A wine-inspired fall wedding

I'd love to share a few images from a beautiful, bold wedding at a Virginia winery.  The clients asked for bold, fall-inspired bouquet and soft, romantic centerpieces.  I am never one to shy away from color so I created some rockstar bouquets and some super sweet centerpieces for the reception.

The bridal bouquet was made of burgundy dahlias, orange protea, red hypericum berries, dark purple and orange calla lilies, burgundy carnations, burgundy cymbidium orchids, craspedia, burgundy astilbe, kiwi vine and agonis.

 The boutonnieres were created with dark purple and orange calla lilies, craspedia and red hypericum berries. I used a little bit of greenery and tied them with twine.

 

The bridesmaid bouquet was similar to the bride's but I used more orange flowers instead of burgundy and purple.  They were wrapped with twine and lace. 

The aisle was lined with burgundy and orange rose petals and the altar was created with orange and red gladiolus placed on top of wine barrels. 

 

We went the complete opposite direction with the ceremony. I created these hydrangea and baby's breath centerpieces in birch lined vases.  To tie in with the rustic feel of the bouquets, I used kiwi vine as well. 

 

The image below is actually one of my favorites from the whole wedding.  The flower is called Hearts, and as you can see, it opens like a heart.  I love using this rose for wedding work.  What better way to add more love to a wedding than to use a rose that is shaped like a heart?? 

All of the images above are thanks to Paired Images Photography.

Brittany's Wedding

I am so happy to share this wedding with my readers.  Brittany and I have similar tastes with regard to color and texture so it was easy to create the designs for this orange and blue wedding!  We started by picking out the right orange flowers, and from there Brittany was hooked on the textures I wanted to bring into the mix.  

Brittany's bouquet was made of several types of orange roses, orange and white spray roses, blue thistles, orange hypericum berries, orange snapdragons, blue hydrangea, dusty miller, gardenia, and sea star fern.  I loved the airiness of the sea star fern and it was the perfect green accent for this bouquet.

I love adding gardenias to a bouquet.  The aroma is unparalleled, and the elegance of the swirls in the petals is perfect!

Image by Colleen McKenna

The Maid's bouquets were decidedly neutral against the girls' deep navy blue dresses!  We used white snapdragons, white garden roses, baby green hydrangea, dusty miller, white ranunculus, sea star fern, and for a pop of color, orange hypericum berries and green jackpot thistles.

Image from Colleen McKenna

AJ, the groom, is in the navy, so there was no boutonniere for his crisp uniform, but the rest of the men wore little boutonnieres made of ranunculus, jackpot thistles, and hypericum berries.

Image by Colleen McKenna

I have a new technique for corsages and I finally have a picture of them!  These little pretties are created on metal cuffs.  Gone are the days of those little bundles of flowers that flop around on your wrist on a piece of flimsy elastic!  These are super secure and they feel like a little piece of jewelry for your special day!  These were made from white ranunculus, orange spray roses, white astilbe and, of course, accents of sea star fern. 

Image by Colleen McKenna

Little bundles of white hydrangea, white garden roses, orange hypericum berries, blue thistles and sea star fern tied with white satin ribbon lined the aisle.  The altar was decorated with two white urns filled with white hydrangea, white and orange roses, orange snapdragons and salal leaves.  These were repurposed for the sweetheart table during the reception!

 

I created an escort card table arrangement of curly willow, blue delphinium, orange calla lily, orange mokara orchids and a collar of white hydrangea and sea star fern.

Brittany and AJ's cake was a simple white cake with navy blue ribbon, and I was happy to provide a topper and a few accents down the sides of the cake of orange roses and sea star fern. 

The tables were adorned with a simple but textured arrangement of blue hydrangea, blue thistles, orange snapdragons, orange roses, white spray roses and sea star fern.

 

I love this series of photos because it shows the beautiful silhouette of Brittany's dress and also the elegance of the Arch of Swords which is tradition for military weddings.  

 

Here are a few more of my favorites!

I loved seeing so much love between Brittany and AJ.  I could feel it when I first met them, and I could feel it at the end of the night when I stopped to congratulate the happy couple!  And by the way....are you swooning over her dress yet?? Between the gorgeous mermaid silhouette and the delicate lace, it's hard to pick my favorite detail!

I love when the photographer catches the bouquet toss on camera!

 

 

 

And I'll leave you with these gorgeous images...

This was one gorgeous and memorable wedding and I hope you've enjoyed the images as much as I have.  Thanks to Michelle at Michelle Renee Photography for the beautiful images.  All images are hers unless otherwise indicated.

More work with Petals and Promises!

I wanted to post a few more pieces that I created for Lisa Sommer, of Petals and Promises.  She is a wonderful mentor to me, and in addition to running my own business, I am also able to carry out many designs that she creates for her own company, Petals and Promises.  Enjoy!

 This placecard table arrangement is a 30 inch glass trumpet vase filled with curly willow, orange and burgundy mokara orchids, yellow calla lilies and accented with green bear grass.

These sweet, yet elegant table arrangements are simply varying sizes of glass cylinders filled with "drowned" yellow mokara orchids and topped with a floating candle.

This aisle arrangement is a 30 inch glass trumpet vase filled with curly willow, Bells of Ireland, white calla lilies, and white Dendrobium orchids.

These simple aisle arrangements are made of baby's breath and tied with a white satin ribbon.

This lovely bridesmaid bouquet is made of an orange protea pincushion, burgundy dahlias, orange roses, and tied with a burnt orange satin ribbon.

This gorgeous fall bridesmaid bouquet has seeded eucalyptus, burgundy dahlias, deep red roses, antique green hydrangea, and red hypericum berries.










Thank you again to Lisa Sommer of Petals and Promises, who continues to allow me to carry out her beautiful designs!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time for family and giving thanks!  But a beautiful table arrangement never hurts!!  Here's ours made of orange Tiger lilies, orange Fiction garden spray roses, orange tipped snapdragons, and yellow Dahlias.

 

Geoff and Maria's wedding

This event was the first wedding I ever worked on that was completely my design.  The design was based on pictures from a centerpiece that I had previously created.  The lovely couple had their reception at the Fire Station One in Silver Spring, MD.  These arrangements include red Hypericum berries, burgundy Pom daisies, burgundy Button mums, white Polar Star roses, and peach High and Fire roses, decorated with dried wheat accents.