Wedding Boutonnieres and Corsages

Boutonnieres and corsages

Attention to details is one of our most precious vertues, we definitely bring it when it comes to boutonnières and corsages!

These tiny flower arrangements need to blend in perfectly with the rest of the wedding flowers and every touch counts. Whether it is the use of the correct flowers (some flowers cannot be used as boutonnières or corsages because of their longevity out of water) or the finishing using proper colored ribbons or other accents repeated elsewhere (like pearls, crystals or specific leaves) the finished product will always look fabulous!

Boutonnieres and corsages

A little history:

A boutonnière is a floral decoration worn by men, typically a single flower or bud. The word comes from the French boutonnière, or buttonhole, which is the British term.

Traditionally, a boutonnière was worn pushed through the lapel buttonhole (on the left, the same side as a pocket handkerchief). However, on many recently made coats and jackets, the lapel is made without the stem loop required, which would normally sit on the reverse of the lapel, beneath the buttonhole. Sometimes, the lapel buttonhole is in the ‘keyhole’ shape, as opposed to the traditional straight cut, or is not even pierced through, in which case the boutonnière may be pinned onto the jacket lapel, although this is considered unsightly by many.

A corsage is an assembly of flowers worn on a woman’s dress or worn around her wrist. Corsages are often worn by the mothers and grandmothers of the bride and groom at a wedding ceremony.

Girly Flower Arrangements for Billie’s Women Bloggers Event

Girly bouquets for Billie Boutique Bloggers Event

On Wednesday December 2nd, I was invited to a wonderful girly cocktail party at Billie Boutique in Montreal on Laurier street.We were served champagne and cupcakes and even got professional pictures taken of our look that evening!

We were asked to design a couple of little arrangements to decorate the store and we came up with these stunning little couture pieces, so I like to call them. We made a tight ball of light pink roses a finished off the bottom with none other than a light pink cybidium skirt. It was important to add chocolate brown to the arrangements as this colour is important in their visual identity. We found these adorable chocolate brown ceramic vases on foot that we paired with ribbon bows of various pink and brown motifs.

These arrangements are so girly and look like candy, but they certainly don’t taste as good as the lovely treats we got in our gift bags from Kréavie!

My Amaryllis Adventure

The progress of an Amaryllis flower blooming

A few weeks ago, I got assigned a very important task, babysit some amaryllis flowers until they were fully bloomed and ready for a photoshoot! It was so much fun to observe the evolution, each stem usually has four blooms, and gradually they all started to pop one by one.
The amaryllis is definately a flower that I love, I like how juicy and big it gets once in bloom, but be carefull, these are very delicate flowers to play with! It was important for me not to touch them too much, and mostly to cut the stem shorter as the flowers started to open, creating weight on the fragile thick but hollow stem which could simply break in front of my eyes if it decided to.
Nothing beat having to transport these flowers from my house to our workshop … ouff … I made it with the amaryllis in one piece! I couldn’t wait to finally poke the flower inside the arrangements and call in truce, at that point the amaryllis is safe and you don’t need to worry about it anymore. What a journey with my friends the amaryllis, just like babies, they kept me busy for a couple days!

The O.xide Design Online Store for the Holidays!

We have been waiting so long for this opportunity, and it is finally here, we are so proud to introduce you to our brand new Holidays online store!
How much fun is it to be able to shop for your Holiday flowers in the comfort of your own home or office! With our new service, you are now able to choose modern and elegant arrangements to decorate your home or simply to offer as a gift for a loved one. With our detailed pictures and precise description of the arrangements, you know that what you see is what you get, no disappointments, only magical flowers for this very special time of year!

The store will be opened for a limited time, so start shopping today!

Arrangement Floral pour le bureau de notre Photographe Amélie Cousineau

Arrangement pour Amélie Cousineau, notre photographe

Quand notre chère photographe favorite Amélie Cousineau nous a demandé de créer des arrangements permanents pour décorer son bureau nous étions si heureuse!

Nous savions que nous devions lui offrir un design digne de son travail, quelque chose de féminin, travaillé, minutieux et magnifique. Nous avons alors opté pour des boules d’anémones artificielles rouges avec rubans rouges, sur une boule disco, sur un chandelier en verre, sur un pot couleur rose bébé, oufff! Complètement fou et nous adorons!

Nous espérons que ces arrangement lui apportent style et inspiration car nous avons besoin de sa créativité et son talent! On t’adore Amélie!

Annick & Martin’s Wedding Ceremony Flowers

Wedding Ceremony Flower Decoration

As I promised last week, I am sharing with you the arrangements which decorated the ceremony area for Annick and Martin’s wedding in Montreal.

They were looking for a very clean, simple and modern look, using white callas. We combined these callas with big accordeon leaves and earth toned river rocks in tall clear vases to create this minimalist, yet compelling look. Sometimes little touches can go a long way, remember … it’s all about the details!

All the best to the happy couple!

Annick and Martin Wedding Flower Decoration

Some sketches

HOW TO: Decorate a Rectangular Table With Flowers on a Low Budget

Decorating a Rectangular Table

Design is all about balance!

When trying to dress a rectangular diner table on a budget, always keep in mind that you are better off having more smaller arrangements and accessories than only a couple big more expensive pieces. Yes some may say less is more, however in this case we are trying to dress a festive table from one end to the other. Use floating flowers in small vases, you can even use those same vases to float a colorful candle (depending on your color scheme), alternate these arrangements to create a dynamic and modern dinner table.

Go crazy with colors and shapes with all your table settings, don’t be shy, you’ll have so much fun doing it!

Flowers for BOMA Québec, O.xide Design Meets Traiteur Primavera

Flower Arrangements for BOMA Quebec Cocktail in Montreal

As you probably know by now, we love Traiteur Primavera!

Working with them once again for the BOMA Québec cocktail was a pleasure and also quite delectable! With hors d’oeuvres like ’’Magret de Canard fumé à l’érable’’ and ’’Foie gras sur pain à l’érable’’ this team of professionals never cease to amaze us with their talent, energy and creativity.

It is always an honor to work side by side with them and to brighten up their food with our flowers!

Montreal Traiteur Primavera's Delicious Appetizers

The Zucchini Flower

Zucchini flowers

The female flower ( yes, flowers have genders! ) is a golden blossom on the end of each emergent zucchini. The male flower grows directly on the stem of the zucchini plant in the leaf axils (where leaf petiole meets stem), on a long stalk, and is slightly smaller than the female. Both flowers are edible, and are often used to dress a meal or garnish the cooked fruit.

Firm and fresh blossoms that are only slightly open are cooked to be eaten, but don’t forget to remove pistils from female flowers, and stamens from male flowers. The stem on the flowers can be retained as a way of giving the cook something to hold onto during cooking, rather than injuring the delicate petals, or they can be removed prior to cooking, or prior to serving.
My italian boyfriend’s Nonna ( grand-ma ) has a variety of recipes in which the flowers may be deep fried as fritters or tempura (after dipping in a light tempura batter), stuffed, sautéed, baked, or used in soups. Her favorite is the deep fried!

In Mexico, the flower is often used for a soup, sopa de flor de calabaza, and it is quite popular in a variation of the traditional quesadillas, becoming quesadillas de flor de calabaza. Zucchini is also used in a variety of other dishes (rajas), and as a side dish ornament.
Bon appetit!

Flowers upside down!

Upside Down Flower Arrangement

We love defying the laws of gravity with flowers!

To create this simple and stunning look, simply submerge a Heliconia stem upside down in a vase wich is proportionate to that flower, you can then insert another stem straight to create this ’’opposite directions flower look’’.

You can pretty much use any vase and flowers you love, be creative!