Yes.  White and blue hyrangea are available pretty much throughout the year.  Other varieties, such as the pinks and green hydrangea, may have seasonal availability.  Not all florists participate in the global flower market and may not be aware of the availability, so if you’re interested in such a bouquet, it’s best to ask as part of the interview process.

One of the more popular favors we've seen this year is small bottles of wine, most of them with a custom printed label.  If you're in Pennsylvania, and you've wondered where to find the labels (not to mention all those little bottles of wine), you may be surprised.  The PA LCB has a custom order form where you can choose any of a number of labels, as well as any of a number of varieties of wines.  You'll find their page and form at http://www.lcb.state.pa.us/plcb/cwp/view.asp?a=1328&Q=557357.  The selection of labels is not limited to weddings--there are also labels for holiday parties, anniversaties and birthdays.

One of today's weddings took us back to Heinz Chapel, and then our first trip of this year to LeMont Pittsburgh. LeMont Pittsburgh is a AAA Four Diamond restaurant, and if the outstanding food and service aren't enough, there's always "the view".  Perched atop Mt. Washington on Grandview's restaurant row, LeMont Pittsburgh offers one of the most picturesque views of any city anywhere.  At right is a view of downtown Pittsburgh taken from LeMont's lower dining room, where our wedding reception was being held.  LeMont's home page has an almost identical view taken at night.
The wedding cake was white fondant with chocolate fondant bands, and did it smell good!  We added the circus roses and petals.
Centerpieces were made from white hydrangea, circus roses, hypericum and eucalyptis in a cube vase.  How about an elegant place setting overlooking downtown Pittsburgh?
If the Steelers are more your style, simply turn your head the other way, and your wedding guests overlook the Ohio River and Heinz Field.  Bottles of wine with personalized labels were favors for adults.  The children received small boxes of chocolates.

Note: Click the thumbnails for a larger view.  The top photo is taken looking north-ish.  The Monongehela is the river toward the bottom of the photo, the Allegheny is coming from the north.    The Ohio River starts right at the fountain, and the star shaped thing slightly to the right of the fountain is historical Ft. Pitt.  The bridge in the foreground is the Ft. Pitt Bridge.

All clearance items are now 75% off!  Huge savings on flowergirl baskets, pens, candles, and more.  View the full selection at http://www.bloomeryweddings.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamCat=48.

Diann Valentine is the wedding planner to the stars, known for her unique and personalized weddings.  To put it simply, she plans some seriously hoity-toity celebrations.  Diann has planned weddings all over the country, for celebrities such as Toni Braxton, Kelis and Lela Rochon.  You may have seen some of her events on Entertainment Tonight and in O: The Oprah Magazine.

You can find some of Diann’s secrets in her new book, Weddings Valentine Style: Rich Inspirations fo Every Woman's Dream Day.  Diann’s style is to pretty much do away with tradition, ignore the bridal magazines, and tailor the wedding specifically to yourselves.  That’s a sentiment we certainly endorse.  Every couple we’ve worked with has their own story—how they met, became engaged, the little things they do to keep each other amused and happy.  There’s no reason to discard any of that on your wedding day.

If you’re looking for tips in planning a completely personalized wedding, check out Diann’s book.  Then give us a call at The Bloomery—we’d love to work with you.

More and more we’ve seen projection screens set up at receptions to show movies or slideshows of the happy couple, set to music.  In some cases, these wedding montages are professionally produced, but in most cases the couple makes them.

If you’re thinking of such a thing, there are a couple of free tools you can use to make these movies.  On Windows XP, there is the Windows Movie Maker, which has a video tutorial on YouTube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=hTLGGnSpf_k.

A new onlline tool called OneTrueMedia was recently reviewed in the Wall St. Journal (http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20060830.html).  The online video editing tool is free, and should work on both Windows and Macs.  OneTrueMedia will also convert your old photos, slides and VHS tapes to digital format for you.

Macintoshes have iDVD, which you can use to create your wedding movies.  Other parts of the iLife suite may also be useful for your needs as well.

In a recent article in Floral Management discussed the value of floral designers obtaining certifications.  We recently were proud to announce that Polly Berginc of The Bloomery was invited to join AIFD.  We in the industry know how great of an honor this is, so from time to time we’re going to try and help you understand just what an honor this is.  Here are a few quotes from the article:

Many florists agree that the highest honor for a floral designer is to earn designation from the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD).

…

“An AIFD designer can be expected to think creatively and be willing to tackle challenges that others will shy away from,” says designer Tami Lyons, AIFD, of Griffen’s Flowers Inc., in Hannibal, Mo. “They are self-motivated and can be depended on.”

Full article at http://safnow.org/publications/floral_manage/Aug06/Personnel_Space_Aug06.pdf.

There was an article in the Wall Stree Journal on 8/24/2006 about couples using iPods instead of DJs for their wedding music.  We find this to be an interesting trend.  It’s true that iTunes has a great selection of music, and iPods will import music from CDs you’ve purchased.  An iPod can even overlap songs for a cleaner transition.

Despite this level of sophistication, iPods aren’t a comparable replacement for a wedding DJ.  For starters, there is the light show many DJs bring.  Then there are the props and games DJs use to keep your guests involved in your reception, if you want them to.  DJs announce your grand entrance, the champagne toast, the first dance and the parents’ dance.  If you use an iPod, you’re planning your music in advance, and hoping you’ve created the proper mood.  A DJ can read the crowd at your reception, and adjust the music to keep your guests involved.  A DJ can take requests, which your iPod cannot (unless you have a gargantuan music budget, you probably won’t even come close to the music selection a DJ carries).

In every wedding, there are decisions which need to be made to balance budget and desires.  While it may be tempting to do away with a DJ based solely on cost, the bulk of your wedding’s budget will be spent on your reception, and a DJ is an important part of creating and keeping the mood of your reception.

Brides, mark your calendars! The Butler Days Inn Bridal Extravaganza will be October 1, 2006. This is a bye-week if you're concerned about the Steelers schedule. We'll be there, along with almost 100 of the area's best wedding vendors. We'll have bouquet samples, some of our portfolio books, and some of the newer accessories from Beverly Clark and Cathy's Concepts.

More information at www.DaysInnButler.com.

We're thrilled to announce that Polly Berginc of The Bloomery has been accepted into AIFD.  Even more exciting--her acceptance letter arrived the day of her daughter's wedding.

AIFD is a highly selective organization of the world's best florists.  To gain membership, an applicant must undergo a stressful design test, judged by the membership panel.  Just getting to the test is almost a year-long process, and only about 30-40% of those who test are accepted.  Polly was accepted after her first try, which is uncommon.  This year's test was even more grueling because the air conditioner broke in the testing room, raising the temperature to uncomfortable levels.  That's all right--the a/c breaks in flower shops sometimes, and we're still expected to perform at our best.  Once inducted into AIFD, a member must earn continuing education credits to maintain his or her membership.

Polly will be one of only five AIFD members in western Pennsylvania, and one of 26 in the state.  Polly will be inducted next year at the National Symposium in Palm Desert, CA.  Until then, we can only refer to Polly as an AIFD Registered Candidate.  After induction, Polly will be able to use the letters "AIFD" after her name.  That means we have about 10 months before we have to order her new business cards.

For more information on AIFD, check out their website at http://www.aifd.org.  We'll have a real press release soon.  But we couldn't wait to spread the word.

<update 2006-08-25>

AIFD posted its press release today at http://www.aifd.org/2006aesresults.htm.  64 of 115 who tested were accepted.  There is a full listing of all invitees, and some more background on AIFD.