Cocktails were served on the mid level of the courtyard by Ringling’s own Treviso.  As usual, they handled all aspects of the catering from cocktails to dinner with precision. Slice of Heaven was the bakery of choice and created an amazing cake that was as delicious as it was beautiful.

While Treviso’s fare delighted the palette, guest table centerpieces were a feast for the eyes. Three separate yet coordinating arrangements graced each table. The focal piece was an elaborate arrangement of curly willow, blue-lavender hydrangea, cream O’Hara garden roses, taupe Sahara roses, porcelana spray roses, lavender waxflower and touches of trailing, feathery soft plumosia greenery in stately black urns. Candlelight glowed from the clear votive holders hanging throughout the curly willow. Two complimentary arrangements in white vases of hydrangea, Sahara roses and porcelana spray roses nestled close to the urn and votive candles on the table completed the look.

The beauty of the day will long be remembered thanks to lovely photography by Audrey Snow of Audrey Snow Photography. Thanks to the talents of many, from the florist to the caterer to the entertainment, everyone in attendance will have fond memories of this elegant wedding.

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Lights…Camera….Action! Everyone has heard these words before but the designers and staff at Flowers by Fudgie were actually the ones getting ready for the action…and more… much more!

Lavish Floral Arrangements for the Movie "Parker"

Flowers by Fudgie received the awesome honor and privilege to provide flowers for a movie scene being filmed right here in sunny Sarasota! Directors of the movie, Parker– a thriller starring Jennifer Lopez and Jason Statham– shot part of the high-profile film for three days at the always spectacular Ringling Museum’s Ca’ d’Zan mansion and Flowers by Fudgie was selected to provide the upscale, lavish and opulent flower arrangements for filming.

Let’s take moment to set up the scene. Imagine a posh multi-million dollar jewelry charity auction for the very wealthy, supposedly set in Palm Beach. (The rest of the movie was actually filmed in Palm Beach!) The scene features event planners who were really thieves, scoping the place out for a heist during the auction. Their devious plan is to set a fire and have the guests flee outside while they are free to pillage and plunder the unattended jewelry. This hopefully gives you an idea of what kind of glamorous flower arrangements our designers were going to have to come up with…

Gorgeous jewels and stunning roses for the movie scene!

Initially, Flowers by Fudgie was to provide 6 to 12 small arrangements in elegant cream and white tones for outside on the terrace. However, Flowers by Fudgie later found out they were to provide the large ultra-glamorous and swanky arrangements in deeper and bolder tones for the inside the Ca’ d’Zan, where the glitzy jewelry auction was being held.

Doesn’t sound too daunting, does it? Well, maybe a little, considering this is floral design for a multi-million dollar Hollywood movie. However, let’s add the timeline to all of this. Basically, Flowers by Fudgie found out on a Tuesday all of what they needed to provide for the scene and had to deliver it and set it up in high Hollywood fashion ready for film by Thursday at 4:00 pm!

It was a glorious flower frenzy getting ready for the movie "Parker!"

Needless  to say–let the ordering  begin! Flowers by Fudgie ordered lots of roses, black magic roses and red garden roses called “Wanted”, and hydrangea and deep burgundy calla lilies, safari sunset, Bells of Ireland, bulpurium, and mini coin greenery. It was time to make some movie magic happen!

The Flowers by Fudgie staff was in overdrive! Not only did they need to prepare and design for their first ever Hollywood film, but they also had several weddings to prepare for the weekend after the filming…six weddings to be exact!

Becki Creighton, owner at Flowers by Fudgie, did not sleep well that Tuesday night after getting the final order from the set director. She was up from 2-4 am Wednesday morning, planning how to rework her design staff  to cover the filming and the weddings! Can they do this she wondered?

Let the Real Action Begin!

After finally getting to sleep, Becki was awakened that morning by a 7:15 am phone call  from the assistant set director. She related to Becki that the producer and the film director decided to move the filming up and start that day at 1:00 pm…yes one o’clock that day, Wednesday! Not Thursday as originally told, but a whole day and several hours earlier!

Can you say PANIC!! Becki wondered how she was going to get all the flowers in that she just ordered! Fortunately, Flowers by Fudgie has a good relationship with her suppliers. They graciously rerouted the enormous flowers orders and Flowers by Fudgie received them 9:15 that morning! Thanks to the fabulous staff at Flowers by Fudgie working fast and furiously, the Ca’ d’Zan was amazingly ready for filming by 1:00 pm that afternoon. The set designers were thrilled and Flowers by Fudgie staff were overjoyed. All in all , there were 26 arrangements!

Another Twist to This Fabulous Story

Becki designing for the movies!

You would think being asked to design floral arrangements for a Hollywood movie was fairy tale enough, right? Sure…but this story doesn’t end here!!!! While working on the movie, Becki, and Debbie Bock, shop manager, were asked to be in the movie!  So, Becki and Debbie, in their signature lavender “Flowers by Fudgie”  team tee shirts, got to play, of all things, floral designers, arranging a bouquet of flowers. All in all, they did 6 takes for this small scene and enjoyed every single second of it!

This ended up being a once in a lifetime experience for Becki and the designers at Flowers by Fudgie. Please enjoy the gallery below to see more pictures of this special experience. Everyone at Flowers by Fudgie loved this opportunity, but they do plan to keep their day jobs! So if you are looking for a florist in the Sarasota area to plan your dream wedding or dream event, do not hesitate to contact Flowers by Fudgie today!

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Tibor Imely of Imely Photography captured every moment beautifully. The bride carried a bouquet of red roses while her attendants, dressed in red, carried ivory rose bouquets. Single rose boutonnieres for the men completed the look.

Pastry by Design created a delicious stacked cake decorated in black and white and adorned with fresh red roses. Guests dined on a wonderful meal catered by Ringling’s own Treviso. By working with Flowers by Fudgie and a wonderful group of Sarasota wedding professionals, this couple had a day they will always treasure.

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Throughout history the color purple has represented royalty and it certainly represented this beautiful couple well on their dazzling wedding day! They truly were the King and Queen of the day…and the Ringling Museum could not have been a better choice and backdrop for this couple’s special day!

The Ringling Museum is an ideal and lovely location for a wedding.  This couple had their wedding on the top level, cocktails on the middle level, and dinner and dancing on the lower level in front of the breathtaking statue of David.

The exquisite bride carried a bouquet of all deep purple lisianthus with white ranunculus tucked between them. Her bridesmaids had bouquets featuring white hydrangea with purple lisianthus nested between the lovely hydrangea. The combination of white and purple was graceful, gorgeous, and grand!

And the royal purple theme continued as topiary style arrangements of all  purple hydrangea were featured on the guest tables which were draped with silver/pewter linen.  High and low arrangements were used to offer variety and added interest.

The head table was a feasting table with smaller cubes of purple hydrangea. Vases were provided so that the bridesmaids and bridal bouquets could be placed there following the ceremony to become part of the décor! Feasting tables are popular because the bridesmaids and groomsmen can also include their spouses and dates. These larger longer tables will have seating on all sides with the bride and groom on one end. They are functional and fabulous!

And wedding coordinator Nicole Kaney of NK Productions helped pull this once-in-a-lifetime experience all together for the lucky couple and the beauty of this day was captured in stunning photography by Jeanne Ciasullo.

Overall, this was another successful wedding for the designers at Flowers by Fudgie. We never get tired of providing beauty, vision, and joy for our clients! If you would like to plan your dream wedding or are looking for a florist, don’t hesitate to contact us at Flowers By Fudgie…it is our pleasure to work with you!

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  For the ceremony, Fudgie’s attractive lattice arch was decorated with pink hydrangea and roses. Guests were greeted at the back of the aisle by two lovely urns brimming with a garden assortment of pink and white roses, hydrangea, stock, queen Ann’s lace and more!

The table centerpieces were designed of silver Manzanita branches with chandeliered votive holders, candles and crystal prisms trailing from the branches sitting on top of a beautiful display of Anna blush pink roses and hydrangea with queen Ann’s lace.

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This local couple chose one of the finest locations in Sarasota for their special event. The view of Sarasota Bay and its soft breeze created the perfect setting for the perfect evening.

Guest table centerpieces with designed in 26” cylinder vases filled with regal white calla lilies and branches. Each vase was up lighted as it was placed on an LED light tray which created a soft glow as the party moved into the evening.

The bride selected white cymbidium orchids with pink throats and ivory roses for her bouquet.  The bridesmaids, in the blue gown, carried bouquet with a pop of color using the hot pink hydrangea and white roses.

Rebecca of Limelight Photography, did a fabulous job photographing  each detail of the day for this lucky couple.

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For the ceremony a simple bamboo canopy with sheer organza made a lovely backdrop and the aisle was lined with single white hydrangea with lemon leaf. 

Fete Catering was in charge of the food and did lovely cocktail hour stations with a served dinner following.  Lyndsay of Pastry by Design handled the cake with a shell theme that was topped with fresh blue hydrangea and edible small white shells.  Pretty soft blue linens were topped with tall cylinders of white cymbidium that were submerged with a light tray under each which gave a soft glow into the evening.  Each tall cylinder was surrounded with bold colors using hot pink roses, deep blue-purple hydrangea, orange spray  roses and fuchsia Mokara orchids.  The floral arrangements gave a nice pop of color on the soft pastel linens.  Star fish and other shells were used on the place card table with all the table numbers were done with a shell theme.

This great team of vendors also included Katie Beyer Photography who provided all of the wonderful photos in the attached gallery.  Katie’s has a great way of capturing the moment, check out her website at www.katiebeyerphotography.com  for additional pictures of this and other weddings.

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For those that did not  attend the fabulous fund raiser, the Ungala, for the Ringling Museum of Art; Fudgie’s wanted you  to see what a great look they had for this years party, partly due to the fun elevated arrangements that graced each table.  Linens were in hot pink, orange, yellow and lime green and each table was topped with a 26” cylinder filled with crystals and LED lights and then topped with a topiary arrangement of fugi mums in the same bold colors.  The photos posted on this blog, which were taken late in the day but before sunset, do not due them justice as the tall cylinders had a soft glow provided by the LED lights as the event moved into the evening.  Each of the 4 top tables had a small glass cube with a mound of the bold colored  fugi’s to mimic the tall elevated pieces.  Michael’s on East provided a fabulous spread at various buffet stations.  Phil Mancini was there to personally oversee the set up of the event.  Mattison’s catering handled the bars and were prepared to keep the crowd happy.  Also Fuzion Dance/Higher Ground Performing Arts, Jay Goodley Entertainment, Plant Parents and The Plant Place also provided generous in-kind sponsorship!

 The Ringling is fortunate to have many wonderful sponsors and supporters making this a huge successful fundraiser for the Museum here in Sarasota. 

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They were joined together in marriage on the Terrace of the Ca Da’ Zan. The couple stood in front of the amazing colorful stained glass windows of the museum where an iron arch, covered in roses, orchids and dripping with green amaranthus framed the couple. This placement of chairs kept the sunlight at the guests’ backs and the glare from the water out of their eyes.  Two black tripods were used to flank the back of the aisle that was lined with rose petals. Green dendrobium orchids were attached to every other chair end down the aisle.

Nicole Kaney, of NK Productions, was the wedding coordinator who effortlessly executed the event, with Mattison’s catering, led by Anna Pohl. Tibor Imely was the photographer who captured all their wedding memories.

The nearly 100 guests were then transferred by trolley to the Ringling Museum Courtyard for the reception. The dinner tables had vibrant coral Marlsye roses cascading down the stem of the 36” tall  bronze candelabrum with 5 votive candles on top of each one. This beautiful display worked well with the coral linens that had been chosen.  The whimsical cake from Beautiful  Cakes by Ron, was beautifully framed by the arch that was transferred over from the ceremony site.

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