Continuing Our Education

Recently Bank of Memories & Flowers took time out from the busyness of the day-to-day to continue their education. The Bank of Memories team from both shops got together to enhance their floral skills and build team spirit -- and had a great time doing it!

 

The Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Board of Teleflora presented a sympathy program which was hosted at Karthauser & Sons Greenhouse and Floral located in Germantown during the "Make Someone Smile Week".  I had the honor to chair the event and work with Gerard Toh, AIFD CFD CCF, a nationally renown florist from California. To name just a few of his major accomplishments, Gerard has been featured in numerous floral publications, has worked to beautify the floats of the famous Rose Bowl Parade and has developed many silk floral products in China.  Gerard did an excellent job teaching us some new techniques and also new ways to see and use everyday products.  

 Shop owner, Melissa Maas, poses for a photo with Gerard.

We loved the idea of working fresh plants right into floral sprays on easels or into the casket spray so family members could take home something to remember their loved one. 

Even with the somewhat somber topic of sympathy arrangements, the Bank of Memories team was excited and energized after learning the new ways to create beautiful blooming baskets, textural casket sprays, and other unique designs. We sincerely thank the Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Teleflora Unit for sponsoring this event, Karthauser for hosting it, and Gerard Toh for sharing his wisdom. 

We can't wait to get back to work!

 

Melissa Maas, Owner

The Week in "Re-Bloom"

The weekend has arrived! This week proved to be full of excitement, laughter and a healthy bit of stress -- with a golf outing, multiple weddings, and some fun shop cleaning/rearranging, the days flew by! Here are some photos from the past week at Bank of Memories & Flowers:
 

We were delighted to be asked to once again donate the centerpieces for the Menomonee Falls Chamber Golf Outing, held every year in August at North Hills Country Club. The centerpieces consisted of a lively green garden hydrangea set among submerged golf balls. A monarch adorned each hydrangea, sitting on atop a loop of bear grass.

Ali and Brandon had a beautiful day for a wedding last Saturday. Their ceremony took place on the rooftop of the Silver Spring Country Club and was absolutely gorgeous! Their flowers consisted of an amazingly bold blend of colors and textures, including purple stock, vibrant gladiolus, viking mums, and our favorite element: yellow billy balls!

Our next beautiful bride on Saturday had a completely different feel to her bouquets but just as gorgeous! Lauren and Wil were wed at Calvary Lutheran Church in Thiensville with a reception following at the River Club of Mequon. The bouquets for this wedding were full of texture with medium and hot pinks, fuchsia, and antique ivories. The flowers consisted of ranunculus, roses, lisianthus and dusty miller.

Michelle and Anthony also said their vows on Saturday at Cedar Beach Inn in Belgium. The bouquets had a lovely soft textured feel with a brilliant blend of modern and vintage elements. The green hydrangeas added structure and incredible pops of texture, while the white dendrobium orchids added a sleekly chic touch. Perhaps our personal favorite of the bouquet were the astounding garden roses which consisted of layer upon layer of ruffled orangey-pink petals!

While our customers were busy getting married, hosting showers and picking up flowers on a whim for a loved one, we kept busy inside doing some re-arranging! It's always a joy to give the shop a new feel (and a good cleaning!) by re-doing our displays and bringing in some new seasonal giftware. We made use of our fun and eye-catching telephone booth and played off the pops of red.

 Attempting to hang on to summer as long as we possibly can, we decided to work out magnificent dish gardens and other pops of green color into the front displays -- what a wonderful lively greeting to meet your eye when first walking through our shop door!

 

And as we worked our tails off preparing for weddings, designing arrangements, and cleaning the shop, Chloe lightly twitched hers while taking in the view from her favorite shop window. She loves to watch the bumblebees as they buzz from one flower to the next in our window boxes. She's our ever-present reminder to take life easy and make some time to breathe!

As you can see, we've been busy! We'd love to see you stop in the shop to see our new displays for yourself  -- there is truly never a dull moment around here! Hope the weekend is treating you well and that you find some time to watch the bumblebees go to work!

Violet, Florist/Social Media Coordinator

 

Silverado's Grand Opening!

Bank of Memories & Flowers was honored to design and set up the flowers for Silverado Oak Village's grand opening on July 9th. Silverado Oak Village senior care community provides skilled memory and dementia care to seniors.

 

With the vibrantly bold yellows and oranges, our flowers complemented the beautiful decor at Silverado and received rave reviews from many guests and employees!

 

 Not only did all of the dining tables and cabaret table showcase our work, but also every food station and even the bathrooms had a contemporary vasing, mounded with yellow, orange, lime and white flowers. The arrangements all included deep orange roses, white oriental lilies, white and green hydrangeas, bells of Ireland,white dendrobium orchids, gerbera daisies and alstroemeria.

  

 

We were so delighted to have the chance to return to Silverado just a few weeks later for "Make Someone Smile Week", sponsored by Teleflora. Each resident received a freshly potted plant in a smilely face mug -- the wonderful result was lots and lots of smiles and a thank you signed by many of the residents and staff!

Krista, Menomonee Falls Manager

The Week in "Re-Bloom"

It's been another fun-filled week at the Bank of Memories & Flowers! The number of weddings per weekend seems to be slowly increasing and soon the fall wedding season will be fully upon us -- an extremely exciting time for all of us at the shops! We'd like to share with you the photos of the gorgeous wedding flowers we created for last weekend as well as a few other "odds and ends" which have been keeping us busy...

Ashley and Adam were married last Saturday on the rooftop of Silver Spring Country Club. The flowers were soft, yet bold with lots of ivory roses and hydrangeas and then pops of blue dendrobium orchids. Rhinestones were then inserted in the center of many of the roses on the brides' bouquet which completed the elegant look.

  Beautifully happy and cheery, the flowers for Brittany and Colin were impossible to look at and not smile. The wedding took place last Saturday at the Radisson in Menomonee Falls. The all-yellow bouquets consisted of gerbera daisies, roses, and bright protea. The bridal bouquet was then wrapped with ivory ribbon, tied in love knots while the bridesmaids' bouquets were each bound with deep gray binding and accented with pearls. Full of texture and vibrancy, these blooms made quite the statement and were the perfect complement to such a joyous occasion!

 The week again found Chloe, our "shop cat" at our Menomonee Falls location, taking it easy and finding yet another favorite box to hideout in. She constantly reminds us all to breathe and chill out even on the busiest of days!

 Gorgeously full, green hydrangeas were harvested from our gardens this week and used in many bouquets for a pop of lime green color and amazing texture.

 

 Our Pewaukee shop added some great new giftware, each playing off the ever-popular bird theme.

 We've also kicked off our partnership with the Menomonee Falls chapter of "Blessings in a Backpack" and are now collecting new school supplies for kids in need at our Menomonee Falls location through the end of the day today! Read more about the details of donating and the upcoming fantastic Glow Run/Walk which begins at the Menomonee Falls HS stadium on Saturday, August 23rd in our previous blog post here.

So Happy Weekend to all of you from all of us at the Bank of Memories & Flowers! Take advice from our Chloe: sit back and take some time to relax. And we'll be happy to share with you again next Saturday what's kept us busy in the coming week!

Violet, Social Meida Coordinator

School Supply Drive and 5K Glow Run/Walk Benefiting Blessing in a Backpack

We are proud to announce that we have teamed up with Blessings in a Backpack this year! Never heard of it? This organization is an amazing group of people that help to provide elementary school children who are on the federal Free and Reduced Price Meal Program with a backpack of healthy, quality food to take home for 38 weekends during the school year. Backpack food includes easy-to-prepare, ready-to-eat foods, like granola bars, juice boxes, mac and cheese, and oatmeal. This organization allows helps to organize school supply drives in local chapters of the program for families who may not be able to afford the items kids need for the upcoming school year.

School Supply Drive

Where: Bank of Memories & Flowers, Menomonee Falls location

When:  Now until August 17

Why:  Bank of Memories & Flowers is partnering with Blessings in a Backpack to donate new school supplies to benefit kids in Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee and surrounding areas.

How: Simply stop in our Menomonee Falls location with some new, unused school supplies to donate and drop in the designated box!

5K Glow Run/ Walk

Help support the Menomonee Falls chapter of Blessings in a Backpack in their first family-oriented Glow Run!  Family fun begins at 6:30PM; race begins at 8:00PM.  Music stations and more fun light the way in this spectacular Glow Walk/Run!  Your participation feeds local children in the fight against hunger.  Can't walk/run but want to send support?  Send a check to c/o Dee Dee Ternes; W145 N7044 Northwood Dr.; Menomonee Falls, WI  53051. 

Event details and schedule:

• Glow Run/Walk registration is going on now! Register early for a discount. Fees are as follows:
• 0 - 5 years old (as of 08/23/14) = FREE
• 6 - 12 years old (as of 08/23/14) = $20.00
• 13 and up (as of 08/23/14) = $30.00
•  Fee increases one week prior to event to $30 and $40, respectively
• Packet pick up on Friday, August 22 from 4PM-6PM outside the MFHS football stadium or on race day from 5:30-7:30PM before race.
• Family fun begins at 6:30PM with music and more!  
• This is not an officially timed run.
• After race, raffle prizes will be awarded.
• All walkers/runners should be off the course by 9:15.  Event ends by 9:30PM.

Wear your glowing attire--anything fun that lights up the night!  Glow gear included in swag bag.  They will also have additional glow gear for purchase!

Course Outline

• Head straight/south on Stadium Rd. from the high school
• Take a right on Appleton Ave.
• Right on Pilgrim Rd.
• Right on Menomonee Ave.
• Right on Merrimac Dr.
• Right on Franklin Dr.
• Left on Titan Dr. back to high school

Hope to see you all there!!!!! For more information or to see how you can help, visit the Blessings in a Backpack Glow Run Walk webpage here.
   
Krista,  Menomonee Falls Manager

Megan + Josh = Wedding

Ceremony and Reception: Hilton City Center, Downtown Milwaukee

Florist: Bank of Memories & Flowers 
Month: June

We had the distinct honor of providing the bouquets, aisle adornments, and centerpieces for Megan and Josh's wedding last month. The entire day had an elegantly modern feel from the venue to the black dresses and linens which allowed the flowers to really make a statement.

For aisle decorations the bride and groom chose candles surrounded by petals in a vase with ribbon and a rhinestone buckle around. It was a perfect way to make the room feel more romantic. At the front of the room stood two large iron stands with vases and fresh flowers in limes and fuchsias. Curly willow shooting out the top had crystals dripping from it and also from the branches hung candles in votives to make the crystals sparkle that much more.

The Bride's bouquet consisted of white roses, ranunculous, and calla lilies. Lime green hydrangea and lime cymbidium orchids added a subtle touch of color. Pearls and rhinestones were included throughout to compliment Meghan's gorgeous bling dress.
The groom had a beautiful white ranunculous and white rose to match the bride's bouquet.

The girl's bouquets popped against the black backdrop of the bridesmaids' satin dresses. The bouquets consisted of hot pink roses, fragrant fuchsia stock and peonies, white freesia and ranunculous and lime green hydrangea. Gorgeous and bold! 

The groomsmen and other gentlemen had two fuchsia spray roses that looked fabulous with the white and black tuxes. 

In the reception ballroom, Bank of Memories transformed the aisle decor to centerpieces to accompany large arrangements with towering curly willow. More crystals and votives were found hanging from these centerpieces to make the Grand Empire Ballroom seem that much more magnificent. We spread fuchsia petals around the cake as well as around some of the centerpieces to complete the look.

It was such a beautiful day for a beautiful couple. Congratulations again, Megan & Josh!! Thank you for letting us be a part of your gorgeous day!

The Week in "Re-bloom"

What do you get when you combine State Fair, four weddings and a butterfly exhibit? Our week at Bank of Memories & Flowers! Here are some of our favorite photos from last week:

Our week began with the setting up of our booth at the State Fair in the Horticultural Building. We took inspiration from a handmade quilt hanging over the booth, focusing on the theme "weather" and playing off the three-dimensional butterflies contained on the quilt. Our booth contains 60 butterflies! For more photos, including some fun set-up and before and afters, check out our State Fair blog post.

Floral designer, Marcia, really got into the butterfly theme and set up her own "exhibit" of sorts at our Menomonee Falls shop :)

Our Pewaukee location added some great giftware as well as some fantastic jewelry!

 

Jade traveled a long distance for her wedding last Friday. Her bouquet consisted of vibrant sunflowers, purple statice and flat-leafed ferns, reminiscent of her current Colorado home. The satin ribbon on the stems were tied in love knots to complete the look.

Sara's wedding also took place on Friday at the Best Place Milwaukee venue which is part of the historic Pabst's mansion and brewery. To go along with the "brewery" theme, Sara had a friend drop off some fresh hops to be incorporated into her bouquet -- we loved the finished product!

Jennifer and Craig were married on Saturday at St. James in Menomonee Falls. Their flowers consisted of soft peaches and vibrant colors. Exquisitely gorgeous!

Abby and Derek were wed on Saturday at St. John's church in West Bend. Their flowers were simply elegant -- varying types all in white. They included ranunculus, freesia, hydrangea, and roses. The reception tables were each adorned with fresh hydrangea arrangements. All together, the day included more than 200 individual hydrangea flower blossoms!

 We also had the opportunity to make this adorable arrangement, being sent to parents welcoming a newborn son! (P.S. This pick up truck also makes great gifts for dads, grandfathers, or anyone who loves trucks!)

Have a great weekend and we'll look forward to updating you again next week!