Lisa and Rich (+Heidi) on Madeline Island

One of Heidi's oldest friends was recently wed on Madeline Island. Perfect weather, the perfect setting, sweet, small, and intimate; this was one of our favorite weddings of the summer.

We had the pleasure of designing details of Lisa's wedding. The sweet touches of luminaries along the dock, coral-hued lanterns on the porch, turquoise and royal coral printed votives flickering on the tables, and of course, the super-striking color palette of corals and blues made this an ever-so-photogenic event. And it didn't hurt that Heidi was a bridesmaid (check out her shoes).

View more photos of the eye candy on Lace/Hanky's blog.

Studio Nitty Gritty (or yes, we do all of our work on that little table...)

We've explained it a million times, but still get asked WHAT exactly we are. "Are you a flower shop?"...nope. We're a floral design studio. All of our work is custom, and all of our flowers are purchased from our wholesaler to your order. What this means is that while you can't walk in and pick up an arrangement without contacting us ahead of time, if you give us a jingle or shoot us an email, you'll get crazy fresh flowers -- anything that strikes your fancy. Want to see the guts of our space? Check it...

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Bastian Skoog

Bastian+Skoog is on the teevee

We escaped what could have been major public humiliation with this teevee appearance for Metromix on KARE 11. Big thanks to the charming Chris Kallal for making it (relatively) painless and easy and to Taylor Carik for his tireless promotion on our behalf.

B+S lands in the Secrets of the City Mother's Day Guide

Our favorite know-it-all Kate Iverson listed Bastian+Skoog in Secrets of the City's Secrets to Mom's Heart: Mother's Day Guide 2009. Check our her exhaustive list of fresh ideas on how to treat your mom. Whether it's a recipe for "Heart Attack Potatoes" or a field trip to secret local sanctuary, the amazing Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, she's got just the right idea for your mom.

Front Page News

A Bastian+Skoog winter wedding (photographed by Sally from LaVie Photography) was featured today on the front page of that bottomless pit of brilliant ideas, Style Me Pretty. Sweet words from the article:

The second wedding that we are featuring today is pure gorgeousness. Which is exactly what we’d expect from the amazing ladies at Bastian+Skoog.

Aw, shucks...

The heart melting thank you note of the day comes from Jill and Mark, a couple whose wedding we recently designed.

Dear Liz + Heidi,

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the amazing pieces of art you created for our wedding! From our first meeting, I was dazzled by your creativity, and I knew you would bring beauty to our day. But, what appeared that snowy February Saturday overwhelmed me. You completely captured the essence of our wedding...and pushed it beyond my dreams. I will forever remember my bouquet and our table arrangements as pieces of sculpture...and I will forever be thankful to both of you for creating them for us.

Thank you!
Jill and Mark

Call Your Mother

This Sunday, May 10th is Mother's Day. Guess what -- she'd really like some flowers. Guess what else -- Bastian+Skoog can set you up. Near or far, we'll arrange something perfect for your most significant other (ask us about long distance orders, and we'll say "yes we can"). We'll also have extra special hand-tied bouquets available for sale at Surdyk's in the cheese shop if you've waited too long and are embarrassed to call us (you know who you are)...

And before the emails start coming in, yes, that's Liz's momma in the middle. And yes, she's cooler than your momma.

Mayday, Mayday!

How freakin' cute is this May Day basket we delivered today for one of our brides (from one of our favorite grooms)? Oh how we wish that someone had sent us these. Hyacinth, stock, and sweet peas made for the most luscious and fine smellin' basket -- enough to make anyone's nose gay (get it? nosegay? hehe). What a nice holiday. Can we all get it together next year and send some springtime sweetness to someone we dig on May Day? Yes, let's.

26th Annual Art in Bloom

Check out our "goods" at the Minneapolis Institute of Art's Annual Art in Bloom. This splendid spring celebration highlights the talents of Bastian+Skoog as well as more than 160 floral artists, whose work will be on view next to the works of art that inspired them. You're invited to sample the fragrant scents in the museum, enjoy a lecture or demonstration, attend a party or free docent tour, and browse in the Art in Bloom Shop. The event runs Thursday, May 30th through this Sunday, June 3rd.

P.S. The last image is not our design. But you probably guessed that...

Chicks Dig Flowers.

Passover and Easter are upon us. Are you entertaining? Are you being entertained? Do you need flowers? Of course you do. Whatever you require, we'll set you up.

Bastian+Skoog Studio is available for local deliveries of fabulous centerpieces ($50 and up). Wanna treat a long distance loved one? We have been asked to join a fine flower consortium (a fancy-pants FTD sort of thing), so you can now have Bastian+Skoog style sent across the country (and the world!). Please place your orders by Friday. Our hand-tied bouquets are also available in the cheese shop at Surdyk's Liquor Store ($15-35).

Purple is the New Orange

We didn't like purple. The bride didn't like purple. She said that purple was the next big thing...that the pantone color of the year was kind of purplish...that all of her bridesmaids looked really good in purple. And so she had a purple wedding. And we all kind of fell in love. Ceremony at the gorgeous Noerenberg Gardens, reception at the Lafayette Club (where purple looks quite great with the pale yellow walls), photos by the (also quite great) Meghan Doll.

Mrs. Liz Gets Married

Our bride, affectionately nicknamed Mrs. Liz, married her groom on the breathtaking Endless Bridge at the Guthrie Theater. The Lace/Hanky lassies created some beautiful photo eye candy with the amazing architecture and lovely view of the Mississippi River and the Stone Arch Bridge. We love Linda's non-traditional orchid-hued wedding dress -- so grown up, so big city, so very Mrs. Liz.

ARTCRANK 2009: A Poster Party for Bike People

Our wheels are spinning as we plot something fabulous for ARTCRANK 2009
The show opens on Saturday, April 4 at One On One Bicycle Studio, located at 117 Washington Ave. N in the Minneapolis Warehouse District. You'll find foxy posters from the likes of Seventhsin, Aesthetic Apparatus, Joanne Grobe, and Adam Turman, The irresistible Millions Billions will make you shake it (not that there will be room to dance). Oh, and did we mention apps by Chowgirls Killer Catering and free beer? Woo hoo!
We were in earlier this week and, escorted by the always charming Charles Youel, we got to dig through the bowels of the one on one basement to scavenge for bike bits. If you haven't been, you really need to go, but make sure to tell someone where you are -- otherwise you could be lost for days... and a tough girl/greasy metal/lush swampy fresh floral installation from us will make you wish it were (really) spring.

Black and White at the Walker

Now that we have black and white on the brain, we thought we'd whip out another gorgeous spread of black and white wedding deliciousness. Chambers Hotel and the Walker Art Center make such lovely, graphic backdrops for events and photos. These of Heather and Neal's March wedding, shot by Andrew Vick, are no exception.

We really, really love the face our bride (on the right) made when she saw the bouquets. This face (as well as the teary face) is what makes our job so great.




Black feathers, stephanotis blooms with black pins, fabulous striped ribbon, and black detailing on Heather's dress add serious punch to a white wedding.

It's Official:Our Website Rocks (and don't just take our word for it).

The Bastian+Skoog website, designed by our friends at the superfab EightHourDay, is officially h-o-t. AIGA Minnesota, a professional association for design, held it's 2009 Design Show of Excellence for print and interactive media last week. Big kudos to EightHourDay who were recognized for their design work on not only our site, but their Minnesota Opera project, as well.

Black and White at the Weisman

Lovely images by Sally Jorgensen of La Vie Photography of the recent winter wedding of Carla and Jack. Their black and white scheme was punctuated with bursts of color complements of the Weisman Art Museum. Effective touches we loved included custom table runners and table numbers printed on wine bottles -- so graphic and foxy.

My Cheeky Valentine

As many of you know, we held a contest where we invited out clients to create the cheekiest sentiment for their Valentine's Day flower order. The winner of the contest received their flowers for free. While we had several quality submissions, there was a hands down winner. Originally, we were going to announce the name of the winner and keep the sentiment private, but with only a little prodding our winner is kindly letting us repost his card here for your enjoyment and inspiration.

Tied up in knots
a bite on the shoulder
i tugged at her hair
e’re my heart ‘gan to smoulder

‘twixt sheets, silken black
lo! - a spank on the bum!
nervous.. am i naughty?
mayhaps too tame?
mayhaps ho-hum!!

then, a crash!$%
my friends,
- a cloud of smoke! -
i hung from the ceiling
prisoner,
to gravity’s heavy yoke

and in this moment she approacheth
e’re my moment of despair
kisses to my forehead
gentle strokes to my hair

she cackled with delight
bit hard on my lip.
candles and oils…
- hey-o! what’s with the whip? -

t’would kiss her
would i could
like a great prince of yore
be kama to her sutra
make her cry out “more! more!”

my situation you see, was desperate but not dire
distance it seemed, sparked my heart’s russian fire

and so, i waited,
bound but still brave
to plot Act II
self cast
as Handsome Knave

So it will go,
through months and years
the drama will unfold
many climaxes - few tears

and as I gaze to the West
I wait for a sign.
for the curtain to rise,
‘tween me and
my heart’s rowdy Valentine.

Secrets of the Sweethearts

Our studio was mentioned by Kate Iverson for Secrets of the City's Valentine's guide. We liked it so much we're reprinting our writeup here, but do check out the entire article for other sweet finds including our cupcake dealer, Sheela, at Miel y Leche.

LOVE IN BLOOM

Forget the red roses this year -- that's been done. If you want your gesture to be original and memorable, we suggest thinking beyond the baby's breath!

Bastian + Skoog Urban Flower Studio

Liz Bastian and Heidi Skoog are green-thumbed art stars. As owners of the hottest floral design studio in the Twin Cities, these ladies share some very key ideals that include "a hunger for good design and culture (and shoes), modern aesthetic sensibilities, and most importantly, discriminating taste." And these qualities are definitely evident in their unusual, custom floral designs, and their long, impressive roster of high-end clients. For those who hold art close to their heart, an arrangement from the contemporary perfectionists at Bastian + Skoog is equally satisfying to give and to get. But, beware. You'll likely become a regular, scheduling artsy arrangements for business, special occasions, and special people.

Vote for Bastian+Skoog (again). Pretty please?

We, the ladies of Bastian+Skoog, kindly ask you to vote for our studio in the MN Bride Best of Bride contest in the categories of "best overall vendor" and "florist". Note: this is different than the Downtown Journal contest we asked for your help with recently.

Bastian+Skoog won "best florist" the first two years of this competition when it was voted on by wedding vendors. The rules have changed and voting is now done by brides (and the general public), thus favoring the bigger businesses who work with piles of brides. As such, we, who have exponentially fewer wedding clients, rely on you (you, with the impeccable taste) to prettyplease follow the link and fill out the ballot to show your support for our studio.

VOTE HERE: http://www.mnbride.com
for Bastian+Skoog in the categories of "best overall vendor" and "florist".

FINE PRINT:
Voting closes March 1st, 2009.
At least six categories must be completed for your vote to count (not too difficult -- you can vote for your favorite DJ, caterer, spa, restaurant, hotel, jeweler, photographer, etc.)
Only one vote per individual, and you must fill out the starred personal information for your vote to count.

If you really, really like us, please post or forward this note along to other B+S allies.

Eternal gratitude and big kisses from your B+S girls,

Liz and Heidi

Vote for B+S!

Downtown Journal is having their Reader Raves contest. If you happen to have time and you happen to like us, would you be so kind as to fill out their ballot and vote for Bastian+Skoog as your favorite florist? It's a great opportunity to support and promote your other neighborhood businesses, as well. The deadline for the contest is this Friday, the 13th of February, so be quick about it!

http://www.downtownjournal.com/index.php?&story=13178&page=65&category=105

Big thanks from your girls at Bastian+Skoog,
Liz and Heidi