Category Archives: Creative design

Press: The 6 Downright Dreamiest Florists in S.F.

February 3rd, 2012

Thanks to the style experts at {Refinery29}, procuring your Valentine a stellar bouquet this year was just made easier. We are so pleased to be included on their short list of top San Francisco floral designers to make your heart swoon! Feast your eyes on dreamy florals in their slideshow at {Refinery29}.

It’s always a good feeling to know you are in great company and that’s how we feel about the 5 other designers on the list. Looking forward to a beautiful, bountiful Valentine’s Day with all of our friends and clients here in our beloved city by the Bay!

Happy Friday,
Lydia

DIY Desire

January 25th, 2012

We love well-executed DIY projects here at the Soulflower studio. Toss in a sustainable design that incorporates succulents and we are besides ourselves! This succulent pallet table was made with discarded table legs, a couple shipping crates, and a little DIY determination from Megan and Matti of {Far Out Flora}, a groovy blog that documents their adventures in native California vegetation. Not only is this design gorgeous and ecofriendly, it’s portable too!

To learn how to make your own succulent pallet table follow the tutorial on their blog {Far Out Flora}. Be sure to share the finished product with us!

Happy DIYing,
Lydia

The {LAB} event

January 3rd, 2012

Not your ordinary bridal experience, the {LAB event} featuring Soulflower and other top trend-setting wedding industry professionals in Northern California takes place January 14th at Cline Cellars in Sonoma. This is truly a one-of-a-kind experience for couples planning their wedding. Enjoy a relaxed setting where your wedding inspiration board comes to life! The best caterers and dessert designers will be serving and pouring all things sweet, savory and delectable. A non-traditional runway show and fabulous party will carry the event into the night. Click the link to learn more about the {LAB event}. Tickets are still available for {purchase}. We hope to see you there!

Happy Planning,
Lydia

Happy New Year!

December 29th, 2011

May your New Year’s night sparkle and shine like Courtney and Ben’s at the Bently Reserve. Deep burgundy, ice white, elegant candlelight and a touch of feathers brought the celebration of love and a new year together. Each place setting had a confetti popper for guests to pull when the clock struck twelve. The perfect way to tie wedding and holiday together! Enjoy these elegant photos captured by {Brion Hopkins}.

To view the full album please visit our {Facebook page}. Wishing you a long and prosperous new year!

Lydia

“Days with Zahrah” on KRON 4 TV

December 19th, 2011

It’s the perfect time of year to brush up on your party planning skills for your upcoming holiday party or family gathering. Check out this episode of Days with Zahrah and you might see something familiar.

Special thanks to Zahrah and her team for featuring Soulflower Floral Design in her party planning episode!

Happy Holidays,
Lydia

St. Anthony Foundation 60th Anniversary Gala

December 16th, 2011

We are reminded of the many things we are thankful for when we reflect on the work done by {St. Anthony Foundation} . Their mission is to feed, heal, shelter, clothe, lift the spirits of those in need, and create a society in which all persons flourish. Since its inception the foundation has served over 37 million meals to the needy. Last year, we worked with Adam Straus of {Straus Events} to produce the 60th Anniversary Gala for St. Anthony Foundation. The event was held in a tented pavilion in the Fulton Street Plaza between the San Francisco Main Library and Asian Art Museum. Straus Events managed the street closure in downtown San Francisco as well as designed and executed the full event production.

An olive branch was chosen as the focal point of the design, symbolic of peace and prosperity, reinforcing the mission of St. Anthony Foundation. An accompanying Tuscan color palette attributed to St. Francis of Assisi and 14 large images of people aided by St. Anthony Foundation were created to highlight the impact of historic service. In the dining tent we transformed the tent poles into elegant olive tree sculptures with birch bark and olive branches, all adorned with softly lit lanterns. Each place-setting had a small olive branch wrapped in a gold ribbon, an offering of peace and connection in the breaking of bread with St. Anthony Foundation. Special thanks to {Photography by Emily Payne} for providing the amazing event design photos below.

This event captured the humble elegance of Franciscan values and we enjoyed bringing meaning to this event with our work. To view more images from the St. Anthony Foundation 60th Anniversary Gala, please visit us on {Facebook} and our blog for {fun behind the scenes}.

Peace and Prosperity,
Lydia

Venue: Fulton Street Plaza (between Asian Art Museum & SF Main Library)
Event Producer: Adam Straus, {Straus Events}
Catering: {McCalls}
Photography: {Drew Altizer Photography}, {Emily Payne Photograhy}
Tenting: {Classic Party Rentals}
Lighting: {Impact Lighting}
Rentals and Linens: {Blue Water Party Rentals}
Valet Parking: {Soiree Valet}

Behind the Scenes with Soulflower

December 16th, 2011

Every fabulous event requires an army of dedicated people to see it come to full fruition and this is SO true at Soulflower. For last year’s St. Anthony Foundation Fundraising Gala, we had a grand production creating hundreds of floral arrangements, building tent pole “olive trees” for decor and detailed wrapping over 400 place-setting olive branch swag details. Here’s a quick look at some behind-the-scenes images of our work that week.

Leila and Alexa working on the 400+ place-setting details

Diane and Kate laughing amidst the hundreds of arrangements for the event ~ we certainly have fun while we work hard!

Marianne and Kate holding down the fort one arrangement at a time

Kate and Diane starting to build the “Olive tree” tent pole decor

Emily assessing the olive trees and finishing up the bark detailing

Emily with Adam Straus, Event Producer and Dharma Barsotti, Installation Guru

One of two truckloads

Diane beginning on the Floral Fountain base for the olive trees

Emily and Kate fill in the floral fountain with less than an hour to wrap up, fun times!

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse ~ for more photos of the final product, go to our Facebook album.

Cheers,

Lydia

Welcome Pissarro’s People!

October 26th, 2011

The {Pissarro’s People} exhibition recently opened at the {Legion of Honor} here in San Francisco until January 22, 2012. Check out the florals we provided for the Donor Opening and you just may catch a glimpse of some amazing Rodin sculptures!

Plum and white callas, two varieties of thistle, acorns, succulents, hydrangea, flax and pussy willow were used to capture the rustic nature of Pissaro’s work while mercury glass provided the perfect refinement for the museum setting. We loved the opportunity to create beauty from unexpected florals to enhance Rodin’s stunning sculptures. Visit the {museum’s webpage} to buy tickets to the fall exhibit.

Happy Fall,
Lydia

Flower Magazine interview with Emily

August 16th, 2011

I just came across this great feature in Flower Magazine with Owner + Creative Director of Soulflower Floral Design, Emily Dreblow and wanted to share it. What I enjoyed most was how editor Josie Capuano highlighted Soulflower’s core values and practices as it relates to sustainable floral design. She also captured Emily’s impassioned journey that led her from social worker to award-winning, sustainable florist.

As an avid reader of Flower Magazine, it is a thrill that they would reach out to Emily for her expertise in the field as I can think of no one better with whom to discuss organic, low impact design. To read the full interview go to Flower Magazine online.

I also wanted to mention that from now through August 31st, $2 from every Flower Magazine subscription will be donated to the American Red Cross as a result of the devastation caused by this Spring’s deadly tornadoes.

Cheers,
Lydia

WIPA Comes To Ralston Hall Mansion

August 8th, 2011

Last week we had the honor of sponsoring the WIPA (Wedding Industry Professionals Association) event located at the beautiful Ralston Hall in Belmont. WIPA is a national association that boasts masters and innovators of the wedding industry who are truly genius at what they do. Each event brings a wide range of the best and brightest wedding vendors together for education and collaboration purposes. We had a blast sharing, learning and appreciating great event design with all the other attendees!

Ralston Hall was bursting with creativity and style from cocktail hour to coffee time. Originally the country estate of William Chapman Ralston, a prominent San Francisco financier, construction on Ralston Hall Mansion began in 1864. Comprising over 80 rooms this gorgeous estate is now part of Notre Dame de Namur University. The building’s exterior can be classified as Italiante Villa while the interior incorporates classic 19th century designs reminiscent of Ralston’s early days on Mississippi riverboats. We were in awe of the ornate detailing in everything from the furniture to the windows and doors. It’s always a magical day when we adorn buildings this grand with flowers.

Please enjoy some of our favorite photos from this lovely event from the talented photographer, Julie Kay Kelly.

We went ultra-romantic with dahlias, garden roses and pink peonies in mercury glass and vintage vessels, the perfect compliment to setting and vintage-inspired lounge vignette by Milk Glass Vintage Rentals.