In Your Shoes

Ok ladies… seriously… I got engaged this year and all I can say is Holy Moly Wedding Planning!!

We’ve been planning weddings for a couple of years in-store and it sure has been an eye opener walking in a Bride’s shoes during the process this time around. When my clients drop off the face of the earth, I now know where they go! Planning a celebration is tough work, and I’ve found that the only way it’s actually possible is with a super awesome support system. We all need someone to vent to, and oh boy am I thankful for my family, and my gals—some people have 1 or 2, but I can say I have 8 awesome ladies behind me (Thank God!).

In the midst of all the crazy wedding prep, my nearest and dearest took the time to throw me the sweetest Bridal Shower, and it was just what I needed. You’re probably wondering… “Well how hard can wedding planning be? Don’t you do this for a living?” Well let’s just say I did this to myself when I decided to get married within the year—we got engaged in March 2016 and set the wedding date for October 2016…. for a wedding in Italy. I do not recommend this at home.

But like I said, thank God for my girls to keep me sane! They put together my sweet Italian brunch with the help of the sis Julia, my mama Dalliah, and my unofficial twin, the lil’ bro Raul. I’m one grateful gal! The countdown officially begins: Italia, here we come!

The Beautiful Table Set Up. Food and FLowers, My Fave!

These Beautiful Ladies and Mini Me, Thank You!

Life Wouldn't Be Complete Without Cake Tasting and a Donut Tower

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year…In Bahrain

Perfect weather! Finally. It’s not too cold and not scorching, just yet. And yes, anything under 18 °C is considered cold in these parts—don’t judge.

Warmer weather for us means a slew of outdoor gigs that need to be set up, but when I’m not elbows deep in flowers or perched on a ladder I love having a bunch of friends over in our roof-top garden for a barbecue. I like to keep my food and décor simple: a couple of salads, a refreshing beverage, some candles, maybe a printed tablecloth… nothing to fussy (Mainly because I’m a bit lazier on my day off… like I said, don’t judge!).

Time Out Bahrain got in touch  with us a few months back for more tips on outdoor entertaining and for more in-depth planning tips you can check out the article here. 

Fruits as Decor

Simple Flowers and Candles

Always have Nibbles!

For me one of the most important lessons I’ve learnt over the years is to make sure you have something ready for your guests to nibble on and drink when they first arrive. It’s a no brainer, I know, but something that is easily overlooked when you’re dashing around hiding laundry and putting away piles of paper.

One of the first things I do ahead is prep a drink station and usually it’s as simple as lemon-infused water. But when I do get the time, I like to fancy things up with a fresh-pressed juice. You can juice the below at home although there’s really nothing wrong with cheating and getting fresh juice from your neighbourhood juice man!

Pomegranate Agua Fresca

4 Pomegranates – Juiced and strained through fine mesh strainer to remove any pips

3 Oranges, juiced

2 Limes, juices

¼ cup Simple Syrup*

1 cup Ice

A Large Pitcher

Add juices, simple syrup, and 2 cups water to your pitcher and mix. Top off juice mixture with 1 cup of ice and taste, your juice should taste refreshing and only slightly sweet, adjust with more lime juice or simple syrup as needed.

Remember, the ice will continue to water down the juice so don’t add too much to start! Do keep a an ice bucket and tongs handy for guest to top off their drink with more ice.

*To make simple syrup heat 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Cool completely before using or storing. Makes about 1 cup of syrup.

A Bouquet is Born!

During this year's Valentine's prep we strapped a GoPro to one of our team members. (You'd think we weren't busy enough running around and drowning in red roses!) Jennish, as the runt of the crew, got the task of having a GoPro strapped to him while he put together a bouquet. 

Editing by the littlest Vlajic, Raul V.

'Tis the Season for Red Roses

So Valentine’s is nearly upon us. It’s quite a polarizing holiday with some couples completely swearing it off and others, who take it to a whole other level!

Well, for the record, in the Vlajic household, when it comes to Julia and myself, there is a little bit of both. My squidgy heart just LOVE’S Valentine’s!! I love that it takes a simple gesture to make someone feel special. I love heading to a delicious dinner after endless days at the shop, with my special someone. And most of all, I love seeing everyone come through our doors making that little bit of effort for their loved ones, and knowing that we played a little part of being Cupid for the day (I told you my heart was squidgy!!).

We <3 Cake!!

Yes, We're Related...

Necessary Powernap

At Singapore Flower, Cupid tends to look a little crazy though! 

Flower Course Collaboration

We had a successful collaboration with Nahla Al Mahmood founder of LalaBella Co. with the launch of her flower course series last year. She brought the logistics and we brought the flower power!

Rose and I were in Paris (at our own course…) at the time of the first Bahrain Boerma Flower course but naturally Supermom held the fort down! Check her out zipping around at about the 4:30 mark!!

Course No. 2 will be held at the upcoming Bahrain International Garden Show from the 25th to the 27th of February. Full details and a sign up form are here. 

The Case for Keeping Flowers Seasonal

One of my roles at the shop is to assist with the purchasing of our weekly flower order for events and to stock our shelves. For the most part, it’s one of the tasks I really enjoy—it’s pretty much online shopping with none of the guilt!

But, I’m not going to lie, there are weeks when it gets a bit tiresome… especially when you’re deep into a season and you’ve been seeing the same flowers on the market for months. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy seasonally available flowers like branches in Spring (think Cherry Blossoms and Magnolia branches) and vines in the Summer (sweet scented Jasmine, and funky Passiflora vines) and of course fluffy Peonies during warmer summer months (LOVE!).

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I do think that part of my job is to vary the rotation of flower in store so our clients are constantly surprised and our florists don’t fall into a rut of deploying the same blooms week after week. But this can be hard especially when we have customers regularly requesting flowers that are technically “not in season”.  I know you’re expecting a lecture on why you should buy seasonal flowers, but it’s not meant to be. 

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To be honest, there are few flowers that are truly seasonal anymore—with temperature-controlled greenhouses and international flights that can cross hemispheres in hours you can pretty much get most blooms at any time of the year these days. That’s not to say that the blooms will be great, flower heads will be smaller and shelf life shorter. But past all of that, I feel like we’re loosing the element of surprise that the change in seasons typically brings—especially in a two-season location like Bahrain (hot and hotter, amirite?!).

While I love peonies and ranunculus, I feel like seeing them for a brief period makes them all the more enjoyable and makes me excited when they’re truly at their peak and in season. So yes, I’m going to stubbornly continue to order with what’s technically in season. But know that I’m doing this for your own good! (And my mental sanity!!).

Oh, Hi There January!

This new years resolution was supposed to be: practice “The Art of Slow Living”. (Um, yea right!)

We have a pretty hard and fast rule in the store that New Year’s Day is a universal day off and our doors are shut (not that we don’t love you guys!!) but sometimes all you want is your bed and some quality time with family. Well, it seems the New Year had something else planned for us…

On Day 1 of 2016, we hit the ground running with giant cups of coffee, to set up a sweet Bridal Shower. Seven days later, at crazy o'clock (5 AM!!), we set off with even bigger cups of coffee to set up the wedding florals for the same bride. We got to collaborate with the amazing team over at YQ Art, and got our creative juices flowing by bringing to life the most incredible wild, organic flower wall. Guys, what a way to start the year! 

But as they say…no rest for the wicked. The next day, with sore feet and happy hearts, we headed off to put together two other wedding setups. The first, a dinner party at Bice and the second—in our home away from home—La Fontaine!

January, you’ve been tiring but great. The rest of 2016, bring it on!

The Start of SF Events / Natmed

A lot has happened in a year. 

This time last year I was making my way to Greece. Today, I’m back in Greece sipping on my delicious hazelnut coffee – this stuff is so addictive I’m packing my case full of it!! - but I digress. The point is, a lot has happened in a year. 

Last year, Greece-bound, I was sat next to a school friend on the plane (Hi Amy!) and went on a spiel about my “hopes and dreams”. I had just resigned from a job that was filled with a whole lot of stress and not much fun stuff, and now came the part about figuring what to do “next”. I talked her ear off about how my ultimate dream would be to work on something with my sister, and hopefully getting involved with wedding planning. For some reason, the thought of wedding planning has always filled me with a whole bunch of happy. Having parents that coincidentally own a flower shop made it feel like a no brainer. But first, I just needed to reel my sister back into Bahrain…oh and find someone to trust me with their wedding. No biggie!

Fast forward a couple of months, the stars had aligned - I’d lured my sister back and a couple of my closest friends were getting married. I’d known the Bride for a few years, and was old school friends with the Groom – Natalie and Ahmed soon to be christened Natmed. We were family, and there’s nothing like family to make guinea pigs out of! 

The months leading up to their wedding were hectic, thrilling, and exciting, and I’m so happy to be sharing some of the images with you in our wedding gallery.

Thank you Ahmed and Natalie for letting us bring your dream to life!