Red Butte Gardens!

Emily and I visited Red Butte Gardens today with our long-time associate/designer, Carole Murnin, who volunteers there. We met with the event coordinator, Robin Nelson, to talk to her about providing florals and decor for their weddings and events. We were anxious to talk to them since we moved our business from Park City to the Salt Lake Valley. This one of a kind venue, with it's natural splendor is right up Basket of Gold's alley! We took a tour of the gardens after our meeting with Robin and were totally bowled over at the natural beauty of this setting for a wedding. It had been a while since I toured the gardens and they just keep getting more and more magnificent! If you haven't been there lately you must go and check it out.... and if you haven't chosen your wedding venue yet, you must consider this secret treasure!
There are a couple of magnificent spots to hold your ceremony; the Fragrance Garden is covered with a wisteria trellis with sweeping views of Salt Lake City below. As you walk through the herbal gardens to the ceremony site the powerful aromatherapy of the glorious lush herbs perfume the air and infuse your spirit with amazing grace. The photo ops at the Gardens are out of this world! The other option for your ceremony is the Rose Garden lawn which is surrounded by fragrant colorful roses and has a lovely waterfall view (above) and a beautiful pergola to frame your 'altar'.
Your reception will be held in The Orangerie, a large glassed building that features lush abundant potted florals, mature orange trees in bloom, wisteria trellises up the walls and incredible views of the gardens, the mountains and the city. This area can also be used for the ceremony in inclement weather or winter months. It can hold 150 seated guests or up to 400 for an open house style reception. There is also a beautiful adjacent patio that can be set for additional seating.
Mere words cannot express the beauty of this special place! If you would like to consider it for your wedding, I'd love to take you up there and show it to you and meet with Robin... or you can call her yourself at 801-585-9563 or email her robin.nelson@redbutte.utah.edu . Please tell her Basket of Gold sent you! Visit their website at http://www.redbuttegarden.org/ Basket of Gold's natural organic style goes together with Red Butte Garden like, well... Love and Marriage!





We were kicking ourselves today for not bringing our camera. We snagged these photos off of google images. Please visit our website for more info about us at http://www.basketofgold.com/

A Custom Wedding at The Johnson Mill on the Fourth of July!

The Fourth of July was a busy day for Basket of Gold as we prepared the wedding flowers for Kim Johnson and Sean Blackmore at the beautiful Johnson Mill in Midway, Utah, http://www.johnsonmill.com/ . We are very excited to get photos from the pros who handled this wedding, the incomparable husband and wife team of Pepper Nix and Mitchell Burt of Zuma Photo! What we are posting today are just our snapshots... when we get their wonderful work, we will add another post, which will include the wedding party.

We were thrilled with the new rustic wedding arch that was custom made for Basket of Gold! It was constructed of sturdy curly willow and looked spectacular in the willow grove at the Mill!

Our added floral flourishes on the arch and the petals from 200 roses on the wedding aisle finished the ceremony site!

Kim and Sean's centerpieces were really something special. The florals included gardenias, casa blanca lilies, calla lilies, roses, sweet peas, peonies and ivy. Gardenias were especially important to the couple, for Sean gave them to Kim while he was courting her. Striving to make the gardenia a prominent focal point of the centerpieces, we created opulent floral topiary balls and placed them atop inverted cylinder vases. Inside these inverted glass stands we placed a cube filled with pink sea glass and a single, perfect floating gardenia. Each inverted glass stand had a battery operated down-light affixed to the inside top shining down on the gardenia, casting a subtle glow on the table and highlighting the gardenia. The bride and groom had a very tall topiary on their sweetheart table in the center of the tent ...

The five other guest tables surrounded the bride and groom table and had similar centerpieces, although smaller scale and lower. The same down-light presentation was used for the guest table displays. This was an intimate gathering of only 60 guests. The flowers really popped on the black crushed velvet linens!


We loved Kim's idea for a sign-in 'tree'. We arranged curly willow branches in a hurricane vase with pink sea glass and hung some gardenias from in it little water vials. Kim made up the cute tags and her guests signed them and hung them like ornaments on the tree! We set up the table by the gorgeous pond at the Johnson Mill with the pair of swans who live there floating gracefully by. Kim and Sean were blessed with beautiful weather for their special day. Lani Lively, the wedding coordinator extraordinaire from The Mill, took very good care of this couple, looking after every detail! I can't wait to get Mitchell and Pepper's photos! Kim had a custom made gown from Italy and rode up to her groom side saddle on a horse! We are told this wedding will be featured in Utah Bride and Groom magazine this winter! So we will keep you posted about that as well!! Please check out The Johnson Mill's website at http://www.johnsonmill.com/ and see more about our custom weddings at our website, http://www.basketofgold.com/

Wildflower Package at Johnson Mill

Saturday, June 13, we provided flowers for the wedding of Amanda Dennis and James Genessy at the Beautiful Johnson Mill in Midway. www.johnsonmill.com Johnson Mill is like a fairy tale in it's old world beauty! Those two must have very good karma, for it rained cats and dogs all morning long, then an hour before the wedding was scheduled to start, the rain stopped and blue skies appeared. A good omen, for the couple as they had their hearts set on getting married in the willow grove on the property. The grove is a gorgeous setting surrounded by huge grandfather willows, an organic cathedral... off to the side is a rushing waterfall and pond. It is beyond beautiful! They got their wish! Yay!


Amanda chose our Affordable Wildflower Wedding Package (see more on our packages at http://www.basketofgold.com/) and wanted to create a Celtic theme using rich jewel tones of emerald, sapphire and garnet with silvery accents. Her flowers included deep blue bella donna delphinium, bachelor buttons, blue iris, white fragrant freesia and Canadian blue thistle, nestled in rich emerald vinca vine, with silver Dusty Miller and lambs ear and just a touch of red provided by miniature wild roses. Her bouquets had a loosely arranged field gathered look.






Centerpieces were also casually arranged in silver galvanized buckets.



Her beautiful cake was made by Susan Fox of Midway Country Corner and flowers were arranged by Basket of Gold.






Look at this incredible icing! The bride was THRILLED! Susan's company is really growing and gaining recognition... check out her website! She's even being featured by Paula Dean! http://www.midwaycountrycorner.com/

I can tell that this couple is going to have a fun life ahead of them. They have a happy go lucky way of looking at life. They were so calm and lightheated regarding the sketchy weather. They were impressive. Here is James, clowning around with the Flower Girl head wreath...

We certainly wish them all the best!!

All photos (except centerpiece shots) were provided by Margo Moaremoff of http://www.mikesphoto.lifepics.com/ . She was Johnny on the Spot when I asked her to provide photos for our blog this morning, and her demeanor at the wedding was polished and professional... Thanks a bunch Margo! Check her website... I feel she has the same values as our company, in that she really wants to give her customers good value for the cost.

Please check out our website http://www.basketofgold.com/ to find out more about our new venture into wedding flower packages. We realize that everyone has been affected by the slumping economy and this is our way of going with the flow and making weddings affordable. We also, of course, love the big elaborate affairs as well! We love the challenge and creativity a big event requires! We just love it all... life is good!

Sunflower Package at Rose Sachs!

June 11, 2009. We loved arranging flowers for the sweetest couple ever.... Mandy Malone and Luka Ohana. They got married at one of our all time favorite spots, Rose Sachs Gardens in Parleys Canyon. If you haven't been there, you're missing one of Utah's hidden wonders. Gorgeous waterfalls cascade down rugged granite cliffs and if you told me I was in Yosemite, I'd believe you! Unfortunately Mother Nature wasn't very cooperative and it rained all week... but the couple worked with their savvy caterers, 'Have Party Will Travel' and arranged a tent. The caterers were able to split the cost of the tent between Mandy and Luka and two other parties they were catering there this weekend and everyone won! We were all so thankful we had the tent because it did rain during the ceremony. The tent was set up right next to the lower waterfall and everyone was snug and dry and still got the amazing waterfall backdrop. Brilliant! As soon as the ceremony was over the sun came out for pictures and for the guests to be able to explore that gorgeous site... walking up the stairs that lead to more amazing waterfalls.

Mandy and Luka were watching expenditures and chose our affordable Sunflower Package Deal. They had a single floating sunflower in a square vase that was lined with brown river rock and vinca vine for their centerpieces and we also used them on the wedding aisle. Simple elegance. The bright yellow really added a lot of sunshine to the grey rainy day. The brown river rocks were congruent with the mountainous setting...

We did a pair of taller arrangements up by the altar that did double duty on the buffets.

Here are the simple bouquets from our affordable Sunflower Package...

And then our adorable little flower girl fairy crowns and a mini sunflower boot for our ring bearer

Mandy and Luka contracted us to move the centerpieces and buffet pieces over to the reception after the ceremony. This labor is optional in our package deals. If you have willing family and friends you can enlist them to do this and save!

And then of course, the package includes cake flowers which we happily arranged for them...

For more info on our Affordable Wedding Packages (We have a Sunflower, Daisy, Wildflower, Rose, and Gerbera Daisy) please see our website www.basketofgold.com . We have an email price list that we will be happy to send to you.

Note: Shots on this post were just our own snapshots... not the great work of the pros... but still wanted to get the post up... :) Stay tuned for a Wildflower Package Wedding tomorrow at Johnson Mill in Midway!

A Wedding Coordinator's Wedding! May 23,2009

Basket of Gold was honored to provide the flowers and decor for a wedding of a very special friend and work associate. Joni Francyk has owned a very popular wedding coordination company, A Unique Beginning, in Park City for 15 years. http://www.uniquebeginning.com/ We have been working together since her very first wedding. Joni found the love of her life, Paul Phillipp in her very own neighborhood.... Both widowed, both with bookend shiatsu dogs! It was great working with Joni on her decor because she is such a pro. She knew what she wanted but also gave us creative license ... she had two main requests: A spring tea effect using a soft color palette of shrimp, soft yellow and spring green and she wanted Lily of the Valley... good thing she chose the end of May because this delicate flower is only in season for a very short window. We went to work in our adorable cottage studio creating gorgeous arrangements for Joni. It is the BEST creating flowers for someone you know and love! We chose our square vases for centerpieces and wanted them to do double duty as aisle decor. Here are our centerpieces all lined up in the studio and ready to go.
We ordered gerbera daisies, abundant garden roses, delicate spray roses, tulips, monte casino, stock and buplurum for her displays. We were thrilled to be able to get the colors 'right on'!

Here is our Basket of Gold mascot! Little Seth Walton, Emily's 4 week old baby, and my grandson was a perfect gentleman, happy hanging out with mom and grandma as they did their work!

Joni and Paul chose Park City's St. Mary's Catholic Church for their wedding and reception. They are both members of that church and this was especially fitting because they had their first date there at the St. Paddy's Day Party!

As envisioned, the centerpieces worked beautifully on our to deliniate the wedding aisle!

It was rewarding to be an invited wedding guest and actually sit down for the wedding and enjoy the fruits of our labor! Joni and Paul invited their beloved grandchildren to stand up for them as they made their vows. Their granddaughter Emily even sang for them. It was so touching to see two families joined with such happiness and compatibility. Here is Joni with her grandaughters right before they walked down the aisle.

Joni wanted a variety of floral designs for her 'girls'. A hanging pomander and a traditional bouquet for her bridesmaids with a delicate headwreath and 'fairy wand' for her darling flower girl filled the bill. We created gerbera corsages replacing a fabric rose that came with the bridesmaid gowns. We were quite happy with Joni's bouquet. She got her Lily of the Valley. She and her attendants wore Austrian Crystal jewelry and Joni asked for crystals in her bouquet as well. As I sat in the church and watched Joni and Paul make their vows, the crystal in Joni's bouquet and jewelry picked up the light from the stained glass windows and sent colorful prisms dancing off of this happy bride in a brilliant spiritual aura! Her bouquet also included soft yellow roses and fringed white tulips and was surrounded with a collar of Lily of the Valley leaves.
Here I am with Joni. What a happy day!

After the ceremony Joni and Paul filed out of the church while bubbles and well wishes welcomed them to their new life as husband and wife!

As soon as the ceremony was finished our staff moved quickly to move the arrangements over to the Parish Hall for the reception. We love to have as many flowers as possible used in the ceremony and at the reception. Joni chose soft yellow linens with sheer celedon green toppers. Our flowers looked fabulous on them. We surrounded the square vase with our cube votives to complete the look.

All in all, this was a beautiful day for Basket of Gold and we wish Mr. and Mrs. Phillipp a lifetime of dancing together!

Note: All photos (except studio shot) are courtesy of Cynthia Woerner of http://www.cwphotographer.com/ Cynthia, Joni and I have worked for many many years together. Her work ethic, friendly demeanor and wonderful eye are highly recommended!