Catching Bouquet Trends
October has replaced June as the No. 1 wedding month for T.S. Inglehart’s Flowers in Calabasas--and that’s not all that’s changing. The image of a bride holding a stiff bouquet that seems to be plastered onto her bellybutton is also dated. Floral designers are now creating a variety of softer effects.
Florist Thelma Inglehart designs bouquets that can be held to the side, with the bride’s arm relaxed and unbent at the elbow. “It makes the bride look less nervous and more like she’s enjoying her own ceremony,” she said. “The bride can carry a single flower this way--like a calla or rubrum lily--and it comes across as very elegant. Or you can mix lilies, roses and some delphinium together for a less formal look.”
Tufts of tulle are interspersed among the flowers in some bouquets created by Jon Wagner, owner of Studio City Florist. “The bouquet looks more romantic, softer,” he offered. “And we’re also doing a lot more arm bouquets where the stems are exposed rather than all wrapped up.”
Bouquets accessorized with either beads, strands of pearls, tulle or shimmering gold or silver thread are the specialty of Kevin Ray, owner of Bent Willow Florist in North Hollywood. “These accessories add movement and capture light. It looks good on the video. The bouquet moves with the bride as she walks down the aisle, so it doesn’t look like she’s hiding behind a stiff round ball of flowers,” he noted.
Ring in the New
Trading up. It’s a phenomenon that encompasses jobs, cars, houses and now, wedding rings. San Fernando Valley jewelers report that it’s not unusual for wives to upgrade their wedding rings later in the marriage.
“Generally they use the same diamond if it fits the new design,” said Jeff Mah, owner of The Jewel Gallery in Woodland Hills. “But if it doesn’t fit, then about half the women will trade in the diamond for an upgrade diamond and about half will use it in another accessory, like a pendant necklace or earrings.”
Jeweler Thad Schoeberl, owner of Thad Jewelers in Reseda, reset his wife’s original diamond in a tie tack for his son “to keep it in the family.” Men may buy their wives a second ring later in the marriage because they are more able to afford a bigger stone, he noted.
“Sometimes the old setting is worn out--like the prongs holding the diamond are worn,” said Sue Martin of Gary Lee Jewelers in Northridge Fashion Center. “And sometimes the wives just want a new ring.”
Women who have been married for 35 years or longer are more likely to go for restoration rather than replacement. Reflected John Wook, manager of Blake Jewelers in Granada Hills: “They come from a different era and want to hold onto what their husband gave them. People today are more into change.”
Roadside Attraction
Stopping at a roadside farm stand to buy freshly picked fruits and vegetables isn’t an experience you expect in the urban jungle.
But the agriculture department of Pierce College operates a farm store in Woodland Hills that offers the best corn east of Texas and tomatoes that are out of this world--or so claims Ali Khan, its student manager.
Most of the vegetables are grown on the farm, while the fruit is trucked in from the Central Valley. The difference between the farm store’s produce and that of grocery stores is its freshness, Khan noted. On average, from field to consumer it takes two to three days at the supermarket.
“We pick stuff every day and sell it,” he said. “Our corn is so sweet you can eat it raw. This is community service. Our objective is to break even, but we do make a little profit.”
Some customers bring their children at 4 p.m. to watch the cows being milked in the dairy barn next door. “If people get homesick for being on a farm, they can always come here and smell the cows,” Khan joked.
The store also sells hanging plants and another item you can’t purchase through any other grocery store in town: a truckload of manure for $8--but you provide the truck.
Parking Predicaments
A word of warning: The next time you return to your car--only to see an officer writing you a ticket because your meter has expired--don’t say, “I didn’t have any change and had to go into a store to get some.” It’s the oldest excuse in the book, followed by, “Gee, I just ran into the store for a minute.”
“These officers take a great deal of abuse. A lot of people don’t understand how stressful it is. We get verbally assaulted on a regular basis,” said Darryl Roberson, who supervises the Valley’s 97 parking enforcement officers.
One particularly outraged offender went to see Roberson about the ticket he felt unjustly received. “He said he went inside an automotive store to get change and even had the cash register receipt with the time printed on it to prove his point. Except that while he was getting change, he bought an oil filter, spark plugs and all this other stuff,” Roberson said with a laugh.
From February to August of this year, more than 300,000 citations were issued in the Valley. How much discretion do these officers have in writing tickets? “If you both get there at the same time and the driver says he’s leaving, we give him the benefit of the doubt and don’t write the ticket,” Roberson explained. But once they start writing that ticket, you’re stuck.
Overheard at. . . .
“Oh I can sympathize. It’s sad when bad things happen to good cars.”
--Woman at El Pollo Loco in Canoga Park, referring to friend’s car accident
