Back with the second part of my most recent A Daily Gathering, the Spring Workshop Day. Today I’m sharing about the second half of the day, which consisted of a floral workshop taught by Morgan from Petals & Hedges, wooden spoon carving workshop taught by Amy and Casey of Foxwood Co., and then our magical long table supper. Each event that I host has something special about it…this time it was all the team work and laughter!

I am forever indebted to the folks who partner with me for these A Daily Gathering events, especially my kitchen team! Without these dear friends, I would not be able to pull them off. They arrive when I do (MANY hours before the event starts), help with unloading the vehicles, unpack boxes and boxes, prep food, make the menu items I’ve put together, set tables, make last minute farmer’s market runs, wash dishes, dry dishes, clean the kitchen, pack up boxes, load the cars back up, etc. All the while, these ladies are graciously smiling and generally holding the workshop together. Hannah, Breelyn, and Abigail, thank you thank you thank you. You are dear friends, and I so appreciate your support and friendship and willingness.

Besides my assistants and kitchen team, there are the pros who are co-teaching workshops, photographing, and filming. I’ve worked with Morgan at Petals & Hedges a few times over the past several years, and she’s just wonderful! I love her wild, carefree floral designs and her love for being outside and foraging! She knows everything about what grows in our area and is always intentional about using local, native flowers & foliage! In addition to designing wedding flowers, Morgan has thriving gardens, and is a master landscape designer (I need to get her in my gardens, ASAP). She also introduced me to LaMontagne at Bluemont, so I’m forever indebted to her. THANK YOU MORGAN!

Casey & Amy from Foxwood Co. are the incredible duo who taught our wood working (spoon carving) workshop. They are rockstars! I was so, so impressed with their calming demeanors and the way they work together as a couple! Their workshop was about 3.5 hours long (!) and it was so FUN to watch the students tackle that wood-carving learning curve. Casey & Amy patiently guided them through each step, provided bandaids for the inevitable slip, and cheered students on when they felt discouraged. I was so impressed with all the students and the beautiful spoons they left with! You can see Torrance’s sheer joy in one of the photos above…she had finally finished her spoon!

You guys hear about Sweet Root Village (and see their photos) SO MUCH on this little blog….and it’s for good reason. They have become two of my dearest friends, and they are so INCREDIBLY talented. I so admire them (and would be no where without their photos & support). Rachel’s a mama of two littles, Lauren’s got the sweetest little doggy (#DouLog), they both have wonderful marriages, and together they own & manage a super successful photography and floral business…they are truly wonderful, and I am so excited for all their growth over the past few years. They have an eye for capturing beauty (and dang, they are masters of awesome lighting & shadows). Thank you, Lauren & Rachel!

Last but not least, we had a few awesome product partners for the Spring Workshop Day! Becky at Be Clean Shop (a DC-based shop) sent over the sweetest goodie bags full of some natural body products. I’ll be sharing more about Becky’s shop soon…she’s curated some of the best handcrafted, small batch, plant-based apothecary items! Chey from Tables & Figures provided our gorgeous deep blue linen napkins. I love Chey’s linens; they’re perfect! And Anthropologie sent us these stunning Old Havana Pitchers for the students to design their florals in. To me, pitchers make stunning vessels; these Anthropologie ones were perfect! For our natural cleaning workshop, Rail 19 provided the gorgeous glass bottles (spray and pump) and Eden’s Garden graciously sent over the essential oils for our DIY natural cleaning products!

Next week we’ll be announcing our fall 2016 retreat, which will be held at a gorgeously restored inn tucked away in the heart of the Catskills! Stay tuned!