Labels: charelston, field trip, flowers, Holy Communion Church, kids, summer

One of my favorite aspects of what we do is where we do it. We're lucky to live in a town that has ancient plantations, beaches, historic churches, mansions, 5-star hotels and more. Between daily flower deliveries, wedding set-ups and event pick-ups we get to be in some pretty unique places.

Above is a photo of a wedding we recently did on a working shrimp boat. Designer Hayley Crislip set it up. It wasn't an extensive wedding flower-wise, but it sure was cool. The ship was moored at the famous Shem Creek in Mt Pleasant. While we were setting up, all kind of boats were cruising past giving us shout-outs. From 80 foot+ (and multi-million dollar) sportfishing yachts to paddlers in kayaks, they were all enjoying the water on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

The bride knew the shrimping family, and they thought the idea of hosting the wedding on the shrimp boat was brilliant. In typical lowcountry hospitality fashion, the shrimpers painted the entire boat just for the occassion! In fact the entire vessel was spotless and shrimp odor free. For outsiders, hosting a shrimp boat wedding may seem strange, but down here it is the ultimate local luxury. Call it "old school", "keeping it real", "on the down low" or whatever you want, you have to be real lucky to have the opportunity.

Other different places I've been: under a haunted oak tree on a plantation at midnight, behind the altar at just about every famous church in Charleston, wading in the surf under a full moon looking for a chuppa frame (lost it to the tide), several roof tops, cemeteries, restaurant kitchens, and crematoriums. Last month I was in the Injured Sea Turtle Rehab Center at the SC Aquarium...that was awesome.

After I took these photos, I stopped at the shrimp shack, bought two pounds large-"heads off", and grilled them up for my famous shrimp tacos family feast. Lowcountry Living indeed.

Labels: lowcountry, lowcountry food bank, shem creek wedding, shrimp, weddings

Bride's Magazine gave us a national "shout out" for a bouquet inspired by a wedding we did last fall for a wedding at The Sanctuary. Click on the pic for a closer look. It's in the current issue (May/June 2009), where they featured "Inspired by Sea Shells" as a theme. Our bride wanted an all sea shell bouquet, which we were happy to design. I featured it in an earlier blog ( I think if you type "Sea Shell" in this blog's search box it pops right up). She loved it and somehow the photo got on the internet.

Bride's Magazine found it, and called us to see if we could re-create it and ship it to them. We were real busy, but when Bride's calls, you don't refuse. Each shell is hand selected, cleaned, glued to a heavy gauge wire, then arranged. The mechanics aren't difficult, just time consuming. Each shell takes about 5 minutes, and there were over 150 shells in the bouquet so you can figure out the design time. Also, you'd be surprised how few shells make the quality cut. We went through at least a thousand shells to find these. Some were too small, cracked, too big, or just too plain.

So we were working on it, when Bride's call back to say they needed it a week earlier due to a change in the shooting schedule. We put three folks on it and finished it that afternoon. At the last minute we added a seashell arm bouquet I had been kicking around in mind. It was made of larger shells presented in a palmetto tree frond husk. I loved it but I was the only one in the shop who did. Oh well. We shipped it to Manhattan overnight Fed Ex, and waited. There was no guarantee they were even going to use it, so all we could do was hope they liked it.

About a week later, Bride's called and said it was perfect, but they needed more Spanish Moss overnighted to them. I guess it got kicked around a little in shipping and a couple small gaps developed. We grabbed a couple handfuls of moss, stuffed it into a legal size envelope and shipped it. It cost $49 to ship $2 worth of moss! That was a bummer. I mean we could have called a florist in Manhattan and had it delivered for much less. Live and learn.

We didn't know it made the magazine until we started getting emails from folks around the country wanting more info on it. Three brides wanted us to make and ship it them, but we recommended they use a local florist due to the shipping damage that might occur. Funny, those bride's weren't near the coast at all. I really liked the seashell boutonniere in the photo next to our pic. We create those too, but Rosenow Floral got it just right.

So that was a fun experience. Last week while waiting at the grocery check-out line I picked up a copy of the magazine, flipped it to page 154 and felt like a big shot. Until my kids starting arguing over a pack of gum. Then I just felt like a regular guy again.

Labels: beachside, bridal bouquet, Bride's magazine, kiawah, seashell bouquet, the sanctuary, wedding arch, weddings

Clara's been busy teaching Floral Design Classes by request for special groups. Lately she presented for the Seabrook Island Garden Club and Wine Savvy Women. Both groups had a blast, as Clara wowed 'em with early spring arrangements. The classes are a way for us to show our stuff, meet new people, and feel like a rock star.

Here's a little irony for you. Before we started Tiger Lily, Clara took a floral design class at our local technical college. No credits or anything, just an evening "fun" class taught by a local florist. She had never made a single arrangement before then, and didn't even know the names of the flowers. She enjoyed the lessons, and took a picture of her very first arrangement. She was so proud of it she put the photo on our home refrigerator for all to see. Alas, the instructor wasn't too impressed and told Clara to "stick to her day job." He shouldn't have said that. It was kind of like when Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. There was going to be a reckoning.

So 14 years later, Clara now owns the largest florist in South Carolina, voted the City's Best for a decade and won Charleston's Business of the Year award. She's been in Southern Living, televison, radio and all that. She also teaches the class that started her on the floral path. So there.

Actually, Clara and our staff teach 4 classes throughout the week for Trident Technical College. The classes are Floral Design I, Floral Design II, Wedding Design and Sympathy Designs. All are sold out every session, and people always call trying to sneak in. Several florists send their designers to the class for training. We also hold the special classes for various organizations.

Honestly, we get as much out of the classes as the students. After a long day of designing and processing flowers, consultations and ringing phones, we're often exhausted. We may have just finished processing 500 roses, making 40 centerpieces and and a bunch of large event focal arrangements. We're wiped out. At 6pm the students roll in all stoked about flowers they see, it reminds us what a great job we have. We know it's the highlight of their day, and we feed off of that and get re-energized too. All good stuff.

Once in a while our staff will come across the photo of Clara's first arrangement. The design is way out of date and there were some serious flaws with it. It would never leave the shop now. We'll smirk and poke fun out of it to her. She's still proud of it though, and we're proud of her.

Labels: classes, design class, floral design classes, Seabrook Island Garden Club, teaching, Trident Technical College, Wine Savvy Women

Charleston is a very giving town, even during this economic meltdown. Recently The Sanctuary Resort on Kiawah Island created it's innagural "Gourmet & Grapes" fundraiser. It benefitted the Medical University of South Carolina's Hollings Cancer Center. The MUSC Hollings Cancer Center was recently recognized as one of the best in the country. The Sanctuary has also been recognized as one of the best resorts in the country. It was a great partnership and we were proud to be part of it.

As the florist and event decor specialist for the Sanctuary, we do a lot of work with Adventures in Charleston, their destination management company. Hope Sweeney of Adventures in Charleston and our own Gayla Harvey brainstormed with The Sanctuary's Director of Catering Pam Russell on the look of the event.

They decided we needed a very large, contemporary design element for the center of the room. Something colorful, bold and well, LARGE. In fact, the goal was to completely cover the giant chandelier and take emphasis away from the lighting truss being installed for the event. Gayla and I kicked around different options, and eventually sketched out a square, tiered "lamp shade". We thought about making it entirely of Hawaiian orchid garlands...until we crunched the numbers and realized it would cost over $10,000 just for the flowers. Instead we decided to use a shimmering fabric in shades of dark red, the event's colors. Including the frame, fabrics and labor, it totalled just over $1,000. We also donated all of the flowers and other design elements for the three day event.

The photos you see take you from the brainstorming sketch we made in the office, to installation and finally during the actual event. I just thought it was a unique opportunity to see the entire process. Click on the photos to see larger images.

We attended the event, and it was a great success. It raised over $100,000 for the MUSC Cancer Center...great for the first year! It's always tough to start a fundraiser from nothing, and all the folks at The Sanctuary worked real hard on the event. I'm sure it will grow every year. Kudos to The Sanctuary, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, and especially the fine folks who attended the event and graciously donated their time and money. With all the negative stuff we see on in the news, it's inspiring to see these folks stepping up. Ultimately it will be that type of energy that will be the "bail-out" from the economic troubles we are in. I left the event Saturday night understanding the solution to our troubles. It will not be the government, the banks, nor the money. It will be individuals, stepping up and leading the way.

Labels: cancer, fund raiser, gourmet and grapes, kiawah, Medical University of South Carolina, musc, sanctuary

Labels: award winning, Best Florist in Charleston, best in charleston, charleston city paper, ten years, trophy