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A little about what's happening in our big flower world...

Bright & Cheery Autumn Blooms at Park Winters | Winters, CA

C+C were full of excitement and wedding bliss all throughout their wedding planning stages. The Park Winters backdrop played perfectly into their planning on a gorgeous autumn day in October. They requested bright and cherry blooms in hues of orange, yellow, peach, apricot, and white for a celebration full of light and giggles. Designed in a natural and wimsicle aesthetic with a nod to modern-garden, these were some of our favorite flowers of the season. I’m repetedly falling in love with yellow and orange designs. Plus, these two are so kind, easy going; simply beautiful souls. I loved watching their vision come together for a unique, very special gathering of love ones as their day unfolded. The sunset was one for the books. Cheers to forever C+C! Thank you again for allowing us to play a part in your celebration of love.

Invitation Suite

Invitation Suite

Boutonnieres

Boutonnieres

Ceremony Arch

Ceremony Arch

First kiss as Mister and Misses

First kiss as Mister and Misses

The Inn at Park Winters

The Inn at Park Winters

Bridesmaid Bouquets + Corsages

Bridesmaid Bouquets + Corsages

Golden Hour

Golden Hour

Newlywed Magic

Newlywed Magic

Bridal Bouquet

Bridal Bouquet

Seating Chart

Seating Chart

Olive Garland

Olive Garland

His + Her Reception Seats

His + Her Reception Seats

Dining Table Centerpieces

Dining Table Centerpieces

Placesetting Details

Placesetting Details

Hand in Hand for Eternity

Hand in Hand for Eternity

Venue: Park Winters, @parkwinters | Photography: The Edges Wed, @theedgeswed | Cinematic: Johnny B Films, @johnnybfilms | Coordination: With Grace & Love Events @withgraceandlovevents | Rentals: La Tavola Linen @latavolalinen, CPR and Tents @cprandtents | Dress: The Lovely Bride, @thelovelybride | Cake: Freeport Bakery, @freeportbakery | Bar: Cosmos Alley Carts, @cosmoalleycarts | Flowers: The Pollen Mill, @thepollenmill

Source: http://thepollenmill.com/blog/brightandche...

Winter Wonderful at Park Winters | Park Winters, Winters, CA

Stacy and Calvin have a love for life, and each other, that is contagious. 
As soon as Stacy reached out to us for design, we knew this was going to be one beautiful event. Her sweet, calm nature and classically romantic taste makes her not only easy to love, but a dream to design for.

Stacy and Calvin along with the assistance of the powerhouse ladies at Alluring Events & Design, selected clean, classic, and romantic decor for the event. Long linen runners with charcoal ticking stripes drawn across rustic farm tables and simple gold votives with a sprig of rosemary tied together the design. The flowers a soft, muted palette of blush pink and silver foliage paired with tiny accents of marsala and plum that popped in the overcast dimmed lighting. Each design included soft blooms with billowy petals such as ranunculus, hydrangeas, anemones, sweet pea, roses, and stock. Lush silvery eucalyptus garland with blush garden roses alternated placement throughout the dining room. We were just so in love with the overall design and feel of Stacy and Calvin's beautiful celebration of love.

Take a peek for yourself...

Aww...They're just so good together! Thank you Stacy & Calvin for including us in your special day! Many wishes of happriness to you both on your forever journey.
And to all our vendor friends who works with us on this dream wedding, you guys are the best!

Venue: Park Winters | Photography: Shannon Rosan Photography | Planning & Coordiantion: Alluring Events & Design | Hair and Make Up: Christi Reynolds Beauty | Officiants: Tan Weddings & Events | Catering: Chef & Baker | Floral Deisgn: The Pollen Mill

Yountville Wedding with Moody Winters Hues & Texture | Yountville, CA

Brian & Jonathan are such a fun-loving, sweet, and stylish couple. When we first met, they said they had no clue what kind of flowers, table decor, and staging they were looking for. Just a few mood boards and blog reviews later, we settled on a palette of moody winter hues combined with mustard-colored candles, mixed metallic vessels, natural leather accents, and graphite grey linens. The overall feel was modern and unique with a touch of to mystic whimsy.

Their exchange of vows were held on a cool and rainy evening this past January at the Ad Hoc & Addendum culinary garden. Their sweet ceremony was followed by fine dinning (including Ad Hoc's famous fried chicken) inside the restaurant. Brian & Jonathan invited their closest friends & family to share in their celebration for an intimate event unlike any other.

We were also asked to design for their welcoming reception and rehearsal dinner on the night prior to the wedding. We filled the beautiful Groezinger Estate at Villagio Inn & Spa. White, crisp flowers in simple glass vessels adorned the bar, dinning room, hearth, and welcoming area.

Photography of their special weekend was captured by the groom's exceptionally talented friend & photographer Chantal of Pasagraphy (http://www.pasagraphy.com/)

Enjoy!

Welcoming Dinner & Rehearsal Reception at Groezinger Estate, Villagio Inn & Spa

Exchange of Vows & Reception Celebration at Ad Hoc & Addendum Garden & Restaurant

Brian & Jonathan~ Thank you for including us in your special day! We loved working with you both every step of the way. Watching our plans come to fruition from just a mixture of ideas was some true magic. I appreciate your trust in my vision and allowing me full creative license. I wish you both much laughter and joy on your journey together as married men! This was the BEST wedding to kick off 2016. XX

Venues: Rehearsal Dinner at Greozinger Estate at Villagio Inn & Spa | Wedding Ceremony & Reception at Ad Hoc & Addendum | Photography: Chantal of Passagraphy | Planning & Onsite Event Coordination Thomas Keller Restaurant Group Event Planning for Ad Hoc & Addendum | Calligraphy & Guest Tags: Laura Lambrix Designs

A Fine Wine & Dining Wedding to Remember | Bardonesso & Ad Hoc, Yountville, CA

Michael & Emily are such a sweet and talented couple. Both Ivy league alumni with with careers in investment and finance, they delight in spending their down time running marathons, enjoying delectable foods, and sampling fine wine. Planning their wedding from New York, Emily reached out to me with a few requests: bright, cheery, seasonal flowers, lots of texture with a touch of blush and jewel tones. They wanted their wedding celebration to feature the fine food from Chef Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc kitchen as well as the many wines their guests would taste from near and far.
Their August ceremony was located at Bardonesso Hotel & Spa followed by a garden dinner at nearby Ad Hoc & Addendum. The evening ended with dancing back at the Bardonesso ballroom. Their style exuded classic sophistication with noteworthy personal accents. Each floral centerpiece differing in color and texture from the next for a unique presentation. A personalized logo incorporating Ad Hoc's token pig dancing with a city mouse adorned their menus, signs, and stationary. Tables were named after marathons they've completed together. This was one of our favorite celebrations of the year. The gorgeous images of the event were captured by Matthais Photography of San Francisco. Here's a peek...

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Emily & Michael~ Congratulations again! Thank you for including us in your special day. We loved designing your flowers and the photos bring us so much joy to see you both enveloped in love. You were a true pleasure to work with right from the start. Many wishes to a wonderful life together filled with laughter, love, and plenty of fantastic wine. Cheers!

Ceremony Venue: Bardonesso Hotel & Spa | Reception Dinner Venue: Ad Hoc & Addendum | Photography: Matthais Photography | Hair & Make-Up: Carrie Aldous | Floral Design: The Pollen Mill

Rustic Celebration of Love at Chateau Montelena, Calistoga, CA

When Kelsey reached out to me and said their wedding was to be a held at the infamous Chateau Montelena, I screamed. This venue is one of my favorite wineries in the Napa Valley. My husband and I are members and frequent the location for its beauty as well as its delectable wine. Maybe you've seen the movie Bottle Shock, the story of Chateau Montelena putting Napa Valley on the wine map for its award winning Chardonnay? The location is nothing short of stunning. Even more, the venue is only open to family for weddings. My mind went...sweet bride, great style, down-home country couple, perfect private venue...um, yes, Major Score!

Kelsey and Kevin are avid nature lovers. Don't be put off by Kelsey's tiny frame and sweet smile, she can hunt and fish with the best of the boys. They wanted their wedding to be a reflection of the things they love; their close family, friends, & the great outdoors. Simple, classic, elegant, but not snooty, rustic, wispy, fresh from the land...just beautiful with a touch of nature's whimsy. Kelsey collected feathers from their hunting adventures for each floral design. The designs featured subtle earth-tones paired with soft ivory, white, and blush. Against the lush green backdrop of the Chateau, the flowers really popped. Just take a look for yourself at the images captured by the ever talented Mindy Aagard of Sweet + Marie Photography...

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Gasp right?! These two are just so gorgeous! The camera loved them.

Kelsey and Kevin~ Thank you for including us in your special day. You two are so kind, easy-going, and fun to work with. The love you have for one another is contagious and was written all over your faces on your wedding day. Everyone present was so fun-loving and sweet to us, welcoming us with open arms. Kelsey, I will never forget your adorable reaction when I delivered your bouquet. You stole my heart! Thank you again for being awesome people, period.

Mindy Aagard of Sweet + Marie Photography~ Lady, you sure know how to make it hard for me to pick out photos to share. The photots are not only gorgeous, but capture their personalities so well. Thank you for always taking the time to shoot our designs in the most beautiful light and staging. I adore you (and Laurie) and cannot wait for more weddings together in 2016. XO

Venue: Chateau Montelena, Calistoga, Ca | Photography: Sweet + Marie Photography | Floral Design: The Pollen Mill

Bright & Classic Park Winters Wedding | Winters, California

Stephanie & Scott were married on a warm spring evening at the gorgeous Park Winters. This fun couple reached out to us looking for floral designs that were clean, bright, classic, with a "fresh from the garden" ease to them. Each arrangement contained touches of soft silvery green, lime green, and white fluffy blooms, & whimsical movement pieces. Stephanie & Scott's celebration included their closest friends and family for a genuine, intimate celebration. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your special Day Scott & Stephanie! Everything was just perfect.

Venue: The Inn at Park Winters, Winters, CA | Event Planning & Coordination: Alluring Events & Design | Photography: Sweet + Marie Photography | Floral Design: The Pollen Mill


The (Floral) Red Zone

There is this NFL channel the husband watches called The Red Zone. Basically the channel bounces back and forth showing all the important highlights from each game. It actually drives me crazy! As soon as I get into one game, it switches to another and I can never keep up (and here I've digressed once again). Anyway, here is a little (Floral) Red Zone highlight action for what the Pollen Mill has been up to.

We provided the floral designs for this beautiful photo shoot at Vizcaya Sacramento. Photo courtesy of Liz Zimbleman Photography. Aren't these two dreamy?

And one more close-up. Gah! Photo courtesy of Liz Zimbleman Photography.

These centerpieces were created for the wonderful ladies at Backdoor Bistro to celebrate their monthly Winemaker's Dinner. We LOVE Backdoor Bistro and are so excited to watch their delicious restaurant grow into a hometown staple.

And then there was this bright backyard arch...

And this one for a wedding at The French Laundry Culinary Garden.

And this bouquet with the beautiful Brooke for a fall photo shoot with Crystal Lynn Photography, Danielle Lucas Hair, and Brooke Anderson modeling. Photo courtesy of Crystal Lynn Photography.

And Brooke with another fall bouquet. Photo courtesy of Crystal Lynn Photography.

And these dahlias for someone special.

And then these designs for a 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration at the Westin Verasa Napa. Photo courtesy of Crystal Lynn Photography.

And these dining table centerpieces for a wedding reception at Ad Hoc in Yountville that the bees couldn't even stay away from.

Oh, Jen's blue and lavender bridal bouquet was not to be forgotten.

We celebrated the grand opening of Sweet Pea's with a pop-up floral shop.

And our designs made the cover of California Meetings & Events Magazine at Soul Food Farm with styling and Photography by Amber Johnston at My Sweetness Stylized Photography.

And plenty of pretty fall flowers went out for delivery.

And that time when Crystal Lynn Photography & The Pollen Mill joined forces to start their new design adventure Foraging Light. Follow us on Instagram @foraginglight to see what we have coming up. Hint Hint: enjoy our flowers every month through all of 2015. :)

And then there was this welcoming design for the Flourish Health Summit.

This custom terrarium in a vintage glass cage.

And we designed this entryway piece for Bouchon Bistro out of the back of the Prius. #moblieflorist

The Keane's Baby Shower buffet design. Photo Courtesy of Alison Pfaff

Then we took our hand in event planning & coordination, decor & staging, and full floral design for this one-of-a-kind event which included Olympic Games! Delicious catering by The Organic Countertop and furniture/tabletop rentals from Wine Country Rentals. Photo Courtesy of Alison Pfaff

And the temperature decided to drop below 80 degrees for the first time in months. So we made some more moody blooms.

And then it FINALLY rained the day we made this fluffy bridal bouquet.

Last but definitely not least, our boys nailed down a dynasty with one more World Series Win!

Is your head spinning yet? Information overload!

We are so blessed to work with so many great vendors, venues, and restaurants especially our local buddies right here in the 707.

We have much more coming up through the holidays. Keep your eyes peeled for our Thanksgiving Centerpiece Workshop and Winter Wreaths. We are booking up quickly for weddings & events in 2015. Please contact us ASAP to schedule your consult. As always, thank you for your continued support. Love Locally!

Goal Digger

We've been hitting the ground running, filling our fire with forks, and jumping off cliffs hoping for nets. It's the only way to take the world by the horns...Right? Maybe?

If you asked me six months ago where we would be today, I would have never said here. It's hard to believe it has been six months since officially opening our doors...I mean mind-blowning. I didn't have many expectations for what would happen with this little flower biz. I was just fine with throwing sand into the wind and holding my eyes closed really, really tight. But what happened was nothing like anticipated.

I met so many new faces. Many which immediately became friends, mentors, muses, angel-sweet-magician-helpers who are steering me along this journey to build and establish my little business. They are true motivators who keep me up into the wee hours of night, thinking, planning, glowing with excitement. It seems impossible that one, simple conversation can have such an impact on life...but it can. You bet your booty it can! And I've watched it happen over and over.

Last month marked a few photo shoot adventures, weddings, rehearsal dinners, fundraisers, anniversaries, baby showers, and more. And as we come to the end of summer and start of autumn, it's Groundhog's Day. Feeling more and more the same with continued requests for pastel centerpieces made with peonies that are long gone. That's not a complaint, it is a treasure. I see it as still getting to be a teacher of sorts. I teach my clients about the seasonality of flowers and how our dry winter and summer impacts availability as well as cost. Days filled with meeting new people, brainstorming ideas, creating inspiration boards, and designing flowers...shoot, it all makes me smile.

Now six months later, with a collection of forks, nets, and tired toes, we are embarking on exciting new realms and peeking out of those squinted closed eyes to see a glimmer of what is about to happen...

First, we are going to put our green thumb to the test and start planting. I mean, actually planting, like on acreage. We were offered a sweet space to put down some roots and pray that we actually get SOME rain this fall. With plants going into the soil in the next few weeks, we will be watching, waiting, learning, no doubt failing, and trying to figure out how the heck to grow mass quantities of dreamy blooms for our designs. It's going to be a real experience being a Goal Digger. If you'd like to take your hand in planting, feel free to shoot me a message. We are going to need all the help we can get to plant, weed, seed, till.

Second, I have been asked to be the curator of a museum exhibit for next spring. Our exhibit will feature floral and botanical designs in their natural form. I am in the process of pulling together potential exhibitors, so if you know someone who is a local florist or floral designer in Solano County or the surrounding area, please shoot me an email with their contact information. The exhibit will launch next spring with many special activities and events. Please keep your eyes peeled for what happens next.

With that said, I am still trying to take it all in. I told my husband and brother-in law the other day, that sometimes when I talk to people about how work/the business is going, I feel like I am talking about someone else who I happen to know a lot about. Because it really hasn't hit me yet that so much that has happened, is happening, and is about to happen. So, HEEHAW cowgirl! I better get a saddle (and a helmet)!

Oh and one last thing, we have a few more spots left for our DIY Floral Fun Workshop~Flower Crowns on 8.27.14 at Pietro's #1 from 6:00-8:00pm. Please email thepollenmill@gmail.com if you are interested in signing up. Details are under the "Events & Workshops" tab of our website.

As always, thank you for believing in me and my little floral dream. It's people like you who are making it all come true. Love Locally!




Soul Food Farm Photo Shoot | Vacaville, CA

Last weekend we were blessed to take part in a photo shoot at Soul Food Farm on Pleasants Valley Road here in Vacaville. This place, is just, phenomenal. Every time I step foot on this property, I feel like I turn into a child again and want to skip, roll around with bare feet, and talk to the chickens and trees (ok, so maybe not much has changed and I still regularly do all of these things but yeah, it really brings out the hippie spirit).

Alexis, the owner of Soul Food Farm has a beautifully comforting spirit. She is easy to talk to, even easier to love, genuinely caring and very supportive of our little community. Not only is Soul Food Farm a working farm raising chickens, lavender, and olives but it is on the verge of becoming the new "it" venue for events and weddings in the area. With the barn doors about to swing open, Alexis has hired one amazing event planner to take on the feat of helping to plan events on the farm. Amber is working to coordinate events and make your special day as flawless as the farm surroundings. She is talented and kind with a warming smile. Her humble sense of style and simple beauty made for some amazing photographs last weekend. Amber is not only the event coordinator, but a talented photographer as well. Her work can be seen at http://mysweetnessphotography.blogspot.com/

Check out the venue in all its glory, amongst the beauty of the whimsical olive orchard on a particularly bright and sunny evening.

These olive trees scream "come frolic in my branches" about as much as Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree.

These summer flowers were selected in bright but soft hues to compliment the silver in the olive branches and golden grasses.

Peach dahlias, pink rice flower, immature hydrangeas, gomphrena, and blushing bride protea snuggle up and embrace.

Tulips in full bloom stretch out their petals passed a cafe au lait dahlia.

And the mix & match china and crystal, place settings...Ugh, stop it already with the cuteness

Just breathtaking.

Thank you Alexis and Amber (Soul Food Farm & My Sweetness Photography) for asking us to be a part of this beauty. We love working with you and we are excited for our many adventures to come! XO