• About Catherine Castle
  • Blog
  • Book Shelf
  • Contact Catherine
  • Copyright Permissions
  • Gardens
  • Guest Blog Information-A Writer’s Garden
  • Guest Blog Information-Musings from a Writer’s Brain
  • Guest Blog Information-Tasty Tuesdays
  • Guest Blog Information-Wednesday Writers
  • WIP

Catherine Castle

~ Romance for the Ages

Catherine Castle

Tag Archives: Breaking Barriers

A Writer’s Garden– Flowers on the Beach by Gail Pallotta

04 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Writer's Garden, garden blog series

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

a garden blog, A Writer's Garden, Breaking Barriers, Gail Pallotta, Wedding arbor, Wedding flowers

arbor 3 L wedding

Flowers on a Windy Beach

 

As a youngster our daughter watched a wedding ceremony on a beach underneath an arbor filled with flowers. “When I grow up and marry, that’s what I want.”

From then to now things changed, but she didn’t. When she set her wedding date, she wanted to say her vows on the beach in Destin, Florida. I perused available arbors. Several photos showed bouquets on either side of netting draped over a frame, rather like ties holding back curtains. A garland of greenery wound up one, and all were beautiful. But they weren’t what she remembered.

bouquet L wedding

photos courtesy of Personal Touch Photography

My friend, Rosemary, a flower arranger, who made the bouquet, explained that filling an arbor would take quite a few flowers. They needed to fit tight to resist a heavy breeze or a possible thunder shower.

I traveled to Destin to handle some of the arrangements, and the wind blew fiercely. In my mind’s eye I saw flower petals blowing off an arbor trimmed with only bare green stems. My daughter had mentioned seeing an arbor in a retail store where she lived. They had a branch in Destin, so I visited them, and there it was—an arbor covered in flowers—artificial flowers! But they looked so real.

Up close, the arbor was much larger than I had imagined, and the arrangement wasn’t exactly what we needed. However, as it turned out, I could rent the arbor, which included a garland of ivy, and create my own design, which the lady in charge of the store’s floral department would attach to the frame.

Relieved and enthused, I walked through their selection. I’d always loved arranging flowers. My heart danced knowing I’d do it to fulfill a childhood dream for my daughter’s wedding.

I used a garland of roses exactly like the one on the display, but added several purple Cali lilies on each side starting at eye level to match the real Cali lilies in the bouquet.

Arbor 2 L wedding

Then I asked the lady at the store to add three arrangements, similar to their model but consisting of purple bows with white roses and lilacs.

Arbor L wedding

The arbor was perfect for my daughter and the groom. His favorite color is purple! The day after the wedding, my husband and I removed the artificial decoration. My daughter is thrilled to display her wedding flowers in her home.

All photos are courtesy of Personal Touch Photography in Fort Walton Beach, Florida www.personaltouchweddingphotos.com

About the Author:

Portrait shot Gail PallottaAward-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. Even though she doesn’t have a garden, she grows flowers in her yard and loves to create flower arrangements. A former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association, she won Clash of the Titles in 2010. Her teen book, Stopped Cold, was a best-seller on All Romance eBooks, finished fourth in the Preditors and Editors readers’ poll, and was a finalist for the 2013 Grace Awards. An author of inspirational, sweet romance, she’s published five books, poems, short stories and two-hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. Visit Gail’s new website at http://www.gailpallotta.com

Gail’s latest book, Breaking Barriers, is number 8 in Prism Book Group’s Love Is…series based on I Corinthians 13: 4 – 8. The Christian romance is available at http://amzn.to/28VWW48

Catherine Castle Facebook

Catherine Castle Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,709 other followers

Recent Posts

  • Wednesday Writers–Shadow in the Dark by Antony Barone Kolenc January 5, 2022
  • Musings from a Writer’s Brain—Reality or Make-believe? by Amy R Anguish December 27, 2021
  • Wednesday Writers—When Love Trusts by Judythe Morgan December 22, 2021
  • Wednesday Writers–Defending David by Barbara M. Britton December 15, 2021
  • Wednesday Writers–An interview with Lady Fallon from Susan Hanniford Crowley’s YA Fantasy Lady Fallon’s Dragons December 1, 2021

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Writer's organizations

  • ACFW Ohio Chapter
  • American Christian Fiction Writers

Blog Stats

  • 60,688 hits
  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Catherine Castle
    • Join 1,709 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Catherine Castle
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...