5 Favorite Things With Florist Donna O’Brien of Philly’s Beautiful Blooms 

Donna O’Brien of Philly’s Beautiful Blooms

We here at PW spend a lot of time chatting with talented wedding vendors in and around Philly, and while we love when they help us solve our problems—etiquette stumpers, logistics questions, sticky situations—one of our favorite things is simply hearing about what they’re into at the moment.

They see a lot—many of these professionals handle several weddings a weekend and are constantly up-to-date with what’s new and cool and trendy and different and pretty—and they’re awesome at what they do, so we thought: why not start sharing their answers with you?

We’re kicking it off with florist Donna O’Brien, whose creativity and design aesthetic are behind the lush arrangements coming out of Beautiful Blooms‘ Northern Liberties studio. Here’s what she’s feeling, now that summer is finally here …

Favorite bouquet style I love the soft English garden-style cascade bouquet. I’ve seen a lot of different types of flowers incorporated into a bouquet like this, and your eye is not exactly sure which one to focus on because they are all so beautiful. I especially love unique greenery incorporated into and trailing down the bouquet. If I could make my own “special” bridal bouquet, I’d mix garden roses, scabiosa, clematis on the vine and sweet peas, to name a few!

Favorite summer palette right now I am loving white flowers with unique greenery and navy ribbons, linens, etc. I love the crisp look of that color palette mixed with textured flowers.

Favorite floral perfume I am usually all about Chanel and their fragrances, but recently I purchased Oscar de la Renta’s Something Blue and am loving that. If I just had to choose my absolute favorite floral scent, though, it would be sweet peas. I adore sweet peas!

Favorite place around Philly to get floral inspiration I love going to Greensgrow Farms, which is where I buy all of my flowers for my garden. They have so many varieties and colors, and I love playing with different combinations of color and texture. I grab everything I need from them, and then go back to my garden and decide what combinations I want to make in every planter I have. What could be happier than kicking back and relaxing with flowers?

Favorite floral “extra” at weddings I love when brides and grooms incorporate their dog into the wedding, so for me that extra special piece would be a collar and leash made out of greenery and florals. I have a large Bernese Mountain dog and he would have to be included if I got married!

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