Pollen Floral Design

Popping in here to let you know about a flower-related workshop this Sunday at ...

I am bringing my experience of being a professional florist for over 20 years to guide us in making hand-tied bouquets this Sunday!

Hand-tied Floral Bouquet Workshop 💐
Sunday, February 11, 2024
9:30am-11:00am

Peruse the selection of gorgeous, seasonal blooms and foliage at a pop-up floral bar, then learn to make a European-style hand-tied flower bouquet suitable for gifting.

When properly constructed, the spiraled gathering of stems stands on its own! We’ll also cover cut flower care to get the maximum life out of your bouquet.

Everyone will leave with a bouquet to give as a Valentine’s Day gift, or to keep for yourself!

While this is a wonderful opportunity to have some solo time, it’s also a great workshop to sign up with a parent, partner, or friend.

I hope to see you there!

Register at rootedchicago.com.

Space is limited.

Create an arrangement with Lynn of Pollen Floral Design during this hands-on floral design workshop!

Walking into a room with flowers is a mood-shifter, isn’t it? Flowers have a way of drawing us in closer…

A centerpiece on your table can make a casual weekday dinner feel like a fine dining experience.

An arrangement near your workspace adds a serious dash of beauty.

Imagine receiving a seasonal arrangement as a gift for hosting a get-together!

Let’s celebrate the magic of fall and flowers together: On Sunday, November 19th, we are going to craft autumnal centerpieces at our newest community workshop at Rooted Living.

We provide the materials and the instruction, and you leave with your own floral creation.

There are limited spots available and they’re filling up! Don't miss out on the chance to connect with new people (or bond with old friends!) and create something beautiful.

Register at rootedchicago.com

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From Pollen's archives: This sweetheart table didn't need much besides some monogrammed votive candles and minimal floral decoration, as it was set in front of the couple's eye-catching altar, bursting with vibrant flowers. This bright winter wedding was a joy to work on—scroll through to see more! You can find this wedding and weddings organized by season on Pollen's blog (link in bio).

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Have you seen what's in store at Rooted. By Pollen.] yet? There's a lot of plant goodness happening over there, and we'd love to help you find something special...with cooler weather comes the need for more color and nature brought indoors!

Check out Rooted. By Pollen.] to see what we're doing over there.

Each table at this summer wedding featured unique details, including vintage-inspired glass and brushed gold vases and arrangements that had a relaxed, just-plucked-from-the-garden look. This was such a beautiful day!

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Planner: Kelly,
Catering:

A bright celebration of love!

This joy-filled day was brimming with playful details, from ombré dahlias and a vintage pink car, to a donut wall display at the reception. The full feature can be found on Pollen's blog under Summer Weddings.

Photographer: Hadassah Brand and Kristin Parra for
Venue:

Have you visited Rooted. By Pollen.] yet?

The front-end of Pollen's floral studio has transformed in a houseplant shop over these last couple of years—and it's growing with new plants, houseplant accessories, and gifts every day!

To see what's in stock, check the website or come on in!

Walk-in shopping is available from 1pm-6pm Wednesday through Friday and Saturday & Sunday from 11am-4pm.

🌱 See more at Rooted. By Pollen.]

Want to recognize a low-key hero? Nominate them to receive a floral arrangement from Pollen Floral Design! See linked post for details.

Update: Entries have closed. But please continue to share your stories of kindness!

It’s a KINDNESS PAYBACK GIVEAWAY! Win a floral arrangement from Pollen Floral Design to give to a kind person who deserves it for helping others! Here’s how:

In the comments of this post, please tell us about someone (they can remain anonymous or you can sing their praises!) who is often kind to others, without expecting anything in return. I love hearing stories about people doing nice things for each other, so please provide one example of something they’ve done to help you or others. Entries close at 1pm tomorrow (Wednesday).

At 1pm on Wednesday, I will randomly select THREE people to win a floral arrangement from Pollen Floral Design that looks something like the one shown here. The arrangement can be picked up during Rooted’s shop hours of 1pm - 6pm on Wednesday or Thursday. The winner may pick it up or the kind nominee can pick it up directly. Rooted is located at 2918 N. Milwaukee in Avondale.

THE RULES: Be sure to click over to this post if you're seeing this shared! You must share an example of the nominee's kindness in the comments of THIS POST on Rooted's page. You or the recipient must be able to pick up from Rooted on Wednesday or Thursday between 1pm and 6pm. One entry per person. Sorry, you cannot nominate yourself.

The backstory:
Before Rooted, there was Pollen Floral Design, a wedding florist. Pollen has been around since 2009, but when the pandemic started and it became clear weddings weren’t going to be happening for a while, I started up Rooted to keep the lights on (and to keep my sanity). Yesterday, I created a sample centerpiece for an upcoming wedding. Because I have to buy flowers in quantities of 10, 12, and 25, I have lots of leftover flowers that I would love to go to someone who deserves them. And I want to hear and share your uplifting stories about people being good to each other.

A favorite from Pollen’s archives: this outdoor wedding (for one of Pollen’s florists!) featured beautiful Quicksand roses, locally grown tardiva hydrangea, Japanese anemone, and scabiosa.

The whole wedding feature is definitely worth seeing, and it can be found on Pollen’s blog (linked in stories).

Photography by
Venue: Columbus Park Refectory
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Colorful flowers bring so much joy! The sunshine yellow of these ranunculus added whimsy to this vivid summer wedding at .

Photography by

This couple's sweetheart table was exquisite in its simplicity! We loved the combination of ivory and sky blue for a wedding at the Adler Planetarium. The full wedding feature can be found on Pollen's blog, along with other summer weddings from Pollen's archive! (Link in bio)
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Ceremony and reception:
Planner: Jaci Weber,
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DJ:
Hair and makeup:
Lighting:

This wedding! With a soft-hued palette and an eye for details, this couple’s early summer wedding ceremony at Holy Family Parish was followed by a garden party reception at Chicago Illuminating Company.

There are so many more gorgeous shots from this day on the blog, and it can all be found under ‘Summer Weddings’. This is the best place to explore Pollen’s archive of weddings across the seasons.

Photography:
Coordinator: Julissa,
Ceremony: Holy Family Parish
Reception:
Decor:
Specialty Furniture Rentals:

Some behind the scenes of a large scale installation for a celebration of life gathering held yesterday. This is certainly the tallest structure Pollen has done, at 15' tall. What an honor to create this memorial!

How’s this for a spring arrangement?! A sprawling assortment of narcissus, ranunculus, and flowering branches greeted the guests as they arrived to the reception after a trolley ride. More photos from this wedding from Pollen’s archives can be found on Pollen’s blog.
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Scroll through to see some favorite moments from this vivid spring wedding at Revolution Brewing!

The full wedding feature can be found on Pollen's blog alongside a collection of other weddings, each organized by season.
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This wedding from Pollen's archives included plenty of seasonal favorites! Bouquets and arrangements featured everything from zinnias, ranunculus, and dahlias to jasmine, roses, and anemones. Scroll through to see some favorite moments!

Photography by
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Coordination: Breanna Manzie, .

There’s something about protea...
We loved how much it was featured in this spring wedding!

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This spring wedding at LondonHouse had so much elegance... the full feature can be found on Pollen's blog under 'Spring Weddings'.
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Find eco-friendly wedding vendors this Sunday at Loft on Lake at Chicago Green Wedding Alliance's (typically) annual wedding show, Committed! Some of my favorite people will be there! :)

Join us on Sunday March 20th for Committed, Chicago's only Green Wedding Show!​​​​​​​​
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Enjoy some jams, some bites and meet some of the most eco-concious wedding vendors all in one place!​​​​​​​​
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Visit our link in bio to purchase tickets. See you soon!

At this wedding from Pollen's archives, loose and gardeny arrangements in a serene palette lined a wall mantel for the ceremony at Revolution Brewing before migrating to the tables for a candlelit reception.

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As a florist, I’d love to have access to all the flowers all the time, but their ephemeral nature makes me appreciate what each season has to offer. For my clients, working with the seasons when selecting their wedding flowers ensures they’ll receive the best quality flowers available for their wedding. Each season has blooms that are especially plentiful and that also means they’re at their best pricing during that season.

Reflecting on this season as it wraps up, my favorite winter wedding flower is the hellebore. A bit more obscure than the rest of my favorites, hellebores are a winter bloom that has been under the radar in the US for quite some time, though they are quite popular in Europe. Some call them Christmas roses or lenten roses, however they are in the buttercup family.

Hellebores are typically available as a cut flower from early winter into late spring. They come in white, green, white with pink speckles, pink, mauve, and burgundy and they’re some of the first flowers to pop up in the yard in early spring.

This wedding at featured them alongside fritillaria, a stunning spring flower.

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Looking back on this gorgeous winter wedding at Bridgeport Art Center’s Skyline Loft, featuring a hanging installation of garden roses and foliage that transitioned from ceremony to reception.

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Coordinator: Samantha Helmig,
Caterer:

The plum scabiosa and navy berries in this bride's bouquet played off of the striking centers of the anemone flowers.

While the bouquet palette was monochromatic, the rest of the wedding florals were vivid — including lots of orange!

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Photography by

Florists have been dealing with supply issues for the past two years. We're facing shortages of flowers and (very much) increased prices. We're lucky at Pollen that our clients mostly are interested in a look and color palette, rather than "must have" flowers. Being flexible with your flower choices will get you the best end product! https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/style/flower-supply-shortage

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Supply chain challenges, labor shortages and poor growing conditions have led to a global shortage of fresh flowers, especially the kinds grown for events like weddings.

A very happy anniversary to Sarah and Jonathan! For more beautiful photos from Emma Mullins Photography, visit our blog: https://pollenfloraldesign.com/blog/wedding-profile-vintage-inspired-november-wedding-at-the-herbarium/

To my fellow small businesses owners: Wanna be my neighbor? Here's a very cool opportunity to check out over a dozen available storefronts on our stretch of Milwaukee between Kimball and Central Park!

Attention all creative independent business owners! If you’ve been looking for your first bricks and mortar storefront or looking to expand your existing business to Avondale, Take A Walk On Milwaukee is the event for you. This is an unprecedented opportunity to see over a dozen available storefronts open all at the same time with the realtors present. You can also find out about the new businesses that are about to open and see the existing businesses that you would be part of if you joined our community. 9/25/21 Noon-4. Check in and pick up a map at Woodard Plaza 2819 N Milwaukee at the corner of Kimball and Milwaukee.

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