Change is in the air! We can’t deny the chill the setting sun brings—nearly an hour earlier than this time a month ago, or the slight blink of red on the tips of those maple leaves. It is a little bittersweet…we love our BBQs, boating, and porch swings, but there is still a part of us ready for routine and consistency. The kids are all back to school and we are settling into our fall groove as well. As we prepare for “sweater weather,” we are bringing all the cozy feels inside!
Transitioning your home for the next season doesn’t need to be dramatic! Creating small, inspired vignettes can add interest and warmth. We’ve put together four coffee table arrangements to help guide you!
Start with a strong base! Here, we selected a rustic, oversized wooden board and placed it on a woven table runner. A natural wood chain-link catches your eye as it cascades off the edge of the board. Continuing the antique feel, we added a handled wooden bowl—a unique vessel for seasonal items such as this wicker wrapped pumpkin, seed pods, or other harvest themed decor.
Select items of varying heights and shapes to create interest. Here, geometric candles in the same shade, but opposing size, complement one another. The olive green color brings a fun addition to the neutral palette (we have these in black, cream, olive, citrus, and marine!). A rattan wrapped vase (available in four sizes!) filled with dried florals adds additional height—replicating the florals and laying them on the base of the chopping board ties everything together.
Rule of three! Strive for an odd number of items when styling. The lack of symmetry adds depth and builds interest. Blending styles, such as pairing this sleek and modern marble board with a more distressed, wood sugar mold creates a unique appeal. With your base in place, start experimenting with fall themed accessories—pumpkins, oversized acorns, gourds, or natural items from your yard. We like including a fall scent to spice things up! Fun fact, the geometric, glazed, ceramic candle in this arrangement can be repurposed as a planter!
Reflect your personal style! One of our favorite ways to style small vignettes is with items from our own homes. Books are such an ideal way to do that! Consider your favorite hobbies or interests—cooking, gardening, or spooky mysteries with Halloween in mind. Books add an individualized feel, but also bring desired height to your arrangement (use as many or few as you need). Here, a vintage pillar made from reclaimed wood is paired with a stout candle embossed with gold stripes, creating contrast (and an inviting scent). Finally, we bring in the fall feels with a frosted acorn and seasonal faux florals.
These arrangements are simply inspiration! Try experimenting at home and come visit our boutique for more ideas. We are truly delighted to help our guests find something just right for the season!
Moving into our new, larger space two years ago was transformative—we had worked tirelessly for weeks demoing, hammering, schlepping materials all around, painting, designing, and staging. We finally had the space we had been dreaming about! It seriously made our hearts skip a beat and take a pause.
But, we knew we couldn’t keep building on our own. We needed an exceptional and fearless team to take OPD to the next level. Fast forward two years and we are so proud of this outstanding crew. This team is not accidental. We had a vision in mind when we met with every one of them. We knew they possessed key qualities that made them just the right fit:
Passion & Dedication: Spring 2022 was epic. Seven major weddings over the course of just two weekends, plus prom, Mother’s Day, and graduations. This team never faltered. There were many nights our floral team was making centerpieces and installation pieces well past midnight. We had crews driving hours in opposite directions for event set-ups, and a boutique crew racing to fulfill orders.
Trust: And, then there was our back of house crew quietly keeping things moving along – managing the boutique, tracking inventory, packing weddings, coordinating transportation, photographing, and sharing our journey with you on social. There are a lot of moving parts here, but we trust and rely on this group to get it done!
Calm Under Pressure: We would love to tell you that all our events are executed seamlessly without any hiccups or stress. But stuff happens! It’s not always easy! Glass breaks, stems snap, technology fails, and Cape traffic on a Friday is real! We turn to calm and steady leadership and trust in our team. We get it done through all the sweat and mishaps because we know every member of OPD shows up with a “can do” attitude. This team will not stop until every wedding, every event, every boutique floor set is executed perfectly.
Resilience : We like to think we offer our team a good time! We travel to spectacular venues and love to celebrate. We really do try to have fun through it all. But this work is often HARD and unexpected! We are regularly climbing ladders, lifting heavy buckets, painting, cleaning, cutting wire…there are bumps and bruises and many, many late nights.
Joy: The best part of working with this team—we genuinely love and support them. Our spring event season culminated with the personal, real-life triumphs of these individuals. We had moms celebrating their children’s major milestones–high school graduations, preschool end-of-year celebrations, and moving up ceremonies. We had college students completing exams, teachers concluding another year, and college graduates just beginning their career. Our inbox was full of shared family photos and proud moments we are so honored to be a part of!
Our OPD journey continues! You may have heard we are opening a second location for florals and plants in the coming months. Stay tuned! It all just keeps getting better!
Coastal blue hues and airy, breezy fabrics have us dreaming of the beach! Or maybe you are more of a lake girl and enjoy layering up in our graphic tees and sweatshirts to gather around the fire pit. We launched so many fun new styles at our 2nd Annual Summer Fashion Show last week. Here are our top picks to help you shine all season long!
We are just in love with this seafoam green, honeymoon look. Our striped, tiered ruffle, off the shoulder dress can easily be dressed down with a pair of flip flops for a backyard gathering, but we had fun accessorizing from our wedding collection with this adorable “Bride” bucket hat and “Mrs” clutch with gold crossbody chain. We finished the look with our stunning brass fringe earrings.
The cinched waist on this knee-length dress in sienna (available in black too!) easily transitions from day to night. The boutique is filled with fun clutches and handbags! This woven clutch can easily be paired with any outfit and will become one of your favorites this summer! We love a straw Panama hat, available in three colors, to top things off. We’ve accessorized with our terracotta stud earrings by Like Wildflower, and a stack of tigers eye diffuser bracelets.
You’ll be ready for a day on the Cape and Islands in this sweet yellow floral dress. We can’t get over the details on this feminine piece; the ruffle sleeves, empire waist, and tiered ruffle skirt, so sweet. Carry your essentials in the Dani clutch with crossbody option, and tote your wine in a glass from our line of recycled glass drinkware. The look is finished with a hat from our Gigi Pip line, this one called the Miller Fedora.
You’ll be prepared for even the hottest of summer days, in this light and relaxed outfit. The sand-colored viscose wisp jacket makes the perfect layering piece. We’ve coordinated it here with our soft blue wide leg pants. Note the crinkle fabric featured in this pant. The Austin Nights leather fringe tassel wallet can easily be tossed into your suitcase or canvas tote.
For those cooler morning walks with your pup, stay comfy cozy in our “weekend” lightweight fleece pullover. Paired with the most comfortable rayon jersey jogger pants and charcoal Range leather mountain hat. Cool, comfy and versatile.
Did you know we carry accessories, toys, and clean treats for your furry friends? Above, our pup friend Happy is modeling our harvest plaid bandana by The Foggy Dog. Every purchase of Foggy Dog products means a donation to rescue shelters across America! His proud owner keeps him close with our marine rope dog leash.
A very special thank you to our gorgeous models who brought fun and style to every moment. We are so grateful for your energy and commitment to making this event so special season after season! This summer we encourage you to “Create Sunshine, not Shade” as you shop us online or visit our boutique. We’ll be back with more styles in the fall!
I sat down and wrote this because talking about how I feel or what’s in my head isn’t something that comes easy to me. I usually find my words in a song and then it all makes sense. Three years ago it was Blank Stares by Jay Allen, and this year it’s Til You Can’t by Cody Johnson. The bridge of this song is everything to me … it’s how I live every day and what I would do for one more phone call.
I know that this blog post might only resonate with some, but I hope just one person reads this and knows that they aren’t alone. I am with you, every damn day – those tears I share with you. And for everyone else, make that phone call to whoever is your momma figure in your life, and just soak it in. Well… here it is, how I feel three years after losing my momma.
How do you be a momma without yours? Well, I am still trying to answer that question.
I lost my mom three years ago to dementia … I should say 12 years ago. I mourned the loss of my mom as we drove around for mundane everyday errands, enjoying endless Dunkin’ donuts drive through orders, and hashing through squams about what the menu should be for a holiday gathering. I watched her slip away as I sat next to her.
I stumbled across a blog post I wrote for the first Mother’s Day without her … and it immediately brought me back to 2019.
She came up to visit for the last time two months before her passing and lucky for me, she ended up watching my kids for the night, with the supervision of my dad and uncle of course. But, looking back, how lucky was I? How lucky were my kids? I have pictures and videos that often land as my top memories on my iPhone. Who would’ve thought when my uncle pressed that red button, this was the very last memory that my kids would have of their nana and honestly, that I would have of my momma?
I often find myself, fighting back the tears, holding back the anger, and counting down the minutes of my day until I can lay down, and escape into my thoughts. I walk by a teenage girl shopping with her mom, and I immediately go back years. I remember fighting over the “outfits” I could purchase or couldn’t. I overhear a new grandma talking to her daughter and helping her figure out the feeding schedule. I can hear the frustration in the new momma’s voice, and I fight every urge to walk over, hug her, and to whisper in her ear, have patience, you will miss this. I walk by the daughter, helping her momma out of her car as they walk into her favorite restaurant to enjoy her favorite meal during their weekly date, that is always prescheduled. All of this is gone, this relationship of a mother and daughter. I’m in a motherless world, with nowhere to turn, and I’m in a daughterless world, with no one to look to.
Days go by, some are easy, others are not. I find myself cursing Jesus, praising Jesus, and begging Jesus for help. I used to feel your presence daily … but not as much as I once did. I always felt confident that I could feel you, and that you wouldn’t leave me alone in this world. But as the years stretch on, your presence is weaker and the older I am getting. I pray to have the conversations we had over tea, the talks we had as I cried myself to sleep, and the fights we had over where I thought I was going on Saturday night.
No one prepares you to raise a family without your momma, but if there is any time in life where you need your mom most its then. I mean, who is supposed to help me understand why my two-year-old is losing his mind over white cheese versus yellow cheese, chicken nugget over fish stick or water over juice. The only manual I’ve ever seen on being a great mama is written in the love language demonstrated by your own.
And because of that, trying to navigate the every day, the big decisions, and all the things that come with being a momma – I rely on my memories, some of which are so clear it’s like it was yesterday, others that are faded, almost gone from my mind. But I know that she is watching me, watching them, and whispering softly in my ear which way to go. Until we meet again, I’ll walk this road alone, hopefully making you proud along the way.
me and my momma at Garth Brooks
If you can’t tell my momma means the world to me and I wouldn’t be who I am today without her. This year, my family and I have decided to start a foundation in her honor, A Beacon of Hope Foundation, with 100% going to Alzheimer’s research. It just has to stop – stay tuned for more info, but we’re doing this, and we will fight until there is a cure, solid treatment, and prevention.
It’s time to celebrate M O M! We are so excited to launch our 2022 Mother’s Day Gift Guides!
While you are enjoying these sunny days, get a jump start on selecting something she will truly love. We have thoughtfully styled these unique guides for all those amazing mamas out there–moms of littles, moms of grown-ups, stepmoms, grandmas, and even plant and dog mamas. Settle in and enjoy!
You can shop online and pick up in store, ship to your home, OR ship directly to HER! Of course, we will gift wrap it for you too! Or maybe you want to call us with your wish list, and then give your husband a hint to shop at OPD!
We hope you found these gift guides helpful! We also want to let you know about our absolutely stunning Mother’s Day floral arrangement, aptly named, THE ROCKSTAR! Pre-order yours today!
Hi! We are Heather & Dianne and we’re the proud owners of Only Prettier Design...wedding florists and designers! Our shop in the greater Boston area is filled with fresh blooms and all the home decor to make your heart swoon. Besides entrepreneurs, we are also busy moms to 4 kiddos each! Our lives are crazy, but beautiful. We are excited to share our story with you, all while keeping it very real. While we’re super excited to show you how to execute a beautiful tablescape and design a stunning floral arrangement...we also want this to be a place to share the real struggles of balancing work and life while creating a life we love!
Hi! We are Heather & Dianne and we’re the proud owners of Only Prettier Design...wedding florists and designers! Our shop in the greater Boston area is filled with fresh blooms and all the home decor to make your heart swoon. Besides entrepreneurs, we are also busy moms to 4 kiddos each! Our lives are crazy, but beautiful. We are excited to share our story with you, all while keeping it very real. While we’re super excited to show you how to execute a beautiful tablescape and design a stunning floral arrangement...we also want this to be a place to share the real struggles of balancing work and life while creating a life we love!