maxit studio styles- february session

This is probably going to be one of the most fun blog series for us to write. Simply because it is all about our "baby"- Maxit Studio Styles! We literally feel like a dad with his wallet full of his family's photos. 

We created the idea of giving back to the creative community using our studio space and access to flowers. One of the biggest challenges for small businesses is getting your name out there. Correct?  So how do we accomplish that?! That got us thinking-

Social Media is our biggest (& cheapest) friend these days. However, showcasing your work, style and vision can be hard when you run out of images from your portfolio- honestly, you can only show off a wedding or event so much before it goes stale. Styling kits can cost tons of money. (Ribbon and vintage scissors aren't cheap, y'all!) Flowers are great for styling, but a lot of "non-flower experts" have trouble making things look just right. iPhone photos aren't always ideal or cooperative. Styled shoots are SO. MUCH. WORK. and so crazy expensive now. So how can we get those perfectly styled images, but also have our stamp of creativity on them?

Then it came to us. Pool all of our creative friends and work together! Genius. Maxit Studio Styles was born.  The idea is simple:

• reach out to the local creatives.
• create a spreadsheet (or 6) and organize creatives by skill.
• spend time researching vendors and decide who vibes the best.
• move some things around in your calendar and get the sessions scheduled.
• create a mood board for each session.
• connect creatives together and release mood board.
• brainstorm as a group.
• its finally session day- style, style, style.
• uplift each other.
• get images back.
• spam the heck out of them. uplift each other some more. 

So, it really isn't that simple, but SO worth it. So, without further adieu, We would like to share our very first Maxit Studio Styles Session with you! 

The Dream Team

Rocio Carlon Studios- Photographer Extraordinaire: Rocio came with her camera and totally killed the entire shoot. She worked her hiney off making sure each picture had perfect lighting, composition and depth. She was on and off that step ladder ALL day. When we received these images in our inbox- we about died. Rocio, you did even better than we could have imagined! 

Fresh strawberries with floral tea. 

Aces of Taste- Foodies : Abigail and Julie showed up to the session to represent AOT. Little did these ladies know, they would end up being models, too! A & J, your food styling was on point and y'all totally took the record for most styled images created in such a short amount of time! We can't wait to attend one of your pop-up events soon.  **Bonus- Abigail also owns her own cotton candy business! WHAT?! Thank you to Lush Puff for providing yummy, on site, cotton candy for our shoot! 

Tripp Films- Videographer of our dreams: Nikki not only shot an amazing BTS video, she also brought a ton of gorgeous and unique styling props. And we mean a ton. She brought a totally different aspect to our shoot that we simply loved. Her love for her work truly shines through her work. We just love when we can tell you adore your job. Her BTS video will be shared soon!

Wink by Erica-  our Sweets Soul Sister: Erica couldn't meet up with us, due to an event, but graciously sent gorgeous macaroons our way! Y'all, if we didn't absolutely need these little heaven cookies for our images, they would have been devoured in a heart beat. The smell coming from the little container was simply D I V I N E.  Erica literally took our idea of the "perfect" macaroon and ran with it. We can't wait to work with her again! 

This is probably the longest blog post ever, so we will keep the end short & sweet. We couldn't have asked for a better group of ladies to test out our very first Maxit Studio Styles session on. We have 2017 planned out for the most part, but we are already looking forward to next year and adding new participants. Stay tuned for updates after each session. 

katherine & jonathan [tiny boxwood's]

Simple. Sweet. Intimate. Those are some of our favorite weddings. We love to do grandiose installations, but these sweet newlyweds really wanted their love to be the focus of the day. 

Katherine and Jonathan were married last fall at Tiny Boxwood's in Houston, TX. Their color inspiration for the day was white, ivory and peach with touches of greenery. The perfect palette for their garden venue. 

The bride and groom kept their personal flowers simple. Katherine carried a tight bouquet featuring hydrangea and roses. Jonathan donned a boutonniere showcasing a white ranunculus. 

Their ceremony was dressed with lanterns and accenting florals. We loved the natural beauty of Tiny's lawn and decided that just a touch of decor was needed. Thankfully, both Katherine and her Mom run the Longoria Collection*, so it was crazy simple to discuss aesthetic and design direction with them.

The reception was just as dainty and pretty as the ceremony. We covered some tables with greenery garlands and set small garden mixes on the others. Keeping the charm of Tiny's- we didn't do a whole lot to the reception space. We even used Tiny's signature napkins in the design. 

The classic white cake was spruced up with a greenery garland at the base.  Amongst all of the simple florals, a small detail that we loved was the boxwood letter "H" for the entrance to the garden. Creating a keepsake for the couple to take home is one of our favorite things. 

Katherine and Jonathan kept their special day timeless. We were so happy to get to work with such an amazing couple and their parents. Cheers to the newlyweds!

j'adore events open house [station 3]

Coming off a high from a huge, GORGEOUS event we produced, we had the privilege of working alongside our friends and their new venture, J'Adore Events at their open house. 

The event was held at Station 3; an old historic fire station and featured vendors from all over the Houston area. (Side note: I guarantee these said vendors think we are crazy. We had so much fun laughing at ourselves during set up, I'm surprised they didn't say something to us. More to that story below.)

We were specifically tasked with creating a space filled with florals that presented "Boho Chic" to all of the guests. We designed a statement piece featuring tons of greenery and flowers. It created the illusion of flowers floating gracefully above guests head. We purposely wanted the installation to be insanely full and extravagant. Some of the flowers we used were:

• Viburnum
• Garden Roses
• Orange Roses
• Magenta Ranunculus
• Coral Peonies
• White Hydrangea
• Orange Tulips
• White & Blush Spray Roses

Floating flowers installation created by Maxit Flower Design in Houston, TX. 

Some of the details of our little corner of boho paradise featured things like loose blooms at each place setting, a floral wrap around the cake, a bouquet wrapped in butcher paper, chair garland for the Newlyweds and a flower crown for the gorgeous dress mannequin. We absolutely love to work that creative muscle and produce things just for the fun of it! ( While we love our clients vision, sometimes its nice to have complete creative freedom.) 

• Dress: Brickhouse Bridal
• Draping: AJ's Urban Petals
• Rentals: A Finer Event
• Design: J'adore Planning
• Furniture: Any Occasion
• Photography: Cotton Weddings

Real life advice: NEVER WEAR JEANS TO WORK. Unfortunately, Maria had to learn this lesson the hard way.....We knew there would be a ton of people setting up for the open house, so we planned ahead and packed our carts in case we couldn't get a close parking spot. Thank goodness we did, because we ended up probably 2 blocks from the venue. So, were loading up the carts and making trips with the flowers. Again, the venue was PACKED with people working hard, so instead of clogging up the space we left our carts outside and unloaded them from the sidewalk. Well, apparently when we were inside one of our carts decided to escape down the sidewalk and into the street. (LUCKILY, there were no vehicles driving at the time.) In the midst of panic and uncontrollable laughter, Maria rushed into the street to grab the half full cart- consequently, tearing her pants during the rescue. Sacrifices, amiright? This of course caused even more belly laughing and ripping. To make a long story short, the rest of set-up was quite an awkward comedic show. From that day forward: new company policy is no jeans allowed at set-up! Always remember the great Blowout of 2017.

Anyways, on top of getting to play with J'Adore and the blowout, we got to create a beautiful arrangement for Cotton Weddings' booth in the vendor lounge. Michelle reached out to us and asked for something "simple, organic and white & greenery". (Pretty much our signature brand, score!) We also hooked them up with some smilax to dress up their signage...like literally left them a bale of smilax. (Ha!)  Check out how they styled our flowers:

** All images are courtesy of Cotton Weddings. **

katie + brendan [the bell tower]

“Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.”-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Those words couldn't ring truer when we talk about Katie & Brendan. Yes, the bride looked stunning. Yes, the decor was on point. Yes, the flowers were amazing. But honestly, our favorite part about this wedding was the pure JOY that is written all over the faces of the newlyweds and their families. Every time you catch a glimpse of one of them or see a picture, their happiness just radiates. (And isn't that why we are all in this business?)

Katie and Brendan got married last fall at Memorial Drive- United Methodist Church here in Houston. They took a sweet moment to read each other their vows at a first look before the ceremony. We love the idea of keeping something so intimate between yourselves. 

Brendan wore a simple boutonniere of ranunculus and greenery for the big day. Katie held a garden style bouquet made of:

• Garden Roses
• Peonies
• Ranunculus
• Spray Roses
• Greenery

Brendan smiling ear to ear waiting on his bride. 

Katie with her garden style bouquet. 

The wedding party looked nothing short of sharp for their sweet friends big day. The bridesmaids wore long grey dresses that really made their white and blush bouquets pop. The bouquets were made of:

• Anemones
• Brunnia Berries
• Spray Roses
• Garden Roses

The groomsmen donned grey suits that complimented Brendan's and boutineeres made of white spray roses. 

After their meaningful ceremony, guests enjoyed the reception at The Bell Tower on 34th. During the patio cocktail hour, family and friends enjoyed a cigar and whiskey bar. Maxit provided small arrangements to make the otherwise masculine activity more feminine and wedding-like. We had so much fun taking the decor ideas of Weddings by Jessee and mixing our florals with them to create this beautiful event.

Small arrangements placed at cigar bar. 

Olive oil favors were set our for guests to take home at the end of the night. We placed arrangements and greenery around the display to bring more attention to the table. 

Olive Oil wedding favors for guests. 

The reception space was a pleasant mix of nudes, blush, natural wood and ivory. The muted natural tones really made the room feel warm and comforting. The head table was draped with a garland made of greenery and spray roses. Guest tables were a mix of garlands, small arrangements and loose florals with candles. Small nooks were filled with greenery and loose stems while pillars held loose arrangements. Every little detail was executed so well, thanks to the creative team of Jessica Jessee and Maxit Flower Design. 

Head table at the Bell Tower with greenery and rose garland. 

The all white wedding cake was enhanced with a touch of greenery and loose blooms. The bride and groom had an entire dessert table filled with sweets and flowers. 

The night (and this blog post) ended on a sweet note with a get-away car dressed to impress. The vintage Rolls Royce was made even more beautiful with a wreath and a classic "Just Married" banner attached to the back.  As we reminisce on Katie & Brendan's wedding day, we simply wish nothing but for all brides to feel the way Katie did. We know so many years of happiness are in front of the newlyweds!

*You can find EVEN MORE beautiful images from this day on our gallery page soon! A special thank you to Cotton Weddings for filling our inbox with all of these pictures. 

surprise birthday weekend [dos brisas resort]

I love birthdays so much. It is probably my most favorite "holiday" to celebrate. (Do we call it a holiday, special occasion maybe?!) So when we were approached by Coterie Spark to produce an entire weekend of flowers and event design for a special surprise birthday, we about died of excitement! 

Before we jump into the gorgeous pictures and details of the weekend, we have got to give it up to the birthday girl's husband. He planned & executed this lavish surprise for his wife's 40th birthday. A weekend at a 5-star resort, surrounded by love, family & gorgeous flowers has got to be the best way to celebrate. Cheers to you, sir! 

---

The stay at Dos Brisas in Washington, Texas started off with a welcome rodeo in the arena. Guests were entertained by rodeo clowns, mutton bustin', real cowboys and animals of all kinds.  The family was welcomed by a gorgeous hand-lettered wooden sign {adorned with our greenery} by Southern Script Designs. Jennifer rocked it out and got us all of the signage in just a few short days. You'll notice some of her work later on in the post! (Dinner & Brunch)

Shortly after the rodeo, the adult guest were whisped off to our favorite part of the event. We transformed the equestrian stables into an intimate dining experience for them. We draped a custom wood table by Spell Events in flowers and fresh fruits. We sourced a gorgeous flowing runner and got custom linen napkins brought in from Hibiscus Linens. We really wanted each guest to feel special, so we cut fresh figs and placed them at each setting. The welcome sign was draped with smilax and roses to mirror the stables. 

Some of the key components we used to create this look were:

• "Corazon" Roses
• "Darcy" Garden Roses
• "Hot & Pink Majolika" Spray Roses
• "Peach" Ranunculi
• Black Berries
• Pomegranates
• Figs
• Crab Apples
• Pears
• Bay Laurel
• Smilax

While guests enjoyed their dinner, Maxit's team headed back home to Houston to create more arrangements for the following morning.

When they awoke, the whole family enjoyed a brunch on the lawn. They got to reminisce about the weekend, chat about the memories they made and enjoy the foggy morning. Maxit used "Looped" linens from La Tavola, found here to make the arrangements POP with the scenery. 

We really wanted the arrangements to create the mellow and happy mood. We filled the casual terra-cotta pots with:

• Spray Roses
• Ranunculi
• Roses
• Greenery

---

We absolutely loved creating this entire experience for this family. We really got to flex our creative bone and dive head first into event design. We hope Jennifer had the best birthday possible!  Photography by Karen Sashar