Sunday, October 25, 2009

Happy Halloween from Brenda Abbott Events

Sometimes we take a break from weddings....We helped our 10 year old throw a Halloween party. Hope you enjoy a peek into the prep and fun!

When the hostess is 10 years old, planning and prep are a lot of fun.  So having a simple to execute plan is important.  Kaley made 'finger cookies' from scratch, and decided to tint them green so they would be witch fingers.  We used a basic sugar cookie recipe, formed the finger shapes, added sliced almonds for fingernails and a little red food coloring for gorey special effects, and baked.  They really "swell" up when they're baked!

As we like to do with so many of our events, thinking outside the box is the most effective, especially when choosing a location...and in this case, our old barnwood shed is the perfect haunted barn for a kids party.  Surround it with some of our lifelike creepy ghouls, add a strobe light and some spider web, fun halloween themed music and voila..spooky fun!









Happy Haunting!
from Brenda Abbott Events
www.brendaabbott.net


Sunday, October 11, 2009

Platinum Event at The Hyatt Lost Pines Resort & Spa

This wedding truly was the social event of the season.... Over 400 guests must have believed it as they came from all over to attend this fabulous soiree.  There was excited buzz for days leading up about the beauty, size and delightful smells of flowers coming from our workroom provided courtesy of the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines & Resort as we set up this over the top platinum event.

The theme we developed for Haley:  southern romance.  To achieve this look, we used thousands of roses, hydrangeas, lilies, canterbury bells, snapdragons and orchids. The 41 tables were decked out in one of four different looks ranging from low to extra tall, and all had a dripping crystal element accented by twinkling candlelight.

We custom designed and had an artisan custom build the jumbo vase/candelabra combinations for this event. Once assembled, these beauties were almost 6 feet tall and the bloom area was about 3 feet wide. Big ballrooms call for big ideas!   We also brought in our sparkly all glass crystal candelabras, just dripping in crystals to the second look.  For the third look, the 'mid-level' tables must have been straining under the weight of their centerpieces... a fine cut crystal vase held casually arranged blooms of southern charm, but that wasn't enough...we perched these amidst an enormous 'puddle' of blooms which spanned about 30" across the guest tables.  The fourth and final look consisted of collections of shapely glass candlesticks with blooms at their base.

Here are just a few photos from our setup cam as we prepared for Haley and Collen's wedding.



























These enormous altar pedestals are about 5 feet tall and supported massive sculptural floral pieces (the blooms alone were over 3 feet in height).  The floral sculptures seemed to flow toward each other to form a visual arch for a breathtaking altar statement.




Thousands of colorful rose petals were used to create art down the aisle.  Haley loves bright colors and I believe we delivered!


















A garden statue cherub oversees the escort card table. (The calligraphy on these cards was outstanding!) This custom-designed escort card table showpiece contained white and red hydrangeas imported from Holland, high and magic roses, and hot pink and orange carnations, arranged pave style to form a rich textural base for the cherub statue.


Brenda Abbott Floral Design
Brenda Abbott Events
Specializing in Weddings and Life's Breathtaking Moments!
306 5th Avenue
Smithville, Texas 78957

806-223-7787
www.brendaabbott.net

Artistic Butterfly Themed Wedding at Villa Antonia

During our initial consultation, Elena asked us to design something vibrant, playful, artistic, elegant and definitely not too stuffy for her wedding, and above all, she wanted butterflies! Her colors, deep purple, tangerine, teal.

We designed with a clean and modern approach using hefty lengths of locally grown bamboo for the altar arrangements.





We added a dash of daring by tinting the bamboo purple and then added spheres of purple and tangerine carnations which appeared to be growing right on the bamboo, and we topped it off with purple dendrobium orchid fountains and playful monarch butterflies. The aisle was flanked by rivers of pave-style purple and tangerine carnations.

We provided customized ring bearer boxes as well as butterfly wings for the little flower girls along with their very unique pomander/basket combinations.  What a charming foursome these littlest attendants made!

Elena's table centerpieces repeated the balancing sphere and bamboo elements, and monarchs butterflies made their appearance.

The bridal bouquet featured plum callas, with a fashionable and airy cascade formed by lily grass onto which we threaded stephanotis blooms, and of course, a monarch butterfly accent.
Call or email us to design your high style event: brenda@brendaabbott.net


Brenda Abbott Floral Design
Brenda Abbott Events
Specializing in Weddings and Life's Breathtaking Moments!

306 5th Avenue
Smithville, TX 78957
Tel:  806-223-7787
http://www.brendaabbott.net/

comments:


Austin Wedding Blog said...
The plum callas in the bridal bouquet are splendid! Great job! - Rachel


The Face of Brenda Abbott Events

We get so many compliments on the beautiful photo we use on our billboards, we thought we would share the story here.

The photograph is of Ashley Donnell (my daughter and Marketing/Creative Director of Brenda Abbott Floral Design), captured by Maria Bernal Photography during Ashley's bridal portrait session. To see more of Maria's work, visit:  www.mariabernalphotography.com 

(The wedding photographs you see here are by Mr. Bill Ledbetter www.imageeclectic.com, and Mr. Randy Kerr.)






Not only is Ashley our 'poster-child' appearing on our ads and billboards, Josh and Ashley's wedding was announced by save the dates AND their own billboard!  

A little background....Ashley um, colors outside the lines, so naturally when she found the gorgeous pink bridal gown at a boutique in Amarillo, she knew it was the one! That bridal gown is Ashley personified....elegant, playful, and....pink.

And of course, the only event planner and floral designer for her wedding was yours truly, Brenda Abbott Events.  www.BrendaAbbott.net.  Something I would never recommend mother of the bride undertake by the way!!  However, planning and executing all the details for months and months ahead of time, and knowing to hire the right help for game day, and then working like mad, we pulled it off...and never was there a cross Bridezilla or Mom of Bridezilla moment!!

Ashley's requirements for a venue: outdoors, centrally located, intimate, and a place for their friends to dance the night away. Knowing her requirements, I suggested the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham...but then we checked out every nice facility in the central Texas area...because even though I have a lot of planning experience knowing exactly what my brides want, I was, in this instance....Mom.  Finally, after not finding exactly what she wanted, I suggested to Ashley one more time that she check out the Rose Emporium.   When we arrived, Ashley stepped out of the car, and I heard a gasp....20 seconds later...."it's perfect."  Music to my ears!!!

With this part out of the way....the planning began in earnest!  Naturally for this wedding in a rose garden... roses were in order....a lot of roses.

Many many hours of design work went into the details for this wedding.  A custom-designed monogram not only appeared on their 'announcement billboard', it also appeared throughout... on the custom-made programs and custom invitations, on the champagne glasses for every guest (which were a gift from the Groom's 'grand mommy'), and even on votive candles.  Vintage style rose patterned paper appeared in the program, in the paper rose petal cones the flower girls carried, in the hand-beaded bouts and corsage holders, and pink touches were everywhere (from the bridal gown...right down to the pink picks used in the hors d'oeuvres, and the pink sugar used to rim the glasses for the strawberry margaritas).









The altar arrangement was an enormous piece we designed to sit atop two existing beautiful stone statues which belonged to the Antique Rose Emporium. After the ceremony, the 6 foot long arrangement was moved (without the statues) to the center of an enormous square buffet table.















Long-time friend, Clayton Adams and his band played for the reception. For Josh and Ashley's first dance, Clayton sang, "Who I Am", while the couple danced under a custom made rose chandelier.



             At the end of the evening, the happy couple departed under a shower of fireworks.



Happy Brides (and Grooms)...that's our business!

Brenda Abbott Floral Design
and
Brenda Abbott Events

......a perfect pair

www.brendaabbott.net
806-223-7787




Tuesday, October 6, 2009

We have a new Logo!

Thanks to the overwhelming support of our brides and word of mouth referrals, we are pleased to struggle with rapid growth.  To support our expanding brand, we asked the fantastically multi-faceted and talented Maria Bernal (of Maria Bernal Photography) to design a new logo to reflect our upward movement.  Under the Brenda Abbott umbrella, we are now Brenda Abbott Floral Design AND Brenda Abbott Events which  provides full service planning and coordination for the finest social events.

Same website:  http://www.brendaabbott.net/  Same phone number: 806-223-7787. 
Just a new look and an added service!