is everything that she promised in this cover letter times ten! She is wonderfully talented and very good at that “figure things out” part (which I “encourage” every employee to do on a daily basis.) I’m pretty sure that if good karma ever needed a spokesperson, Jan would be in the running. She is genuine. She is smart. She is hysterical. She is the kind of person everyone needs to have in their lives. I know I can speak for the entire staff, but Jan makes it feel like we are a family at work. (It’s also pretty handy to have a nurse on hand at all times).

So today was Jan’s last day at work before the big birthday so we decided to check one more thing off the list. So we went to yoga. Not just any yoga- Bikram Yoga aka: Hot yoga which consists of 90 minutes of yoga in 105 degree heat. (Very intense). Next week we’ll have a “bring your dog to work day” to work on another check. I’ll let her reveal if that 50 tattoo is real or not.
Next on the list that I want to be involved in: detonate something, drive a race car and operate a steam shovel.

Jan has inspired me to start my own list.

First up: Don't ruin people's birthday cupcakes by dropping the box upside down before walking in the door. (I think Jan loved them even more when she unwrapped them and saw them in this state which is what I love most about her). We had a lot of fun in a fork free for all though...

Lisa and Billy at Robin Hill Mansion

2010-06-10T21:01:00.012-04:00

I have a TON of blogs to catch on with spring weddings. To start them off, let me introduce you to Lisa and Billy who were married in May at Robin Hill Mansion. Lisa and Billy were the type of couple that I actually felt a bit sad when the wedding was over. This is only because I had so much fun working with them throughout their planning.

Lisa and Billy both know their flowers through their professions and it was fun to talk about the different botanical items that would come together to make their day. Lisa's bouquet consisted of white peonies, lily of the valley, green heleborus, green fiddlehead ferns, and black and white anemones.

I think the rest of the pictures speak for themselves. What a FUN wedding! The details were well thought out and reflected their personalities exactly.

I had never even heard of Robin Hill Mansion before. What a great find!

Oh and check out Lisa's dress! It was actually made by another one of our brides (actually a bride that was married the exact same day as Lisa!) That may be another blog coming soon.

Photography by: Elizabeth Lucey

The New Studio Reveal!

2010-05-24T21:46:00.017-04:00

Right before our open house weekend, the fabulous Leeann from Leeann Marie Photography stopped by to take shots to reveal the new studio. A few months before, she was such a trooper and stopped by to take the before shots. It was still a dirty construction site then. You can see the before and after here on her blog.

This is the new 2500 sq ft workspace and storage area. After moving from a shop that was 800 sq ft total, this space is a dream! (Yes, that was 800 sq ft to include a design area, a large cooler, an office, a kitchen, storage, a consultation area and restrooms.)

This is the 1500 sq ft showroom and consultation area.

All Occasions Party Rental and Mosaic Linens will be providing seasonal table decor in the new showroom featuring the hottest event trends. I love the new silver chargers that All Occasions just added to their inventory!

Our gold crystal tree available for event rentals: $375

Our brand new lounge furniture available for rent. It is a set of 8 black leather ottomans with a sleek glass cocktail table. These can be arranged in numerous ways. The ottomans can be rented individually for $85 a piece or $550 for the entire set including the table.

In the background, you can also see our chuppah frame which can be customized in your own fabric. We also have the ability to rent out pipe and drape, backdrops and mandaps. Chuppah rentals start at $300.

More pictures coming soon from the Open House event.

Thanks to Leeann for the wonderful pictures!

Open House Winners!

2010-05-03T11:34:00.002-04:00

What a wonderful weekend! Thank you to everyone that attended our Open House. I will be posting pictures of the event shortly, but I wanted to announce our door prize winners.

Potted Hydrangea: Shannon Baranauskas

Tablescapes Book: Tobi Amosun & Evelyn Castillo

Wine Basket: Peter Vosler

Gardener's Basket: Leslie Collins

Engagement Session with LeeAnn Marie Photography: Jaclyn Malecki

$300 off DJ Andy Booth: To be Announced

Boudoir by Cyndi Session: Winner will be contacted discretely

10% of your entire wedding flower order: Lisa Ursitz

Free Bridal Bouquet: Jennifer Belliveau

Free Boutonnieres for your bridal party: Beth Reinhart

We will be contacting the winners individually this week.

Congratulations!

May Day Open House

2010-04-15T21:28:00.009-04:00

This is what the shop looked like one month ago.

Come see what it looks like today! We have been working hard all winter to move into our new 3200 square foot showroom, library and lounge and design studio.

On April 30th from 5-9pm, we will open up to the public for a cocktail party featuring the hottest event trends including music from DJ Andy Booth, bites from Common Plea, table decor from All Occasions, linens from Mosaic Linens and of course floral design by Mocha Rose. We will also be giving away door prizes at 8:30pm.

On May 1st, join us for a casual bridal event from 12-6pm. This event is for any bride and groom (including our clients that have already booked our services). We will have cocktails, refreshments and giveaways. Our design staff will be here for one on one time to answer your questions for your event. Take your time, sip a mimosa and browse our event library and lounge for new ideas for your event. The giveaways will be the best part! Every bride or groom will receive a swag bag of free wedding goodness. We will also have a drawing to give away the following items to any client that has booked or will book us for full floral services*:

Prize 1: 100% free bridal bouquet (up to $250 value)

Prize 2: free boutonnieres for the bridal party

Prize 3: 10% off of your entire pre tax floral order! (yes, even if you have already booked our services and your wedding is a month away), that is a minimum of $250 off of your wedding package!) *

Prizes 4-5+ Well, those are just a surprise!

(These will be gift baskets or other prizes available for those who have not booked us for full services)

*A full service wedding consists of personal, ceremony and reception flowers at our minimum of $2500

There will also be giveaways from other vendor friends throughout the day.

Drawings will be held at 5pm.

Bring a friend. Bring a few. Pass the invite along. There is plenty of space!

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to contact@mocharose.com with the following info:

Name:

Number of guests:

Date you will be attending (4/30 or 5/1)

That's it!

(Oh, and to answer a FAQ: If you are out of town, a family member CAN stand in for you to register for the giveaways)

Oh yeah, did I mention that admission is free for both days?

Get Bashed

2010-04-01T18:35:00.030-04:00

What happens when you combine 2 amazing photographers, 4 gorgeous models, a make up artist, a masseuse, four bouquets and a whole lot of snow?

How about a photo shoot with Aly and Derrick from Studio Bash? How fun are these shots?! I'm so glad they asked me to be a part of this.

I have been wanting to make a bouquet out of wood and pods for awhile now, but it is such a hard concept to describe to brides. This was the perfect opportunity to showcase the bouquet that never dies. (And isn't tacky silk flowers!)

For this bride, I wanted to stay simple and bold. There is nothing more bold than a grouping of red anemones. I'm a big fan of all off the ruffles, gathers and pleats that are popping up in the fashion world. Since the bouquet was all one color, I took this as an opportunity to take the bouquet wrap to the next level.

This bride carried our romantic spring garden bouquet of anemones, poppies, garden roses, berzillia berries, jasmine, dusty miller, parrot tulips, scabiosa pods, grape hyacinth and ranunculus.

This model carried a purple bouquet of anemones, grape hyacinth, sweet pea, hydrangea and vanda orchids.

Here is a centerpiece we made for Studio Bash in the style of the romantic spring garden bouquet.

Vendors:

Photography: Studio Bash

Flowers: Mocha Rose Floral and Event Design

Make up and Massage: Tammy and Aimee of Your Simply Beautiful

Hair: Jenn Shaughnessy 412-997-3435

Becky and Leo at The Edgewood Country Club

2010-03-24T23:26:00.014-04:00

Becky and Leo were married on March 20th at the Edgewood Country Club in Churchill. Who would have thought they would have 70 degree, perfectly sunny weather in mid March? What a gorgeous day!

Becky and Leo had an Enchanted Forest theme which turned out so beautiful in the club ballroom. I loved the colors of the bouquets against the bridesmaids' navy dresses.

Do you know how excited I got when Becky asked me to decorate the chandeliers? FUN bride!

They were married in the center of the ballroom under our chuppah built out of branches, organza, hanging vases and crystals.

One of the best parts about having a ceremony and reception in the same place is getting to reuse everything! Those trees, lanterns and flowers down the aisle? Yes, those are the centerpieces. We were able to transform the room while the guests were sipping on cocktails in the other room.

What a great couple and fun wedding!

Recipe for an event like this:

Venue: Edgewood Country Club (Dennis is awesome!)

Florist: Mocha Rose

Bakery: Cakes by Tammy

Linens: Lendable Linens

Photography: Joanna Fassinger

Almost there!

2010-03-16T22:25:00.008-04:00

Our new showroom is almost ready!

I just wanted to let everyone know our new contact info:

The new address is:

4805 Penn Ave

Pittsburgh, PA 15224

New phone: 412-361-4141

We are working on Becky and Leo's amazing wedding this week and it is so great to be able to break in the new space! When everything is completed, you'll be able to see the results documented by the fabulous Leeann Marie Photography (and not blurry iPhone pictures).

Below you will find:

A) My helpful brother

B) My first real office- EVER! Had to go with a happy yellow

C) The tail end of my puppy

At this time, we've had a little delay in the set up of the new office and the internet connection. This means we are a little behind on emails and quotes. Please be patient and I promise you'll hear back from us shortly!

The New Shop

2010-03-04T23:15:00.009-05:00

Forgive me for posting low quality photos from my phone, but I wanted to give everyone a quick update of what we have been doing. As many of you know, we are relocating to a larger space just 2 blocks up from the current space to 4805 Penn Avenue. We will be moved in by April 1st.

It's been quite a change and still has long way to go, but I just wanted to share how far the transition has gone. The first two pictures were taken today of the showroom area.

And the following pictures were taken a month ago.

The front:

Looking into the showroom from the production area.

The back view of the production area.

The framing of our office and the walls.

The walls before the framing (same view as the first photo). What a change!

The main part of the production area.

In all, the final layout is 3200 sq ft. I will update in the future after the space is more set up.

In the meantime, there may be a delay in response to emails as I haven't had much time in the office. If you are looking for a more immediate response, feel free to give us a call at 412.621.3204 (until 3/22) and 412.361.4141 (after 3/22).

Rachael and Shawn

2010-02-25T19:20:00.020-05:00

The next wedding will again go down as one of my all time favorites! Rachael and Shawn were married this past October. How can you not love Rachael? Just look at that glamourous face? The best part was that she hired one of my absolute favorite photographers: Jenny Grace Photography

Rachael came to me asking for a Marie Antionette themed wedding in deep jewel tones. (Fun!) She was open, fun and let me do my thing. This is the result. My husband (even though he is an active part of the business, just isn't a flower person) said this was his favorite bouquet ever. I've made 1,000's bouquets at this point so that is quite a compliment!

Love these two!

Seriously, isn't Jenni amazing at capturing a moment?? Isn't Rachael a doll???

And the bridesmaid bouquets...

She wanted something different so we created "composite bouquets". Obviously, there isn't a rose on the planet this big.

How did we do it? Well, each petal on this bouquet was individually glued to form one giant rose that measured at least 6 inches across. Then we built a gold wire holder and threaded blue beads through the wire. To top it off, we added gold skeleton leaves as a collar. Hands down, these were the most unique bridesmaid bouquets we've ever made!

Seriously gorgeous!

Shawn's boutonniere was made a fiddlehead fern, eggplant calla lily and fresh ferns.

Congratulations Rachael and Shawn!

Tara and Chris at Bedford Springs Resort

2010-02-12T14:37:00.032-05:00

This next wedding will forever go down as one of my all time favorites. All of the following images were taken by the ridiculously amazing Chris Gooden. It's always an honor to be able to work with him.

Every single detail of this wedding was absolutely perfect. The perfect weather, the perfect venue, the perfect people. Tara and Chris are not only gorgeous, they are truly some of the sweetest people I have ever met. (I actually went to high school with Tara too!)

The wedding took place two hours outside of Pittsburgh at the amazing Bedford Springs Resort. I'm not going to elaborate on this wedding anymore because I feel that the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Here's Chris Gooden with Tara and her sisters- he was the photographer for all three weddings.

Vendors:

Bedford Springs Resort

Chris Gooden Photography

Mocha Rose Floral Designs

Mosaic Linens

All Occasions Party Rental

Pittsburgh's Hottest Wedding Vendors

2010-02-11T20:49:00.005-05:00

One bad vendor can ruin your wedding. Trust me. I've seen it happen on more than one occasion. I often get asked for recommendations for vendors from my clients. Honestly, I will gladly recommend a fellow vendor because it makes my job easier. A well run event is run by vendors that genuinely care about your event and are good at what they do.

So here is my list of the hottest wedding vendors in the Pittsburgh area:

Vendors We Love

Photographers

Jenni Grace Photography www.jennigracephotography.com

Joanna Fassinger Photography www.joannafassinger.com

Kim Reed Photography www.kreedphotography.com/

Chris Gooden Photography www.chrisgoodenweddings.com

Craig Photography www.craig-photography.com

Paul Meyer Photography www.paulmeyerphotography.com/

Studio Bash www.studiobash.com

Lee Anne Marie Photography www.leeannmariephotography.com

Dino Bovo Photograph http://dbovophotography.com

Photos by Nick www.photosbynick.com/

Red Lotus Photography www.redlotusphotography.com

Wedding Coordinators

Simply Perfect Weddings www.simplyperfectwedding.net

Accents Unlimited www.accentsunlimited.net

Hello Productions www.helloproductions.com

Great Expectations www.greatexpectationevents.com

Bakers

Vanilla Pastry Studios www.vanillapastry.com

Cakes By Tammy www.cakesbytammy.com

Bethel Bakery www.bethelbakery.com

Oakmont Bakery www.oakmontbakery.com

Prantl’s www.shop.prantlsbakery.com

Dozen Bakeshop www.dozencupcakes.com

DJs

Jeremy Ganss www.jeremyganss.com

Mark Zini www.ziniproductions.com

Andy Booth www.ajbooth.com

Accents Unlimited www.accentsunlimited.net

Booch-X Entertainment www.boochx.com

Videographers

DMB Videography www.dmbvideopgh.com

Cana Films www.canafilms.com

October Productions www.october-productions.com

Make up and Salons

Salon Vivace, Wexford www.salonvivace.com

MCN Salon www.mcnsalon.com

Ciel Cosmetics www.cielcosmetics.com

Pittsburgh Makeup www.pittsburghmakeup.com

Above All Hair Salon www.aboveallsalon.com

Caterers

Opening Night www.openingnightcatering.com

Big Burrito www.bigburrito.com

Common Plea http://commonplea-restaurant.com/

Greco’s Catering www.grecosgourmet.com

Officiants/ Ministers

Rev. Carl Anzalone www.weddingsperformed.us

A Simple Vow www.asimplevow.org

Rev. Kasandra Sutton www.mypittsburghwedding.com

Transportation

Your Designated Driver www.yourdesignateddriver.com

*I will come back and update this list throughout the coming season. I'm sure I forgot someone too!

Shannon and John at the Grand Concourse

2010-02-10T21:30:00.021-05:00

I have a ton of pictures from 2009 weddings and I hope to get a few blogs out in the next two weeks before the move into the new studio on March 1st. To start it off, here is a great wedding that took place on June 13, 2010 at St. Michael's Church in Munhall with a reception at the Grand Concourse in Station Square.

All of the shots here were taken by http://www.craig-photography.com

who are simply amazing at what they do. They just have a way of capturing the perfect moment and I've been a long time stalker of their work. It was truly a pleasure to get to work with them!

Shannon and John were one of my favorite couples that I have worked with to this date. When Shannon asked if I could add a skull and cross bones pendant to John's boutonniere as a surprise, of course I was game!

Then when Shannon agreed to using my favorite flower ever, I knew this would be a fun wedding. I love peonies! Even more, I love the coral peony because it opens into a gorgeous 6 inch bloom of pure heaven.

They had their reception at the Grand Concourse in Station Square. What a gorgeous and historical venue! What I like most about this venue is that there are smaller mixed tables which creates such an intimate setting. And look at those peonies!

Shannon asked me to restring a pearl necklace that her grandmother had made and secure it around the base of the bouquet. It's such a special way to honor those you love on your wedding day.

Thank you Shannon and John for asking me to be part of such a fun wedding!

Well, Hello 2010!

2010-01-25T21:30:00.013-05:00

We aren't even a month deep into 2010 and there has been so much to talk about and no time to blog it. Here are the top 7 changes that have been going behind the scenes this month (the last being the biggest):

1: It is officially "Wedding Planning Season". It's a phenomenon that every wedding professional knows. January 2nd starts the season. All of the brides and grooms take a break from planning to focus on the holidays and visit family and friends. Those family and friends ask how the planning is going and everyone realizes they have a lot to do before the wedding. The calendar is flipped to Jan. 2nd and all the sudden everyone realizes that this is finally their wedding year and they have to get a move on the planning.

Vendors in turn get slammed with phone calls and emails. (Don't worry, we expect it so it's okay.) So I've spent the last few weeks catching up with brides and meeting those who got engaged over the holidays. Emails= Meetings= paperwork so I've been quite busy lately!

2. We were voted for the "Bride's Choice Award 2010" by Wedding Wire and were rated amongst the top 5% of wedding vendors in the country! This was the third year in a row! Obviously, we have some awesome brides.

3. We hired the cutest ever staff member at Mocha Rose (although, I'm sure Andrew would argue this claim). He isn't very productive, but he sure is a sweetheart. Next time you are at the shop, have him give you a high fives and rub his belly and he will love you forever. His name is Yoshi and he's about 12 pounds at this point.

4. We were also voted as a "Best of Weddings" 2009 from the brides at The Knot Again, thank you! We really do try to make you happy and I think it shows.

5. We are Mac. I will admit to having an iPhone and thinking it is the greatest thing on Earth. After my 5... or 6? computers broke on me in the past few years, I realized that something was wrong and computers aren't supposed to be disposable. So I went Mac and I'm a happy girl. I thought it was all hype, but I cannot believe what I can accomplish with this computer. That hopefully will also equal more blog updates!

6: The BIG news: We are relocating!!! The current studio was beautiful and cozy but for the amount the business has grown, it was just too small. As you can see from the picture below, the 800 sq. ft. shop was cramped when we had large events. Our amazing staff never complained and always found a way to make it work. However the time has come to expand.

So we are moving just up the street to a huge 3500 sq. ft workshop and showroom! The date is scheduled for March 1st.

The most exciting part is that we are setting up a lounge and library for our clients to come in before their consultations to browse and get ideas from everything from flowers to event design to the vendors that we trust the most.

7. The super sweet and amazingly talented photographer Lee Ann Marie posted a "tell all" interview of the changes going on and a little bit about how I got into the biz.

Not only that, but Lee Ann has offered to document some behind the scenes work in the transition. Let me just say that they are going to be BIG changes.

So that's it for now. I'm still here, just working on a lot of fun stuff behind the scenes. Looking forward to a killer season in 2010!

Summer 2009

2009-09-12T18:02:00.014-04:00

You know we have been very busy when I haven't had time to update the blog. I'm a little embarrassed that it's been since July. For shame. It's been an amazing few months and we've been working on some pretty fun parties behind the scenes. It will take me awhile to get each event's blog together, so I thought I'd share some teaser pictures. In the meantime, if you are a client or vendor from an event we worked on, we love, love, love pictures. ;) (We also love to catch up and hear about your wedding/ post wedding life. Drop us a note and catch up.)

Preview of Rachael's Marie Antoinette Themed Bouquet

The gorgeous Kelsey and her ivory garden rose and sweet pea bouquet.

And Kelsey's lantern centerpieces from the Pittsburgh Golf Club

A fun bouquet we did for a private bridal photo shoot for Jenni Grace Photography.

Mandy's Outdoor lakeside ceremony at Bella Sera.

Shannon's bridesmaids' bouquets of coral peonies and white cymbidium orchids.

Tara's tall centerpieces from Bedford Springs Resort.

Tara's Bridesmaid Bouquets.

Brianne's centerpieces from the Pittsburgh Field Club.

We have a lot more to share and a few more events before the 2009 season comes to a close, so stay tuned!

Behind the Scenes on Twitter

2009-07-13T21:28:00.005-04:00

Have you ever wondered what a floral studio goes through to produce events? Join us on Twitter next week as I will be doing a "behind the scenes" segment on what goes on at the shop when we pull large events together. I'll be posting pictures and updates of the whole process.

http://twitter.com/mocharose

On a wedding day, guests just walk into the room and see an event that has been perfectly put together. What they don't realize is that event has been in planning for sometimes longer than a year.

They don't see us driving to the airport in the early morning to pick up shipments of flowers from Holland, Ecuador, Colombia and New Zealand. They don't get to see us as we take in and hydrate thousands of gorgeous blooms. They don't see how crowded our little 800 sq. ft studio can get (but we make it work!). And they certainly don't get to see me driving a 16ft truck while wearing three inch heels!

Everyone always tells me "Your job must be SO fun!"

Well, yes! It really is. It's also exhausting, but there is nothing that I love more than seeing the end result. Seeing a room perfectly put together. Holding a bride's train as she walks down the aisle. Standing in the corner to watch guests' reactions when they walk into the room. These are my moments and what make the 70-80 hours grueling week worthwhile.

So if you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes, follow us on Twitter next week as we put together the weddings of Brianne and Adam and Tara and Chris. http://twitter.com/mocharose

Best Wedding Invitation Ever

2009-07-06T21:07:00.004-04:00

I found this on the blog of Leanne Marie Photography, who incidentally I had the pleasure of meeting tonight. She is a sweetheart and very talented. http://www.leeannmariephotography.com/

Anyways, take four minutes and watch the most amazing wedding invitation you will ever see.

Introducing Wedding by Color!

2009-07-03T23:19:00.008-04:00

Our website has been long overdue for an update! I'll be putting pages together one at a time, but I wanted to share something that I thought would be very useful for brides looking for flowers. Since I know that colors matter more often than flowers, I've decided to add a page where you can browse our work by color.

You can find it here: http://www.mocharose.com/WeddingsByColor/tabid/77/Default.aspx

Here is a screenshot of the "Pink Weddings" category.

Click on any photo and it will pop out as a slide show. You can use your arrow keys to see the next shot in the pink gallery.

If you'd prefer to search by a specific term, flower type or style, just click "Search" or "Tags" (this is located just below "Register"). Here is a screenshot of what it looks like when you search for "fiddleheads".

And here is the result for all shots tagged "fiddleheads" in this gallery.

I hope this helps! Feedback is welcome!

Alexandra and Brian

2009-07-01T21:20:00.010-04:00

Alexandra and Brian hired us for full event design for their recent wedding at Longue Vue Country Club. This wedding was a blast! Alexandra was a stylish, but busy bride and let me have creative freedom when it came to the flowers and design used for the wedding.

We provided the flowers, custom linens, rentals and cake jewelry for the wedding.

There were two different amazing centerpieces for the wedding. One was a rounded green and white design with green hydrangea, spider mums, garden roses, fiddlehead ferns, tulips, cockscomb, cymbidium orchids and lisianthus.

The second centerpiece was a VERY large arrangement of green dendrobium orchids and bells of Ireland.

The funky boutonnieres of green cockscomb, spider mums and black and white damask ribbon.

AMAZING cake by Gwen at Creative Cakes! We provided the Swarovski cake jewelry.

A close up of the custom linens and the cymbidium orchid that awaited every guest at their place setting.

Recipe for an event like this:

Flowers, linens and rentals: Mocha Rose http://www.mocharose.com/

Venue: Longue Vue Country Club http://www.longuevueclub.net/club/scripts/public/public.asp?NS=PUBLIC

Event Coordinator: Great Expectations http://www.greatexpectationevents.com/

Cake: Gwen from Creative Cakes http://creativecakespgh.com/

Photography: www.joannafassinger.com (Can't wait to see the pro shots! Joanna rocks!)

Kathy

2009-07-01T21:00:00.007-04:00

Perhaps the biggest compliment that I could ever receive is when a wedding vendor, someone who sees weddings and wedding flowers day in and day out, calls me to do their own wedding.

When Kathy, the director for events and weddings at The Lexus Club at PNC Park, asked me to make the flowers for her wedding, I was beyond flattered! I've always loved working with Kathy and was honored to be a part of her own wedding.

Kathy asked me to make a non-traditional bouquet that included the colors white, teal and brown. This is what I came up with. I used teal hydrangea, ivory gerbera daisies, white peonies, fiddlehead ferns, peacock feathers, anemones, ranunculus and veronica.

Congrats Kathy and thank you for making my day!

www.mocharose.com

Heather and Paniti

2009-07-01T19:23:00.010-04:00

Boy am I behind on the blogs! I have a ton of new weddings to share and will try to get the blogs up in the next week or two.

First up was the elegant wedding of Heather and Paniti which was held in early June at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association in Oakland. http://www.paaclub.com/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp

Heather and Paniti were married on site at the PAA and we created these large garden urns as a backdrop for the ceremony.

The centerpieces were a lush garden feel with peonies, garden roses, hypericum berries, sweet pea, lisianthus, roses and ranunculus.

Such a gorgeous wedding and a lovely couple. Congrats to you both!

Vendors that made the day perfect:

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Pittsburgh Athletic Association http://www.paaclub.com/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp

Florist: Mocha Rose www.mocharose.com

Event Coordinator: Simone of 5 Senses Events http://www.5sensesevents.com/

Cake: Vanilla Pastry Studios http://www.vanillapastry.com/

Photographer:

DJ: Jeremy Ganss www.jeremyganss.com

Carrie and Ed at the Heinz History Center

2009-06-04T20:37:00.009-04:00

Once again, we found ourselves back at the Heinz History Center if you follow our blog, you'd know that we were just there last weekend for the wedding of Meghan and Ben.

I don't mind though because The History Center is quickly becoming my favorite venue in Pittsburgh. Who would have thought that a "history center" would be such a cool modern and urban space? I also love working with Maura (the History Center coordinator) and Common Plea Catering http://commonplea-restaurant.com/

Carrie and Ed had a black, white and hot pink theme with a black and white damask accent. Again, if you have ever been in our studio, you'd know that I obviously LOVE this color palette (and the damask!). Add in a super sweet and creative bride who let me have artistic freedom and that equals my dream wedding. Carrie you are such a doll! Congrats to you both!

The entryway urn arrangements.

The tall centerpieces of hydrangea, snapdragons, lisianthus, salal, roses and alstromeria.

And the amazingly beautiful cake by Cakes By Tammy

Here are the damask menu card and favors. So perfectly coordinated!

Kristin and Brian at Longue Vue Country Club

2009-06-04T20:21:00.005-04:00

Kristin and Chris were married this past weekend at one of my favorite venues, Longue Vue Country Club

For their wedding, we used a palette of coral, peach, green and ivory. The centerpieces were made in our classic pedestal dish in which we floated coral peonies and cymbidium orchids. They looked like a perfect little lily pad centerpiece.

This was the head table arrangement of hydrangeas, peonies, berries and lisianthus.

Congratulations to Kristin and Brian!

And bear with me as I'm trying to switch to taking photos with my iPhone for events as it's much easier. I'll get the hang of, I promise!

I'm Over It

2009-06-03T21:30:00.006-04:00

I just discovered this fabulous website: I'm Over It

This is the new Bag Borrow or Steal for designer wedding and party jewelry. Check out these absolutely gorgeous pieces that you can rent for 7 days, 14 days or one month. The best part is that the rental is extremely reasonable. Most of the sets that I found rented for around $40!

I love the above necklace:
Carolee LUX
Flower Bib Set: Rent it For $41

India Collar Set: Rent it for $45

Carolee LUX
Flower Bracelet: Rent it for $17

Audrey Collection

Now I just need to find a reason to dress up!

Meghan and Ben at the History Center

2009-05-26T20:37:00.019-04:00

Our second wedding of the weekend was for Meghan and Ben at the Heinz History Center. They were another wonderful family to work with and had a great sense of style.

If I could define this wedding in four words, they would be urban, intimate, chic and green.

The Heinz History Center is such a fun venue and Maura was so great to work with. The ceremony was in the Great Hall and we lined the aisle with floating candles in glass cylinders for a clean, fresh look.

Simone from 5 Senses Events tied these fabulous chair sashes. It's the little details that count!

We designed these large urns with a seasonal garden feel.

Meghan was such a gorgeous bride!

Meghan's bouquet was another one of my favorites that I have ever made. She asked for a seasonal, garden feel with lots of texture in green, white and brown. I love it when my clients give me creative freedom as it allows me to shop for what is fresh and unique.

For her bouquet, I used peonies, lily of the valley, fiddlehead ferns, heleborus, ranunculus, veronica, cymbidium orchids, scabiosa pods, garden roses, cockscomb, bouvardia and green viburnum.

What a cool space for a wedding! I'm sure the out of town guests had a blast!

Here were the centerpieces of tulips, peonies, ranunculus, veronica, scabiosa, cockscomb, garden roses, cymbidium orchids, hosta leaves, scabiosa pods, bouvardia and heleborus.

And the fresh moss ring bearer pillows.

And as always, I love it when I get to work with Simone from 5 Senses Events. There are no words to describe how fabulous she is. She also makes my job incredibly easy because I know everything is already taken care of.

The fabulous vendors that made it happen:

Ceremony and Reception Venue: http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/

Day of Coordinator: Simone from http://www.5sensesevents.com/

Rentals from: http://www.allparty.com/

Photographer: http://www.justinmerriman.com/

DJ: (Always my favorite!) http://www.jeremyganss.com/

Florist: http://www.mocharose.com/

Baker: http://www.prantlsbakery.com/

Thanks and congrats to Meghan and Ben!

Professional Shots from Jenni Grace

2009-05-26T20:00:00.004-04:00

I have to start this blog by saying that I HATE having my picture taken. I'm the type of person that runs or covers their face if there is a camera anywhere within a mile radius.

However, after being a long time blog stalker of Jenni S Photography (now Jenni Grace Photography- more on that in a second...), I knew that if anyone could make me look good/ feel relaxed in front of the camera, it was Jenni.

Jenni came to my shop during one of the busiest weeks of the season and it just so happened to be the day that I found out that someone had stolen my identity to purchase thousands in ugly shoes. During peak season I work 60-80 hours a week so needless to say that I was tired.

Yet, Jenni's personality put me at ease and I let her work her magic. These were my two favorite of the many shots she sent me. Can I just say that she is absolutely amazing???!!!

You'll be seeing some more of these shots in the future popping up on my website and other places.

Thank you Jenni!

Make sure you check out her totally revamped website as she has taken on the name Jenni Grace Photography: http://www.jennisphotography.com/ (The photo in the middle of the front page is from one of our couples from last June!)

http://www.jennisphotography.com/

Chelsea and Brad at Hartwood Acres

2009-05-26T18:29:00.015-04:00

This past Saturday, we did two amazing weddings. The first was the marriage of Chelsea and Brad with a gorgeous outdoor ceremony at Hartwood Acres, followed by a reception at the Mount Troy Ballroom.

The theme was vintage Hollywood romance and we focused on soft, romantic flowers in seasonal blushy pink and cream. The Hartwood Mansion is truly spectacular! The weather was perfect and Chelsea and Brad were able to have a wonderful ceremony in the outdoor gardens.

They were married under an arbor draped with ivory organza with hanging crystal chandeliers and fresh peonies.

There were three different centerpieces throughout the room. This one is a tall centerpiece with hydrangea, peonies, roses and crystals.

The whole reception was planned around this custom built crystal tree with a lighted base. It's over five foot tall! This item is now available as a rental item for events.
The second centerpieces was a tall submerged arrangement with a pink cymbidium orchid.
The third was a trio of submerged peonies, mokara orchids and roses.

Chelsea was an extremely creative bride and her handmade touches were everywhere throughout the reception including this pink candy buffet.

Now for Chelsea's bouquet, I have to say this was one of my favorite bouquets that I've ever made! (Also stay tuned for our second wedding from Saturday- loved that one too!) Chelsea gave me creative freedom, but also gave me a few fantastic ideas on her own. She asked me if I could paint fiddlehead ferns gold and if she could have chandelier crystals hanging from her bouquet. I never say no! The result was so glamorous!

Chelsea's bouquet had almost too many flowers to list. I used four different types of peonies, garden roses, sweet pea, lily of the valley, gold fiddlehead ferns, ranunculus, cymbidium orchids, astilbe, calla lilies and crystals.

The vendors that helped make this event fantastic were:

Ceremony Venue: http://www.alleghenycounty.us/parks/images/gallery/hw/mansion.asp

Reception: http://www.mttroyballroom.us/

Day of Coordinator (aka: the person that made everything fall together!): Sumer from: http://www.simplyperfectwedding.net/ Sumer is always fabulous!

Florist: www.mocharose.com

Photographer: Paul and Cyndi Meyer http://www.paulmeyerphotography.com/index.swf

Sneak Peek: 2009 Wedding Season

2009-05-12T09:49:00.010-04:00

It has been BUSY here with the start of 2009 wedding season, but I wanted to share a few pictures of what we've been cooking up at the studio.

I love these pastels for Tara's wedding centerpieces.

Carrie's Tall Centerpiece.

The Backyard Chic table from the "Say I Do" Eco Friendly Bridal cocktail party, hosted by Simone from http://www.5sensesevents.com/ I will post another blog in the future with the shots that the amazing photographer, Kimberly Reed http://www.kreedphotography.com/ sent from this event.

All flowers for this event were sourced within 100 miles of Pittsburgh (including those luscious orchids!)

This was for the Modern Chic Table.

And this was the Classic Elegant Table.

More details to come, but in the meantime, we have some weddings to design!

A Day at the Flower Shop

2009-04-21T14:15:00.004-04:00

A day at the Flower Shop for Mommy

Nothing is more precious to a mother than a piece of their child's artwork. That's why on Saturday, May 9 and Sunday May 10th, we will open up our doors and let your child make their own flower arrangements for mom.

Floral designer, April Schwietz Mason will hold four classes in which she will teach your child the art of arranging flowers. This class is open to the father and child who want to surprise mommy with a special handcrafted bouquet or for the mother and child who just need a little quality time together.

Each session will include:

One "My Monet Blumebox" (pictured above) in which your child can write a special message or draw pictures on the vase.
One box of 4 crayons
Your child's choice of 10 stems of our beautiful spring flowers to make mom a gorgeous and thoughtful bouquet
Ribbon and other decorative supplies
Instruction from April on how to design a simple but beautiful arrangement for mom to enjoy
Mini Cupcakes from Vanilla Pastry Studios
Lemonade

Each class will be limited to 8 children and their parents (16 people).

Cost: $49 per child+ 1 parent*

*Each additional parent $8 and will include refreshments

*Each additional child $34 and will include all of the supplies listed above

Session dates available:

Session 1: Saturday, May 9th 10:30am-12:00pm

Session 2: Saturday, May 9th 3:00pm-4:30pm

Session 3: Sunday, May 10th 10:30am-12:00pm

Session 4: Sunday, May 10th 3:00pm-4:30pm

Ages: 2 and up

Please RSVP to april@mocharose.com or call 412.621.3204 to reserve your space. A credit card will be required to secure the class and a $15 no show fee will apply for cancellations with less than 48 hours notice.

Happy Mother's Day!

We will also be featuring custom arrangements for pick up and delivery this weekend. We will be updating the website soon with this information.

We don't mind if you stalk us

2009-04-19T15:23:00.003-04:00

Really. We know that we have fans out there (we're so flattered!) and like everyone else in the world, we decided to join the ranks of Facebook and Twitter.

Here's how to stalk us:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/mocharose

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/d5mt5j

Wesbite: http://www.mocharose.com/

Blog: http://www.mocharosedesigns.blogspot.com/

Wedding Wire: http://tinyurl.com/cldwuh

Mother's Day

2009-04-19T13:39:00.008-04:00

Peony Sundae: $85 (shown)/$105

This Mother's Day, we will be offering custom floral arrangements for the stylish Pittsburgh mothers. These arrangements will be available for pick up or delivery on Saturday, May 9th or Sunday, May 10th from 10-6pm.

You must order your arrangements by Saturday, May 9th. Please call 412.621.3204 or email april@mocharose.com to place your order.

Here are just a few options:

Grandma's Spring Garden: $79/$99 (shown)/ $119

Dozen Roses (your choice of color) European Style: $79 (shown)
Two Dozen: $109

Potted Phalaenopsis with Pussy Willow: $75 (available in white or fuchsia)

The Ultimate Peony Bouquet: $99/ $159

More images on the way!

For Mother's Day, we plan to carry all of the best that spring has to offer. If your mother has a special heirloom vase, bring it in and we'll create a custom arrangement in it with all of her favorite flowers.

Stay tuned for our special event just for the kid's on Saturday and Sunday!

2009-04-14T10:48:00.002-04:00

Pittsburgh Brides-to-Be and Guests::

You are joyfully invited to attend a Bridal Cocktail Party!
WHEN: Thursday, April 30, 2009WHERE: Grey Box Theater, 3595 Butler Street, Pgh 15201TIME: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

RSVP: Event is open to Brides-to-Be + guests.

Advance ticket purchase required.

Receive insider tips on how to make your wedding day stylish and green. Leave with fabulous Give-Aways and swag.

SEE: Inspiring wedding decor, jewelry, photography
HEAR: Rhythmic music
TASTE: Cocktails, Savories and Sweets
TOUCH: Soft linens, delicate flowers, custom wedding invitations
SMELL: Delicious food and decorative florals

FEATURING:
5Senses Events , Ads Lighting, All Occasions Party Rental, Coca Cafe, Dozen Bake Shop, DJ Jeremy Ganss, Katy D Invitations & Greetings, Kimberly Reed Photography, Lendable Linens, M Catering , Mocha Rose Floral Design

Questions? Kindly email SayIDo{at}5SensesEvents{dot}com
{Art by Katy D. Greetings}

10 Ways to Plan Eco Friendly Wedding Flowers

2009-03-22T21:55:00.015-04:00

10 Ways to Plan Eco Friendly Wedding Flowers

1. Rent your vases

Most florists will offer a line of rental vases for you to use at your wedding. Not only will you save some cash, but you are not going to be stuck with throwing 30 containers in a dumpster after your wedding.

2. Hire an Eco Friendly Florist

It doesn't hurt to ask your florist if they are Eco friendly. Our long term goal for Mocha Rose is to produce zero waste. Everything that can be recycled is sorted out each week. All leftover plant material goes to compost. Right now, we only produce 2-3 bags of trash per week. Our aim is less than one. We also work out of an 800 sq. foot green building with a brand new high efficiency furnace and AC to reduce our energy consumption.

If your florist doesn't already follow Eco friendly practices, ask them to consider recycling and composting for your wedding to reduce the impact.

3. Incorporate potted plants into your decor

Your florist can provide you with amazing potted plants to bring color into your reception centerpieces. After the wedding, the guests can take these to enjoy at their office, home or even their garden.

We provided these gorgeous pink cyclamen in groups of three for Kate's wedding at The Rivers Club.

(Photography by: http://www.weddingsbyheather.com/)

4. Choose in season blooms

Ask your florist what flowers are in season for your wedding and stay away from those that are not. You might love peonies for your December wedding, but they are most definitely not growing anywhere in Pennsylvania that time of the year. In fact, if your florist is lucky enough to get them that time of the year, the are probably being shipped all the way from New Zealand.

If you are concerned with global impact, ask your florist what flowers are available locally and which will have the least impact in transportation. Importing flowers from California is still less impact than Holland, Ecuador or New Zealand.

5. Donate your leftover flowers

Make arrangements with your florist, wedding planner or a friend to take your floral centerpieces to be donated. Nursing homes and hospitals are always very appreciative of the extra cheer and many will return the rental vases to the florist. Meals on Wheels also loves to have loose flowers to add to bud vases for home deliveries.

6. Donate fruit

If you are using fresh fruit such as apples, check to see if your local food bank can use the fruit after your wedding. Here in Pittsburgh, The Three Rivers Table Program will actually come at the end of your wedding reception and will pick up any usable fruit (or cookies from your cookie table). This fruit is then given to local programs such as shelters and after school programs.

The apples to the left were donated to the Table Program after Meghan and Bill's wedding last year at Heinz Field.

For more information on the Three Rivers Table Program, click here: http://www.pittsburghfoodbank.org/donate/donate_food.aspx

7. Re-purposed Materials

I LOVE using non conventional containers for flowers. Goodwill is a great resource for funky vases for a shabby chic look at your reception. In Pittsburgh we also have Construction Junction: http://www.constructionjunction.org/ (Which also happens to be the recycling center we use). I love this place! People can donate old construction materials like columns, doors, window panes, hardware, etc. I could spend a whole day here.

8. Give Bulbs, Trees or Seeds as Favors

Instead of giving away something that will end up in a junk drawer (just say no to monogrammed items!), why not give your guests something that they can plant and enjoy at home in their garden for years to come.

Check out these favors available from Mocha Rose for $2.50 each. They are matchstick gardens in which your guests can plant each "match stick" to grow their own herb or wildflower garden to enjoy throughout the summer.

9. Reuse Arrangements

If your church requests that you remove all decorations after the ceremony, make sure that you can reuse them at your reception.

10. Donate to Terra Pass to offset the carbon footprint of your wedding

http://www.terrapass.com/wedding/ Try out the calculator here to see what is the carbon footprint of your wedding. Make sure you include the time your vendors and major supplies (IE roses from Ecuador) will be traveling. You can make a financial donation through this site to offset the carbon footprint for your event. When you buy a Terra Pass, your money funds clean energy and efficiency projects such as wind farms. These projects result in verified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Save the Date! "Say I Do: An Eco-Chic Event"

2009-03-10T13:22:00.004-04:00

Mark your calendar for April 30th, 2009.

We are very excited to team with Pittsburgh's eco-friendly wedding professionals to host a fabulous cocktail party showcasing ways to make your wedding eco-chic!

If you are a bride-to-be in the Pittsburgh area and you are curious about how to incorporate "green" elements into your wedding, you do not want to miss this event!

Featured Vendors Include:
5Senses Events Design , Ads Lighting, All Occasions Party Rental, Coca Cafe, Dozen Bake Shop, DJ Jeremy Ganss, Katy D Invitations & Greetings, Kimberly Reed Photography, Lendable Linens, M Catering , Mocha Rose Floral Design

Immediate Questions? Kindly email SayIDo{at}5SensesEvents{dot}com

{Save The Date by Katy D.}

More details coming soon!

The Philadelphia Flower Show 2009

2009-03-08T22:49:00.037-04:00

My husband and I traveled to Philadelphia this weekend to check out the 2009 Philadelphia Flower Show. I had never been to this show before and had no idea what to expect.

All I have to say is that it completely took my breath away!

Even though the crowds were a bit overwhelming, it was truly amazing to see that many people who were there to admire the flowers.

The displays were out of this world and kudos go to all of the florists, landscapers, designers and staff that dedicated their time to such an event.

There were so many people that I found it hard to get to the signs and find out who made these amazing displays. If anyone can help me credit the designers, I would love to give props where props are surely deserved.

As a designer, I found this event to be incredibly inspiring.

I adored this display by http://www.modabotanica.com/ My photos do not even begin to show how amazing this piece is and you can find many more shots on their blog here: http://modabotanicadesign.blogspot.com/2009/02/modo-moderno.html

This cymbidium orchid wall was constructed by Flowers By David: http://flowersbydavid.rtrk.com/

Below is the beginning of the AIFD (the American Institute of Floral Designers) section. These are the designs from the best of the best of America. They did not disappoint!

And this brings us to the fashion part of the program...

Yes, shoes... made out of flowers.

And you know what? I'd totally wear them.

Especially these.

Or these.

I had to look at these very closely before I realized that these shoes were made out of individual lily of the valley florets.

What floral show wouldn't be complete without purses made of botanical products?

I think this might have been my favorite display at the show. I want an ostrich flower purse.

The next photo is the listing of all of the botanical items this purse was constructed from.

The plants were endless.

I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to make the drive this weekend. I will be back next year. Next year however, I'll be wearing tennis shoes! What was I thinking when I left Pittsburgh and my only pair of shoes were three inch heels??? My feet will be in recovery all week.

Ben and Leslie's Fall Wedding

2009-02-27T10:02:00.017-05:00

This is the second wedding I have to share from the amazing photographer, Joanna Fassinger www.joannafassinger.com

I've posted photos of this wedding on my blog before but Joanna's vision blew me away. I also didn't get a chance to snap a picture of those absolutely gorgeous bridesmaid dresses on the wedding day. Talk about a dress that you'd be happy to wear again!

Ben and Leslie were such a sweet, stylish couple who simply said that they wanted a gorgeous wedding that bought out the feel of the season without being traditional fall colors. This is what we came up with and it will go down as one of my favorite weddings ever.

Ben and Leslie had Joanna turn this image into their Thank You cards. What a heartfelt and fun way to bring your guests into the wedding!

Loved the flowering kale!

And I always love to play in fountains...

Thank you Joanna for these fabulous images!

Eye Candy from Joanna Fassinger

2009-02-20T15:40:00.022-05:00

I received a packet in the mail this week from the talented Pittsburgh photographer Joanna Fassinger. http://www.joannafassinger.com/ I had the pleasure of working with Joanna at four weddings this year. The package was a CD of the floral images from these weddings and the cutest little album of the following wedding.

My next few blog entries will feature these weddings and Joanna's amazing work. Many people don't know this, but I studied photojournalism for eight years. Of course, this was "back in the day" before digital cameras and Photo Shop. I spent my time taking photos on old school film and developed and printed my own pictures in the darkroom. It's amazing to me how fast the world of photography has evolved. And I'm not that old.

So I have a little bit of a photography obsession and my google reader is filled with wedding photographer's blogs from Pittsburgh and around the world. I always get excited when Joanna's blog www.joannafassinger.blogspot.com pops up in my google reader with a new update. Her photojournalist style simply amazing. She is known for taking advantage of rays of light and reflections. This artistic approach is perfect for bringing out frame worthy prints for weddings.

We both had the privilege of working this Midsummer Night's Dream themed wedding this past July. Dan and Josselyn were the most creative couple I have ever worked with and the results were pretty amazing.

This wedding was very lively! The lighting from Vincent Lighting http://www.vincentlighting.com/ was simply amazing as you can see in the following pictures. Josselyn was a gorgeous bride and had one of the most fabulous dresses I have ever seen.

These pictures speak for themselves about how amazing Joanna's work is and how much fun we had with this wedding.

I'm not going to say anything else. Just enjoy the eye candy and stay tuned for the other weddings later this week.

Make your own Bridal Canvas

2009-02-10T12:18:00.006-05:00

I just found the coolest site! http://www.bridalcanvas.com/ If you are a fan of Style Me Pretty http://www.stylemepretty.com/ and other fabulous wedding websites, then you will love the new Bridal Canvas generator!

You use their stock images to create a canvas of the overall look of your wedding. Even better, you can upload your own photos of your wedding dress, reception site, jewelry and invitations. Then when you are all done, you can email them to your friends, family and even your florist so that everyone knows the inspiration behind your wedding.

I made these two canvases in just a few minutes. The first one is called Vintage Glam and is inspired by the gorgeous wedding dress in the center.

The last one is called Redhead Love. Yes, this entire palette is actually based on the bride's hair color and what you can combine to make her look like a goddess. Everything is chosen to bring out her natural beauty in the colors of mocha, pinks, golds, champagne and mauve.

Our website may be down

2009-02-03T20:42:00.003-05:00

It has come to our attention that we are having server errors on our website http://www.mocharose.com/ It has been going down on occasion for about a week. I want to assure you that we are still here and are trying to address the problem as soon as possible. If you are trying to access the website and receive an error message, please check back in a few hours.

Our contact information is:

Mocha Rose Floral Designs

412.621.3204

4602 Penn Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15224

I'm not sure if we have been receiving all emails due to the site issues so if you haven't received a response to a recent email, please try emailing us at mocharose@gmail.com

Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience!

-april

Winners of the Bride's Choice Award

2009-02-03T08:51:00.007-05:00

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Mocha Rose Floral Designs has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Mocha Rose is one of the very best floral designers in the country.

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews. “We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.” Mocha Rose Floral Designs would like to thank our past clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award!

What a great honor! Thank you for the great reviews! This is our second award we have received from wedding wire this year.

Cupcakes!

2009-01-21T16:07:00.012-05:00

This blog is about things we love and if you've been following us for awhile, you know that we love our cupcakes.

I came across something so neat today that I had to interrupt my non-blogging with something that has nothing to do with flowers. How adorable are these cupcake liners from Estilo Weddings? http://www.estiloweddings.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=97&pageNumber=1

So many of my clients have told me that they are having designer cupcakes in lieu of a wedding cake so I thought I'd pass this gem along. While you are there, check out the rest of the site for lots of fashionable and eco-friendly gifts and ideas. I adore this clutch!

Best of 2008

2008-12-20T14:22:00.022-05:00

At the end of every year, I like to take a day and reflect on the good and the bad that has occured over that past 365 days. 2008 was an incredible year for Mocha Rose and honestly, I could only come up with one item that fit in the bad category. The one negative part of our business is that we cannot accommodate every wedding and event that comes our way. Quality and service are extremely important and we have always limited the amount of work we take on in a week for this reason. In the Spring of 2009, we are adding additional staff and will be expanding our space so that we won't have to turn as many weddings and events away.

Enough of the bad...

Now I want to share the good of 2008 and what made it to be such an amazing year. I'm also sharing my favorite designs and images that we've collected along the way.

I continually tell people that I have the best job in the world. Sure it requires a lot of last minute work, long hours and stress, but the reward is that I get to use my creativity and am constantly surrounded by beautiful flowers, places and people. My job over that past year has taken me everywhere from Heinz Field to The Zoo to pretty much every country club, historical site and museum in Pittsburgh.

I have met some of the most amazing people and have been able to be a part of one of the most important days of their lives. Some of my clients families have welcomed me as if I was one of their own. Some of my brides have become good friends that I know I will see throughout the years.

I have been at over 100 weddings in the past few years and it is still hard to fight the tears when I send one of my brides down the aisle.

Perhaps the biggest change here at Mocha Rose was when we moved into our new design studio on Penn Ave in Bloomfield in March. This place is a second home to me. I love the East End and enjoy watching the area change and thrive on a weekly basis. I love that I'm 5 minutes from downtown, Oakland and my two favorite cupcake shops (Vanilla Pastry Studios and Dozen). I'm excited to see what the opening of the new Children's Hospital will bring in the spring of 2009.

I plan on being in the East End for quite a few years.

In August of 2008, we welcomed Andrew onto our staff. If I could have designed the perfect employee, it would be Andrew. Where my talents lacked, Andrew excelled and he has helped me bring Mocha Rose to a whole new level. He makes work fun. When he leaves us to attend Parsons School of Design and Andrew Nordin becomes a household name with his signature cocktail dresses, there will be some tough shoes to fill over here at Mocha Rose.

Click on his website and you'll see what I mean:

www.andrewnordin.com

And he better send me some of his dresses...

I love that every single client I have worked with is unique. Our clients are modern and stylish and I love how much they like to think outside of the box. Even though we may work in the same venue five or more times throughout the year, each event looks incredibly different.

I love that my clients trust my creativity and are constantly finding new ways to challenge me. I think I would get bored if every wedding looked the same.

In 2008, we saw a lot of color.

We worked with beautiful people with beautiful ideas.

We got to play in the water.

We learned that lily of the valley smells a bit more heavenly in October.

We learned that we love moss.

We still think that peonies are nature's most perfect flower.

We were on a salad kick for awhile. (Though the cupcakes won in the end.)

We played in the water... a lot.

Yes, 2008 was a beautiful year.

On that note, we have chosen to spend the rest of 2008 with our families over the holidays who have missed us during the busy wedding season.

Mocha Rose will be closed from December 23rd-January 5th.

We will have limited access to phone and email during this time but will get back to everyone as soon as we return.

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for an incredible year.

-april

Pre Holiday Sale!

2008-12-15T16:21:00.006-05:00

All of our Holiday merchandise is now on sale for 50-70% off of the regular price until December 22nd!

We are also marking down select gift items to making your shopping a little easier.

Visit us Monday- Saturday 12-7pm until December 22nd.

at 4602 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224 (Bloomfield/ Lawrenceville)

Also call now to reserve your holiday centerpieces and gift bouquets.

412.621.3204

All fresh flower orders must be placed by Saturday, December 20th and will be available for pick up on Monday, December 22nd 12-7pm.

Happy Holidays!

-april

Lots of Pictures

2008-12-03T17:52:00.008-05:00

I just wanted to share some of the recent arrangements we have made for our customers and events.

This was one of the large centerpieces we made for the Union Project's Annual Unwrapped Party. How cool is this pot?

They let me do what ever I wanted so of course I had to build something funky and sculptural like this impaled rose orb.

And Lincoln needed a hat.

This was one of our featured arrangements from our Open House.

I couldn't resist the temptation of buying peonies in December so I put together this bouquet for the shop.

Important Notice for our Brides and Grooms

2008-12-03T16:46:00.004-05:00

I wanted to let everyone know in advance that our staff will be on vacation from December 23rd- December 29th as we spend the holidays with our families.

We realize that a lot of our couples plan their weddings from out of town and that you may be visiting Pittsburgh during that week. To make ourselves available during the holidays, we will be offering consultations on a first come basis on December 30th beginning at 11am. Please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested in meeting on this day.

We will have limited email and phone access from December 22-29, but will return all emails in the order which they are received.

Thank you for your understanding and I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

As a reminder, we are also open for retail every Monday-Saturday from the hours of 12-7pm until December 22nd.

Click here for our specials of the week: http://www.mocharose.com/HolidayBoutique/tabid/68/Default.aspx

Thanksgiving Centerpieces

2008-11-25T12:48:00.006-05:00

Just a reminder that we will be open until 7pm tonight and tomorrow so that you can pick up your gorgeous Thanksgiving centerpiece on your way home from work. (Or on your way to Trader Joes or Whole Foods for those last minute groceries.)

Here's a bonus coupon for our loyal blog readers that is good until December 22nd.

Don't forget that our Holiday Open House is this Friday 12-7pm. Hope to see you there and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

(Two blog entries in one day. Now that is a record!)

Unwrapped 2008

2008-11-25T09:53:00.002-05:00

I wanted to share photos from an amazing event that I had the opportunity to be a part of last Saturday. The Union Project: www.unionproject.org held it's annual Unwrapped fundraiser. When I first heard of the Union Project, I knew I had to be a part of Unwrapped and decided to donate all of the floral arrangements. It's rare that I have the opportunity to be a guest at one of the events that I decorated so I thoroughly enjoyed myself on Saturday night. It was an amazing time.

I had the opportunity to meet the amazing photographer Kimberly Reed who also donated her services for the event. She has already posted a slide show of the party here: http://www.kreedphotography.com/darkroom/share/?n=unwrapped08#unwrapped002jpg

The lovely Simone from http://5sensesevents.com/ helped to coordinate the event. I've said it a million times, any event with Simone in charge is a chic, lively event. Love her!

Sneak Holiday Preview

2008-11-18T18:57:00.011-05:00

We've been transforming the shop over the past few weeks and we are almost ready to go! I just wanted to share a sneak preview of what we've been up to. We will be opening our doors for retail next Monday, November 24 12-7pm and will remain open M-Sat 12-7pm until December 22nd.
We will be holding a holiday open house on November 28th & 29th (Black Friday) and will be offering our best deals of the season. Don't miss out on this "Build a Bouquet" weekend in which you will be able to design your own bouquet by selecting individual stems of some of the most unique blooms from around the world.

We are selling one of a kind holiday ornaments, tableware, designer glassware, fresh cut flowers, gift items and home decor items.

If you'd like to be on our list for invites to special events and special offers, please sign up on our website as a registered member: http://www.mocharose.com/

We will also begin accepting centerpiece orders for Thanksgiving and Christmas over the next few days and will post the available arrangements on our blog and website.

Leslie and Ben

2008-10-25T18:48:00.014-04:00

Leslie and Ben are probably still enjoying their wedding dinner at the Fox Chapel Golf Club, but I just got home and had to post shots from their gorgeous wedding. This was Leslie's bridal bouquet of roses, double white freesia, white scabiosa, lily of the valley, sweet pea and white mini calla lilies.

Leslie's only requests for her bouquet were that it should be all white, elegant and if at all possible, use lily of the valley in honor of her grandmother. Although lily of the valley is highly seasonal (May-June), we were able to import these in from Holland and they smelled heavenly. Because she gave me creative freedom in choosing what flowers to use, I was able to call my suppliers and say simply "Send me what's pretty". I was able to get beautiful flowers in that I couldn't promise otherwise because they are highly seasonal or just hard to track down. I adored her bouquet.

Now this is why I couldn't wait to post this blog. Leslie told me a general idea of what she wanted for her wedding and gave me 100% creative freedom for the reception. She told me elegant, unique and that she wanted it to have a fall feel without the traditional fall colors. So we came up with a color palette of deep jewel tones- bright green, dark blue, wine, and eggplant.

Instead of using traditional greenery in her centerpieces, I wanted to focus on seasonal elements. I chose purple flowering kale as the base for the arrangements since it is a cold weather seasonal vegetable. Here is a close up of the beautiful kale floating in the fountain.

Here is the view that guests see when they first walk into the club from the balcony. I love to decorate fountains!

This was the tall centerpiece as seen from above. We made a large, round arrangement of flowering kale, hanging pepper berries, eggplant dalhias, green dendrobium orchids, James Storie orchids, eggplant calla lilies, dark blue delphinium, green cymbidium orchids and hanging crystals.

The low centerpieces were green cymbidium orchids, dark blue delphinium, black magic roses, flowering kale and eggplant calla lilies.

Another shot of the fountain.

For the fountain arrangements, I used flowering kale, dark blue delphinium, eggplant calla lilies, green dendrobium and cymbidium orchids, hanging pepperberry, curly willow and fresh lotus pods (those cool looking green disks).

This was such a wonderful wedding and so much fun for me to plan. As I get more photos, I will post them. I forgot to get any shots of the bridesmaid bouquets. The dresses were very stylish. I think I was also excited because Leslie hired a few of my favorite vendors in Pittsburgh:

Floral Design: http://www.mocharose.com/

Reception Site: http://www.foxchapelgolfclub.org/ (you do need a member to sponsor you to hold your wedding here).

Photographer: http://www.joannafassinger.com/

DJ: http://www.jeremyganss.com/

Event Coordinator: http://www.greatexpectationevents.com/

If you want to see more pictures of this wedding, all of the above vendors (minus the reception site) will post photos on their blogs in the next few weeks.

-april

Our Holiday Boutique!

2008-10-21T18:32:00.007-04:00

Whew! What a wedding season! I've had a hard time keeping up with this blog because we have been so busy lately with our October weddings. We still have a few more to go before the season is over, but I wanted to share a few things that we have been planning behind the scenes.

First I have to share the super cute new logo for Mocha Rose that will go live on our website shortly. This was created by my amazing assistant, Andrew. We have named the bird "Chicken" even though we are pretty sure it is not a chicken. Andrew designed it after a ceramic peacock pot, an heirloom from my grandmother that she purchased when she lived in Mexico City.

You will be seeing "Chicken" pop up everywhere in the future because apparently Chicken likes to be fashionable and change with the season. I digress.

The new logo is actually the first step in the changes you will see at our studio. The change that we are most excited about is the opening of our Holiday Boutique! From November 24th-December 22nd, we will be opening the doors our our studio to the public, Monday-Saturday, 12-7 p.m. We are transforming our little design studio into a boutique gift shop where you can purchase designer glassware, one of a kind holiday ornaments, home decor, candles and fresh flowers.

We want your home to be modern and stylish for all of you holiday guests and of the parties you will be throwing. We've made it our mission to be your source. The boxes have been coming in daily and the decorations are going up next week. Just check out these glamorous Chandelier Ornaments we received today.

Stay tuned to the blog for more updates. We will be hosting an Open House on Black Friday weekend and will have lots of sales and special shopping events. (Psst...If you sign up as a registered member on our website, http://www.mocharose.com/ , you will receive invitations to special VIP events and sales).

We will also be accepting orders for holiday floral designs shortly, both through our website and over the phone.

There is one last addition that we hope will make it much easier for our brides to communicate with us. Check out http://www.epicflowers.com/ It's still in development and I'll let you know when everything is ready to go. You'll be able to log in and communicate with us through this website where you can chat online, post pictures of your ideas and send us private messages. We are very excited to be one of the first florists worldwide to be a part of this cutting edge technology.

Okay...back to weddings! Leslie and Ben, you are up next! I can't wait to see you on Saturday. Everything will be gorgeous.

Submerged Centerpiece 101

2008-10-05T18:22:00.027-04:00

I get an incredible amount of people who find my blog and website while searching for submerged centerpieces. We do a lot of this type of arrangement at Mocha Rose so I figured it was time for Submerged Centerpiece 101.

First, what exactly is a submerged arrangement?

As the name suggests, it is a flower that is literally underwater and it is showcased in glassware and often accented with crystals and candles.

What types of flowers can be used in submerged centerpieces?

The short answer is: Any! However, some flowers work much better than others. My favorite flowers to use are orchids, roses, hydrangeas, calla lilies and tulips. Orchids work beautifully to fill the space in a tall vase. Roses always seem to magnify about ten times their size underwater and it is a very unique effect. Hydrangeas fill out the space in a short wide vase and even look beautiful when placed in a vase that is a bit too small in diameter. Calla lilies and tulips are perhaps my favorites because they can be twisted, curved and intertwined every which way to create a piece of floral art.

There are only a few flowers that I do not like to use and they are flowers with lots of pollen or those with delicate, paper thin petals. The pollen filled flowers like lilies can cloud the water (though with lilies, you can carefully remove the pollen). Paper thin petals like those of anemones can close up under the pressure of the water.

Can I use silk flowers since no one would be touching them?

Everyone seems to think that if they are underwater, no one would know the difference. As a flower lover, I believe that the reason that you choose this sort of arrangement is because you want to magnify the natural beauty of a bloom. If you are magnifying a silk flower, you are only magnifying the flaws of the impostor. (Yes, that is my official opinion of silk flowers.) Do you want frayed edged, dyed fabric and shiny plastic stems to be put under a magnifying glass at your wedding? There is nothing that even comes close to the beauty of a real flower.

Will the flowers die before the end of the night?

Absolutely not!!! Flowers love water. In fact, if you take them out of the water at the end of the night, they'll be as perky as ever. I've done tests in my studio and I've had submerged arrangements last up to four days. The water will go bad before the flowers do. After a day or two, the water may start to cloud (even quicker if the arrangement is in sunlight or a very warm room.) If you want to keep the arrangements for more than two days, I'd recommend completely changing the water and bleaching the stones to eliminate all bacteria. I'd imagine that these arrangements would last a week or more with the proper treatment.

How do you keep the flowers from floating to the top?

Well, we can't give away all of our secrets, can we? I will say that if you simply try to stick the flowers into a few rocks, they will most definitely float to the top. Flowers float and some more so than others. Roses, hydrangea and lilac can be tricky.

It seems simple, right? Can't I make my own submerged centerpieces for my wedding?

I wouldn't wish this on any bride for her wedding day! Submerged arrangements must be constructed on site and often at the last minute. Most of the cost of submerged arrangements (see next question) is in labor and for a good reason. They are not easy and are often quite messy to set up. There is also an issue of transportation. Vases and stones can get quite bulky and heavy and if you don't have access to a van, you will probably spend a good part of your wedding day loading, transporting and unloading the materials.

How much does a submerged arrangement cost?

Here at Mocha Rose, our submerged arrangements range in price from $29-250. They are generally an affordable option as your flower cost is kept at a minimum of 1-3 stems. Most of the cost of these arrangements is in labor because they often take additional staff available due to last minute set up. Our typical arrangements will be priced in the following manner: floral cost + vase rental + stone rental + votive rental + floating candles + labor + pick up. However, if you were trying to make these centerpieces on your own, you'd be purchasing the vases and stones and will most likely ending up spending about the same or more than having us do the arrangements.

Of course, if you are using five calla lilies (expensive) as opposed to a single rose (affordable) there will be a huge price difference. A florist can guide you in which flower will work best with your colors, look and budget. It's what we do ;)

Will my guests like the arrangements?

As a florist, I get to hear a lot of feedback from my brides, the guests and the staff at the reception site. One of the most common reactions is "Wow. I haven't seen anything like that before!" or "That is the most unique centerpiece I have ever seen!"

All I can say is that I receive more comments about these centerpieces than any other type I do. People love them.

Am I limited to flowers?

No! I love to experiment. Below is a submerged arrangement of fresh whole and cut limes. If you are using fresh fruit, I'd recommend waiting to the last minute or the water may cloud. We also use another secret (I'm not telling!) to keep the fruit from browning.

If you have something in mind, it never hurts to bring it up to your florist. I'm willing to experiment with anything which is why I know that a peacock feather does in fact look beautiful under water.

Is there any way to bring submerged centerpieces to the next level?

Absolutely! We have a few vases that allow us to create a submerged arrangement and build an arrangement on top of that vase like the beautiful pink and red orchids below.

We know that you like calla lilies and tulips, but are there any other flowers that work very well in submerged centerpieces?

I love the look of cymbidium orchids when they are under water. They are such a beautiful flower. They are on the expensive side, but they sure do make a statement.

Here are some beautiful calla lilies wrapped inside of a cylinder vase.

Bubbles or no bubbles?

There is a big debate on the issue of what kind of water to use in submerged arrangements. Some people use distilled water so the water is crystal clear. Some use tap water and when they do, there are natural air bubbles that will cling to the petals and stems. Some will even add San Pellegrino to the water to increase the bubbles that will attach to the flowers.

My stance on bubbles: I like them! I think that they add dimension to the arrangement and look pretty neat. I use regular old tap water most of the time, but will add a bit of San Pellegrino when I want a little more pizzazz. I personally think distilled water looks flat. (And why bother with the additional expense?)

Gladiolas are a more affordable alternative to the look of cymbidium orchids.

This centerpiece of orange mokara orchids was featured in the Spring 2008 Pennsylvania Knot magazine and on www.theknot.com

I love using this thick chunky square vase for submerged arrangements.

Did I miss a question that you have about submerged arrangements?

Please let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

Watch out for future blogs when I will feature branch centerpieces and tall centerpieces.

Sara and Marc

2008-09-27T22:53:00.012-04:00

Sara and Marc were married at The First Unitarian Church in Shadyside with a reception at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. What a fun wedding! If you have been following my blog, you know that I love a modern, chic design that breaks the rules. I'd say that was achieved, don't you?

There were two different types of centerpieces. The first was a submerged centerpiece trio of orange mokara orchids. The second was a tall submerged centerpiece with a curly willow tree with orchid blooms and hanging purple crystals. The color palette was chocolate brown, orange and deep purple.

Andy Shick from ADS Lighting did the purple lanterns and orange up lighting in the tent.

Sara and Marc made the table number frames. I loved them!

These were the altar arrangements for the church that were transported to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts to be placed on pedestals in the cocktail room.

The Center for the Arts is such a wonderful venue. http://www.pittsburgharts.org/index.php I love that the guests can tour the exhibit during cocktail hour. The reception tent is amazing and such a beautiful and unique space.

Christen's Wedding

2008-09-13T20:16:00.005-04:00

As we were driving to set up today's wedding, I realized it was a pumpkin spice day. I'm addicted to Starbuck's pumpkin spiced lattes, but the weather has just been too hot lately to truly appreciate the first fall flavor of the year. The leaves are starting to change, but it just hasn't felt like fall until today. It reminded me of a bouquet that I made for Christen's wedding on August 30th.

Her date was not quite fall, but not quite summer either. The kids are heading back to school and the fall TV season is starting, but there are still a few weeks left of summer. I think Christen captured this time of the year perfectly with her color choices. It hinted at the colors of the months to come, but added a kick with the bright green of the orchids and the bridesmaid dresses. Isn't this the perfect color combination for this time of year?

The bouquet is made of circus, vendella and freedom roses mixed with orange mokara orchids, mango calla lilies, and bright green cymbidium orchids.

I'm so excited to enter into the fall season. My husband and I were married in Oct 2005 so I always have a special fondness for the season. I'm even more excited that my 2008 brides are breaking the rules of what a fall wedding should look like. We have a lot of very unique weddings in the near future so keep tuned!

Erin and Mike

2008-09-05T14:18:00.020-04:00

Erin and Mike were recently married at The Duquesne University Chapel with a reception at the Carnegie Museum in the Music Hall. I loved the colors!

Erin's Bouquet of red and pink roses, deep red and pink calla lilies and pink bouvardia. The submerged centerpiece set up for the place card table.

The tall centerpieces of mokara orchids and gladiolus.

The low centerpieces of roses, gladiolus and mokara orchids in a chocolate fabric wrapped vase.

For more pictures of this wedding, make sure you check out the fabulous photographer's blog (they are posted now!) Heather from Weddings by Heather is always a joy to work with! http://www.weddingsbyheather.com/blog/2008/08/erin-mike.html

Forgive me for combining blogs, but we've been busy and there are so many things I want to share.

Here is an amazingly cool bouquet that I made for Janelle's wedding at The Aviary. You didn't know a vegetable could be so beautiful, did you? This bouquet is a mix of flowering kale and freesia.

Corsages for Janelle's wedding made from white freesia and pink spray roses.

Kristin's bouquet of white roses and white mini calla lilies.

Dendrobium Orchid boutonnieres.

I'm trying to be artistic. I may have failed, but you can see my view of the wedding ceremony.

Sumer- Isn't she gorgeous?! She was married in July.

This is from a non profit event we did last month for Community in Schools.

Apples + Pencils= Perfect theme for Teachers!

More pictures from this spring/ summer are to come soon! If you were a client and have photos of flowers to share, we'd LOVE to see them!

Josseyln and Dan's Pro Pictures!

2008-09-05T14:12:00.003-04:00

You HAVE to take a few minutes and check out http://joannafassinger.blogspot.com/ as she just featured the Mid Summer Night's Dream wedding of Josseyln and Dan! Joanna is one of the most amazing photographers I have ever worked with.

I had taken a few shots of my own, but I told you there was so much more to this wedding than what I posted. It was such a gorgeous, detailed and fun wedding. And the guy in the donkey suit...he's on the blog.

Thanks again to Dan and Josseyln!

Meet Andrew!

2008-09-05T13:47:00.002-04:00

There is a new face at Mocha Rose! I'm very happy to introduce Andrew, my new assistant. Andrew joined Mocha Rose a few weeks ago and was immediately thrown into the action with Nicole and Graham's Duquesne Club wedding. I told him he was free to go running at the end of the week if he hated me.

I'm happy to say he is still here. Here he is posing with his first ever floral arrangement. Can you say natural talent?

I wanted to give Andrew a proper introduction. Andrew is learning the business alongside me so he may be emailing clients, sitting in on consultations and helping me during event set up. We are trying to come up with his official job title. Andrew suggested "Design Assistant/ Couture Fabric Draper". (He has a gift with draping fabric). I've learned that there really isn't anything he cannot do with a background in theater, journalism, graphic design and fashion.

I'm very excited to have him on the team. In the next few months, you will notice changes at Mocha Rose including our website, blog, events and new products- all things that I couldn't do without Andrew.

Welcome! Welcome!

Nicole and Graham's Pro Shots!

2008-08-21T20:05:00.003-04:00

Cyndi and Tony Araujo have already released their sneak peek of the professional shots from Nicole and Graham's wedding this past Saturday!

Please take a minute and be prepared to be amazed not only by how beautiful and stylish this wedding was, but how Ajaujo Photography have captured these moments on film in such an artistic and perfect manner.

http://araujophotoblog.typepad.com/araujo_photography_weblog/2008/08/nicole-and-graham.html

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Nicole and Graham's Wedding

2008-08-17T17:20:00.017-04:00

We had another fabulous wedding this weekend. I cannot believe how blessed we've become as every single bride and groom have been an absolute joy to work with. This couple, Nicole and Graham, planned the wedding long distance from NYC and Vegas. I met with Nicole's mother, Fran, who is local to Pittsburgh, throughout the planning and now consider her a dear friend.

Everyone in this family is incredibly beautiful, inside and out and it was such an honor to be such an integral part of an amazing wedding. Nicole and Graham are gorgeous (obviously!) and are extremely successful actors on Broadway in Vegas and NYC.

My favorite part of any wedding is sending the bride down the aisle. This aisle was especially sentimental as Heinz Hall has a strong history in this family. Nicole's parents were married here and her grandfather was the the manager of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Heinz Hall.

Such an amazing venue and wedding! I had the rare opportunity to stay and watch the ceremony. I'm so glad I did! What a production! Since Nicole and Graham met at a voice class at CMU, the had their professor sing as a soloist during the ceremony. Then they sang their vows which was a performance only suitable for Heinz Hall. Simply amazing and heartfelt!

Their reception was held at The Duquesne Club, which is a breathtaking venue. The cocktail area was held in this room with a gorgeous stone fountain. I was allowed to add floating flowers to a fountain which is a rare design treat. I had a lot of fun with this room!

For the reception, we had stylish rose centerpieces in three different colors and two different heights scattered throughout the room.

We custom built a crystal tree for this wedding and it will be available for future rentals. Please contact us directly if you are interested in renting one of the crystal trees for your event.

Again, please stalk the amazing photographers' blog for more photos: http://araujophotoblog.typepad.com/araujo_photography_weblog/

Credits:

Floral Design: http://www.mocharose.com/

Wedding Planner: Tiffany from http://www.greatexpectationevents.com/

Photographers: http://www.araujophoto.com/

Ceremony Site: http://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/

Reception Site: http://www.duquesne.org/

Videographer: http://www.pghweddingdvd.com/

Linens: http://www.partymosaic.com/

Rentals/ Chairs: http://www.allparty.com/

Lighting: http://adslighting.com/

Everyone needs a little time off

2008-08-06T21:13:00.011-04:00

I know that some of you have been wondering where I have been judging by the number of emails waiting in my inbox. (I will get back to every one as soon as possible- hopefully tomorrow.) My husband and I took our first vacation since our honeymoon in 2005. It was a traveling vacation and I can't believe how much we managed to squeeze into one week! We stopped off at the Steelers training camp in Latrobe and then headed to Philly for a few days to visit friends.

On Friday, we went into New York City and headed over to the flower district on West 28th Street. I was in heaven! We made it too late to see the fresh flowers, but I was able to go into all of my favorite supply showrooms. As I was standing in the middle of Jamali Garden's showroom, all I could think of was "This is my happy place." http://www.jamaligarden.com/

After the big Mid Summer Nights Dream wedding, I've been loving the moss balls.

In the flower world, you start planning for Christmas in July.

Of course, I've always loved ribbon and probably could have spent a few hours here.

I HAVE to find a way to incorporate sponges into designs. Anyone want to have a sponge wedding?

The window displays were incredible. I loved all of the little orchid shops.

We spent the last three days of our trip in Avalon, NJ soaking up the sun on the beach. If we decide to move out of Pittsburgh (which I highly doubt we ever would), I would love to move to Avalon.

Anyways, I apologize for disappearing for a few days, but everyone needs a vacation every once in awhile. I'm well rested and am ready for round two of our crazy wedding season.

Josselyn and Dan's Midsummer Night's Dream Wedding

2008-07-28T18:31:00.007-04:00

What a whirlwind these last two months have been! We've had nonstop weddings and other events and I haven't had time to update the blog since early June. I promise that when everything slows down, I will update the blog with other weddings we have worked on.

I'm writing today because I wanted to post teaser pictures from Josselyn and Dan's wedding that was held on Saturday at the Twentieth Century Club in Oakland.

The wedding was a Midsummer Night's Dream themed wedding with a color palette of green, yellow and chocolate brown. I must say that this event was quite the production and the results were amazing. As for Josselyn and Dan, I have to say that they are such a stylish and down to earth couple who are obviously very much in love. It was an honor to be their florist.

As you look through these pictures, just think of a lush, magical forest.

Josselyn's bouquet was made of phalaenopsis orchids, green lisianthus, white ranunculus, stephonatis, freesia, dusty miller, maiden hair ferns, feathers, fresh mint and bouvardia. It smelled heavenly.

The bridesmaid bouquets were made of yellow and green cymbidium orchids, stephonatis, ferns, bouvardia, freesia, uhule ferns (fiddleheads), cobra lily and grapevine.

The place card table arrangement

The lighting company http://www.vincentlighting.com/ did an unbelievable job lighting the ceremony and reception rooms. They brought in their own generator and had three people on staff all night to coordinate the lighting with the music.

We had help from a fellow florist, Allison McGeary of http://www.mcgearycreative.com/ who set up and draped the chuppah for the ceremony. We created floral arrangements of orchids and ferns as well as hanging vases of orchids and crystals.
I snapped this shot after the ceremony, but the lighting was still on and everything was simply amazing.

These were the "Martha Stewart" inspired tissue paper pomanders.

We made two hanging flower chandeliers of roses, orchids, feather, crystals and ferns to frame the ceremony area.
One of the extra arrangements for the bar area.

Check out the reception lighting and beautiful linens from http://www.lendablelinens.com/

This was the tree centerpiece with hanging vases and crystals.

A submerged yellow cymbidium orchid arrangement.

How cute is this groom's cake from Creative Cakes? http://www.creativecakespgh.com/

I just had to take this shot. Have you ever wondered what an event like this looks like behind the scenes? The white tubes are an air conditioning unit that was brought in to cool the reception. Check out the thick wires on the ground too. Those were all brought in by Nate Vincent Lighting to power the lighting from their own generator.

Make sure you stalk the blog of the fantastic photographer http://www.joannafassinger.blogspot.com/ along with me for her teaser pics. There was so much more to this event than the photos that I took. The bride was absolutely gorgeous in her dress. They hired actors to play the parts from Midsummer Night's Dream. As I was leaving, I caught a glimpse of an actor with a donkey head and I thought "Best. Wedding. Ever."

Credits:

Ceremony and Reception Location: Twentieth Century Club http://www.thetwentiethcenturyclub.com/home.html

Event Planner: Tiffany Cramer Ray http://www.greatexpectationevents.com/

Florist: Mocha Rose Floral Designs http://www.mocharose.com/

Table Linens, Chaircovers and Napkins: Lendable Linens http://www.lendablelinens.com/

Lighting: Nate Vincent Lighting http://www.vincentlighting.com/

Cakes: Gwen from Creative Cakes http://www.creativecakespgh.com/

Photographer: Joanna Fassinger http://www.joannafassinger.com/

Band: Dr Zoot

Photobooth: http://www.partybooths.com/

Entertainers: http://www.entertainmentunlimited.com/

Tara and Andy's Wedding

2008-06-07T20:56:00.011-04:00

Tara and Andy are actually still enjoying their reception at the South Pointe Golf Club as I'm writing this blog, but I found a free second and wanted to share this wonderfully stylish wedding. The photos are all taken by Simone from http://www.5sensesevents.com/

Tara wanted a romantic, fun feel to the reception and chose a modern palette of chocolate brown, fuchsia and deep red. I'm in love with this color combination- very sexy. The short centerpieces were lush rounded arrangements of deep red and fuchsia roses.

The tall centerpieces were of fuchsia and red robin orchids with curly willow. They were made in one of our new rental vases that allows for arrangements to not only be tall and lush, but you can also have a submerged arrangement at the base.

Beautiful Cake from Bethel Bakery.

And a rare photo of myself. Simone caught me in the act of designing.

Design Elements We Love Right Now

2008-06-05T20:03:00.001-04:00

Hens and Chicks, Manzanita Branches (photo from Nettenhollow.com), Eyelet Lace, Craspedia (aka. Billy Balls)

It's wedding season

2008-05-18T20:46:00.012-04:00

Well, it is wedding season! As we are seeing our brides down the aisle and going over the last minute details with our soon to be brides, there has been very little time for blogging. This one is going to be quick, but I wanted to share a few of the designs we have done lately for weddings and showers.

This was a fun spring arrangement of roses, parrot tulips, gerbera daisies, stock, kermit mums, alstromeria and fresh limes that we made for a bridal shower earlier this month.

A delicate ranunculus and spray rose corsage for Shari's wedding May 3rd.

A tall orchid arrangement and a brand new rental vase. I love this because it is high enough that it doesn't get in the way of dinner conversation.

A petite pink ranunculus boutonniere for the groomsmen.

Brian's double calla lily boutonniere

Megan's bouquet. Megan and Brian were just married yesterday at The Water's Edge Exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo. What a fun venue! Congratulations Megan and Brian- you were a blast to work with. I HAVE to get pictures of Megan in her dress. It was breath taking!

Oh and Psst...

Are you using http://www.google.com/reader yet? If you aren't, you are probably annoyed by the fact that I post so sporadically. Google Reader will take your favorite blogs and will alert you when people like me finally get around to publishing new content.

Seriously. Best invention ever.

Our Open House

2008-04-27T19:52:00.028-04:00

I am still in shock from how successful our open house was this past weekend. I'm honored that so many people showed us support and wanted to be a part of our event. The best vendors in Pittsburgh came in to help us out and made this into such an aesthetically pleasing and fun event.

I love to plan parties but with everything I have had going on lately (moving the business and lots of events), I knew that I needed help. So who does a person in the party industry go to when they need to plan a party of their own? There was no question, I needed Simone! http://www.5sensesevents.com/ I have always loved Simone's organic sense of style and knew that she could help me pull everything together. Within a few hours of talking about the event, she emailed me a spreadsheet that had every last detail outlined. It made my job incredibly easy. I cannot say enough wonderful words about Simone.

There were a few things from the start that I knew that I wanted for this event. First, I needed Jeremy Ganss, http://www.jeremyganss.com/. I was so excited when he offered to drive down and set up equipment for the weekend. He created a customized event CD for Mocha Rose and I have been listening to it nonstop since he gave it to me. It was an honor that Jeremy and his fiance, Heather were able to be at my event especially since he was having a big birthday bash the following day. Happy 30th Birthday, Jeremy!

I also knew that I had to have cupcakes from Dozen: http://www.dozencupcakes.com/ (I have a weakness for the Diva Delicious Red Velvet Cake) and cheeses from La Cucina Dolce: http://www.lacucinadolce.com/

There were two other vendors that I met while planning this event. When I meet certain people in this line of work, I can tell instantly that they are simply the best in the area at what they do. The first was Erica from All Occasions Party Rental, http://www.allparty.com/. She just has "it". I told her about the event and within 10 minutes, she had picked out the perfect stemware, china, flatware, tables and chairs for this event. The flatware was probably the most talked about detail for this event! I adored the "ice" Chiavari chairs and loved how they seemed to glow with the lighting.

Erica introduced me to Andy Shick from http://www.adslighting.com/ I let Andy come in and have free reign over the lighting. When you are holding an event, it is sometimes the best to just let the pros do their job and go crazy. (I know that I love it when people tell me that I have creative freedom.) The results were glamorous. I love this shot taken from outside. Now that's a "wow factor"!
I had so much planning for this event. I have never had 100% creative freedom with an event before. Since I recently painted one of the walls in the studio fuchsia, I decided to go over the top and used a palette of fuchsia, white, black and purple. I worked with my best suppliers and had flowers shipped in from Holland and Ecuador. I literally clapped out loud when I opened my first box of flowers for this event. I got black calla lilies, cymbidium orchids, gloriosa lilies, fiddle head ferns (monkey tails), dahlias, grape hyacinth, amaryllis and of course my all time favorite- peonies.

This was the tall centerpiece that I used for the main table mock up.

This was the entry/ window display:

I did a whole wall of hanging vases with unique flowers and candles. This looked so neat at night!

A tall cylinder submerged flower arrangement of cymbidium orchids and fiddle head ferns:

A whole wall of submerged centerpieces:

Our fuchsia wall:

Our window etching (the overhead lights were on in this picture so you can catch the lighting).

Simone from www.5sensesevents.com put together this mosaic from the photos that she took. Her pictures were taken at night and really show the lighting.

Open House!

2008-04-19T19:43:00.007-04:00

This Saturday, April 26th we will be opening up the doors of our new studio for a special open house to celebrate the new space and our two year anniversary. If you are interested in seeing our work in person, you are welcome to stop by between 2-5pm. We will be giving away special prizes throughout the day and we will provide tasty desserts and maybe a glass of wine or two.

If you are available, please RSVP by emailing me at april@mocharose.com. Please indicate if you will be bringing a guest. We are limited in space and cannot fit more than 60 people so please RSVP soon to avoid disappointment!

Hope to see you there!

On a semi-related note, it is peony season! Peonies are my absolute favorite flower and trust me, the studio will be filled with them on Saturday. I'll leave you with a photo of a luscious white peony bouquet that I made for Lindsay's wedding on April 12th. I hope you are having a fabulous honeymoon Lindsay!

Glam and Glitz

2008-04-04T21:22:00.008-04:00

I loved making this arrangement for Nichole and Graham for their wedding at the Duquesne Club. The colors are pastel pink, peach and lavender and there are accents of Tiffany Blue. The result is simply elegant, especially when combined with the hanging chandelier crystals and the gold accents in the linens. (Linens from http://www.partymosaic.com/)

On a separate note, our studio is almost complete! On occasion, we may be hosting special private events at our studio. We will not be announcing these events on our blog. If you are interested in receiving private invitations and news updates from Mocha Rose, you'll have to register on our website http://www.mocharose.com/ All registered members will receive occasional newsletters with special events (and by occasional, we mean like 4-5 per year).

Our new studio phone number is 412-621-3204 if you need to reach us.

Two fun bouquets

2008-03-22T20:40:00.010-04:00

I had a fun flower week. I love when brides come to me and want unusual flowers and colors.

The first bouquet is for Josselyn who will be married this July in a fabulous Mid Summer Night's Dream themed wedding. To go along with the theme, she wanted a light, magical and woodsy feel to her flowers. I used white bouvardia, ferns, fresh mint, roses, lisianthus, feathers and the queen of all orchids- the cattleya orchid. This orchid is extremely delicate, but it is worth the extra care. It is a large, yet light flower with soft rippling edges. I'm so excited to put together Josselyn and Dan's wedding in July. I love their ideas and their personalities and this wedding is sure to be an event that everyone will remember.

This bouquet is for Lindsay. I have had so much fun working with Lindsay and her coordinator, Jodi from http://www.accentsunlimited.net/ Lindsay's colors are light blue and chocolate brown. I did this bouquet as a quick mock up and the white flowers in the actual bouquet will be peonies- perfect for her early April wedding. Here I used Eskimo roses, light blue delphinium, green lisianthus, ranunculus, eucalyptus and my favorite...hens and chicks!

I have a special fondness for hens and chicks as they were always sprouting up all over my grandmother's garden. When Lindsay pointed them out in a photo, I was so excited that she wanted to use them in her bouquet. I actually painted these lightly with chocolate brown and the color combination was perfect to match her bridesmaids' dresses.

As you can see from the corner of this picture, Lindsay is also using the submerged centerpieces. More pictures coming soon!