Gingerleaf Floral - Modern Floral Design serving Oakland, San Francisco and the Bay Area

Vanessa & Chris

Ellen — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:39:22 +0000

Soft. Romantic. Sweet. These would be the words to describe Vanessa and Chris’s lovely wedding at Murietta’s Well. The wedding featured peonies, ranunculus, garden roses and sweetpea ~ about the most romantic blooms one could possibly have for a beautiful spring wedding celebration!

Tulip Exhibit at Mountain View Cemetery

Ellen — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:41:28 +0000

Mountain View Cemetery held its 8th annual Tulip Exhibit this past weekend, and I was thrilled to be a part of it again this year. Local floral designers, garden clubs and floristry schools came together to transform the small Cemetery chapel into a mecca for tulip lovers. I love using branches since they allow for an organic look to the design. Here, curly willow branches provided the main structure, dyed loofah was suspended from the branches, and tulips, thistle and statice were nestled inside the loofah in water tubes.

After the exhibit, I placed all the tulips into vases. What an explosion of color. Happy colorful spring!

2013 Bouquets to Art ~ Penelope

Ellen — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:03:36 +0000

My Bouquets to Art piece took inspiration from “Penelope” (seated in the background), queen of Ithaca, created by American sculptor Franklin Simmons. Penelope was the faithful and devoted wife of Odysseus, having waited over twenty years for Odysseus’ return from the Trojan War. She is often depicted in a seated, contemplative pose, with crossed knees, reflecting her long chastity in Odysseus’ absence. My piece depicts her immediately after Odysseus’ return ~ the joyful exuberance of his return and the blissful release from years of waiting.

All the blooms were in water tubes, and jasmine vines are heavy water drinkers, so I was back almost every morning at the DeYoung refreshing the piece and adding water to over 50 water tubes. Penelope was a lot of fun to work on, but high maintenance. Some women, and men, are just that way .

Laura & Jeff

Ellen — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:20:54 +0000

Laura is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and it was such a pleasure being a part of her big day! We’re usually done setting up by the time all the festivities begin, so it’s so much fun to see how the evening unfolded. The ceremony and reception took place at the City Club of San Francisco ~ a beautiful Art Deco venue that inspires and delights (check out the stunning Diego Rivera painting at the grand staircase). Thanks so much to Kara Miller Photography for the absolutely gorgeous photos!

Celebrating at the Claremont Country Club

Ellen — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 01:20:54 +0000

I had an amazingly fun experience creating a table-scape for a corporate celebratory dinner last week at the Claremont Country Club in Oakland. What’s not to love about decorating for a king’s table? There’s something very regal and feast-like about sitting at a long table that’s the focal point of an entire room ~ I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to create a beautiful landscape of blooms!

2013 Bouquets to Art

Ellen — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:31:49 +0000

I’m thrilled to be a part of the 29th annual Bouquets to Art at the de Young Museum in San Francisco March 19-23. Over 125 floral designs will be displayed, each interpreting or taking inspiration from works of art at the Museum. This will be my second year participating in the event, and I’ll be taking inspiration from “Penelope”, queen of Ithaca, created by American sculptor Franklin Simmons. The statue is inspired by the myth of Odysseus, and portrays Penelope as the faithful and devoted wife.

My design for the 2012 exhibit was based on a modern painting ~ very different from the piece I’ll be interpreting this year. I’m not sure what the design will be just yet, but ~ first things first ~ I need to bone up on my Greek mythology!

Erik’s Bar Mitzvah

Ellen — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:56:35 +0000

In Jewish law, when a boy turns 13, he becomes responsible for his actions, or a Bar Mitzvah ~ literally a “son of the commandments”. I had the pleasure of designing the floral arrangements for Erik’s Bar Mitzvah last weekend ~ it was an honor and delight since Erik’s mother, Sophie, is a friend and work colleague of my husband. Sophie has a wonderful eye, so it was a great collaborative process figuring out the color scheme, lighting, linens and overall look!

The ceremony took place at Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco, a wonderful piece of architecture from Stanley Saitowitz, who just so happens to have been one of my professors at UC Berkeley back in the day when I studied architecture (oy ~ that was a lifetime ago…). Friends and family continued the celebration with an evening cruise on the Hornblower Spirit, graced with a moonlit bon voyage from the San Francisco skyline. Beautiful.

Mazel Tov, Erik!

Winner of the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® 2013

Ellen — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:32:15 +0000

I’m thrilled to announce that Gingerleaf Floral has been selected as a winner of the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® 2013 for floral designers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Woo-hoo!

The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire Network, which include leading wedding sites such as WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We were selected as a Bride’s Choice Award 2013 winner based on the positive experiences expressed by past clients on WeddingWire, the world’s largest wedding review site with over one million reviews. While many industry awards are given by the host organization, the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® winners are determined solely based on reviews from real newlyweds and their experiences working with us.

The awards are given to the top local wedding vendors in more than 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on professional achievements from the previous year. Award-winning vendors are distinguished for the quality, quantity, consistency and timeliness of the reviews they have received from their past clients.

Thank you to our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire ~ I truly appreciate the positive feedback that helped us earn the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® for 2013!

Jen & Piotr

Ellen — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:25:43 +0000

Flood Mansion was about as perfect a venue as possible for Jen and Piotr’s classic, elegant wedding. Soft peaches and pinks, flowing jasmine, garden roses and a view of the ocean ~ does it get any more romantic? It had been raining all week, but the sun finally came out the day of the wedding. Weather is always one of my concerns ~ that it will be too hot, too cold, too sunny, too rainy. I worry for my brides. There are a hundred things that can go wrong the day of a wedding. But I try to remind myself, and them, that it’s all in how you choose to look at things. In the end, everything (and I mean everything) will be more than just all right. It will be perfect.

mé·lange

Ellen — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:48:42 +0000

pronunciation // [mey-lahnzh]
definition // a mixture of different things