Pretty, Pretty

Often times when I am hosting a party, I will skip the typical decorations and just place a few nice floral arrangements on tables as centerpieces and in key areas of the house such as an entryway table, the food table and the guest bath.  Add some votive candles and you're set.

I used to make my own centerpieces, but often times found that the money and time I spent on fresh flowers did not necessarily translate into the look of the finished product.  Bottom line, I may have adequate taste in flowers, but I am no florist, so my floral arrangements would usually end up looking a bit amateur.  A few years back though I started making friends with my local florist and asked if they could make the arrangements for me if I supplied my own vases.  They were happy to do so, and the finished product was a professional floral arrangement at a fraction of the cost.

I have been using this method ever since. The morning of an event, I drop off my vases, let them know the color theme I am going for, as well as my budget per arrangement, which is the most important part.  Within a couple of hours I pick up beautiful arrangements and I've freed up my time to take care of other party details, like cleaning the house or preparing food.  The budget for my party was fairly small, therefore lots of Gerbera Daisies were used, but I think the use of roses, tulips and hydrangeas in a small way, as well as gorgeous greenery helped to elevate these arrangements quite a bit.  They even wrap the vases in fabric and ribbon for an added touch.  So I guess I bought myself balloons and flowers :)

And this my friends, is my attempt at acting like I am the hostess with the mostess
and am oh so sophisticated, when really I am always scrambling around at the last minute
and will usually greet guests at the door with wet hair and no makeup!

But hey, at least I have pretty flowers in hand!

This will also be the last post you hear about my birthday, I promise :)

Happy Tuesday!