Kelly and John - Magnificant Memorial Day

Kelly and John's Memorial Day weekend wedding was a bit of a humbling experience for me. They had invited any and all guests to dress in the uniform in which they had served. It was so striking to see young men as well as gentlemen of an "advanced" age dressed in their blues and grays and whites. So impressive!

Kelly chose a color palette of yellow, black, and white. All of the bouquets were a variation of those colors. Kelly carried a bouquet of yellow roses - some with black pins in them - and white mini-calla lilies. The two MoHs held bouquets of white roses and yellow mini-calla lilies white the bridesmaids' bouquets were made up of white carnations and yellow mini-calla lilies. And the junior bridesmaid - Kelly's daughter - carried a bouquet of yellow roses with yellow mini-calla lilies. They all blended together so nicely. John did not wear a boutonniere on his uniform but the groomsmen did wear yellow rose boutonnieres.

The ground was wet and the winds were blowing far too hard to hold Kelly and John's ceremony where they would have liked - down the garden path. Fortunately Aldie has several good locations for ceremonies so they opted to use the front courtyard with the fountain as a backdrop - so beautiful!

The balcony at Aldie is a great place for a bride to toss a bouquet or to use just for photographs. So I like to add a little something to the black rail. Here I used yellow ribbon bows and streamers. I caught the bridesmaids out there taking a peek below.

Outside patio tables and the inside cocktail tables were decorated with small squares of yellow foam with a white hydrangea. I added a black ribbon square for another pop of color.

Kelly made this wonderful wreath to greet her guests as they entered Aldie Mansion. I think it's so nice to add something warm and welcoming.

When you step through the door at Aldie, there is a small table in the foyer. Many brides will leave programs or something similar there for guests to take. I usually do something small and colorful on that table. At this wedding, I used squiggle vases!

It's difficult to see because of my stellar photography skills, but this is a picture of the placecard area arrangement. I used white and yellow flowers for this and spray painted "greens" black in color to complete Kelly's color palette.

I table-scaped half of the tables for this wedding. Each of the cylinders contained one type of flower plus black marbles. I used either hydrangea, yellow roses, or mini calla lilies in one of the three vases.

I believe that when you take flowers "apart", the alternate centerpiece should contain all of the flowers "put together".  I like the balance. So, I made arrangements of white hydrangea, yellow roses, and white calla lilies for the other half of the tables. Black was incorporated through the use of black marbles.

Kelly's attention to detail was phenomenal. She even decorated the candles for the head table beautifully.

Congratulations to a wonderful couple - Kelly and John. It was a pleasure to be a part of your wedding!


PS - I felt a little bit like Santa Claus at this wedding for waiting for me was a beautiful tray of delicious cookies! One of my former lovely brides - Christin Cicippo-Smith - surprised me with this adorable tray of cookies. Thank you soooo much Christin - they were so yummy! (She knows I'll work for cookies!)

Amy & John - A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

I watched Amy grow up from an adorable little girl into a beautiful woman and a gorgeous bride. It was an honor to be asked to help with her wedding as well as attend it! And what a wedding it was! The festivities included an Elvis impersonator, great music, good food, and tons and tons of homemade cookies. Who could ask for anything more? We had so much fun!

Amy always seems to be smiling and happy, so it felt completely right for her to choose bright and cheerful. colors for her wedding.   Her teardrop bouquet reflected Amy's sunny disposition and included a lot of brightly colored flowers such as calla lilies, roses, hypericum berries, lisianthus, gerber daisies, and alstromeria. I made John's boutonniere out of a matching calla lily.


I used different dazzling colored flowers to contrast the bridesmaids' gowns of shades of purple.  Flowers included orange roses, lime green mums, pink alstromeria, and purple carnations.  Groomsmen wore boutonnieres of orange roses with a touch of green flowers.





Larger brightly colored flowers graced the church altar for Amy and John's ceremony.




 For the reception, I made fun little cocktail table arrangements in curvy vases of different colors and filled them with various flowers and ting ting.

 

I arranged lime green, orange, hot pink, and purple flowers on a large purple vase to decorate the placecard table. Amy used cute LOVE placecard holders.







 We used a lot of happy, brightly colored flowers for the guest table centerpieces all arranged in squares. Half of the glass squares were filled with vividly colored acrylics of various colors. I used a variety of Spring flowers in each of them.

My favorite design of the entire wedding sat on the other half of the tables.  Amy stenciled white ceramic squares with a Rose - her new last name! Do you believe it was her first time stenciling? She did a spectacular job with these containers that I filled with purple hydrangea and an array of brightly colored roses.

Congratulations and love to Amy and John.  It was a pleasure being part of your special day!

PS:  The larger photographs were taken by Candace Baldwin Photography.

PPS:  This is the adorable Teddy in his tux.  He lives across the street also.

Rustic Centerpieces and More - Beyond Mason Jars

Rustic themed weddings are becoming more and more popular.  New "barn-like" venues are opening up everywhere.  Many brides love the look of mason jars for their rustic weddings, and I agree that they're a wonderful element to enhance that rustic feel.  But I felt the need to explore other ideas and design some new ideas for the Rustic Bride.  Many of these containers I will be renting to my brides - others are for sale.  A huge THANK YOU to Ron DLutz (dlutzphoto.com) for his fabulous photography skills!

 I have a series of three "corroded" containers - two differently shaped watering cans and one bucket - that have a definite rustic charm to them.  There is a hit of a bluish/green tint to them. These can be used separately on each guest table and are available for rent from Whimsical Welcomes.

Yes, I love chickens.  I have them all over my kitchen walls. And while I do understand that they are very "county", they also fit the bill for a rustic wedding. So I've been collecting ceramic chickens that hold flowers, containers that have chickens painted on them, small ceramic chickens for decoration, and several buckets with pictures of chickens on them. I have so many more than those pictured above.  My large chickens can be used by themselves on a guest table or in conjunction with other items.  For instance, I've filled a small produce basket (I've got lots for sale) with apples.  Any fruit, veggie, gourd, or pumpkin will work.  I've also filled one chicken's wheelbarrow with succulents for a different look.  These chickens are for sale and would work best with a color palette which includes red, yellow, white, bright blue, and/or green.

These amazing containers are perfect for a rustic wedding.  They are glass jars with almost "rusty" lids full of holes to hold flowers.  Each container sits in a metal holder with arms.  I have them in three sizes and they are available for rent or for sale.  The branch frame would look perfect decorated with a bit of flowers and holding a photo of the happy couple inside.  This is for rent and would be decorated by Whimsical Welcomes.

I've looked for ways to decorate a rustic wedding using fairly inexpensive pieces and I found a great combination.  First I located these rustic looking lanterns, which I will gladly rent out.  You can buy your own real pillar candle or use an LED candle inside of it.  I can also arrange flowers around the outside of the lanterns or inside the lanterns if you like that idea.  I paired these replica rustic metal pitchers or measuring cups with the lanterns to use on the tables that don't have my flowers on them.   They have a lip and a handle.  These are for rent or for sale. I think they look terrific together!

When I think rustic - I think rust!  Perfect for fall are another inexpensive set of rustic elements.  The flowers are arranged in a rusty bucket.  At the top I've sprayed rusty stars and then used wheat among the flowers to mimic the spray design.  Paired with the rusty buckets are two options.  I've wrapped a pillar candle with a garland of rusty stars and placed it in a rusty dish for table protection. To increase the space, I'd use some kind of Fall leaves, rose petals, or some of the fabulous fall "acorns" I have.  These items are all for sale.  Another option are my metal pumpkins.  They can be used in a simple manner holding a votive candle. Again, something should be scattered around the base.  But I have also done flowers in a wreath holding the pumpkin and flowers inside the pumpkins.  The metal pumpkins are available for rent.

Want something different for your rustic wedding ceremony?  Our artist painted the names of the bride and groom on each of these watering cans which sat on pillars for their wedding ceremony.

I used ribbon on these produce buckets to mimic the color of the dahlias.  I have baskets with two colors already painted on them for sale.

Antique cans - and even some interesting new cans, can be filled with flowers or flowering plants for rustic centerpieces.  I've collected a number of these for sale. Behind the can is a red glass vase shaped like an old milk can which works for a red and white rustic wedding .  The bouquet off to the left is wrapped in twine and decorated with red heart buttons.

Another of my cans - this one for rent or sale.

I have a small version of wheelbarrow which I've filled with veggies.  This would add a rustic flair to a placecard table.

I own a lot of adorable berry boxes that can be lined with any kind of moss and then filled with flowers.  These can certainly alternate with another rustic container.  The baskets are for sale - a real bargain!  I have the perfect idea for the two antique farm funnels.  One can be painted by our artist with the bride and groom's names on them - the other with their wedding date.  They would look terrific paired up on the placecard table and make a terrific memento. And they only need to hold one large flower!  These are for sale if you want them painted or for rent if not.

These are two very different types of containers but will absolutely work well for a rustic wedding.  I wanted to find some things that would work with white and lighter colors.  The container on the left is a replica of an old butter container.  Any color ribbon can be wrapped around it's neck.  I also have white replica milk containers that would work with these.  The second pot is a painted clay pot made in Portugal with a blue design around the top.  It reminds me of the countryside in Tuscany, Italy.  These containers would also be beautiful with yellow and white flowers too!  The bouquet is done with coral roses, baby's breath, and dusty miller.

I thought I'd add in a few more rustic bridal bouquets.  I use raffia, twine, burlap, and buttons to add rustic elements to boquuets.

Wooden elements always add a touch of rustic to  wedding. The pink flowers are arranged in pots covered in birch bark. The bottom tree logs were made by my husband from trees that have fallen on our property.  They are so popular for rental that he is going to be making more this winter. I've also got lots of pictures of tall arrangements done with branches for weddings.

Finally I've got several gray container to be used for rustic weddings. On the left are gray "garden" produce type baskets.  In the center are gray, weathered wooden boxes.  For this shoot I filled it with a flowering plant. And to the right is a gray two-handled metal bucket filled with flowers and mini-peppers.  All of these items are for sale.  I can also fill the large produce baskets with flowers for a ceremony. It doesn't get more rustic than that!

I've been gathering a lot of of ideas and containers for rustic elements.  I've got even more in my workshop to share - many are one-of-a- kind items.  I'd love to help you design your rustic wedding.  Please ask me lots of questions and let me know what you like about the ideas I've shared.  Leslie

Julie & Josh = Joy!

Julie wanted to use bright, fun colors for her wedding and chose a mix of brilliant pink, radiant orange, and lime green. So for her bouquet, I used a pretty mix of fuscia roses, orange ranunculus, and green hypericum berries all wrapped up in fuscia ribbon. I also used the fuscia rose for Josh's boutonniere.  Thanks to my friend Ron Dlutz for taking the bouquet photos for me!

 Bridesmaids carried a mix of orange spray roses and bright pink mini-carnations. Groomsmen wore boutonnieres made up of the orange spray roses.

The ceremony flowers were waiting to be put on the pedestals on this very, very windy day.  The bright orange, pink, and green flowers really "pop"!

 I put bright orange Asian lilies in bright pink vases for the cocktail tables and added some colorful ting ting. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the placecard table flowers.

We created an array of brightly colored Spring flowers for guest table centerpieces and double wrapped the square glass containers.

The smaller flower arrangements on the sweetheart table replicated those on the guest tables.

Thank you to Julie and Josh for having me help you with your special day. My best to you always!