For over 20 years, Tami Etziony has been coaxing master pieces from nature’s bounty. Her artistic eye and strong sense of design helps her in combining exciting foliage and flower materials into works of art. Her studio is located at 1414 Sutter Street in San Francisco, where she has been designing for the past five years.
“When I studied horticulture at City College, I intended to become a landscape architect; however, I worked in floral design and got so attached to the medium, I couldn’t stop”, Tami explains. Consequently, it is her horticulture background that gives her work its very distinctive flavor. Her perspective of knowing a wide variety of plants material allows her to achieve a distinctive look and feel using the color-texture variations. For example, in the Fall, the hydrangeas get the red and green colors of Autumn leaves. In combination with grape vines, and maple branches, all of which, have similar tones of turning leaves, creates a fabulous backdrop for many highlight colors such as creamy white Calla lilies.
Tami has a lush garden style whether in her corporate accounts or event work, her emphasis is on taming the material to bring a slice of nature indoors.
“We are quite limitless in the Bay Area” she says. “We can get almost anything from pine branches covered with lichen and moss, to fruit such as Buddha’s hands and kumquats, to mushrooms”, Tami describes.
Though she has distinct ideas about design, for events as personal as weddings, Tami listens and becomes a resource for floral possibilities. Bridal bouquets are the heart of wedding designs. “The bridal bouquet tends to be the most complex work of art”, Tami explains. “It takes center state with the bride as she walks down the aisle. When designing a bridal bouquet, I make sure it looks perfect, not only on the wedding day but in the photographs as well. Since, that is where the memories lie. In order to look great in pictures, the bouquet needs some contrast in its color scheme, or a wide variation in texture.”
“For one bride who appreciated the variety of plant material and textures, I created a bridal bouquet of Lemons still on the branch with lime green Roses, Rosemary branches, blooming Oregano and Honeysuckle vines.” For other events, she uses such materials as vines of hops, artichokes, pomegranates, and varied grasses.
For even in simple ceremonies, such as a wedding on a farm, the flower décor defines and accentuates the natural beauty of the location. On one such occasion, Tami designed a bright mix of dahlia blossoms in mason jars for the picnic tables with bright fabric ribbons.
Tami notes “Flowers are attention grabbers; I use my designs to create the mood desired.”
When having an outdoor wedding, the ceremony location has to be defined. Creating a special atmosphere and focusing the attention on this particular place. For an Indian wedding under an old Oak tree in the Napa valley, Tami hung chains of bright flowers from the Oak branches to highlight the beautiful Indian fabrics used as a canopy for the ceremony. The couple had matching flower leis for the special blessing of matching colors.
Tami’s expertise in choosing the best material for the location works both for corporate accounts such as office and hotel lobbies as well as event design. Indoors, the consideration for color palette, strong scent and size limitation dictate the selection of flowers. For office space and lobbies the arrangements should be lasting and durable, many exciting branches such as Buckeye and Dogwood are a perfect choice, amongst bearded Irises and Peonies, for example. However, for event design the flower material needs to be in the height of its blossom perfection. The criteria changes to accomplish the most show for the movement. For floral design that brings nature indoors in a unique art form, with a motto Artistic Botanical Expressions, please contact Tami Etziony, at Flowers by Tami’s Design, or (415)921-7673 – ROSE
