It's an 'Ol Fashion Valentine Exchange hosted by Karma Flowers

Over the holidays, I participated in a mug swap hosted by Bunting and Bones. It really brought me great joy to put together a little package for someone I had never met halfway around the country, and it was super fun to receive a package in the mail put together just for me! We are all so used to electronic communication that to put together a tangible bunch of goodies and include a hand-written note felt refreshing.

Couple that with my love for Valentine's Day {this year more than ever.} I know, I know, it's a cheesy hallmark holiday but I always feel like we celebrate our kids, and our moms, and our dads, and our pets, that it so easy to forget to celebrate the people we love just because. And to me, Valentine's is the excuse to do just that. 

So I decided to host an old crafty Valentine exchange! By submitting your email address, you agree to send a Valentine-themed package to the person I pair you up with! We encourage you to flex your creative muscles and get out the red paper and doilies, but if that is not you- no worries! We are sure you can creatively shop! I ask that you spend $10 before shopping. You can include yummy treats, supplies for a fun DIY, some fun Valentine confetti... the possibilities are endless.

So endless in fact that we have created a Valentine's Exchange Idea Pinterest board for those of you that need a little inspiration. Some of my favorites..

An instant celebration with this DIY.

Help someone create the perfect V-day treat.

Keep the little toes warm.

Now that you want in on this exchange, how do you sign up? Easy! Go to our Instagram account {@karmaandtrunk} and find the post with the vintage cupid picture above. Leave your email address in the comments. That is it! I am closing sign-ups on February 2nd so if you sign up, you will be receiving an email from me by Monday, February 3rd! Be sure to share the post on your Instagram- the more the merrier and hashtag #karmasvdayexchange

Help us spread Valentine's Day love and cheer across the country!!!

The Lovesick Expo: A Story Told in Flowers

By: Stephanie Agresti

Just one year after finishing a communications internship at Karma, I never thought I’d be putting on a wedding dress.  Not for my own wedding of course, but for The Lovesick Expo at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.  When Trish and Kristyn asked me to model as a bride for their vignette, I was so excited.

I spent the afternoon resting on the elegant pink settee, a popular member of our Trunk vintage furniture collection.  The bouquet Trish made for me to hold was full of gorgeous red and pink hues, rich textures, and unique anemones and orchids.  For the first time, I realized what it means to capture a bride’s personality through her flowers. 

Weddings tell the story of two lives becoming one love.  And though everything the Karma team made for the special day wasn’t for my true wedding, I felt a sincere connection to my flowers.

All afternoon, beautiful couples came to our vignette to see everything we are capable of doing.  I felt honored to represent the company that gave me so many opportunities in my career and happiness to so many brides.  And though modeling was a fun and new experience, there were so many times I wanted to jump up from the settee and say “and we can do this too!”

I love being a part of the Karma family, being able to express my creativity through design in a way I never imagined possible as a college student.  Though I’ve had the opportunity to make tons of bouquets for all types of weddings, you really don’t know what it’s like to be a bride until you are one yourself.

Real Wedding: Rebecca and Jeff hop the Pond and Get Married at Bonnet Island by Karma Flowers

At the beginning of this year, we received an email from, Rebecca, regarding her August wedding at Bonnet Island Estate. Her and her now-husband Jeff currently live in London but had spent tons of time at her parent's home on Long Beach Island growing up and wanted to bring all of their cherished family and friends to the Jersey shore to celebrate their love for one another. The venue speaks for itself and has so much character and charm, we were simply looking to adding some detailed touches.

The ceremony chapel was adorned with a sweet garland on both the aisle and mantel and the cocktail hour was full of baby's breath set against the ocean backdrop. The reception decor consisted of a mix of deconstructed vessels, taller pieces with tons of greens and many vintage {working} oil lamps {our favorite touch!} Julie from the KF team hand embroidered her famous napkins for the couple and it all came together beautifully.

Rebecca is a stunner and her dress was to die for, so we were sure to complement it with a gorgeous dahlia and peony {yes, in August - we have the best suppliers ever} bouquet. She asked for color but wanted her bridesmaids to carry white, and we created some lush bouquets for them as well.

All of the professional photography was captured by the AMAZING Angelica Glass Photography and the day of coordination was held down by Kathi Evans of All the Best Weddings and Celebrations who is always a joy to work with.

Enjoy some of our behind-the-scenes iPhone pics and hopefully we will be privileged enough to share some of Angelica's beautiful pictures.

Fernanda and Felipe's Surf Lodge Wedding on Constance Zahn, The Surf Lodge

A few months ago we posted some of favorite pictures of Fernanda and Felipe's Hampton wedding! The two were married in September at the Surf Lodge in Montauk and it was an absolutely gorgeous celebration. Jewel Georgieff and her team put together a wonderful affair and we were delighted to be a part of it.

We recently found out that not only was Fernanda and Felipe's wedding featured on Constance Zahn but it was named one of the best beach weddings of 2013 in Brazil! We are delighted for F + F who truly concentrated on making the day simple, and personal and a reflection of their love. Their wedding video by H2 Brasil captured it all exquisitely. Their vows to each other are some of the most heartfelt I have seen.

Love has a mission | Fe2 | Surf Lodge | Montauk | East Hampton | New York from H2 Brasil on Vimeo.

Fernanda's sister {pictured on the right} is Francesca Monfrinatti, the fashion guru behind the Shoe Lover blog. A must read for the fashion savvy.


Congrats to these two beautiful people and a lifetime of happiness to them both!!!


All pictures were captured by Real Life Portraits 

Real Wedding: Andrea & Mark at The W Hotel, Hoboken...Gulnara Studio & Lulu's Event Design

This summer we were lucky enough to be asked by Lulu's Event Design to be a part of Andrea and Mark's wedding at The W Hotel in Hoboken. After meeting with the couple, we were thrilled to find out that they were embracing the bright, vibrant colors of early July and we knew the peonies at that time in the season were going to steal the show. All of the special moments of the day were captured beautifully by Gulnara Studio and she was kind enough to send some of our favorites along to us.

Andrea's bridal bouquet had a more muted palette and worked especially well with her gorgeous lace gown.

The bridesmaids wore black so we were able to punch the color up a bit for their bouquets.

The bouts were the perfect mix of the blush tones from the bride's bouquet and the deeper fuchsia of the bridesmaids bouquets. Finished with black and white stripes.

Although a bit different from our typical design projects, we did use these lucite trays and purple gems to create a refined escort card display.

The couple elected to get married in the reception space that was turned over during the cocktail hour. This meant that we were to create a ceremony backdrop in a very neutral room. In order to bring life in the space, we worked with the couple to design and create these oversized green arrangements to frame the alter. We adore the simplicity of the pieces and that the scale of them helped cozy up the room a bit.

All of the centerpieces were deconstructed arrangements with a mix of mercury glass vessels. We stuffed them with peonies, hydrangea, and dusty miller. 

Andrea and Mark travel A LOT and we love following their adventures on social media! Best of luck you guys!

Weekend Wrap-up... A Kinfolk Event with Hello Home Shoppe

We over here at Karma & Trunk have put together a bit of a blog schedule. Yes, we know we have said it before, but we are going to do our darndest to stick to it. On Mondays, we plan to tell you a bit about our weekend. A bit of a wrap-up as you may. On Monday's after event weekends we will share a sneak peek of those events and the prep work behind them. But, on non-event weekends we will share a bit of our personal lives and how we like to spend our days off. It will be a little travel, a little crafting, a little book reading and we hope you will find a tip, a trick, a new destination from our adventures.

This weekend was FULL of consultations. SIX to be exact. And while we are so super psyched about all of our new clients and the venues they have chosen and invited us to decorate and style for them {The Loft at Jack's Barn, The Holly Hedge Estate, The Olde Mill Inn, The Red Mill Museum, and The Oakside Mansion} we aren't quite ready to tell their stories yet. So instead, we will reflect on a past weekend and introduce you to Kinfolk - a magazine, an event, and a lifestyle.

Back in November, I had the pleasure of attending a Kinfolk event in the West Elm, Philadelphia. The event was hosted by Emily and Erick of Hello Home Shoppe which has quickly become one of my favorite blogs! I was joined by a dear friend, Lauren, and we spent the morning learning how to infuse herbs into oil, bath salts, tea, and finishing sugar. See more about the day on their blog. All of the pictures on their blog and the ones below were captured by Brandon Wickencamp. And yes, that is me with the funny face below.

It was a lovely experience to sit with a friend and catch up while creating. All of the recipes were super easy and ones we will use and take with us to make treasures and gifts for ourselves and our friends. A wonderful afternoon spent with likeminded people, getting our hands dirty.

Kristyn and I previously attended a canning event that Kinfolk hosted in Brooklyn and I will be sure to share some of the details from that event soon.

Kinfolk generally has a theme each month with events pertaining to that theme, in cities around the globe. Visit their website and if you are looking to learn a new skill, craft, potential project, a Kinfolk event might be just the place to start.

Ps. Subscribing to the magazine is not a bad idea either, although we usually wait until they go on sale at Anthropologie before picking them up. There is a digital subscription option on their site for a reduced price as well.

*Karma Flowers, Trunk Rentals and the author are in no way affiliated with Kinfolk. We are simply spreading the word about a movement we can get behind. 

Eco-Friendly Lavender and Mint Shoot named one of the best of 2013...Every Last Detail!

It is really, really cold outside. Like really cold. So alas! It is the perfect day to get some blogging done...some long overdue blogging that is. 

Right before the new year, we found out that Every Last Detail named the mint and lavender shoot we lent our rentals to, some of the best wedding inspiration of 2013!

Now that is something we can be excited about!

The shoot, that we featured on our blog a few months ago, took place at Strawhill Farm and was captured by Alexis June Weddings and Cyrience Creative Studios. The idea was to showcase how to incorporate eco-friendly and sustainable elements into wedding decor. Trunk Rentals provided the chairs, a settee, and other smaller detail pieces. We absolutely adored seeing our vintage rentals fit into the overall story told through this shoot. 

Hoping this delightful shoot brings a little warmth to your day!