Peacock Feathers in Wedding Bouquets

More and more I'm seeing unique elements making their appearance in wedding flowers.  Whether it's feathers, jewels, pearls, paper flowers, buttons, fabric, twigs, wire, fruit, jewelry, or whatever, it can make a bouquet visually interesting and one-of-a-kind.  One of the most popular embellishments making the rounds in the wedding world, are peacock feathers.  The vibrant colors, whimsical shape, and soft edges make a great addition to any themed wedding.

 In Meghan's case, the feathers fit in perfectly with her color scheme: green, purple, and blue.  Not only that but a family member's close friend raised peacocks and gave Meghan a whole pile of feathers to use.  (Did you know you have to wash them first?  Something to consider if you were planning on hunting down a peacock farmer to beg feathers from.)

At our initial consultation I was able to show her some beautiful Hydrangeas in green and purple, Cornflowers in blue, and Orchids in green.  They were all perfect matches but we still had a few pieces missing from the puzzle.  She liked the look of the eggplant callas so I went to work tracking down the perfect stems and it was a great fit for the overall look and feel of the bouquets.  We wrapped the bridesmaids' bouquets in a beautiful blue satin ribbon and called it finished.  So pretty!


Meghan's bouquet was a little bit more elaborate--more feathers, more flowers, more glamor!  We added in some ivory callas to bring that bridal touch to the arrangement as well as a rhinestone wrap on the stem to make it really stand out.

 

The cutesy little toss bouquet was small enough that I decided to use some of the more linear shaped feathers so they didn't overwhelm it in all its adorableness.

Feathers aren't always easy to work with, but the final look is amazing!  Check back to see how we incorporated the peacock feathers in the boutonnieres in a manly, yet cohesive way.

Destination Wedding Flowers | Stargazer & Tropical Wedding Flowers Part 2

Sometimes coming up with coordinating boutonnieres and corsages can be a little tricky when your theme flower is just too dang big.  Such was the case for some of Kali's flowers.  But that didn't mean no one could wear a boutonniere or corsage.  We simply took a look at the bouquets and choose smaller flowers that were equally as tropical and equally as beautiful.

Groom's Boutonniere: white Orchid, small pink Orchids.

 Groomsmen Boutonnieres: green Orchid, single pink Orchid.

Fathers' Boutonnieres: single green Orchid.

Kali's teal accent color was based off a Starfish pin she had bought for each of the mothers and grandmothers.  She wanted to incorporate them in their wrist corsages as a keepsake from the wedding.  Sweet, right?

Grandmothers' Corsages: green Orchids, pink Orchids.

Mothers' Corsages: green Orchid, pink Orchid, purple Orchid

They were just lovely and thoughtful to boot.  Thanks again Kali for trusting me to create the perfect beach wedding flowers from my studio here in Minnesota.

Destination Wedding Flowers | Stargazer & Tropical Wedding Flowers Part 1

As more brides are braving the idea of a destination wedding, they are also beginning to think more outside the box on some of those "all inclusive" packages of destination wedding flowers.  One of the most common concerns of my destination clients is that they weren't given much choice, if any, when it came to their wedding flowers.  If you are anything like me, then perhaps you too would want to know exactly what you are paying for.

That's where I come in!  I met with Kali to talk about her destination wedding and her vision for her flowers.  She definitely wanted a mix of bright colors and flowers that had a tropical vibe.  Her number one request was that the bouquets included a Stargazer Lily, her favorite flower.  So with a feel for her style and a whole list of possibilities I set out to design the perfect flowers for Kali.

Bridesmaid Bouquets: Stargazer Lily, Rose buds, Orchids (green and purple), Mums.




Cascading Bridal Bouquet:  Stargazer Lilies, Orchids (green, white and purple), Rose buds, Mums.

 

 

Does that baby make you want a frosty beverage and a beach chair in the sand or what?!  Check back to see how we did the boutonnieres and corsages, including a cute starfish detail.

Peonies & Orchids Bridal Bouquet

While we are on the Peony and Orchid train, let's take a look at this sweet little duo I put together for local bride, April.

April got in touch with me last spring about doing a bridal bouquet and boutonniere for her May 2013 wedding.  She had a picture she sent me and knew exactly what she wanted.  I was able to replicate her vision and this is what we came up with!

 

 

 

The bridal bouquet consisted of white/blush pink peonies, magenta peonies, and white and softer pink orchids.  I tied it off with the ever classy white satin ribbon and used the same ribbon on the groom's boutonniere which was a single orchid.

Like the look of peonies and orchids together?  Check out Peonies and Orchids Bouquet and this other Orchids Wedding Bouquet to see another take on this vibrant combination.

Thanks April for choosing me to make your dream design come to life!

Ice Blue Winter Wedding | Bouquet Embellishments

Like I mentioned in the last post, winter weddings are magical!  There are lots of directions you can take it, red and green, silver and white, red and gold, etc.  But this wedding was white, ice blue, and shiny!  We found a few other ways to make this wedding stand out in a non-snow flaky, evergreen, ornament kind of way.  And the moms were on board too.  In fact they were not a fan of the traditional mother's corsages so we did small clutch bouquets and wrapped the handles in rhinestones for a wow factor.  They even chose different flowers (Calla Lilies) from what was included in the bridal party arrangements.  I loved it and so did they!



The bridesmaid bouquets were a pared down version of the bridal bouquet--peonies and orchids, but no roses.  I added in the ice blue rhinestones and we further dressed up the handles with the ice blue ribbon and a band of rhinestones at the top and bottom.  Charming, right?

 

Another adorable touch to this wedding were the flower girl pomanders. These small ball of roses were the perfect size for the mini maids and we used the ice blue ribbon and rhinestones to have them match the bridal party.  Adorable!

This wedding was nothing short of beautiful!  Whether it was the moms willing to go out of the box, the bride's willingness to try something new for the flower girls, or using bling to get that touch of color, it came together in a wonderful winter way.

Thanks again Melissa for trusting me to work in those special touches of color and make your flowers unique and lovely!

Ice Blue Winter Wedding | Peonies & Orchids

Here in Minnesota, we got a beautiful snowy weekend.  It was picture perfect and great for building snowmen!  I thought it would be fitting to showcase a wedding of all white flowers, to match the beautiful snow outside my window!

Late this past summer I had a consultation with bride Melissa, her mother, and her mother-in-law.  We came up with some lovely designs, despite the warm temps, for her December wedding.  Her color was ice blue and she wanted to incorporate the color in her arrangements in some form or another.  When you have a unique color that is not easily found in nature, then you have to get creative in trying to figure out how to include it in the arrangements.  Once again, we turn to the ever dazzling, ever popular, and ever awesome bling!

I found some beautiful ice blue rhinestone clusters to spread throughout the bouquets and they were perfect for getting that hint of color without going overboard.  The bridal bouquet was a beautiful white creation with peonies, roses, and orchids.  We added on a family heirloom broach and encircled it with a soft ring of Dusty Miller.  It was stunning!  But you can see for yourself...
 

 

The toss bouquet: 3 peony buds and dusty miller.

Check back tomorrow to see more of how we dressed up this wedding to reflect this magical time of year!

Rustic Beauty- Succulents in Wedding Flowers

I've been itching to do a wedding with a significant amount of succulents and I finally got my wish.  When local bride Katy contacted me, she told me that she really wanted to include succulents for her up north wedding.  I was more than happy to oblige!  We did a variety of succulents for the different boutonnieres and then really went all out for her teardrop cascading bridal bouquet.


 

 

Cascading Bridal Bouquet: Peonies, Succulents, Orchids, Seedum, Fern Curls, Millet, Dusty Miller.  Chocolate satin ribbon with twine detail.

 

 

A big thank you to Katy for allowing me to create with abandon.  And a huge hug to my big brother Jon of 3104 Studios who shot these artsy fartsy images for me.  Gorgeous right?!

Red, White & Yellow Designer Silk Wedding Flowers

One of the best parts about working for myself is that I have the easy choice of putting the interest of my brides first.  I spend a lot of time talking, designing, and meeting with my brides and we get to know each other over several months and sometimes years.

Jessica contacted me in 2008 and through a series of events her wedding was postponed.  I was delighted to hear back from her when her life was in a place where they were back on the wedding planning train and I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of it.  I designed, contracted, and  purchased all the flowers for her big day.  I received a sad email a few weeks later that due to a medical emergency her wedding was being called off.  I was heartbroken for her but wished her well.

A short time later, she emailed me back saying that this marriage was a priority and they were going to be doing a small backyard wedding with friends and family.  We worked together to adjust her designs and instead of doing big and over the top, they were having one attendant each.  I was more than happy to work with her to make her dreams a reality.


The beautiful bridal bouquet: red Orchids, yellow and ivory Callas (yep- they're fresh touch silk wedding flowers!)

 

 

The bridesmaid bouquet--so classy!

 

The bouts for the guys.

Jessica, if you read this, I wish you happiness and health in this exciting new phase of your life.  Thank you for coming back and sticking with me-blessings!

Bridal Arm Silk Wedding Bouquet with Yellow Calla Lillies: Choosing a Unique Design

There is a certain thrill of having a deadline and I especially work well under pressure.  But how about when that deadline is a mere 2 weeks away and you are starting from scratch.  As they say in Cool Runnings,"No problem, mahn!"

Serina called me on a Thursday evening and wanted to get together to talk about flowers.  I did my usual, "How many bridesmaids?  What are your colors? Yadda, yadda, yadda."  I was already starting to get a few ideas when I threw out the all important, "And what's your wedding date?"  Good thing she couldn't see my jaw hit my desktop when she told me it was July 14th.  As in, 16 days away.

Our appointment was really a great way to nail down exact details of what she wanted.  Her 7 bridesmaids will carry yellow and white callas with sheer yellow ribbon.  And the groomsmen boutonnieres will be a yellow calla with yellow ribbon.  Very classy and chic.
 

When we got to the design of her bouquet, Serina emphasized that she was looking for something unique.  At this point she had been leaning towards a cascade bouquet so I started to introduce the idea of a modified cascade bouquet.  I like to reinvent the wheel, remember?  What we came up with is a hybrid bouquet that has the fluid draping elements of the cascade bouquet combined with the long stemmed look of the arm bouquet.  And of course we really upped the ante by doing a rhinestone wrap along the entire length of the handle.
 
Bridal Arm Bouquet. Phalenopsis Orchids, Yellow Callas, Ivory Callas

 

The groom's bout was a good match with its own rhinestone band.

When I finished these beautifies I felt a little bit like hitting that little clock thingy at a chess match and yelling, "Checkmate!"  There's something fun about a challenge and this certainly was one.  Thanks Serina for keeping me on my toes!

Winter Perfection--Red & White Silk Wedding Flowers

Here in my neck of the woods, we just got our first major snowfall. Pretty crazy considering it came at the tail end of February--usually we are already up to our elbows in snow. This put me in the mood to showcase some beautiful pictures sent over from Michelle at Maida Photography of a wedding in a classic color scheme for winter. And since winter is almost over, I thought I'd better get on it!
Like I mentioned in this post, I've had lots of different color palettes, so doing a read and white one didn't feel like the same old, same old. And as you can see below the red wedding flowers really pop even against red dresses!

Bride Katie contacted me and set up a consultation back in August for her January 21st wedding. She liked the looks of Beth & Bryan's wedding flowers as well as Amanda's silk wedding flowers. So we designed a hybrid of the two styles and came up with these beautiful arrangements.

Katie carried red Roses, red Orchids, white Orchids, and Boxwood in her bouquet. Her girls carried solid red bouquets with both Roses and Orchids and finished off with a halo of Boxwood.

The happy couple!

Katie and her 'maids.

Thanks again to Katie for the opportunity to design such classy arrangements. And a great big thanks to Michelle Maida for sharing these beautiful pictures of my designer silk wedding flowers. If you are looking for a great photographer, head on over to her website and check her out.

Ruth & Michael- More Bouquets

Here's a look at how we used Ruth and Michael's color scheme and chosen flowers to set apart the other bouquets but still keep with the overall look and feel of their wedding.

Bridesmaid Bouquets: Deep purple Hydrangea, white Orchids, magenta Orchids

Toss Bouquet: Magenta Hydrangea and white Orchids

These hand tied bouquets were perfect for spring but still reflected the jewel-tones that Ruth and Michael had chosen.

Next up: Bouts and Corsages