David and Michelle were such a great couple! I think these two were even busier than I was in the year leading up to their wedding. However Michelle always made me smile with her funny e-mails throughout the sometimes stressful planning process. For sentimental reasons they opted to “tweak” the all-inclusive package to include only purple and white flowers, which I was more than happy to do for them. I loved working with these purple hued Carnations and the bright apple green accents of the Bupleurem and Hypericum berries! Congratulations David and Michelle, may you have nothing but the best in the years to come!
Hopping Over the Pond for a Wedding at the Belvedere Mansion
Emma was the first international bride I have worked with. Being from England, Emma was very fond of English country flowers, or cottage flowers as some may call them. How could I not love working with this bride!? She also expressed a love of deep purple Gladiolas. Initially Emma wanted to work with more authentic “English Country” flowers such as Cantebury Bells, Larkspur, Delphinium, Garden Roses, and Hydrangea. However as we continued to discuss her wedding details, she opted for a little more of a streamlined look, incorporating mainly Hydrangea and Gladiolas.
It was important to also incorporate glamorous accents in this wedding, so Emma was a perfect match for our new rental Candelabras. These candelabras can be configured in so many different ways, but in this case we went all out, adding every crystal accent we had. Dutch Green Hydrangea and Gladiolas were the main flowers used in these along with some purple Double Stock Flower and Lisianthus.
As if these large arrangements were not glamorous enough, I also brought in mercury glass inspired silvery compote dishes that we filled with Mini Green Hydrangea and Gladiola Florets. I used a taller vase from the same collection to anchor the larger candelabras, and filled this with Hydrangea, Glads, and Green Cymbidium Orchids. Each place setting also included a Cymbidium Orchid tucked into the napkin and menu card, which I always LOVE the look of! Silvery votive candles, rose petals, crystal place card holders, and small white boxes wrapped in purple ribbon with crystal accents rounded out the entire look.
As my wonderful assistant Erica and I were about to leave, we scattered any remaining rose petals we had around the ceremony area. The pond nearby had a very appreciative frog that you will see in the last picture. Truly a fairytale ending to a fairytale wedding! Best wishes and congratulations Lee and Emma!!!
Ahhhh the Belvedere. Does it really get much better than this? Beauty around every corner, furnishings, textures and colors so rich you could eat them!
Erica is the most talented assistant ever! I am over 8 months pregnant in these pictures, and she managed to hide the bump in these pics! Want to look a few pounds thinner in your wedding pics? Have I got the girl for you!!!
Emma’s bouquet. This is what I like to call a semi-cascade. So many people freak out when they hear the mention of a cascade. Visions of the 1980’s monstrosities that were carried by brides wearing full length lace sleeved dresses covered in beads and shimmer come to mind, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Smaller, more tasteful versions are continuing to make a comeback. While certainly more expensive than basic hand-tied varieties (in most cases), they really are so beautiful and unique. It is always an unexpected treat when one of my bride’s orders one.
White Dahlias, Blue Delphinium, Mini Green Hydrangea, Star of Bethlehem, Spray roses, and Gladiolas were the main flowers used in this bouquet.
Round Hill House Wedding in Yellows and Grays
The main adjectives that most brides use to describe the look they would like for their weddings are usually, “simple,” “elegant,” and “romantic”. What I liked most about Alyssa is that she described wanting a warm, cozy kind of feel along with these elements. What also sparked my interest were her color choices: Grays, Yellows, and Navy Blue. I was so excited to have my first wedding incorporating the color gray. For years it seemed that the only neutral any of us florists got to use was chocolate brown. Finally- something different! I suspect we will be seeing a lot more gray elements in 2011 and 2012 weddings.
The main flowers used for this wedding were Yellow Dahlias, Antique Hydrangea, Raspberry Thistle, Craspedia, Crocosmia, Lamb’s Ear, Dusty Miller, and several varieties of full blooming Roses. The centerpieces were designed in weathered cedar cubes, which I really enjoyed working with.
I really hope some pro pics come in from this event. Alyssa was a gorgeous bride and the bouquets against the beautiful navy dresses were a perfect fit! I’m sure everything looked lovely when it all came together!
Alyssa gave me a few photos to draw ideas and inspiration from. I loved her invitations and the small hint of orange was perfect to compliment the otherwise all yellow and gray color scheme. Crocosmia seemed to be a perfect fit. This is an orange flower from the same family as Freesia. An added bonus is that the stems of Crocosmia are a purplish/ navy color which worked very well with the other flowers selected.
I just loved Alyssa’s Bouquet! I must have taken a million pictures of it! It was so floral, but the softness of the Lamb’s Ear really changed the “been there done that factor”, and made it so unique. It reminded me of a bouquet combined with a luxurious gray Cashmere sweater. Not to mention the fact that it smelled heavenly and clove like, with the addition of the Yellow Double Stock Flowers.
I chose to wrap the bridesmaid’s bouquets in this really unusual ribbon I found a few years ago. It was discontinued, so of course I had to have it! It is the softest pale blue velvet. I never had any occasion where it seemed to fit until this one. Once they were wrapped I accented the wrap with trim ribbon and studded it with pewter pins.
I thought Alyssa did a great job selecting the yellow blooms that she did for the centerpieces, they looked great with the warm yellow walls surrounding the dining room!
All in all, a beautiful color and flower scheme, which I am certain we will be seeing more of! I for one am really looking forward to more gray!
Congratulations Justin and Alyssa!!!
New Blogs Coming Soon- Promise!!
I know, I know…where are the latest wedding pics and blogs!? I keep hearing this from many of you. I’m hoping that I will have more of the pro pics in soon and will be able to share these events soon. In the meantime, here is a little sampling of what is coming soon in much more detail….
Please be patient!
Luke and Nancy’s Rustic and Charming Outdoor Wedding
Nancy was a bride with a lot of ideas! She changed her mind a few times, but ultimately decided on flowers she had wanted all along. Her wedding to Luke took place in a church, but the reception was held under a beautiful tent beneath the late summer sky. She opted to do the centerpieces on her own but I had the pleasure of creating her personal flowers. Here are a few photos…
Congratulations Luke and Nancy!!!!
Mark and Jessie’s Lippincott Manor Wedding
When I first met Jessie and Mark they were set on purchasing the all-inclusive Lovely package I offer all Lippincott Manor Couples. They were also pretty certain of using a color palette consisting of soft greens and whites (one of my favorites to work with). Jessie was leaning toward these colors because of her choice in the color of her bridesmaids’ dresses, a rich, vibrant coral/watermelon color. When she first showed me the fabric swatch I agreed that greens and whites were certainly the safest way to go because it would be very difficult to match this color exactly.
As the planning moved forward Jessie began to long for more colorful blooms for her summer soiree, and I offered a number of other options that consisted of flowers that still had this melony/coral in them, but were not a solid color. Among them were Big Fun Roses (a bicolor rose that is really a peach and coraly hot pink), and peach Alstromeria which had very similar colors to the roses. If I have said it once I will say it a thousand times, peach is a color that works like a neutral. It pairs so beautifully with so many colors, and this color scheme was no exception. Jessie chose to incorporate French Blue Hydrangea in addition to the other blooms, and I suggested we also use peach berries and Carnations to round everything out. The result was still soft and elegant, but colorful at the same time.
Congratulations Mark and Jessie!!!
Flower Girl Pomander.
One of the bridesmaid’s bouquets.
Bridal Bouquet
All of the following Professional Pictures courtesy of Paul Harrington at Paul’s Pics 4 You. 845-566-4929. www.fotolightroom.com
The Groom’s Cake! This was made by the Mark’s Brother and Jessie’s Sister.
*Please note: these bouquets and the pomander were upgraded, and are not standard with the Lovely Package.