Jennifer's Wedding

Jennifer's wedding at Woodend Sanctuary last spring was so full of life and bright colors.  Jennifer wanted a really loose and organic bouquet.  She collected some beautiful old vintage bottles for the tables and she told me that she wanted to use a vibrant coral color with succulents.  I knew immediately we had to use coral charm peonies, and I think they stole the show in these designs.  Jennifer and Erik were so sweet to work with, they even met me in the middle of a snow storm to discuss flowers!

Jennifer's bouquet was filled with white and pink spray roses, pink and peach roses, peach stock, craspedia, peach and yellow ranunculus, light pink hydrangea, coral peonies, succulents and jasmine vine.  I finished the bouquet with some gorgeous ribbon picked up from a trip to New York City.

The boutonnieres were made of coral spray roses, craspedia, limonium and eucalyptus and tied with twine.  The corsages for the mothers were made of coral ranunculus, light pink spray roses and craspedia.

 

I loved that the bridesmaids carried single coral charm peonies.  I left a lot of the greens on and we chose not to even use ribbon!  So simple, but when you have such a show stopper like these coral charm peonies, you really don't need much else!

This sweetie pie flower girl wore a crown of light pink spray roses, with a touch of yellow from the craspedia and a little bit of limonium and eucalyptus to add some airy-ness.  The aisle was lined with jars of peach stock, yellow ranunculus, limonium, and champagne lisianthus.

 

To fill the vintage bottles, I used flowers that complimented the flowers from the ceremony.

 

Jennifer and Erik had a small but elegant cake.  Those peonies!! I love how the yellow from the ranunculus picked up the center of the peonies.

One other special area that needed decor was the bottom of a long staircase inside the mansion.  Most of the reception was held in a tent but the music and cake table were inside.  So, to add a touch of color, I created this arrangement for the staircase.  I added green hanging amaranthus to add a bit of drama and "drippy-ness" to the design.

Here are a few more of my favorite shots from the day.

 

I just love this shot of Jennifer's bouquet on the mantle.  It shows off those vibrant bright colors as well as the way the custom ribbons picked up all the color. How sweet is that little yellow ribbon that looks like a flower chain?!

 

This post, of course, would not be possible without Sarah from This Rad Love Photography.  Thank you so much for the gorgeous images!

Charmmy's Wedding at the Crowne Plaza

This past May, on a beautiful sunny day, Charmmy and Jose got married at the Crowne Plaza in Arlington, VA.  I'm so happy to be able share these images from George Street Photography.  

Charmmy's bouquet was a beautiful blush and white arrangement with accents of gold seeded eucalyptus.  I used three shades of blush colored roses, pink wax flowers, hydrangea, local white lilac, pink stock, blush lisianthus, white astilbe and pink ranunculus.  I also picked out her ribbon detail on a trip to New York in March!  I love the way the ribbons accent the gold leaves.

Jose's boutonniere was made of pink ranunculus, a pink spray rose and green hypericum berry.  It was accented with a teal ribbon to match the bridesmaid's dresses.

 

This sweet little princess had a flower wreath of white spray roses and silver dollar eucalyptus.  I may or may not have tried this on myself....

 

I made a special arrangement for the sweetheart table made of hydrangea, lilac, astilbe, blush and light pink roses and green hypericum berries.

For Charmmy's tables, I created a trio of bud vases set atop a mirror.  The clear glass and the mirror reflected the light from the candles to create a romantic focal point for the tables.

After the ceremony, Charmmy and Jose took some beautiful pictures in front of the monuments!

 

 

I love these pictures of the bride arriving! Beautiful bride, beautiful flowers, beautiful car, beautiful day!

 

A few more sweet details....

 

Charmmy and Jose make such a lovely couple.  I don't know what was said in the toasts that evening, but what a belly laugh!!  These two look like they were having so much fun!

I think this one is my absolute favorite!  So, I'll leave you with this beauty!

Thanks again for taking a look at my work and stay tuned for more!

Nina's bouquet

So I had the sweetest bride who called me this summer.  Nina only needed a few bouquets, and her colors were burgundy and pink-a color combination that I have been dying to design with!  I practically begged her to let me have complete design control, and I think because I was so enthusiastic, she agreed.  I am so in love with this bouquet and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

For this bouquet, we used Hearts roses, pink cymbidium orchids, pink godetia, light pink calla lilies, white spray roses, red dahlias, burgundy scabiosas, pink limonium and agonis leaves.

The Dahlia

The Dahlia....oh the dahlia....One of the most gorgeous seasonal flowers we have.  It comes in as many colors as you can think of and in several shapes.  Here on the East Coast, we can usually get them from late summer through the fall.  They're one of my favorites and I am blessed enough to be able to purchase my dahlias from a local grower, Don's Dahlias.  You can visit my post about my heavenly trip to his farm here Chapel Designers.  That was an amazing trip for so many reasons!  So the collection today is all about the dahlia.  Notice how the different textures can be used in so many ways.

Flora Organica

In the middle of this bouquet, you can see what I call The Queen of the dahlias, the Cafe Au Lait dahlia.  It can be anything between a ivory creamy color, all the way to a dusty pink.  Different colors of flowers can bring out different shades of this beauty. Here the ribbon and other flowers bring out almost a peachy tone!

Jose Villa Photography and Holly Flora

 Paired with neutral toned flowers, this Cafe Au Lait looks pretty pink.  So much pretty just from one flower.  What a show stopper!

Kimberly Salem Photography + Denise Fasanello Flowers

 Here a buttery white dahlia pairs beautifully with the greens and whites in this arrangement.

Levi Tijerina Photography + Brigitte from Floral Design of Europe

I love this gorgeous pink dahlia.  You really don't need a lot of them to make an impact!

Nancy Liu Chin Design and Bokeh Photography

 This is a favorite of mine.  A non-traditional black and white bouquet, into which The Queen fits perfectly!  I love the dark greenery as well!

Passionflower

 Nothing better than an asymetrical shape for a table arrangement.  I love the movement of the clematis, lilac, and those gorgeous parrot tulips, but to me the dahlia is still front and center!

Sebasta Design LLC and Tyler Boye Photography

 All these pretty dusty colored flowers only accent the Cafe Au Lait's dusty pink color.  Who wouldn't want to carry this bouquet down the aisle towards the love of their life?  Such a romantic bouquet!

The Blue Carrot

I cannot say enough about the work of The Blue Carrot.  This gorgeous bouquet uses the color from the ribbon and the accompanying flowers to create a light and airy bouquet that looks like it was plucked straight from the gardens.

Sweet Blossoms

Sweet Blossoms + Liz Hough Photography

Sweet Blossoms + Liz Hough Photography

  

The Cafe Au Laits in these bouquets came from Don's gardens.  When I got them, I was stunned.  They were way bigger than any I'd ever seen and I was thrilled to have been so lucky!  The bride even put one in her hair-how elegant!

Sweet Blossoms + Rebecca Keeling Photography

These beautiful white ball dahlias also came from Don's gardens.  They were perfect for this rustic barn wedding.  I loved the look of the clean dahlias in contrast with the thistles and dusty miller.

I hope you've enjoyed this trip through the land of dahlias.  What's your favorite color of dahlia?