Kristin Kuhn and Chad Gilligan

Ms. Kristin Kuhn became Mrs. Chad Gilligan at The Sir Walter Raleigh Gardens on the campus of Sandhills Community College at 5:30 yesterday on an afternoon that might be described as...well, just a little warm.



Kristin's bouquet

Attendant's bouquet
Family section marker at the gardens



We know Kristin well. She handles events at The Country Club of North Carolina and Margaret has had the distinct pleasure of working closely with Kristin on a lot of receptions. None of them meant more to Kristin or to Maggie than this one. We were pleased and honored to be a part of her most special day.

Table setting at CCNC.

Candy table at reception at CCNC.

Our groom, Chad Gilligan is a golf pro at Pinehurst #7. We hadn't met Chad until recently but our landscape clients who are members at #7 can't stop singing his praises. Our encounters with him have only served to reinforce the positive impressions of people who have known him longer.

Best of luck for a long and happy marriage to two very special people!

More images from Kristin and Chad's special day can be found here.

A Celebration of the Gruenhagen/ Giorgi Wedding

I thought I'd change up the font a little for this one just to emphasize a point which is, I love color. I mean I can appreciate the elegant understated beauty of a white wedding. I can appreciate the passion of classic red roses. Give me clolor. Color says clebrate.

If a white bouquet is a waltz and a red bouquet is modern dance, this bouquet is a lambada!

The very lovely Mary Ayres Gruenhagen became Mrs. James Marcus Giorgi in a ceremony at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Southern Pines at a little after five thirty yesterday. Maggie was proud to serve as both florist and , with very professional assistance from our good friend Debbie Beard, event coordinator.

All weddings are part pageant and part celebration. A lot of weddings attempt to balance those aspects. This one was unabashedly a celebration. The bouquets, the altar flowers, even the flower girl's baskets...

and pew markers suggested that this was the start of a very good time.
I happened to be outside the church taking down the church rail decorations when the bride and her entourage emerged from having portraits done. My first instinct was to jump and grab my camera (which was only a few feet away) because I almost never get a shot of a bride with a bouquet. But the newly minted Mrs. Giorgi was striding so purposefully towards the waiting limousine that I knew she had better things to do than wait for another picture. I've no doubt that Mary will cherish the pageant portion of her wedding for all of her days, but I am equally sure that at the moment I happened to catch her she was done with that part and ready for the celebration.

I left my camera where it was and kept working.

When Mary and James arrived at the reception at Little river farms, they found every table in the lobby decorated with colorful arrangements lie this one. The rail toppers on the staircase going up to the ballroom were like miniature reproductions of her bouquet.

The centerpieces were a celebration of color on sheer gold and white striped tablecloths with gold underlays that Maggie had ordered for the event.

The band "Egypt" entertained revelers until late into the night. To say that it was a lovely event is not to do it justice. It was a party. It was a celebration.

My hope for Mary and James is that in the uneven progression that is life, that their marriage will always be a celebration of the possibilities and of the joy to be had in seeing life through with the one that you love.

More images from this wedding can soon be found on our galleries page.

Bridal Fair 2007

Yesterday was the day for the second annual Bridal Fair at National Golf Club in Pinehurst. Intrepid brides and brides to be from around the Sandhills braved the swelter of another afternoon of what's sure to be the hottest August on record in order to see and sample the wares of local vendors in the wedding industry. We were happy to once again make our case from a space near the center of National's beautiful ballroom.



Not in attendance at this year's show was The Queen herself, Maggie. She was busy with flowers and coordination for the Gruenhagen/Giorgi wedding. In her stead we had a doctor and a princess. Pictured above are our good friend Joella Hardee, DMP (Doctor of Manicure and Pedicure) at The Nail Boutique, and The Queen's younger daughter (and therefore a princess), Kalie Hairston.

Brides who stopped by were able to check out a variety of bouquets, like the traditional red rose bouquet that this bride is holding,...

see a photo album of Maggie's work,...
and take home a cd slideshow of some of the best of Maggie's wedding work.

I knew that a crowded ballroom would be a tough place to get good images so I kidnapped a couple of Maggie's Bridal Fair bouquets early yesterday morning and shot them at a fountain.

Pictured above is the bouquet Kalie is holding in the photo at the top of the page and just below is the bouquet Jo Ella was holding.

Below is a colorful design with a simple tropical centerpiece, tropical colored linens, a lovely and colorful bouquet and our lovely and colorful daughter standing next to it all.

Below is a less traditional take on a bouquet. Maggie used bright red roses and red protea wrapped in red ribbon with a large beautiful jeweled broach on the wrapping.

Always original, always beautiful, always just for you...designs by Margaret Smith at Maggie's Farm.

More from the Bridal show soon at the gallery page.

Beach Bum Bouquet

We made it to the beach...finally!
Everybody needs a change of scenery once in a while and The Queen (Maggie) and I have been looking at the same scenery for a long, long time. So Friday night we finished our deliveries and headed east to Wilmington to visit my sister and enjoy a little sun and fun, some food and a little shopping.
But the first thing we did Saturday morning was to go to the beach to take some pictures that I had been thinking about for a while. I had asked Maggie to do a bouquet I could shoot on the beach and she is always so kind to indulge me.

I caught three breaks on Saturday morning.

First, the rain stopped. Friday night Wilmington was getting all the rainfall the rest of the state so desperately needs. I had thought I would shoot at sunrise but at 5:00 a.m. the thunder was still banging so I didn't rush. By seven, the rain had seemed to pass so by 7:30 we were on our way to the beach.
Second, Maggie came with me. It's not unusual for me to take the camera out early in the morning when we're on vacation, but usually The Queen sleeps in. I was delighted when she came along. I thought I had some good ideas about what I wanted to shoot but Maggie did for me the same thing she does for her clients, she makes your good ideas better.
Third, I ran into this little girl.

I'd had an idea that an photo of a little girl holding a bouquet under her chin might make for an interesting image of Maggie's work. I really wasn't expecting to do that, though, on this particular morning because it was still overcast and we were going to the least crowded part of the beach. But we had no sooner parked the van and tried to pay at the parking kiosk, than this young family - a big red headed guy, his petite wife, a very young son and their daughter, a pretty little girl with flaming red hair - walked up behind us. The little girl couldn't have been more perfect for the shot I'd had in mind. I walked up to the father, gave him one of Maggie's cards and told him who we were and what we had in mind to do and asked him if it would be OK. He said he thought so and checked with his wife, who was also OK with the idea.

About thirty feet away was a spot where the dunes and sea oats kind of framed the shot nicely so we all walked over there and I took three snaps. To their credit, Maggie, the mom and the dad tried valiantly to get the young girl to smile, but to no avail. I actually think that worked out for the best. It made the shots look less like something off a greeting card. It made the young girl look enigmatic. It made the shot more interesting.

I never asked the family's name but they were so nice and I really appreciate their help. I'm very happy with the shots. I hope they will be, too.

I only took three shots of the little girl but I took about thirty shots altogether. I mentioned before about Maggie taking your ideas and making them better. I had the idea of the bouquet and champagne bottle and glasses at the edge of the water. Maggie took it a step further and actually put them in the surf which made for a much more interesting photo.

Maybe I should have called this the Blanche Dubois Bouquet because of the way it depended upon the kindness of strangers. We met another nice family on Johnny Mercer's Pier. The woman holding the bouquet couldn't have been more delightful. I know flowers bring out the best in people but I really don't think that woman had anything else, just the best.

Reminds me a little of someone else I know...

A couple more shots from this series can be found here. They're in the "Beaucoup Bouquets" section.

Bridal Fair at National Golf Club

We are pleased to be showing again at The Bridal Fair at The National Golf Club in Pinehurst on August 18th. Maggie will not be there as she has a wedding that day. Gracing the booth instead will be our good friend Valerie Stratta who owns Audley Enough, the dress boutique on Main Street in Southern Pines, and Maggie's youngest daughter, Kalie. We're looking forward to it.

I've had a hard time putting my hands on the cd with all the shots from last year's show but I did find these three.

I love this rich and colorful bouquet with the sunflowers and the roses with the chocolate colored wrap and the gold beading.
I also like this bridesmaid's bouquet, simple but vibrant.

This is another simple but lovely idea Maggie had, putting this green cymbidium nosegay in a black sequined purse.

You can get more information about the Bridal Fair at http://www.nationalgolfclub.com/Special_Events.htm