Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Suzanne & Matt - Fabulous Fall!

Suzanne and Matt were planning to celebrate their marriage at the beautiful Hotel Fiesole in Skippack. Suzanne wanted a primarily orange fall themed wedding and I think the two of us were able to achieve her intentions. Suzanne had some wonderful ideas and carried them through with style. Just check out her gorgeous photos! A big thank you to Kay Lim, Suzanne's very talented photographer, for sharing her pictures with me. They're wonderful! Suzanne looked absolutely stunning in her bridal photo. She's carrying a beautiful bouquet of two dozen mango calla lilies.
I always add a little heart to my bride's bouquets. It's just a little thing I do to symbolize the love that surrounds the bride and groom at their wedding.
We also used mango calla lilies in Suzanne's attendant's bouquet along with roses.
I made two Fall ceremony arrangements for Suzanne and Matt using some more unusual flowers including kangaroo paw, crocosmia, pods, dried eucalyptus, and lilies. The orange really stands out!
Down the aisle leading to the ceremony area Suzanne lined up pumpkins and fresh mum plants. Such a nice touch!
I made several small cocktail table arrangements in bright orange vases for the trolley car on the premises. They were filled with spray roses, alstromeria, and hypericum berries.
Suzanne chose to set up a memorial table on the library table honoring their loved ones. I filled a basket with Fall flowers around which Suzanne sat framed photographs.
I created this arrangement for the favor table. There are river rocks and birch branches inside the glass with an array of brightly colored Fall flowers on the top along with the tops of the branches.
I made two types of centerpieces with Suzanne's metal pumpkins. Ironically, I have just about the same pumpkins that I rent out. So it's true - great minds do think alike! We worked inside the pumpkins on half the tables and outside the pumpkins on the other half. And Suzanne made the cute pumpkin candles. I have the candle carver available to brides that work with me by the way.
Suzanne ordered these adorable Bride & Groom signs for their chairs. Love it!

Thank you Suzanne for your creativity and attention to detail. It was such a pleasure to work with you.  I wish the very best to Matt and you!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Ideas I Love: Rustic Ceremony Idea

 
Ideas I Love: Vintage and rustic themed weddings are becoming more and more popular. Here's a great rustic ceremony idea I used at Welkenweir (incidentally where Robert Ryan is now the exclusive caterer). Hay bales were brought in to seat the ceremony flowers - front and back - instead of using pillars or tables. And the weight of the pumpkins kept the containers erect. This was a "green" wedding - more details to come in future posts.
 
 

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Karen & Cruz - The Doctor is In

Karen first contacted me by email to talk about flowers for her wedding. She lived in NYC and was busy studying for her PhD in psychiatry and would not be able to come into Philadelphia until her wedding. The way in which I design - on-line with personalized worksheets - made it possible - and even easy - to work with Karen at times when it was convenient for her. We had a lot of "conversations" on-line - and sometimes on the phone - but we managed to pull together her lovely contemporary white, purple, lavender, and orange wedding at The Brossman Center. And when I finally was able to speak with Karen face to face at her venue - I found her to be as lovely in person as she was over the air waves.

 I also need to give a big "thank you" to Wendy Hartigan of Bridal Affairs for the "rescue" she provided for Karen. The bride found out about two weeks before her wedding that there was no one at the Brossman Center - or through her caterer - who was going to set up her placecards, tie on her chair bows, run her ceremony, or do all of the many little things that need to be done on the day of the wedding. Lesson learned! Brides - do not assume that your caterer or venue supplies all of the help that you will need. Wendy did a fantastic job and I highly recommend her services to anyone that needs someone to coordinate their special day. wendys-bridalaffairs.blogspot.com

Karen's bouquet consisted of ivory standard roses, orange spray roses, and lavender lisianthus.  Cruz's matching boutonniere was made up of an ivory rose with an orange spray rose at the base wrapped in lavender ribbon. 


Bridesmaids carried bouquets of white, purple, and lavender lisianthus mixed with a touch of orange spray roses. Groomsmen wore triple orange spray rose boutonnieres.


I made a pair of flower arrangements for the altar of the church. I used a combination of larkpsur, carnations, and fuji mums to brighten up the room.


I used my beautiful vintage looking lavender cones to decorate the aisle at the church. I filled them with small lavender and orange flowers to bring in some more color to the very plain room.



Karen purchased a set of birdcages in deference to her "lovebirds" themed invitations. One was to be used for wedding envelopes. I filled the second with various sized candles and rose petals. One of the centerpieces filled out the trio.  Her sign in book was also placed on this table.


On tables of gray pintuck tablecloths with purple napkins, we made two similar but different types of centerpieces. Half of the arrangements consisted of lavender hydrangea studded with white button mums. Orange acrylics filled in the bottom of the squares.


The second centerpiece was the opposite of the first. Glass squares were filled with white hydrangea and orange flowers - in this case safflower. Lavender acrylics were used in the bottom.




Congratulations to Karen and Cruz.  It was truly a pleasure to finally meet you! 

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Ideas I Love: Personalizing the Cocktail Hour

Ideas I Love: I ask my brides a lot of questions that help me to think up ideas that will personalize their weddings. I had a bride and groom who loved NASCAR so one of the ideas I had was to design cocktail table pieces that expressed that. I enjoy when my brides participate, so I designed the idea that Sarah and her mom carried out. I had her wrap vases in colored cording (which I told them where to buy) in the colors of their favorite drivers. Sarah did just that and collected matchbox cars to put around their base. She also found that wonderful black and white checked ribbon for me, which I incorporated into the design. I just love it!
 
 
To carry through the NASCAR theme - I also used colorful automotive funnels on the hors d'oeuvres table at Duportail House. There are bottles underneath to hold the flowers.