Bouquets to Art 2010!!

This post might be more than a little in advance, but Bouquets to Art is one of the most important San Francisco floral functions. San Francisco designers are given the chance to interpret works of art at the de Young Museum using their arrangements.

MD Design would like to announce that three of our designers, Nixon Tran, Jennifer Ortega-Lato, and Sunghi sonia Morsella have applied to show their work along side MD design owner and head designer, Michael Daigian.



MD Design strongly supports and hopes that Nixon, Jennifer, and Sonia are accepted into the 2010 Bouquets to Art show. Nixon, Jennifer, and Sonia are all extremely strong designers with wonderful vision and creativity. Their floral fashion accessory pieces for the 2009 Bouquets to Art Yves saint Laurent show was a huge sensation!!!

Needless to say, MD design is extremely excited for Bouquets to Art 2010, even though it may be in the distant future.

Here are some examples of the designs Nixon Tran and Jennifer Ortega-Lato created...

"Wow Factor" AIFD 2009 Symposium

"Wow Factor" program by Jenny Tabarracci (AIFD and CCSF faculty) and Leighsa Montrose (AIFD and Branch Out Floral and Event Design) was a resounding success. Design support staff included students and alumni from CCSF (City College of San Francisco) Floristry Department. Designers from Michael Daigian Design include Jennifer Lato (AES candidate) and Nixon Tran (student competition 2nd place overall)...

Michael Daigian Design would like to thank the designers and AIFD for all the hard work and woderful ideas that were discussed during the Symposium.

Here is a picture of the "Wow Factor" demonstration...

AIFD Kansas City Floral Symposium

Michael Daigian, Nixon Tran, Jennifer Lato of Michael Daigian Design recently returned from the AIFD annual floral symposium. The AIFD gathering is a collection of floral designers from across the United States for educational and training purposes. The designers are granted certification and certain designers, like Nixon Tran of Michael Daigian Design, win awards for their unique and beautiful floral arrangements.

This year, the Kansas City Star posted a video interview of Michael Daigian and close friend Jenny Tabarracci. There is also a shot of Nixon Tran working on a lovely dark red arrangement. Then Michael Daigian is interviewed followed by another shot of Michael Daigian and Jenny Tabarracci working together. Follow the link bellow to view the video from the Kansas City Star.



AIFD SYMPOSIUM VIDEO

Floral Fashion

To all floral enthusiasts,

Flowers give off a wonderful aroma and arrangements ought to appeal to your more architectural sensibilities; but COLOR is without a doubt the most intriguing aspect of floral design.

Color is a wonderful but often confusing and challenging aspect or tool in design work. Here are a couple insights on how color trends shift and evolve as our world quickly changes. I am, and suspect most are, heavily influenced by seasonal changes. This is an entirely personal sensibility. Some do not shift their pallets as much as others with the cycles of the seasons.

Certainly there are colors that are beyond seasonal trends; white, black, certain grays.

And in that same vein, color requests cannot and should not be ignored...after all, this is the service industry.

But keeping an eye out, suspecting and trying to gauge changes while attempting to be unique and individual is why designers are constantly drawn to this variable. In the past few years there has been an interesting shift towards muted and earthy, skin like, blended, or washed out colors.

The digital revolution has shifted the color palette trends from the sharp contrast of bold colors and put a very tangible and real feel on images and creations. The attempt to actualize or bring to life digital images has lead to the toning down of colors in the interest of believability.

This is not meant at all as a dismissal of digital media. Rather a beautiful and very neutral pallet of fashionable colors have perpetrated the market. Art, fashion, and floral design reimburses this trend and our work looks wonderful and blends easily.

Trends in color we employ are washed out acid neon. Muted grays and blacks are a personal favorite. Earthy and tonal primary colors (yellow, red, blue).

Light browns and skin tones are a huge plus. They blend so well and are so tangible. While muted colors are the trend do not forget to throw a little color in to break things up.

Following the trends is not an easy process. It takes time, dedication, and a general interest. Keeping in touch with fashion and art is extremely important. Fashion moe than any other design process establishes and develops the tones that are so important but subtle in the development.

Thanks for reading...

keep posted of images or other visual samples



Written by Michael Daigian and Adam Iscoff - Daigian

Wedding Planning Advice

12 to 24 Month Prior

The most important part of the wedding process is. Be sure to give yourself more than a full year. Planning without that having to rush and being able to work out every last detail will provide peace of mind. Start by choosing a wedding date and announce your engagement to close friends and family (don’t be afraid to ask for help and some might offer)

• Choose a wedding date
• Scout and choose a location for the ceremony and reception
• Consider hiring a wedding planner or consultant
• Establish a budget for the wedding and start compiling a to do list

At this point, consider and compile thoughts about your upcoming wedding. Having the ideas down on paper will help you keep focus as you plan your occasion. Once you have settled on a location, book the venues. Remember that popular sites and vendors might book up to two years ahead. So if you plan on holding the engagement at a popular location, make the reservation at least 18 month ahead of time.

Once the ceremony and reception sites have been booked, seek out potential vendors. This is where having some of your thoughts compiled will come in handy. It will be easier to sort through the vendors if you have some of our own concepts already outlined. Consider which vendors understand your mentality and will help realize your concepts and wishes within your budget. Remember that wedding vendors are there to help you secure and realize your dream wedding. They should be helpful, flexible, reliable, and engaging.

• Book ceremony and reception locations
• Start compiling ideas, examples, thoughts, and desires for your wedding day
• Compile a list of potential vendors and contact them inquiring about their services
• Begin shopping wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses

6-12 Month Prior

Once your vendors have been secured, its time to start sorting out the details. This is where the real work begins. We suggest starting by developing a rough guest a. The next step is to shop wedding accessories like invitations, dresses, or wedding favors.

This part of the process can be especially overwhelming so it pays off to allow plenty of time and stay organized.

Another excellent tip for staying on top of planning the wedding and keeping your friends and family in the loop is to set up a wedding website. Blogging is a free and easy way to host a site with plenty of options and no obligations.

• Compile guest list
• Create wedding website if desired
• Order wedding invitations, envelopes and thank you cards
• Register at one or more bridal gift centers
• Start planning the honeymoon!!
• Purchase wedding favors if desired
• Book accommodations for out-of-town guests and compile a list of things to do
• Finalize guest list and send out save the date cards
• Reserve transportation for wedding party or guests
• Book officiant for ceremony

2 – 6 Months Prior

Hopefully by now, much of your wedding has been planned and your vendors are in the process of guiding you through the final steps. Now you can get ready to send out invitations! Most send invites 8 – 12 weeks before the date. Depending on the time of year, you might want to give your guests a little extra time to plan for the event. Especially if it’s a destination wedding or there are lots of out of town guests.

Other important tasks are ordering the wedding cake from your selected bakery and reserving any tables or chairs from your desired party rental company.

• Send out invitations
• Order wedding cake
• Reserve party rental items
• Select wedding readings
• Meet with officiant to discuss ceremony details
• Meet with caterer to discuss menu and wine list
• Organize rehearsal dinner details

2 Weeks – 2 Months prior

Congratulations, you are now in the home stretch of planning your wedding. Pretty soon you will be able to enjoy all your hard work. Now is the time for sorting out last minute details, purchase wedding accessories and put together your seating list.

These tasks may seem overwhelming but remember to stay calm and ask for help when needed. Your vendors, family, and close friends are wonderful resources not to be overlooked.

• Put together seating arrangements
• Create place or name cards
• Purchase wedding accessories like guest book, toasting glasses, cake knife, wedding ring pillow
• Continue to update wedding website if necessary
• Choose stylist
• Book final gown, tux, and bridesmaid fitting
• Meet with all vendors to finalize details
• Pick up wedding bands and any other made to order accessories
• Confirm ALL reservations from ceremony sites to accommodations and transportation services

1-Week Prior

Try to relax and prepare for your big day. Hopefully everything will have come together smoothly since the whole process was planned perfectly from the begging! Tie up any last minute details or changes.

One day Prior

Greet guests or family that have arrived in town for the wedding. Most importantly make sure to get ample rest for your big day. And finally, enjoy it, your wedding day is here and everything is perfect; congratulations…

Thanks for reading. We hope you found this helpful.

Best wishes,

Michael Daigian Design

Stay tuned for updates including more advice, ideas, vendors and more

Bonjour events

Bounjour Events is a great website for meeting and event planners or anyone looking to plan an event. There is tons of helpful information without all the invasive spam normally associated with the internet.

We are proud to have been added to their Hot Vendor list

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Bonjour events is also featured on the Martha Stewart blog list.

Testimonials

“Michael Daigian Design is phenomenal, creative, responsible, on the ball, and reasonably priced. I planned my wedding long-distance and was so impressed by the great communication and fast email responses. The floral arrangements on my wedding day were beyond expectation. I think they are the best.”

“They completely understood what I wanted despite the fact that I couldn’t really articulate it. My bouquet was EXACTLY what I had envisioned. They fit the design of space so perfectly and the little creative touches they provided were beautiful.”

“Michael’s work was a major part of the magic and beauty of our wedding. I had a clear idea of what I wanted but Michael took my clarity to a higher level than I could have imagined.”

“Michael is extraordinarily creative PLUS he does not have a big ego that gets in the way. He listens very carefully (because he is not a prima donna) and then makes a budget AND sticks to it.”

“Michael Daigian Design constructed a wedding canopy topped with flowers that was the most beautiful I have ever seen. It was stunning. They also provided up-lighting, which transformed the room into an elegant, ambient ballroom. They are more of a private events company rather than just a florist.”

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San Francisco Chronicle article on Southern Food and Pican...

I previously posted about the San Francisco restaurant Pican. As the article you're about to read mentions, southern food is not only delicious, it is also making a mark in San Francisco! We no longer have to travel to Texas or my favorite, Louisiana to partake in delicious recipes from our southern brethren.

"There's something exciting happening with Southern food in the Bay Area, and a lot of that excitement is encapsulated at Picán in Oakland. Dean Dupuis, who was chef at South City Kitchen in Atlanta for many years, has relocated west and is giving a California twist to traditional dishes."

read article at SF Gate...





If you eat at Pican, let us know what you think of the Michael Daigian Design flowers!