Once in a while during an interview with a potential new floral designer they will say "I've seen and done it all". Their chances of working at Tiger Lily are zero. One thing we've learned after 12 years in the floral biz, is we will never have "seen and done it all".

This bridal bouquet was a surprise, 100% sea shells! We have done a lot of work incorporating shells. We've put shells in arrangements, we've put arrangements in shells. We've made wreaths of shells, supplied shell themed linens and candles and much more. But when this bride requested her bouquet made of ALL shells, well we thought it was brilliant!

Each shell was handwired by several of our College of Charleston student design assistants. We used about 200 shells, so it took awhile. Then Gayla Harvey, our Event Designer at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, designed the bouquet considering each shell's shape, texture and tone. Because each shell was wired, the bottom of the bouquet was just a bunch of wires. The wires wouldn't support the entire bouquet and it was "wimpy" to hold. Gayla bulked it up with a secret technique and wrapped it with a double faced satin ribbon.

We loved the finished design, but hoped the bride had worked out her arms for the big day. The bouquet weighed about five pounds!

It's always fun doing something new, and that's what gets us stoked!