platinumfloraldesigns: Fleur De Ville - Mayfair Mall, Floral Dress Display

Photo credit: Carla Unger Photography

It's truly not everyday a unique email lands in your inbox outlining the details of a floral manniquin dress show produced by Fleurs De Ville! As I read further into the details, I was blown away at the opportunity to participate amongst other local florists to produce an editorial floral display! Our gown was sponsored by Cointreau, the famous yummy orange liqueur and we were thrilled!

The first plan of action was to develop my direction. I knew I wanted my 'Kate' (wonderfully named by my amazing assistant, Emma McCormick) to look fashionable and NOT loose her feminine shape. The other issue was the the longevity of Kate. She needed to survive a long 4 day haul without wilting. So with a little behind the scenes action, we took our hopeful mechanics and got to work in Emma McCormick Creative's awesome POP UP shop in Sidney. We crossed our fingers and took the project on full force. This was no doubt a project crossed off my bucket list. Although we had created a floral gown prior, this was much more detailed and lengthy. People ask us how many hours we put into the project, all I can say is that after the 15th hour, we began to loose track.

I have no idea what we were discussing in this photo but it sure is cute and silly! Here you see some of our mechanics holding up Kate.

I took a leap of faith as I really wanted shades of blues included in my dress and ordered bunches of blue delphinum and I wanted to pair the blues with hues of pinks and rustic natural moss. In the end, I ended up placing my order for pink spray roses, spotted pink carnations (I knew those would hold up without a doubt), curly willow to create her skirt and train, and used purple tricillium for texture. I am a texture lover!

I can see my mind tinkering in this photo, trying to plan the next move. Logistically there was so much to think about. From keeping Kate fresh, to design style and the dreaded delivery and set-up on site at Mayfair mall.

Well Kate survived the move with minor adjustments needed. She stood beautifully on display at Mayfair Mall and decked out in pinks and blues. I used numerous high end fashion designs as my source of inspiration and actually combined 3 runway gowns into one and put my own twist on it. She had a beautiful blue delphinum train, an assymetrical skirt, a low cut top with a very editorial necklace to show sophication. A corsage and flower crown were made for just that something special. How fancy are you Kate! My children didn't have much faith that she was going to turn out good - but then they saw the final results and they said "it turned out good."

Emma even convinced my to match my Kate with a floral crown myself for the Gala show the evening before launching the show to the public! Great job Emma.