5 Questions for Madeline, Florist and Designer

1. How long have you been doing flowers and what is your level of experience.

I am a self taught florist designer and have been working with flowers for as long as I can remember. I began doing it for others in 2007, when I designed the flowers for a friend's wedding. I have always been passionate about art, design and gardening. I went to college for architecture, where I got a degree in creative problem solving. Professionally I gravitated to interior design where I worked as an interior architectural designer learning to arrange and dress a space with different finishes, fabrics and furniture. Combine my knowledge, experience and passion and you get a green flower and event design business, by Madeline Trait.

2. What do you love most about your work?

I get really excited when I meet with my clients to brainstorm about ideas and concepts for their wedding. I love the whole process from beginning to end. From the inception of a unique idea, to figuring out how to make it work and then making it a reality on their wedding day. However, it all seems to rush by so fast, that I really love seeing the amazing pictures from Aurora of what it looked like on film a few weeks after the wedding.

3. Why green?

I can't remember a time when I wasn't telling my family that they needed to recycle or conserve water. I have always had a concern for our environment and for how our actions can affect it. This mindset is not only how I guide my daily decisions but also how I conduct my business. A wedding is a special one day event so it is up to us to make sure it doesn't have a lasting imprint on the environment. I am continually researching and exploring new sustainable flower sources as well as ways in which I can conserve, reuse and recycle. It is also a goal of mine to have all my products be from fair and socially minded companies as well as goods that are locally manufactured. I believe in sustaining our communities in conjunction with our environment.

4. Do you only do weddings?

Weddings are the majority of my work but I have done other private events and want to continue to do so as well as expand into corporate events. I view each event as a design opportunity to create unique, spaces and experiences for my clients and their guests  no matter what the celebration is.

Locally Grown Weddings Featured Members:

Madeline Trait, Florist and Designer

Aurora Meneghello, Photographer

SF Swappers- A San Francisco based food swap event

Have you heard about the food swapping events taking place across the country? These events started in Brooklyn with a group called BK Swappers.

Their mission:

To help build community and empower others to turn their home food production from a hobby to a habit. Eating well just got more self-reliant!

SF Swappers was started by Locally Grown Weddings' Caterer, Chef Stephanie and Aimee Goggins in early 2011.

Our mission:

To provide an opportunity for home cooks to share food they enjoy creating with a community of like-minded food lovers. We encourage supporting our local food systems and sustainability whenever possible.

Welcome table

Pickled goodness by Aimée

We have hosted 3 successful events so far and they have been a blast! We include potluck snacks and drinks, mingling and talking food with your neighbors and then a very animated and fun food swap.

Our next event is on October 25th, 6:30-8:30. For more info on what to bring, how it works, etc. check out Aimee's blog (there is a great video on the Swapping How-To page) and our Facebook page.

Come join us!

SF Swapper hosts Aimée (left) & Chef Stephanie (right) with Kate Payne of HGGH

Sneak Preview: Julie and Michael's Wedding Photos Coming Soon!

Are you ready for a deliciously good looking vegan wedding? Coming soon...

 Locally Grown Weddings Featured Members:

Event Planning: Sadie Waddington
Catering: Chef Stephanie
Photography: Aurora Meneghello
Wedding Desserts: Pei-Yee Woo

Locally Grown Weddings Featured Partner:
Jewelry: D&H Sustainable Jewelers

5 Questions for Aurora, Photographer

1. How did you become a Photographer?

I have always been fascinated by stories told through images. My dad was an enthusiastic photography hobbyist and he gave me my first camera when I was seven years old. I still remember the first picture I took, it was of my grandfather sitting in our kitchen! At the time, though, it was not easy to learn about film making or photography in Vicenza, Italy, where I am from. So I moved to Los Angeles after high school to learn film making and then to San Francisco to attend the prestigious San Francisco Art Institute where I pursued my interest in fine art photography.

2. What do you love the most about photography?

I like to take time to create one perfect still frame. I still love film making and I just completed a short documentary film that will premiere on PBS this Fall, but I love the challenge of telling a story with just one image, no sound, no music, no motion. I bring a lot of my film making background to my photography: I plan a lot, I like team work and I use some of the skills I learned as a director when working with couples of individuals in order to help them show with movement and expression what they feel inside. Photography is the art of showing instead of telling.

3. Why "green"? 

I don't think we are ever alone and independent of each other. We live in a community and the planet is our shared space. To me being green means taking care of the environment and of other people. Environmental justice goes hand in hand with economic and social justice. I can't imagine being happy and fulfilled and not sharing that with all those near and far.

4. Do you only photograph weddings? 

Wedding photography is my favorite, but I also photograph families and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. I like to capture love and the relationships that make life meaningful. Some of us have not been blessed with a healthy family of origin, but we found the love and support of friends and partners. I want to celebrate that closeness.

 5. What is your role in Locally Grown Weddings and how do you work with the team? 

I founded Locally Grown Weddings with Sadie and Stephanie almost 2 years ago.  Since then the group has grown to include Madeline, Angela and Pei-Yee. I, of course, take all the pictures and create most of the visual content for our blog and printed material. The entire team works closely together to create a unique event for our couples and to make each wedding sustainable. I feel so lucky to have the support of these incredibly talented women who have expertise and skills so different and  complimentary to mine.

Locally Grown Weddings Featured Member:

Aurora Meneghello, Photographer

 

Zoe's Bat Mitzvah

We love families and community: Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are one of our favorite rites of passage (guess which one is out favorite!).

 

Zoe prepared for a year for this day, learning about  and practicing reading from the Torah at Or Shalom.

 

Here are some of Aurora's favorite moments from the service.

 

 

Leah and Kira pass around candies.

 

 

 

Congratulations, Zoe! 

After the service, everybody headed to Forest Hill Clubhouse for Zoe's party!

Zoe wanted an additional fun activity so Chef Stephanie arranged for Soul PatchTattoo to design Henna tattoos for the guests.

 

 

 

Chef Stephanie started out the evening serving a variety of appetizers included phyllo wrapped spiced turkey with seasonal vegetables and herb, polenta wedges with Fontina and fresh chives, kalamata olive crostini with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese...

 

...while Aurora took lots of portraits of Zoe's family and friends.

 

 

 

Dinner was a seasonal buffet featuring grass fed tri-tip and spice rubbed chicken with a red wine shallot sauce and wild mushrooms. The vegetable penne pasta included sweet tomato sauce and fresh basil. The farmer’s market salad with nectarines, feta cheese and pecans and artisan bread were the delicious side dishes.

 

The flowers were sourced locally and the signs were designed to match the invitations as well as have a clean and sophisticated look.

 

Purple was Zoe's favorite color so we had lavender linens, purple flowers with a pop of bright green.

To close out the evening, Pei-Yee created a delicious two-tier celebration cake made up of some of Zoe's favorite cakes - rich chocolate for the bottom tier and a moist carrot cake for the top tier - that were filled and frosted with a sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting. The beautiful flowers Madeline composed for the table arrangements were the perfect finishing touch to bring it all together.

And after dinner, the real fun began, with dancing, dancing and...more dancing!

  

Great party! Thank you for choosing Locally Grown Weddings to make it happen.

 Locally Grown Weddings Featured Members:

Catering: Chef Stephanie

Photography: Aurora Meneghello

Flowers and Design: Madeline Trait

Wedding Desserts: Pei-Yee Woo

Venues: Or Shalom Jewish Community and Forest Hill Clubhouse

Guest Vendors:

DJ: Joel Nelson Productions