Alysia & Pat - On a Bicycle Built for Two!

Alysia and Pat met while attending Villanova University and wanted to be married in their chapel even though they both live out of state. Alysia wanted to use a very "Spring-like" color palette of yellow, white, and purple for her personal flowers at the church and reception at Blair Mill Inn. It was just perfect for the season as were some of the personal touches that were added. Alysia, her mom, and I only met once and were able to continue designing her flowers completely by email - which is easily done through photos and the personal worksheet I design for each and every one of my brides. I've previously worked with several brides this way and never met them face to face. Some brides just can't get to PA before the wedding. It's a great tool for long distance flower planning and has been very successful for Whimsical Welcomes. And the best part - no phone tag!  And all my brides were happy with their flowers!

Alysia carried a bouquet of white peonies mixed with yellow spray roses. I used a white standard rose with a bit of yellow spray roses for Pat's boutonniere.

Bridesmaids carried a bouquet mix of yellow mini-gerber daisies, yellow spray roses, and white daisies. I also used white daisies for the groomsmens' boutonnieres.  Mom's carried nosegays of yellow daisies and Dads wore boutonnieres of the same.

I used purple "squiggle" vases on the cocktail tables and filled them with a mix of yellow daffodils - some from my garden! And then scattered yellow rose petals around them.

Alysia and Pat enjoy bike riding. So I filled two "bikes" with an array of purple, yellow, and white flowers to sit on the placecard table. I just love the purple placecards!

If you look closely at the front of the bikes, they each had a sign on them reading Mr. or Mrs.

All of the guest table centerpieces were filled with white hydrangea, purple mini-carnations, and yellow daisies. I used purple squares for half of the tables and yellow for the other half. 

I added another touch of personalization by placing these cute little mini-antique bicycles on the head table. .  I added test tubes with a small bunch of flowers to the bikes to pretty them up and placed them in front of the bride and groom's chairs.  Congratulations Alysia & Pat!

Gina & Matt - Happy New Year!

Gina chose a color palette of white, blue, and silver in deference to winter and the holiday season. I utilized silver in several ways throughout her personal flowers to accent the blue and white. Thank you for sharing your photos with me Gina. They're beautiful! And I'm going to have to find out where you took your posed pictures. What a terrific background! And the mild winter certainly worked in your favor.

Gina's bouquet was composed of waxflower, white hybrid lilies, and freesia to give her flowers a more unstructured look. Among the flowers I scattered light blue sprays of rhinestones.  Her stems were wrapped in blue ribbon to match her bridesmaids' dresses. And I added her rosary around the ribbon.


I used  freesia to make Matt's boutonniere match Gina's bouquet.

Bridesmaids' bouquets were designed to resemble snow with lots of Baby's Breath and white carnations.

Groomsmen wore white carnation boutonnieres.

Moms' corsages were made with white spray roses plus silver leaves for the holiday.

Dads' white spray rose boutonnieres were made to match Moms' corsages.

I made a spray of flowers for Gina to present to the Blessed Mother.  Congratulations Gina & Matt!

Emily & Michael - Really Red!!

Emily is the daughter of one of my former elementary school students. Her mother was in the very first class I taught at East Coventry Elementary School which was comprised of second and third grade students. I had Becky again the next year when I taught a straight third grade class - one of my very favorite students. It just cracks me up when I look at my own wedding album and see her in her dress up hat at my wedding. She was adorable! So here we both are again - at the same wedding so many years later!

It was my first time at the chapel at Alvernia College and also my first time at Reading Country Club. What a wonderful banquet manager they have there. I had such a good time listening to his stories while I was setting up. He was great and so very helpful.

Emily chose red, gold, and white as her December color palette. Excellent choice! But she didn't want to use any roses. So I made her bouquet up of mini gerber daisies, tulips, red carnations, and red hypericum berries. We added some "snowflakes" to the flowers in a nod to the Winter. Did we see any snow in December? I know we went exploring at the Daniel Boone Homestead afterwards because it was such a nice day. Perfect for a wedding!

I used a red mini gerber daisy, red hypericum berries, and gold leaves to make Michael's matching boutonniere.

Mini red carnations really popped against the white alstromeria and greens in the bridesmaids' bouquets.

Groomsmen wore matching red mini carnation boutonnieres.



Alvernia College, which the couple attended, has the most charming chapel. It was so beautiful inside with the sweetest Sister helping me out.



Reading CC provides guest table centerpieces. So to add some "pizzazz", I designed a placecard table arrangement using gold and red Xmas ball, winter greens, hydrangea, and winter branches.

Bouquet vases, gold candles, and rose petals decorated the head table. I hope I get to see what they looked like when the bouquets were placed inside. Congratulations Emily & Michael! I'm sure you had a marvelous first Christmas as a married couple.

Rachel & Steve's Lovely Lemon Yellow!

Rachel and Steve were married under a beautiful chuppah at Talamore Country Club. Rachel used a color palette of yellow and dark pink for her wedding party. Yellow rose petals were scattered along the aisle runner. It was a beautiful night for a beautiful couple.

I made a simple and elegant bouquet of Rachel's favorite flower - yellow roses.

Steve makes his own beer, so we added some hops that Rachel provided to his yellow rose boutonniere.

Bridesmaids bouquets were made up of dark pink alstromeria and yellow spray roses. I used the same yellow spray roses for the groomsmens' boutonnieres.


Moms carried small bouquets of pink spray roses and yellow mums with matching boutonnieres for the Dads.







Pinned corsages of yellow mums were made for the readers.


Mazel tov Rachel and Steve!

Janice & Chris - Sheerly Elegant

Janice and Chris celebrated their wedding at the wonderful Shearer Elegance B&B in Limerick, PA. If you've never been there, it's a beautiful Victorian mansion run by the lovely host, Sue Tator. It's a perfect location for a small wedding, shower, or party. My son is having his whole wedding party stay there for the weekend of his wedding. I think it's a fabulous idea as well as being very, very affordable. www.shearerelegance.com

Janice decided to use a color palette of purple and white for her wedding. She chose to embrace the Victorian feel of the venue, so I furnished her with ceremony containers and centerpieces in keeping with the theme. She also used the accommodations for many of her wedding guests and herself, which is so convenient - and breakfast in included!

Janice's bouquet consisted of my favorite calla lily. I just love the deep purple throat. Chris' boutonniere matched of course.

Bridesmaids carried bouquets made up of white mini calla lilies surrounded by a cuff of eggplant carnations and a collar of gaylax leaves. The beautiful deep purple carnations were also worn by groomsmen as their boutonnieres.

I've been doing a lot of single flower and nosegays for Moms. They're a nice alternative to wearing a corsage. At this wedding, Dads wore white mini calla lily boutonnieres.

The ceremony was held at the base of a magnificent staircase. I placed a wicker container of flowers on each side of the beautiful railing.

Guest tables were placed in various rooms in the mansion. Keeping with the Victorian feeling of the house, I collected cut glass containers to fill with Janice's favorite flowers. Here are a few of the tables which include cut glass vases, a bowl, and a basket.



This larger cut glass vase was placed on the large dining room table. This is where guests who stay and have breakfast are served. It's a really beautiful room!

Ashlee & Michael - Snow in October? Really?

When Ashlee and her mom came over to drop off her containers for the wedding at Columbia Station, they informed me that the ceremony would be held inside because of the snow. Snow?? What snow? I'd been busy working and hadn't turned on the news/weather for days. Ashlee decided rather than agonize over a last minute decision, they'd already made it and could relax and enjoy the rest of her wedding preparations. What else could she do but just roll with it and enjoy every special moment.? What a wonderful attitude, but I expected no less from this wonderful bride. She is such a nice, nice lady. And the upside? She got some gorgeous photos in the unexpected white stuff

Ashlee chose a Fall colored bouquet of yellow calla lilies, Hocus Pocus roses with crystals, and orange spray roses. Michael wore a red mini calla lily as his boutonniere.

Two MoH carried bouquets of Circus roses, daisy mums, and red spray roses.

Bridesmaids carried bouquets of Circus roses and red spray roses. All groomsmen wore boutonnieres of Circus roses.

Because of the snow and ice, the ceremony was moved inside. I made large arrangements of fall flowers included mini-sunflowers, gerber daisies, Red Rover mums, and hypericum berries in containers made from birch.

Small baskets of fall flowers were placed on the aisle chairs of the parents' rows.

I made an arrangement of mixed Fall flowers to sit on top of the carved log that Ashlee had made for her. Note the initialed heart carved into it! And the placecards followed through with the tree theme beautifully.


Tall centerpieces consisted of birch branches adorned with roses hanging in test tubes and hooked LED lights. I chose to use this photo so you can see the snow on the trees through the window. Crazy!

I mixed fall flowers in the low arrangements for the guest tables. Glass squares were double banded with red and pewter ribbon.

The sweetheart table included arrangements similar to those on the guest tables. In addition to working with the lovely Ashlee, I don't think I'll ever forget this fall-themed wedding....in the snow!