Kate Middleton chose lily of the valley (trustworthiness), myrtle (hope), sweet william (gallantry) and white hyacinth (enduring love). Photo: Getty Images

From the sentimental redolence of a dozen red roses to the crushing finality of a striped carnation, an ancient floral language is being spoken anew. Inspired by Kate Middleton’s lyrical bridal bouquet, authors, florists and bloggers are taking their pick …

ON TUESDAY, as they do every Valentine’s Day, romantics will descend on flower sellers in search of a single bloom: the red rose. For centuries, its crimson petals have been associated with passion — the stronger the affection, the deeper the hue of its petals — while the stages of its flowering were thought to parallel those of womanhood — rosebuds for a girl and full blooms for a woman in her prime.

Yet few realise that according to a centuries-old “language of flowers”, the red rose is but one of myriad expressions of passion. Suitors throughout the ages have sent bouquets that, in their combinations of herbs, blossoms, colours and scents, articulated proposals, expressed sentiments, flattered, charmed and seduced. Once upon a time, the advertising slogan “Say it with flowers” had literal meaning. Imagine the enchantment of a posy that spells: camellia (my destiny is in your hands), lilac (first emotions of love), hollyhock (ambition), dahlia (dignity) and so on.

Reading between the vines: what your flowers really say

“They take you back in time and memory.” Photo: Simon Schluter

These meanings form the basis of The Language of Flowers: A Miscellany, written by Mandy Kirkby, which was inspired by a novel of the same title by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. The novel tells the tale of a girl who, after a childhood in foster care, plants a garden and finds a way to articulate herself through what blooms: aster for patience, helenium for tears, heath for solitude, weeping willow for melancholy.

London-based Kirkby, who spent her childhood immersed in the intricate floral illustrations of Kate Greenaway books, was fascinated by the idea of a secret language: floriography. As she delved into research, she began seeing flourishes of it everywhere: in films, poetry, old china, literature. When Kate Middleton announced her wedding to Prince William would follow its principles — her bridal bouquet featured lily of the valley (trustworthiness), myrtle (hope), sweet william (gallantry) and white hyacinth (enduring love) — Kirkby watched a revival blossom.

Kirkby spent four months locked away in the libraries of Cambridge University surrounded by 19th-century flower dictionaries. Her initial idea had been to take a classic title and “update” it but she soon decided on a different tack. It wasn’t just the symbolism of flowers that intrigued her but their representation in literature, art, folklore, mythology and religious texts. Her reading led from women’s journals to religious iconography, Tennyson to Louisa May Alcott, and from the Vikings to the Roman Empire. “There were lots of little quirky observations that made me laugh. A friend had bound volumes of a Victorian magazine called The Girl’s Own Paper and readers would sign its correspondence column with flower names: a young woman seeking advice about love or marriage would sign ‘orange blossom’ [your purity equals your loveliness] because it was a Victorian wedding flower.”

An avid gardener, Kirkby took to studying the posies people give today, divining their implicit meanings. “People tend to go for flowers now that are really big and impressive — it’s this wow factor. But the Victorians gave modest bouquets with profound meanings. Giving a dozen, scentless red roses would have been anathema to them. Think of the mignonette [your qualities surpass you charms]. It says: ‘You’re a secret treasure.’ “

The language extended beyond bouquets: fabrics, wallpapers, handkerchiefs and slippers carried floral motifs and forget-me-not handkerchiefs were traditional gifts for widows during World War II. Pansy brooches, given to a lover or friend, embodied the virtues of tenderness and compassion, while Royal Albert designs at the end of WWII used spring flowers to symbolise hope and optimism.

Yet the Victorians weren’t the first to imagine a language of flowers. British anthropologist Jack Goody’s The Culture of Flowers links the wall paintings of Pompeii to the precursors of Laura Ashley wallpaper and the flower-girl heroines of Pliny’s Glycera to George Bernard Shaw’s Eliza Doolittle. Roman and Greek mythology is rich with gods and goddesses — Narcissus, Aphrodite, Iris — whose fates are tied to flora and the Victorian fancy for blooms is itself borrowed from the Ottoman Empire, where illiterate Turkish concubines once “conversed” using a system of exchanges that included flowers. According to flower lore, the Turkish fancy was introduced to Europe by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of the British ambassador to Constantinople in the 18th century, who told of her enchantment in letters that were later published in London. Soon after, Louise Cortambert (under the pen name Madame Charlotte de Latour) wrote Le Langage des Fleurs, a little book that sparked a wave of similar titles.

Maureen Lucas, the editor of the Royal Horticultural Society’s magazine and a qualified horticultural judge, says the tradition of the “tussie-mussi” or “word posy” has long flourished in Australia, even if the language it draws on isn’t widely known. “In Victorian times, a man would send a girl a little bouquet and a true one is a very small bouquet, usually with a rose in the centre, surrounded in rings by different plants, usually herbs. In those days there were a lot of diseases and the herbs repelled insects. It would be finished with a paper doily and a ribbon. If a man wanted to tell a girl he saw certain qualities in her, he would use flowers to convey that. She’d reply by way of her fan; if she folded her fan or held it in such a way, to her face, on her lap, she could welcome his attention.”

During Elizabethan times, judges carried tussie-mussies into their courtrooms to protect against typhus. Even today, judges continue the tradition at England’s highest court, the Old Bailey, by carrying tussie-mussies into court six times a year. During the Black Death, tussie-mussies from rosemary, thyme, sage and rue were carried close to the face to ward off the stench of corpses.

Lucas delights not only in the Victorian language of flowers but in the etiquettes particular to certain cultures; a white lily might be a funeral flower in the West but in Asia it’s a wedding bloom. In Russia, odd numbers of flowers are always given for celebratory occasions and even numbers are reserved for unhappy events such as funerals. While yellow flowers can be associated with bad fortune (Russia) and infidelity (Britain), specific blooms such as daffodil (new beginnings), marigold (grief) and nasturtium (impetuous love) have different connotations.

The appeal of flowers spans cultures, genders and generations — something 25-year-old Holly Hipwell discovered when she began blogging about blooms 18 months ago. Called the Flower Drum, her blog charts what’s become an all-consuming passion: trips to Sydney’s flower markets, stringing clothes lines with exotic blooms, petals painted and woven into whimsical installations. “I told my dad when I was a kid that I wanted to be a florist and he told me: ‘You have to get up really early and you don’t make any money.’ “

So  she began a career in marketing, with the blog as a hobby. Before long, however, followers of her  creations began approaching her to decorate events. “I thought, ‘Wow, I have no idea what I’m doing but apparently I’m doing it really well.”‘

With links to Sydney’s surf and music industries, Hipwell’s “floral romp through life” has taken her from rock gigs to the pages of Australian House Garden, Belle and Surfing World. Her “flower bombs” filled Alannah Hill stores around the country last year, while her Sugarmill Fine Surf Emporium pop-up shop caught the attention of Oyster stylist Imogene Barron, who has invited her to work on video clips and fashion shoots this year.

As for the language of flowers, Hipwell’s take is simple: “I think everyone has their own language. They take you back in time and memory; hydrangeas remind me of my grandmother’s garden. Shaggy roses and freesias, too, but they have to smell. The first thing everyone does with flowers is dive into them to see what they smell like.”

Her blog, with its home-made short films, floral fashions, holiday snaps of gardens and animals made from petals, expresses her simple philosophy: “I don’t think there are any rules about which flowers you can or can’t use. They’re beautiful and every time you give someone a little posy, it just makes their day.”
Sydney florist and self-described “floral acrobat” Saskia Havekes, whose client list  has included Nicole Kidman, Oprah Winfrey, Princess Mary and Bjork, says the only language of flowers worth mastering is one that allows you to connect with someone on a level they’ll understand.

She favours bright, vivacious arrangements for flamboyant personalities and delicate blooms for quieter souls. “It’s about really tapping into how a person’s feeling or thinking,” Havekes says. “I ask a lot of questions to try and work out what certain flowers will mean to a person  … It’s not [tied to] a 19th-century textbook meaning of a flower; it’s about listening to what people want to say.” Havekes says that while the royal wedding provoked a renewed interest in floriography, she’s reluctant to “cast shadows” over certain flowers, such as peonies (anger) or scarlet geranium (stupidity), because every bloom should be appreciated on its own terms. As for Valentine’s Day, she sells red roses reluctantly. “Men often come in late in the day and throw down serious money but I’ll always try to encourage them to talk about [their relationship]: where they live, have they just met, bits and pieces that add to the story.”

There are blooms far more voluptuous and sexy than the rose, she says, and capturing people’s  adventurous streaks is far more meaningful than sending a generic bunch of long-stemmed hothouse flowers.

For a Romance Was Born fashion parade at Sydney Fashion Week in 2010, Havekes, whose Potts Point shop is called Grandiflora, followed the designer’s underwater theme to create a garden for mermaids and pirates. She spent weeks looking for blooms that could double as starfish, sea anemones and corals, and foliage that could float like seaweed. “Certain flowers evoke certain moods and emotions  and your perception of different flowers can change over time. People have surprising preferences, too, particularly towards flowers they consider too ostentatious or cliched.”

The only thing that astonishes her about Valentine’s Day is that for many men, it’s the only day of the year they wander into a florist’s shop. “They can see how much joy it brings [to the person they love]. And it’s so simple. Why not do it all the time?”

The Language of Flowers: A Miscellany is published by Pan Macmillan, $24.99.

theflowerdrum.blogspot.com, grandiflora.net

Dries Van Noten dress from David Jones, Maison Michel headband, silk flowers worn on dress all from Christine, urns and metal flowerpots from Perfect Pieces, Nest from Mr Fresh.
Stockists: Christine,  96542011; Cose Ipanema, 96503457, coseipanema.com; David Jones, 133357; MrFresh Flowers, 96817317,  mrfresh.net.au; Perfect Pieces,  95001098,  perfectpieces.com.au.
Cover picture shot on location in the boudoir and drawing room of Villa Alba Museum, Kew, 98528886, villaalbamuseum.org. Open first Sunday of every month.
Model: Jasmine from Viviens. Hair and make-up: Yvonne Borland. Styling: Emily Ward

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Weddings on Tahiti are magical, romantic affairs with Polynesian chants, colourful clothes and plenty of fresh flowers. It’s legal for Canadians to get married in Tahiti, but the paperwork can be a handful.

photo courtesy Four Seasons Bora Bora Resort

MOOREA, FRENCH POLYNESIA—When my friend Miles and I decide to investigate this heart-shaped island near Tahiti, we don’t expect to get married. But it happens.

We stumble into a wedding photo shoot at the Moorea Pearl Resort Spa that’s meant to document the festive, Polynesian ritual, as well as spread the word that weddings are now legal for Canadians in Tahiti and throughout French Polynesia. (For years, couples could only undergo a symbolic ceremony in paradise.)

We’re planning to be bystanders, like the cadre of others gathered on the beach and grouped across a wooden footbridge that leads to a line of thatched-roof, stilt-bottomed, over-water bungalows — all interfaced with an indigo-kissed sea. But when the bride and groom don’t show up for the party, somebody needs to stand in for them.

Miles and I are delighted to comply.

Attendants swathed in Tahitian wear escort us into a bungalow decorated for the faux wedding as artfully as it would be for a real one. A trail of flowers leads to the bathtub, where more flowers float and bob, emanating the heady aroma of frangipani laced with gardenia. A heart, sculpted from red blooms, covers the bed. From the panoramic window, I see an oceanscape turbulent with blues. They mottle the water like smudges — bits of sapphire, jade and rich turquoise splayed out in a frenzy of van Gogh-like brush strokes. I’m offered a skewer of pineapple and a glass of champagne, and reckon I’ve reached heaven.

While Miles leaves the room, the attendants prepare me as the bride. They wrap me in a toga-like white pareu, twisted and tied in its completion to resemble a tropical Grecian tunic. Atop my head, they place a crown of flowers. Once dressed, I step out to the deck and into a waiting outrigger canoe, adorned with palm fronds and flowers.

My driver paddles this Tahitian chariot out to sea, then back toward the Pearl’s beachfront quay. In the distance, I hear drums and the tinkling of ukulele music. As my boat approaches the shoreline, I see Miles, the artificial groom, awaiting me with an entourage of dancers, musicians and an elaborately costumed Tahitian priest.

Seated in throne-like, tropical chairs, we experience the Polynesian ceremony as actors playing the part of bride and groom. We receive rings made from Ti leaves, allow the water from a coconut to drench our hands, and are wrapped in a ceremonial blanket called a tifaitai.

Afterwards, the musicians explode into revelry and we mimic the dancers in sultry gay abandon. The crowd joins in the fun, before the grand finale when we all pose for pictures with the troops. Had this been a real wedding, we would have entertained family members and friends with a wedding feast — or retired to our bungalow to decompress after all the excitement. As it is, we sit down with friends for cocktails served in coconut shells and wonder what our spouses will say.

Pretty much every resort in French Polynesia has its own wedding ritual. And, even when it’s not one’s real wedding, this Southern Hemisphere-sited island nation, so inspiring to Gauguin, must be the most romantic place on earth.

Far-flung enchanted landscapes accentuated by Polynesian traditions and a French-infused savoir faire explain it all. With 118 islands to choose from, there’s something for everyone here.

But, for my part, I swoon over the sunken volcano idyll of Bora Bora — lovely Moorea and my faux wedding aside. Here, a devastating mosaic of blues loops around a series of motus (Lilliputian-sized islets). Dotting the limpid lagoon sit myriad exclusive resorts, all defined by over-water suites and garden-like grounds. Palms, ferns, flowers and tropical fruits enrich the setting, making it unforgivably irresistible. To choose where to marry, propose, or renew vows here would be a quandary, as all sites offer something unique.

For my money, I’d pick the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort Thalasso Spa. An elegant property that manages to meld modernity and French chic with traditional Polynesian élan, the hotel has Philippe Starck-designed common rooms, a French-styled salt-water-themed spa, and just tropical enough bungalows that hover above the sea. Weddings here can take place on the beach or in a simple, glass-floored chapel that faces mystical Mount Otemanu. After a late-afternoon ceremony here, the couple can follow fire dancers and other performers to a decorated, gauze-draped couch on the beach to watch the sun set and await a Tahitian dance show executed just for them. After sipping one of the bartender’s signature love potions, the couple can continue their indulgence with a seductive dinner on the beach far away from the madding crowd.

If getting married on a boat is your thing, the Four Seasons can whisk you out in their catamaran. There, onboard, the lagoon becomes the stage, Mount Otemanu the backdrop and the falling sun a key player.

Likewise, the St. Regis, where Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban honeymooned, organizes weddings on the beach or on the banks of a private lagoon.

And the Hilton, where The Bachelorette recently reigned, marries couples in a hillside chapel with jaw-dropping views.

Becca Hensley is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Her trip was subsidized by Tahiti Tourism.

JUST THE FACTS

ARRIVING From Toronto, fly Air Canada and connect with Air Tahiti Nui in L.A. You will change planes in Papeete for Bora Bora or Moorea (you can also catch the ferry to Moorea). www.airtahitinui-usa.com

SLEEPING Pearl Resorts are intimate and full of local colour. Stay on Moorea or on a motu in Bora Bora. Weddings here have bride arriving by outrigger canoe. www.pearlresorts.com. Starting rates in Moorea $325 and Bora Bora $639. Four Seasons Bora Bora is an elegant resort abundant with over-lagoon bungalows, offering seven supreme wedding spots from a yacht deck to the beach. www.fourseaons.com/borabora. Starting rates $850. Hilton Bora Bora: Here most couples tie the knot in a chapel on a cliff above the sea. www.hilton.com/frenchpolynesia. Starting rates $588. InterContinental Hotels Bora Bora and Moorea: In Bora Bora there are two hotels — one occupies its own motu. The other is on land but has over-water bungalows and fine views. www.intercontinental.com. Starting rates in Bora Bora $675 and in Moorea $245. St. Regis Bora Bora: Bespoke weddings are the specialty here, where Carrie Underwood married and Nicole Kidman honeymooned. www.starwoodhotels.com. Starting rates $998. Sofitel Bora Bora or Moorea: These two hotels put the French in French Polynesia: chic, stunning, but casually elegant, they offer less of a resort experience and more of a boutique tropical getaway. www.sofitel.com. Both Moorea and Bora Bora rates start at $350. Legends Resort Villas: This locally owned, newly opened property sprawls atop a mountain that overlooks the sea. Each individual villa feels like a tree house. A favourite of locals, it has an epicurean restaurant and does weddings around the pool or on its private motu (just 10 minutes away) www.legendsresortvillas.com (starting at $350)

MARRYING It’s legal, but there’s lots of paper work. Visit www.tahiti-tourisme.com for details.

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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Feeling a little not in the mood for the traditional lovey-dovey holiday? Well, here’s something sure to make you feel all hearts-and-flowers inside. American Idol‘s Danny Gokey has released a video detailing his super-romantic wedding to Leyicet Perlata, which took place January 29 in Florida.The newlyweds!

It’s all here for fans to enjoy–glimpses of the traditional church ceremony, the rings, the bride going down the aisle. And the reception is covered too! Flowers, dancing, and the “chocolaty heaven” cake Gokey referenced to People shortly after the wedding took place.

Perhaps sweetest of all is Gokey’s inclusion of a tender message spoken directly to his bride, in which he muses “I wonder how many kids we’ll have?” Awww, too cute. Watch for yourselves!

The newlyweds have dedicated themselves to working on Gokey’s children’s charity Sophia’s Heart, which he founded in honor of his late first wife. In fact, the couple asked for donations to the foundation in lieu of traditional wedding gifts on their big day.

So, are you feeling a bit more in the Valentine’s Day spirit now? Be sure to let me know!

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On a chilly winter afternoon, Andrej Pejic settles into a Manhattan cafe with a cup of Earl Grey tea, sitting gracefully, long legs crossed. The blue-eyed fashion model gazes out a window, unaware that almost every man sitting at surrounding tables is transfixed.

A man in a black leather jacket walks up to the window, presses his face against the glass and kisses it. Pejic giggles and admits: “I find it flattering.”

The admirers are likely unaware that the beautiful blonde is actually a man.

MORE OF ANDREJ PEJIC ON THE RUNWAY

As Fashion Week gets under way in New York City, Pejic is one of the most recognizable – and controversial – faces in the industry. He’s the only top-tier fashion model who can walk down the runway as either a man or a woman. And his androgynous beauty has turned him into a trendsetter in an industry that’s always seeking to push the envelope.

“He’s just this beautiful thing that everyone wants a piece of,” says stylist Ken Anderson, who dressed Pejic for a German magazine cover.

He has the kind of face that makes even the vainest woman jealous: high cheekbones, flawless skin and plump, shapely lips. When he speaks, his ever-so-slight Adam’s apple is the first sign of his masculinity.

Though Pejic isn’t trying to be a woman, many in the transgender community have already claimed him as their own. He is seen as a bit of a maverick, someone who has embraced his sexuality without any need for explanation or justification. Last year, the gay and lesbian magazine Out named him “stylemaker of the year” and put him on its cover wearing a bridal veil and flowers in his hair.

Pejic graced the covers of 14 magazines last year alone, including an ad campaign for a Dutch push-up bra. In 2011, he was the face for a fashion line by designer Marc Jacobs. He has walked the runways for heavyweight designers, including John Galliano and Jean Paul Gaultier.

French designer Gaultier was so enamored with Pejic that he used his gender-bending look as a source of inspiration for his 2011 men’s and women’s wear shows, both of which Pejic modeled in. In the Gaultier men’s show, a pistol-packing, bare-chested Pejic wore a sleek black suit as “James Blonde.”

That was a stark contrast to the women’s show, where Gaultier crowned Pejic with the prized piece in the women’s wear collection: a couture bride’s dress.

French photographer Sebastien Micke, who has photographed transgender models, says Pejic’s femininity is effortless.

“Andrej’s got this thing that supermodels have: how to pose in front of the camera,” Micke says. “It’s just natural.”

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“I always say I’m responsible for the wedding, not the marriage.’’ That’s Mindy Weiss’ motto. The Los Angeles-based wedding planner to the stars has seen her fair share of happy endings — and ugly divorces.

But that doesn’t mean Weiss has given up hope. She recently came out with a new book, The Wedding Planner Organizer (Workman, $28.95), helping brides keep it together on their big day. Literally. It’s a three-ring binder with tons of advice on budget, locations, the dress, guests and more. With features like a pouch for fabric swatches, The Wedding Planner can turn into a scrapbook and hand-me-down when the honeymoon is over.

We spoke to the happily married mother of three from her home in L.A. before her planned trip to David’s Bridal in Hialeah on Thursday evening, but unfortunately she came down with “a really bad flu,’’ and had to cancel. Still, Weiss did give us dirt on major Hollywood couples she helped down the aisle, and we wouldn’t want it to go to waste:

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden: “Nicole had a Marie Antoinette theme at her father Lionel Richie’s house. We actually built kind of a structure over the pool, and it looked like it was part of the house. Nobody could tell they were in a tent. We tufted the ceiling in blue and did a whole kind of black-and-white checked marbled floor, so the contrast between the two was amazing. She had torn out pictures she’d seen of what she wanted, so it made it really easy on me.’’

Backstreet Boy AJ McLean and Rochelle Karidis: “They wanted a Goth theme. We hand-painted blood coming down the cocktail linens. The centerpieces were red rose hearts with a dagger in them. It was colorful and full of personality. I always tell couples to personalize it. At the end of that one, there wasn’t anyone wondering whose wedding they were at.’’

Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi: “It was a small dinner party, only 22 people. Portia loves flowers, and Ellen’s taste is impeccable. There was one long table of beautiful flowers going all the way down the middle.’’

Fergie and Josh Duhamel: “They did it at a private home with around 300 guests. Her dream was an indoor garden, with a forest feeling. I made a custom graffiti wall with little symbols of what they like: Fergie’s music and Josh loves fishing, so we painted a fishing pole.’’

Heidi Klum and Seal: “I did their original wedding in 2005 and remember, they renewed their vows every year. Everyone always dressed up; the funniest was a trailer-trash party. Last year, we went Venetian ball. Their split was a big shock to me. I didn’t know about it, and she’s a close friend. I think she was dreaming about the fairy tale. She’s strong, and they’re friendly. I know they’ll figure out a way to raise the children.’’

Russell Brand and Katy Perry: “It was amazing. We went to India, where I probably never would have gone. I am with people during the best time of their lives, or what they think is the best time, so it’s always sad. Divorce happens all the time, you just hear about it more frequently when people are famous. Marriage is another job; you have to work on it. It’s not you in the apron singing in the kitchen. It’s bringing two completely different people together. You have to have a strong foundation or else you’re not going to make it.’’

Madeleine Marr

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On a chilly winter afternoon, Andrej Pejic settles into a Manhattan cafe with a cup of Earl Grey tea, sitting gracefully, long legs crossed. The blue-eyed fashion model gazes out a window, unaware that almost every man sitting at surrounding tables is transfixed.

A man in a black leather jacket walks up to the window, presses his face against the glass and kisses it. Pejic giggles and admits: “I find it flattering.”

The admirers are likely unaware that the beautiful blonde is actually a man.

MORE OF ANDREJ PEJIC ON THE RUNWAY

As Fashion Week gets under way in New York City, Pejic is one of the most recognizable – and controversial – faces in the industry. He’s the only top-tier fashion model who can walk down the runway as either a man or a woman. And his androgynous beauty has turned him into a trendsetter in an industry that’s always seeking to push the envelope.

“He’s just this beautiful thing that everyone wants a piece of,” says stylist Ken Anderson, who dressed Pejic for a German magazine cover.

He has the kind of face that makes even the vainest woman jealous: high cheekbones, flawless skin and plump, shapely lips. When he speaks, his ever-so-slight Adam’s apple is the first sign of his masculinity.

Though Pejic isn’t trying to be a woman, many in the transgender community have already claimed him as their own. He is seen as a bit of a maverick, someone who has embraced his sexuality without any need for explanation or justification. Last year, the gay and lesbian magazine Out named him “stylemaker of the year” and put him on its cover wearing a bridal veil and flowers in his hair.

Pejic graced the covers of 14 magazines last year alone, including an ad campaign for a Dutch push-up bra. In 2011, he was the face for a fashion line by designer Marc Jacobs. He has walked the runways for heavyweight designers, including John Galliano and Jean Paul Gaultier.

French designer Gaultier was so enamored with Pejic that he used his gender-bending look as a source of inspiration for his 2011 men’s and women’s wear shows, both of which Pejic modeled in. In the Gaultier men’s show, a pistol-packing, bare-chested Pejic wore a sleek black suit as “James Blonde.”

That was a stark contrast to the women’s show, where Gaultier crowned Pejic with the prized piece in the women’s wear collection: a couture bride’s dress.

French photographer Sebastien Micke, who has photographed transgender models, says Pejic’s femininity is effortless.

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LAS VEGAS, Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and VEGAS.com, the most comprehensive Las Vegas travel website visited by more than 2.5 million visitors monthly, announce the winners of a promotion to award seven lucky couples the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to marry, renew their vows or formally commit to one another at The Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2012.

The couples include Carl Medeiros and Lorie Lesieur of Pawtucket, RI (wedding); Cynthia and Troy Weekley of Upland, CA (vow renewal); Jeffrey and Lori Widener of Auburn, WA (vow renewal); William and Elizabeth Bradley of Harrisburg, PA (vow renewal); Thomas and Victoria Luginbill of San Luis Obispo, CA (vow renewal); Paul and Joanna Harwood of Las Vegas, NV (vow renewal); and Fred and Ivy Pellerito of Belton, MO (vow renewal).

The seven couples are being flown to Las Vegas courtesy of the LVCVA; and they will enjoy a two-night stay at the historic El Cortez Hotel once owned by Bugsy Siegel. Following an early morning wedding ceremony inside The Mob Museum that includes flowers by Gaia and a photo package, the couples will enjoy a champagne brunch at MOB BAR and a $250 shopping spree at Fashion Show mall on the Las Vegas Strip.

The promotion, MARRIED AT THE MOB MUSEUM, features a special marriage ceremony conducted by former Las Vegas Mayor and former “go-to” mob defense attorney, Oscar B. Goodman, inside The Museum’s historic courtroom. In 1950, the courtroom was the site of one of 14 nationwide Kefauver hearings to expose organized crime. It is the only building in Las Vegas to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Goodman, who served three terms as Las Vegas Mayor from 1999 to 2011, is currently retained by the LVCVA as Chairman of the Host Committee, welcoming groups to Las Vegas.

The Mob Museum opens to the public at 2 p.m. on February 14, following the Mass Wedding and an official grand opening ceremony at 10 a.m.

About The Mob Museum

The Mob Museum is a world-class destination in downtown Las Vegas dedicated to the thrilling story of organized crime and law enforcement. It presents an exciting and authentic view of the mob’s impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on the world. True stories of mob history are brought to life in a bold and contemporary style via engaging exhibits, high-tech theater presentations and iconic artifact displays. Admission is $18 for adults ages 18 and over with special pricing for children, seniors, military, law enforcement and teachers; and $10 for Nevada residents of all ages. Museum hours are Sundays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. For more information, call 702-229-2734 or visit
www.themobmuseum.org . Connect with us on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/themobmuseum and on Twitter: @TheMobMuseum.

About VEGAS.com

VEGAS.com is the largest city destination travel website in the world with extensive, constantly updated information and a full range of travel products including Las Vegas hotels, Las Vegas air hotel packages, Las Vegas shows, tours and golf. A state-of-the-art contact center provides customer support, expert information and sales 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to complement the information on
www.VEGAS.com . VEGAS.com, through its Casino Travel Tours unit, operates retail and concierge desks at more than 50 locations including the Palms, Paris, Harrah’s, Bally’s, Excalibur, New York-New York, Luxor and more. The company also offers a variety of excursions including city tours, the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. VEGAS.com is a member of the Greenspun Family of Companies, privately owned and operating in Southern Nevada for more than 60 years.

About the LVCVA

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is charged with marketing Southern Nevada as a tourism and convention destination worldwide, and also with operating the Las Vegas Convention Center and Cashman Center. With approximately 150,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas alone and more than 10 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space citywide, the LVCVA mission centers on attracting ever-increasing numbers of leisure and business visitors to the area. For more information, go to
www.lvcva.com or
www.VisitLasVegas.com .

SOURCE The Mob Museum

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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Flowers By K is a new, locally owned floral business that recently opened last May in our quaint town of Lake Stevens.  They offer flowers and floral arrangements for all occasions: special events, weddings, corporate occasions, Valentine’s Day, and just because. 

As Flowers By K gets their flowers in every week, they are able to make the promise of offering the freshest, most beautiful flowers in the area (available every day).  They have a wide spectrum of ideas on their website to help set you in the right direction.  However, their experienced florists can create designers  choice custom arrangements to suit any vision, bringing to life anything you have in mind for that special someone.

This family and friend-operated business is owned by Zane Gregory, and is managed by his longtime friend Kristine Williams, a local resident of Lake Stevens.  Williams, is also lead designer and has been in the floral industry for seven years, possessing a stunning, natural talent for floral concepts and arrangement design. 

Flowers By K also employs two additional florists: Christine Pells Camp and Kristen Elliot, as well as a student from Arlington High School, who is working as an intern while studying floral design at AHS. 

Located on a residential street just south of Frontier Village off of 91st, this new business is open seven days a week and everyone there is more than happy to help you design and plan from lavish floral needs to nesting the freshest single red rose with grace and style. 

So support your local florist and give them a visit or call the next time you need flowers—for any occasion.

To get in touch with Flowers by K visit 8910 1st Pl. SE, or call 425-789-1508 or visit www.FlowersByK.com.

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Working in the wedding business in New York, one of the hardest parts of my job is telling couples who may call for information and tell me about their dream wedding, that their budget is not large enough to make their particular dream come true. The national average for wedding costs is somewhere around $27,000, but in a city like New York, that doesn’t get you very far. And, even in areas where that will buy you a very nice wedding, it is still a big chunk of change for the average couple or family.

Often, when couples start planning a wedding, the question soon becomes “Why are weddings so expensive?” This is typically followed by the thought “We could put a down payment on a house for this money.” And then, at some point, the question is asked, “Are they charging us more because they know that it’s a wedding!?”

I’m about to reveal a secret to you that isn’t widely discussed: the answer is yes. In seven of 10 cases you are being charged ever so slightly more because it’s a wedding. But, it’s not because you are suddenly “a mark” for markups. It’s because with a wedding comes a need to provide perfection (or something close to it), and perfection comes with a slightly higher price tag.

Let’s take for instance, a florist. On Tuesday, Mr. Flowers gets a call from Miss X, who is planning a fundraiser for her charity dinner of 150 guests. She lays out her needs to him: 15 centerpieces for the dinner and she cannot spend more than $4,000 including tax and delivery. She was thinking the color scheme would be all white. She has a personal aversion to lilies, but other than that, she’s open to his suggestions and is happy to take his input into how to get the most bang for her buck and make it look fabulous.

On Wednesday he gets a call from Miss Y, who heard from Miss X that he is a pleasure to work with. She is getting married in six months and would like to come in and meet with him about her reception flowers. She arrives with images from her Pinterest. She would like the centerpieces to contain blush garden roses, white hydrangea, pale pink peony and bit of sweet pea in pink and white. She explains her obsession with a certain mercury glass vase that she saw on a blog and would like the centerpieces to be in that same container. She’s anticipating 150 guests at the reception. Mr. Flowers tells her he will get her a proposal.

He contemplates the cost to him to create what the bride wants: he must build in the cost of obtaining those exact flowers that she requested, and build in enough room for both fluctuating flower prices AND his own profit. He doesn’t currently own the container the bride wants, so he prices out purchasing that container for use at her event. He also needs to add in bouquets for the bride and her bridesmaids. He knows he will have at least two more meetings with her between now and the wedding and will likely have to put together one or two sample arrangements, which are costly to him. Additionally, because the event is on a weekend AND he must pay his staff to return very late at night on a Saturday to clean up, he adds in that additional cost. His proposal to Miss Y comes in at $7,000.

Miss Y is distraught and annoyed. That was way more than she wanted to spend and a lot more than she knows her friend Miss X was charged for the benefit she was planning. She doesn’t care how good a florist she is, she is going to take her business elsewhere. Mr. Flowers never hears from her again.

I offer up this anecdote NOT to chastise the bride for being particular about her wedding flowers; I firmly believe with all my hear that a wedding is the time to be a bit exacting about what you’d like. Rather, this is to give you, the bride or groom on a budget, some insight into how it is that “wedding” expenses can get out of hand with hopes that with this information you can be a smarter “wedding shopper.”

Mr. Flowers would be happy to book the wedding of Miss Y at $4,000, perhaps not as happy as he would be at $7,000, but he’d be content. However, once Miss Y came in with her list of specific requests, from a business perspective, he sent her a proposal that met her requirements while still covering his profit margin.

Too often brides and grooms approach vendors with such specific requests and desires, not realizing that this doesn’t result in getting them the best price from their vendors. If you ask for something, the vendor will tell you what it costs to make that happen: be it flowers, or invitations or catering or cakes. They are, after all, in the business of making dreams happen. However, they are still in a business, and sometimes producing those dreams can get expensive.

So, what is a bride to do? How can she get what she wants, more or less, for less? The short answer is: for more flexible pricing, take a more flexible approach. Approach your vendors with three things: a sense of your budget, a sense of what it is that you like and an open mind.

Let’s revisit Mr. Flowers and Miss Y, shall we? Instead of calling someone else, Miss Y calls his studio and says, “Thank you for the proposal, but I think the $7,000 is a out of my price range. I really loved your work, and I’m curious if there are any changes that we could make to the proposal to bring it in closer to $5,000?” Mr. Flowers, now understanding both the “look” that the bride wants AND her budget, makes a number of suggestions that won’t sacrifice the finished product, but will cut the costs. Pleased at his flexibility and willingness to walk her through the process, she hires him and spends the next six months certain she is in capable hands.

For the couple on a budget, a little flexibility and an open mind can go a long, long way.

Follow Xochitl Gonzalez on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/theblogsmaid

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For the past three years, couples have flocked to Miami’s oldest bar, Tobacco Road, to get married by Elvis on Valentine’s Day weekend.

The bar is holding its fourth annual Valentine’s Wedding Bash this Friday. As usual, Elvis will officiate and there will we be wedding portraits and tents filled with flowers.

“We do everything except the $135 marriage license,” organizer Oski Gonzalez told HuffPost Miami.

And because the vows aren’t legally binding, Gonzalez says he’s able to marry same-sex couples as well couples who come back year-after-year to get re-hitched.

When people ask Gonzalez if the marriage is real, he tells them, “Of course it is. If you in your heart know that this is the person you want to be with for the rest of life, what’s the difference between that and a piece of paper? There’s no difference.”

Gonzalez told HuffPost Miami he was inspired to organize the mass weddings after he and his own wife secretly eloped in Las Vegas five years ago on February 10. “We didn’t tell anybody. We said a year later we would get married in front of our families and we would save up and have a big wedding.”

So they organized a big party at Tobacco Road, invited a bunch of bands, and an Elvis impersonator to officiate. “That year, we married 32 couples. Since then, we’ve married over 100.”

Gonzalez is known to give out tickets on Miami’s streets, saying “Look you guys should married. Here’s a pair for you mom and dad. Here’s a pair of tickets for his or her mom and dad. Here’s one for best man. Here’s one for your best woman. Here are invitations to invite your friends. I just paid for your wedding. All you have to do is come and say “‘I do.’”

Gonzalez told HuffPost Miami that his favorite couples are those who never intended to get married at all.

Last year, he says he noticed a couple fighting inside Tobacco Road. When he approached their table and asked how they were doing, the man tried to order a beer from him.

Gonzalez said, “No, I’m not the waiter. But I’ll get you a beer. I have something even better. Why don’t you guys get married? At the end of the night, they came up and said ‘You know what? This was really nice. And we’re going to hold this marriage certificate dear to our heart.’”

Gonzalez, who marries his wife every year on February 10, adds, “I’m a hopeless romantic and everybody loves to be in love. This would not be the fourth annual if it didn’t work.”

Valentine’s Day Wedding Bash 4 starts at 6 p.m. on Friday. There’s no cover before 9 p.m.

Here are some of the happy newlyweds from the past three years:

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