Some Flowers Get to Live Two Lives: Fern’s Wedding at Triple S Ranch

I’ve known Fern for more than twenty five years, long enough to watch her grow from a kid helping with my children into a woman who knows exactly who she is and lives that truth with confidence and humor. Some people pass through your life for a season, but Fern has been there through enough chapters that she feels inseparable from my story.

When she left for NYU to study acting, I felt the loss immediately. It was hard not having her close, but it was also clear that she needed to be in the wider world, figuring out who she was on her own terms. Watching her do that, and do it well, has been one of the quiet joys of my life.

Today, Fern lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband Kevin and their dog Sunday, building a life that feels thoughtful, creative, and deeply grounded. Kevin understands her in a way that allows her to be fully herself, and seeing that kind of partnership has been a gift.

Designing Wedding Flowers for Someone You Love

When Fern asked me to design the flowers for her wedding at Triple S Ranch, I felt both excited and aware of the responsibility that comes with creating something so personal. This was never going to be a traditional wedding, and I knew right away that her bouquet couldn’t be traditional either.

Fern has always loved transformation, from costumes and characters to the way she plays with style and self expression. I wanted her bouquet to reflect that sense of movement and possibility, something that felt alive in her hands rather than fixed or overly polished.

A Bouquet Designed to Move and Evolve

I used a wire constructed technique inspired by Susan McLeary of Passion Flower Sue, which allows flowers to float and sway as the person holding them moves. The result was sculptural and expressive, elegant but full of energy, and very much in keeping with Fern’s personality.

From the beginning, the bouquet was designed with a second life in mind. After the ceremony, it was transformed into a floral headpiece for the after party, using the same flowers in a completely different way. That moment felt like a full circle echo of years ago, when Fern would come to me as a child asking for help with costumes and dress up creations, only this time the transformation was real and worn into the night.

Flowers as Story, Not Decoration

What made Fern’s bouquet meaningful wasn’t just the design itself, but what it represented. It carried our shared history, her growth, and the idea that beauty doesn’t have to be static to be lasting. Flowers can be used fully, enjoyed deeply, and allowed to change along with the moment.

This way of thinking is central to how I approach wedding flowers as a farmer florist working in Sonoma and Napa. Wedding flowers begin in the field long before the day itself, and when they are designed with intention, they can hold memory, movement, and meaning all at once.

A Wedding Remembered

Fern and Kevin’s wedding was later featured in Vogue, which was surreal and incredibly special to see. You can read the full feature here. For me, though, the most meaningful part had nothing to do with publication and everything to do with watching someone I love carry a piece of our shared story down the aisle, then carry it forward into something new.

Cheers to Fern and Kevin

Fern and Kevin, here’s to a life filled with creativity, laughter, and the freedom to keep evolving. Being able to create something so personal for you is a memory I’ll always treasure, and a reminder of why flowers, like people, are at their best when they’re allowed to grow and change.

The happily married couple