Thursday, September 19, 2019

September Blooms and Berries

September Blooms and Berries
~~~~~~~
We have an arrowwood viburnum growing in our horse pasture. The flowers it provides in the late spring and summer are always a welcome sight, but the berries that make their show in the fall are truly the icing on the cake. 


The berries have been lush and beautiful this year. It is always at this time, when the berries ripen to the perfect hue of blue, I think of all of the fun ways to incorporate them in floral arrangements. 


 Recently, while going through old emails, I came across the professional photos that one of my September brides had sent to me some time ago. Though I try to post photos right away when I get them, as I recall, we had an over the top full schedule at that time, and posting the photos simply didn't happen in a timely manner. With the stunning viburnum berries just starting to fade in our horse pasture, I couldn't let the season pass without sharing these fun photos now.

  
Being a part of Rachel and Tim's special day was a gift. Tim's grandparents had lived right next to my childhood home, and I had actually babysat Tim occasionally when he was young. Meeting Rachel was a treat.  She is so creative. She even made the copper flowers that we incorporated in her bouquet.


 The wedding & reception took place at Rachel's parents property in Saint Johns, MI. A perfect setting for a special day.









 Here comes even more sweetness...



 Tim's wonderful parents...

 
Rachel's grandparents are adorable. 
I love the expression on her grandfather's face in this next photo. 




Tim's dad built all of the wooden flower boxes that were filled with flowers for the reception. 



A perfect way to remember the day...

Looking forward to when our viburnum will bloom and bear berries again!~

All photos by: Jamie May Photography
Flowers by: Forrester Farm

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Savoring Sweet, Sweet Summer

I always want to squeeze the most that I can out of summer!~ Anyone else?


Our summer seemed to really start in July this year. We had decided at the first of the year that ready or not, we were going to host our youngest daughter's graduation party in our "church reclaim" project at the end of June. The building wasn't as ready as I would have liked it to be, but the party was fun regardless. With guests, food and a fun, albeit imperfect, environment, celebrating our daughter with those that we love was the best!~ Work in progress photo below...


July & August were filled with floral work and as many lake, outdoor music & vintage/antiquing excursions as possible!~ 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Big lake, little lake. Both so very different. We have a couple favorite lake locations that we love to hang out at as often as we possibly can.




 Weddings, Pulp & Stem bouquet deliveries and a fun 2 day floral workshop, kept us blooming busy all summer long. I don't think I'll ever tire of working with flowers! It's a beautiful thing.










 Vintage/Antique Flea Markets always seem to inspire me. Checkpoint 19 Antiques had a booth at a couple of our favorite places this summer. The Allegan Antiques Market and The Found Cottage Mercantile Market. Both so much fun to attend. 




My mind will wrap around the changing of the season soon, though everything in me says that I'm not ready for summer to end. Sometimes we need huge reminders to be thankful in all things!~


 We were able to attend a great music event up north this past weekend. The Accidentals were just one of the great bands that played at the Minnehaha Brewhaha. My 10 year old nephew agreed that the best song of the night was Michigan and Again where...


Thanks for visiting here.
Cheers to a great fall season!~ 


Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Hello. Goodbye. Pulp & Stem.

Hello. Goodbye. Pulp & Stem.

Though many photos and posts showed up on our Forrester Farm facebook and instagram accounts, I hadn't actually blogged about our Pulp & Stem adventure in the Grand Rapids Downtown Market at all. As an ode to an excellent adventure, I do so now. 


As an introduction, Abbey, who owns The Paper Studio in downtown Grand Rapids, had approached me to be the "floral component" of her new retail space located in the Grand Rapids Downtown Market. Pulp & Stem opened in May of 2018 and we happily provided blooms upon blooms thru August 1, 2019. Fresh floral bouquets to compliment the wonderful gift items that Abbey had curated for the shop. The bouquets we provided year round also consisted of locally grown flowers during our Michigan growing season.


In honor of the start and end of a fun, flowery adventure, a photo journey of just of few of our weekly favorites...



















Followed by the screenshot documentation of the Pulp & Stem instagram account which will be closing very soon... 

















  And that's a wrap!~ 
We have loved working with Abbey and we loved being the "stem" side of Pulp & Stem.

As seasons change in Michigan, so they do in business as well. In the past 19 years of Forrester Farm, flowers have been a consistent part of who we are and what we have done. From weddings, events, participating in retail spaces, farmer's markets, arts & craft shows and hosting fun "garden room sales" at our own location, we change, adjust, grow and bloom and we look forward to doing more of just that!~ Cheers to the future!~

You can follow Abbey's continued adventures at: 

And all that is Forrester Farm at:
Our website:  Forrester Farm
(which also links to all below)
On facebook:  Forrester Farm facebook 
On instagram:  Forrester Farm insta 
and life wouldn't be fun without...
Our pinterest page: Forrester Farm pinterest