Flower of the Week: Movie Star Rose

This week's flower is the gorgeous Movie Star Rose, a long-stemmed coral rose worthy of our three favorite Hollywood icons: Liz, Marilyn and Grace. Can't you picture a bouquet of these roses perched  on one these uber-glamourous women's dressing tables? 

Roses come in an infinite number of colors, sizes and different named varieties, and the Movie Star is one of our new favorites. Traditionally, roses are a symbol of love, romance, beauty, passion and courage - all traits that our icons possessed in spades. Here's to beautiful flowers and beautifully passionate women! 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

XO, 

La Fleur Vintage

Friday Link Love

1. We love Apartment Therapy's take on florals for the bedroom: modern, updated and still pretty as can be. 2. Whether or not you spent the weekend catching up on The Hunger Games books (and ugly crying 70% of the time, oh gosh) and loving it like we did, this Peeta-and-Katniss inspired wedding is flat out adorable. 3. Design Sponge instructs you on how to bring pretty hellebores home from the flower market and create something beautiful with them. 4. It's the weekend! Get off the internet. (As soon as you're finished reading this post, of course). 5. These photos from the Love Etc. curated wedding event are lovely and inspirational! 6. Knowing that most of us are not lucky enough to see gorgeous Fashion Week invites in person, Wallpaper helpfully posted 80 pages of A/W 2012 invitations for us all to drool over. 

Happy Friday, y'all!

Here Comes the Sun

Just a few snaps of some sweet flowers we had laying around yesterday. Do the colors make you as excited for summer as we are?

Continue on for more!

Vintage Inspired Flowers

It's a little dreary today, isn't it fellow Austinites? It's not quite April yet, but here's hoping these showers bring us tons of beautiful spring flowers! In anticipation of all the loveliness to come, here are a few vintage-inspired arrangements that we loved.

Happy Thursday, everyone! 

Tejano Monument, Part 2

With the Tejano Monument finally revealed to the public, we're super excited to show you guys the arrangements we created for the unveiling reception sponsored by the Texas Banker's Association at IBC Bank. You can check out our first post here for more background info on the monument and the campaign behind it.

We created dozens of arrangements for the IBC Bank reception, mixing and matching bright colors inspired by serapes, including fruits and ginger to be included amongst the flowers and greenery. Scroll onward to take a look!

Hope you guys love them as much as we do! 

Tejano Monument at the State Capitol, part 1

We are so happy and excited to be involved in the unveiling of the Capitol building's new Tejano Monument! The Monument is a 525 square foot statuary that will tell the history of Texas' original Spanish-Mexican settlers and celebrate Tejano culture through a series of 12 pieces, created by Laredo artist Arnando Hinojisa. The project has been a labor of loved for all of its creators and supporters, having been conceptualized in 2001 by McAllen physician Cayetano Barrera. Following a visit to the State Capitol here in Austin, Barrera realized none of the existing monuments featured a positive portrayal of Hispanic culture, and he began a campaign to bring the Tejano Monument to fruition. After struggling for funding, approval to give the monument an appropriately central location on the Capitol grounds and willingness to give Tejano history meaningful cultural recognition, this weekend will see Barrera's dream transition to reality - located on the South Lawn of the Capitol, the Tejano Monument is a celebration of the contributions Hispanic culture has given Texas, and an acknowledgement that our state could not be as great as it is without the Tejano people. 


This monument marks a new era in the 500 year struggle Tejanos have gone through to have their heritage recognized as an essential piece of Texas history. Alongside the unveiling of the statuary, UT Austin and the Wal-Mart foundation have teamed up to create a new curriculum for Austin schools, one which features a much more in-depth study of Tejano history. In a year which saw highly controversial moves from politicians regarding Hispanic cultures, including a decision in Tucson, Arizona school districts to stop offering Mexican-American history classes, Texans have a reason to be proud of taking steps to give Hispanic culture the place of honor it deserves within our country's history. 


In a January 13 speech celebrating the Tejano Monument's groundbreaking, Senator Letitia Van de Putte proclaimed, "After March 29, when the monument is finally dedicated, I hope [Tejanos] will view it with pride and say, 'This is our state. We helped create it. We helped build it.We help define it. And we are essential to its future.'"


We went by the Capitol grounds to sneak a peek this weekend - the statues are being kept a secret until this weekend's big reveal. Here's what they look like now - check back in a few days to see our snaps of the statuary in full glory, plus the wonderful arrangements we're creating for the unveiling party!

And because these Pincushion Protea are too awesome not to share rightthisverysecond: 

Aren't they the coolest flower in the world? We can't wait to share the full arrangements with you guys! In the meantime, make sure you check out the Tejano Monument's official site for updates and more info. 

Minimalist Rococo: Tania Vartan

Once upon a time, our wonderful creative director, Elizabeth, spent a summer in Florence learning to paint (and having flings with the tanned descendants of Roman gods, we hope) under the tutelage of esteemed designer and illustrator Tania Vartan. Ms. Vartan was running the Academy of Decorative Painting at the time, passing her substantial gifts for dreamy decor and trompe l'oeil onto her students.

This month we were happily surprised to see a Q&A with Tania in the April issue of House Beautiful, and to find an accompanying video of her lovely iris fabric on House Beautiful's website. This fabric was her first textile design ever, and has since become a modern classic.

Ms. Vartan describes her style as "minimalist Rococo," a description we can happily and whole-heartedly get behind. It's easy to see where such a description comes from when admiring her textile designs, which are available at John Roselli & Associates.

Tania's painting skills are unmatched in terms of grace, beauty and elegance, and her trompe l'oeil murals have graced the walls of the private homes of French designers, Alain Ducasse's restaurants, multiple museums and galleries, including a permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian, and grand hotels. Scroll on to admire some of her work:

Tani's own painted headboard. 

"Marble" floor - incredible!

Wouldn't you love to look up every day and see this?

Simply lovely.

Her apartment in Florence is to die for as well - everything you see was hand painted by Tania herself. 

The loveliness never ceases!

If you'd like to continue fangirling over Tania's many talents, head on over to her official site for more eye candy and her full list of accomplishments. Ciao!

Things We Love: Wildflower Weddings

One thing all brides really seem to love is the idea of simple wildflower bouquets and table arrangements. Wildflowers are blooming right now in Texas, and we're seeing inspiration pop up all over the place. We think wildflower weddings are prettiest if you don't mess with the color palette too much - an array of different flower types and colors (the way you'd find these flowers growing naturally) makes for a beautiful, cheerful table or bouquet. Here are a few favorite images, pulled from around the web:

Look at those colors and that texture! This gorgeous bouquet is a great contrast against the simplicity of that dress, don't you think? From Wedding Chicks. 

Clean out your garage, decorate for your wedding: a collection of recycled bottles, wound with twine, makes a pretty centerpiece when filled with wildflowers. Found here. 

We love burlap, and here it makes a pretty, rustic wrap for a wildflower bouquet. 

Cakes topped with flowers look super lush, and wouldn't one dripping with wildflowers be amazing?

This site has a good list of edible flowers if you're interested!

This image of wildflowers in mismatched glass bottles is all over Pinterest; happily it is one of our past weddings. Check out the full post at Style Me Pretty. 

Here's hoping these bright colors cheered up your Monday afternoon! 

Flower of the Week: the Pansy

We had this precious jar of pansies on the windowsill today, and what better opportunity than this to snap a cute photo of our flower of the week? 

Pansies are a type of violet that hold a special place in the hearts and minds of writers and storytellers; the symbology behind these little flowers knows no bounds. They were a vital ingredient in Celtic love potions, a fact which Shakespeare referenced in his master comedy A Midsummer Nights' Dream when Fairy Queen Titania awakes with pansy juice and falls in love with the first creature she sees. 

According to folklore, it was commonly believed that the petals of pansies had the power to heal a broken heart, and courting Victorian lovers often exchanged these flowers on St. Valentine's Day. One German legend says that pansies once had a wonderfully strong scent that was so enticing that people came from far away to smell them, and in the process trampled the surrounding fields. The cattle in these fields found themselves with nothing to eat, and the pansies prayed to God for help. God then took away the pansies' scent and gave the flowers great beauty instead.

Pansies stand for great charm, a gentle, loving nature, and loyal friendship.*

From The Secret Language of Flowers, by Samantha Gray. 

Friday Link Love

How is it already Friday? Simply cannot believe it! Here's our weekly roundup of most-loved things around the internet:

1. These inspiration strings from Design Love Fest are the neatest thing!

2. This real wedding and their story about why weddings matter is truly touching. 

3. Get out of town this weekend and do something adventurous! We love this list of Hill Country activities. 

4. The illustrations in this post about 'Modern Fussy' wedding style are wonderful!

5. This Jekyll Island wedding is incredible - an example of Southern fetes at their very best. 

6. This 1920s wedding is one of our absolute favorites - this couple absolutely killed it with their Jazz Age theme. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Real Weddings: Lauren & Stewart

This is another wedding we did back in October, and the colors are so incredible that we just had to share. Bill McCullough  was the perfect photographer to capture this event - we absolutely LOVE his style, so scroll on and enjoy!

Lauren and Stephen chose very bright blues, reds and corals for their wedding, and the effect was absolutely stunning! The bridal and bridesmaids bouquets included peach Finesse roses, Ranunculus, Stock, Sweet Peas, coral Farfalla roses, Godetia, scented Geranium, succulents, and green Trich.  In addition, the bride's bouquet and groom's boutonnière each included a piece of quartz, which held personal meaning to the couple. 

To fancy up Three Points' infamous dead tree ceremony location, we strung together hundreds of red, pink and coral carnations along with blue ribbons to hang on the trees. Carnations get a bad rap from florists sometimes, but if you do want to use them, this is one way to make them look cool, fresh, and beautiful. 

Lauren's bridesmaids are a feast for the eyes in all their bright blue hues. 

The couple collected succulents and vintage containers to combine with nosegay bouquets in blue mason jars for a funky, eclectic look on their reception tables.

Seeing the newlyweds grin at each other on their way back down the aisle together might just be the best part of any wedding ceremony!

Real Weddings: Carolyn & Thomas

With the succulent and rustic crazes still seemingly in full force, we thought you guys would enjoy these photos from Carolyn and Thomas' November 2011 wedding at The Four Seasons here in Austin.

The ceremony took place outdoors under a cluster of trees, aisle markers in glass cones on the ceremony chairs and reception arrangements in birch vases tying into the rustic, nature theme of the whole event. Each reception table also had succulents in glass vases, which doubled as favors for the guests. The bride's bouquet was composed of orchids, hydrangeas, thistle, stock and succulents for a very relaxed, organic feel. 

  

What do you guys think? Are you still into succulents or are we moving towards a new trend for the 2012 wedding season?