I am so excited to be blogging today about my experience overseeing and
decorating a portion of the closing picnic party at ALT Summit held last
month in Salt Lake City, UT, at the beautiful Grand America Hotel.
This was a life-changing experience and I'm so grateful to have been
able to join forces with such a fun and talented team of creatives to
plan and execute such a fab outdoor party.
My group was given
the task of creating a station that encompassed both giant bubble and
balloon elements. This was no small feat and I seriously could not have
gotten the job done without my uber awesome and hustling team: Natashia
of Canary Jane and Michelle from The Mumsy Blog. To say that this project was one of the funnest things I've ever had the privilege of doing in my career is a huge understatement. ALT was absolutely amazing!
I'll be giving you a run-down in this post on how I built and waterproofed the troughs that held the solution for the life-size bubbles, as well as a tutorial on how I put together the beautiful cascading floral arrangements that I hung from the sides.
To get the scoop on how we made the bubble solution and wands visit Natashia's blog here, as well as the stunning balloon displays found on Michelle's blog here.
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For starters, I knew that we needed to find a suitable container for the bubble solution that would be both large enough to fill the massive lawn space and aesthetically pleasing. I immediately was drawn to the idea of using a planter to hold the solution so I set out to find the perfect planter from our sponsor, Hayneedle. I was so impressed by the selection of planters and ultimately selected this planter for the set up.
Firstly, I purchased cup hooks that I then screwed into the top of the two sides of the planter to hang the arrangement from. The arrangement ended up being quite heavy so make sure that you purchase hooks that will withstand the weight of the bouquet.
I have provided a list of flowers that I used to create these arrangements. I purchased these flowers from a local wholesale floral shop. I only purchased one bunch of each flower variety except for the peonies and white spray roses. These required several bunches.
This list, of course, can be added to and altered depending on what your preferences and needs are.
Flower List:
Green Roses
White Peonies
White spray roses
Ruscus
Draping Greens
Pink Dahlias
Yellow Buttons
Pink Aster
Skirt and top by: Pleated Empire
To start, I began with the cascading greens on the bottom. Using green floral tape similar to this, I began securing each new stem to the next by pulling and wrapping the tape around the top of each stem extending down about three inches. I continue until I have a thick base of greens and then begin adding in the white peonies, green roses and dahlias. When I have a good mix of the larger flowers and there seems to be no large holes, I can start adding and taping in the smaller flowers to give it a polished and finished look.
When the bouquets were ready to be secured to the planter, I simply wrapped wire around the arrangements and created a loop that I could then hang from the cup hook. Once hung, we tied and draped several ribbons from the hooks in differing shades and textures of green and pink provided by Harmony in Provo, UT. If you are local, their store is such a treasure and treat to visit!
Just to recap, the supplies that you will need for the flower bouquets are:
Variety of flowers and greens (preferably greens that cascade well)
Floral Tape
Wire
Wire Cutters
Scissors to trim excess stems
Dresses: Shabby Apple
Shoes and Jewelry: Joyfolie
Assorted Solid Colored Balloons: Zurchers Party Store
Marbleized Pink/White Balloons: Knot and Bow
To continue in the fun, we're so excited to announce that we've teamed up with Shabby Apply to give away three (yes, you read that right) Shabby Apple dresses! So head on over to my instagram @jacquelinnealtom to find the details on how you can enter now through Friday for a chance to be one lucky winner.
Hope you have a great day, lovelies!
xx, Jacquelinne
