Max Gill, 44, floral director at Berkeley’s famed Chez Panisse and principal of Max Gill Design, offers lush arrangements that seem to defy the architecture of their containers—a technique that honors the plants’ unencumbered growth in the wild.

Gill often utilizes foliage such as vines, hellebores, pears, and Meyer lemons, all cultivated in his Berkeley backyard. Supplementing his garden bounty with classic blooms from the San Francisco Flower Mart (English roses, irises, and ranunculus, for example), Gill creates romantic, seemingly unstructured wedding arrangements. This year, he’s forecasting oversize, flower-forward bouquets cascading with blush-hued roses, white anemones, and plum blossoms accented by metallic ribbons. While the organic nature of his work belies his exacting design process, Gill’s improvisational skills have proven useful when day-of miracles are in order. “If my flowers don’t look right, I’ll forage near the venue,” he says. “I understand how important they are to the big day. Flowers are basically nature’s expression of love.”

This article was published in 7x7's Weddings 2015 issue. Click here to subscribe.