Last December, FLOWER Magazine reached out to me in mid-December to do their “In Bloom” section. Since this is always the first place I flip to the minute I pull my magazine out of my mailbox, I was absolutely freaking out with excitement. Mom and I set to choosing the container, flowers, and scene to set this creation that I would create step by step for the shoot. Mom’s beautiful orchids got tossed out of her enormous entry-way urn, I ordered my most favorite green and white flowers from Mayesh and foraged evergreens while my 9 year old made gold-leafed place cards.
Editor Alice Doyle and Photographer David Hillegas drove up from Birmingham for the shoot, arriving just after Victoria Fraley did my hair and makeup (I can arrange flowers but certainly not my own straight-as-a-board hair!). Having never been part of a photo shoot I had no idea of the fun ahead. David scouted out the best place to shoot the step-by-step while I went around our house turning off all the lights. As a daughter of my mother, I love lamp light and was surprised to learn that artificial light interferes with quality photos.
While we polished off a tray of Sausage Pinwheels (a Christmas season requirement started by my grandmother), David took detail shots of each step as I built the huge urn arrangement. Since it was 2019 and Christmas, I wanted to create something big and lush! Turns out 2020 when this was published was not the year to go big, but it was still inspirational for a white Christmas arrangement with lots of green texture.
Once Alice had recorded all the steps and helped style all the photos for David, we packed that big old arrangement and headed up the hill to my parents house, where the table was set for Christmas and to get the urn to her rightful place on their foyer table. We ate a quick lunch from the Cafe on the Corner because the light was fading quickly.
I was most in awe of the talent of the FLOWER team when it was time to capture the “beauty shot” of the final arrangement. I am not exaggerating to say that by that time it was dark, and again, all the lights in the house need to be turned off. David and my dad rearranged the table to get what little natural light remained coming from the front and side of the foyer. Alice effortlessly arranged a spread of my mom’s silver and Herend pieces to add interest. But the blank space under the foyer table needed something. My parents standard Poodle was the perfect something, but the exposure needed to be 30 seconds with so little daylight left. That Percy sat this still for a full 30 seconds for this shot! He didn’t even blink! All of us were just so proud of that beautiful poodle and you better believe he got a fancy dinner that night. One year later, we now have our own poodle (a Maltese Poodle my mom couldn’t resist at the Cashiers-Highland Humane Society). I could settle for no less after witnessing this poodle’s good manners.
Click here and here to see the two online articles and photos. I’m so grateful to Alice Welsh Doyle, David Hillegas, and FLOWER for this fun experience!
