We had the opportunity to flower for a special wedding planned and designed by Kosi Events that took place at the stunning ULUM Moab Resort. This design leaned into the vibrant oranges of the giant marigolds. We loved the way the bold tones popped against the landscape south of Moab. Some of the guests were blown away that the flowers were grown in Moab (just 20 miles away) because of the way they felt like such a stark contrast to the open desert.

Behind the scenes was a marigold harvest and processing morning a few days before the event with employees and friends of the farm. We all smelled like marigolds in the best way and found a lot of joy photographing the giant flower en masse. We filled 20 buckets of marigolds and I remember we still didn’t feel like we made a dent to the flowers in the field. Hours and hours of prep went into processing and conditioning all of the ingredients in anticipation of a hot and dry August day with temperatures nearing 100F. Foliage and flowers were chosen that would hold up to the heat and still look fresh throughout the night and they did just that.

I loved the instructions we were given to adorn the dead tree at the entrance of the ceremony with flowers. We used the first of the dahlias, terracotta lisianthus, trailing amaranthus and asparagus foliage to give a lush but whimsical entrance moment. Now I can cross flowering a dead tree off my bucket list. :)

I grew tuberose for the first time this year and the few stems I had that week made their way into a striking bar piece that smelled as good as it looked. Bar pieces are my favorite place to showcase unexpected stars of the show because you can’t help but spend a little extra time with these flowers while waiting for your beverage. I definitely spied some noses finding their way to the tuberose fragrance.

We repurposed the ceremony florals in front of the stage and the head table giving them a refresh and making them feel like new arrangements. When we came back late that night we learned that the wedding was treated to a rare desert rainstorm right as they sat down for dinner under the tent and it cleared in time to dance under the stars. The desert always delivers in one way or another and we are here for it.

Emily Klarer was there to capture the magic and did just that. Some of her film snaps featured here.