We’re only a few short months away from a Northern Michigan wedding the likes of which has never been forecast: the matrimony of Good Morning America’s meteorologist, Ginger Zee, and her fiancé, newsman Ben Aaron.  With every detail meticulously conceived, MyNorth Wedding editor Lissa Edwards interviewed Jennifer Haf of Petoskey-based BLOOM Floral Design in preparation for the ceremony taking place at the Inn at Bay Harbor.


So … how did BLOOM Floral Design and Good Morning America’s star meteorologist connect?
We are a preferred vendor for the Inn at Bay Harbor and Ginger was doing her due diligence checking everything out and in the process she filled out the contact form on our web site.

That must have been a fun moment when you clicked open that email!  Ginger and her planner, Francesco Bilotto, are planning this wedding from New York City. Have you gotten to meet with them in person yet?
Yes, when I was in New York City this winter for a training session I had lunch with Francesco and Ginger at The Lambs Club.

What can you reveal about the flowers for the wedding?
They are going to be a beautiful white-on-white palette. At the reception, all the guests will be seated at one long harvest table (it’s a small wedding). The flowers will form a cloudscape down the center of the table—there are a lot of fun weather elements to this wedding, like tornadoes on the heels of her shoes.

What will the “clouds” be made from?
They’ll be a combination of white garden roses, tea roses, carnations and baby’s breath.  We’ll use candlelight to cast shadows as it gets dark in the evening.

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Read our interview with Ginger Zee—then keep scrolling to learn more about the flowers at her wedding ↓

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Sounds gorgeous. Will the “clouds” be in vases?
No, no vessels. They’ll be right on the table. That was Francesco’s vision.

How about the flowers for the waterside ceremony?
That set-up is going to be stunning. The guests will be seated in two half circles facing each other and Ginger and Ben will walk into the middle. We’ll do a big, beautiful sprinkling of white rose petals over that whole area of lawn.

And what will Ginger carry?
She’ll have a classic white bouquet of white roses and baby’s breath—only with a modern twist.

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Meet Ginger’s wedding planner, Francesco Bilotto. Then read on for more of our chat with Jennifer Haf of BLOOM Floral Design ↓

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How so?
Traditionally, baby’s breath is scattered among the roses. But this will be a big beautiful mass bouquet framed by a cuff of baby’s breath.

You are obviously on top of floral trends. Besides Ginger’s wedding, what else is lighting up your world?
There’s a big local flower movement happening right now. Bloom is responding with our own boutique flower farm/cutting garden.  We are growing a variety of flowers that include heirloom sweet peas, peonies, zinnias, snapdragons and vine elements that can be tucked in.  Brides give us their palette and we let them know what should be in bloom. Then as the wedding day is approaching, we can let them know if something really special is blooming and go out the morning of the wedding and pop a few extra elements into the arrangements—to make them stunning and one of a kind.

BLOOM Floral Design is a part of a Northern Michigan wedding consortium called Loft on Howard—headquartered in sophisticated office suite on Howard Street in downtown Petoskey. What are the other businesses you are partnering with?
We also have Tableau Events [custom invitation and event décor], Cory Weber Photography and NM Events.

Want to learn more about what BLOOM Floral Design can do for your wedding? Start here: BloomFloralDesign.com.


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