Palm Springs with Kate Holt & Jose Villa

So. much. pretty. to. share. ​

As most of my loyal readers already know, Jesse and I recently moved to the Boone/Blowing Rock, NC area.  We had been in Lynchburg since 2006 so we left a lot of friends and familiar places.  It was hard to leave, but we knew we were supposed to make the move and just prayed about the rest.  

A week or two after we settled in I met Abany Bauer over lunch with a sweet mutual friend.  Turns out her husband started work at the same place as Jesse, and within a day of each other, no less!  We both love flowers and started our businesses around the same time — hers in Atlanta and mine in Lynchburg.​  And here we are, both in the boonies and both going to the Flowerwild workshop in Palm Springs.  I teared up.  This sweet girl was the answer to my prayer!  

Here she is with her pretty bouquet.​

​The purple mountains and peach sandy desert of Palm Springs was the inspiration for my arrangement.  How perfect is that purple fritillaria!  I always find that if it looks good in nature, it will look good in an arrangement.

Well, any good event has that "moment" — you know, the one that lives on in your memory forever.  Mine happened when Jose paused from shooting my bouquet and said, "Whose bouquet is this?"  "Mine," I said.  Then he waves me towards him and says, "Come look at this."  And I looked through the lens of his camera, and I had this realization that yes, I can do this!  And I will do this — with passion, with excellence, and with a heart that is relentless in discovering and sharing the best flowers in America, and someday the best flowers in England and Australia and maybe even Ireland and France!

This is just the beginning, folks.​

Enjoy a few photos I snapped, but Amanda, a talented photographer from Bermuda that also attended the workshop, has the good ones!  They are all on her blog (Amy, this is who I told you about!  They want to start growing flowers too).​  

​I'm so thankful for all my new friends!  Make sure you take a minute to look at their pretty websites :)  Ashley of Spread Love Events (cutie in the picture above this one tying her bouquet together), skip me, then Erin of Floret, Abany of Brown Linen & Abany Bauer Styling & Flowers, and Gretel of Sunny Meadows.  So many more friends...I'll post their info too after Jose's images are published and I can share :)

So stay tuned, and thanks for reading!  Comment with your favorite photo so I can keep making things you like to look at :)

So Long Sucker!

That's what I say to worry.  So long, sucker!  Who needs you?!  No one.  Worry is such a time waster!  If you want to get in a rut, worry.  If you want to get depressed, worry.  If you want to accomplish nothing, worry.  Clearly we do not need worry!  What we need is to take the next step and keep moving forward.

​I always tell people Jesus — the greatest teacher — uses flowers to teach me about life, and the list of things I've learned through flowers continues to grow!  Hellebores taught me not to worry.

You see, when I was planning for Anna's wedding I really wanted hellebores.  They are TOUGH to find in the wholesale trade.  Possible, but the kind I wanted, mostly impossible.  They have this wild, yet refined look about them, and that is exactly how I want my work to look — wild, yet refined.  Naturally, I worried they wouldn't be blooming that early since March is really their big month!  And even if they were, where was I going to find them?  Well, I turned my worries into prayers, and man-oh-man, was the Lord ever delighted to provide an abundance for us!  I'm thankful for that.  When he calls you to do something he always provides enough.    

"Don't fret or worry.  Instead of worrying, pray.  Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry (Philippians 4:6)."

This lush, hellebore arrangement was for our booth at the High Country Wedding Expo last Sunday, and it was another reminder to turn my worries into prayers.  Picking up and moving a baby business to a new place I knew nothing about was scary, but friends, the Lord has always let me know what the next step is and I just keep walking, one step at a time...​

Press on, and enjoy this good anthem for us as we journey on together!

PS!  Next week I'm going to the Flowerwild workshop in Palm Springs with Kate Holt and Jose Villa.  So follow me on instagram now!  I'm going to be clogging up your feed with tons of gorgeous images!!!!  @kelly_perry

Wooded Romance for Lynchburg Living

Our work was recently published in Lynchburg Living!  Enjoy Sam's dreamy images...

A big thank you to all the vendors who made this photo shoot a success!

Location: West Manor Estate
​Set Design: Max & Dexter {Event Design}
​Photography: Sam Stroud Photography
​Hair: Alison Missiano, Lynchburg-based independent hair stylist
​​Makeup: Cami Smith, Lynchburg-based independent makeup artist
​Lynchburg Living Editorial Direction: Johanna Calfee, Managing Editor
​Lynchburg Living Art Direction: Kathleen Ostrom, Layout Designer
​Cake Design: La Bella Torta
​Floral Design: Philosophy Flowers
​Headpieces: Storm and Stress
​Jewelry: Bowen Jewelry
​Leather Gun Case and Hide Rug: Moore & Giles
​Shoes & Boots: Must Have Shoes
​Stationary: Sorelle Paper and Print