Sentimental Spring Garden Wedding....

2013 Wedding Season started back in January for me, but it seems like the actual wedding season kicked off last weekend (April 20th) with this fun Spring-Garden style wedding. The ceremony was held at the Lutheran Church in New Kingston, PA. The reception followed at the Carlisle Ribbon Mill.  A perfect venue for a garden party theme with the amazing old wooden floors, brick walls, and wide open windows. The bride and her mother wanted to incorporate old furniture, jars and even favorite flowers to recognize the importance of family members.  We added stargazer lilies to the bride's bouquet because that is always what her fiance (now husband) gives her.  And I made a blue thistle corsage and boutonniere for the bride's grandparents because that is their special flower. The grandfather would pick them from the field and give them to his wife. I was told it brought tears to everyone's eyes when they heard the story behind these unique pieces!

 

 My simple tulip arrangements in mason jars were sweet on the colorful bandanas and street sign name markers provided by the bride's family. 
The swag I made for the Ribobn Mill doorway entrance into the cocktail room is probably one of my favorite ever. It looked like it had grown there! It was so much fun working with Brianna and her mom Leah...thanks!

 

Vintage Lace and Brooches

This look hit the wedding scene recently and there is no end in sight. Young women are turning to their grandmothers' jewelry boxes and their mothers' wedding dresses to add thoughtful touches to their wedding days.  This young bride did just that in August of this year.  The modest sized bouquets were just enough for a simple ceremony with lots of meaningful details.

 

 

 

 



Bride's "Birdnest" bouquet with several brooches.

 

 

 

 

 Antique books, jars, teacups and saucers added nostalgic touches to the reception centerpieces.



Purple and Red...a fresh look for fall

Purple and red are often considered to be clashing colors because they are next to one another on the color wheel.  But in this case, they were intense and a fresh break from the traditional fall scheme of red, orange and gold. I softened the combination of bright red gerbers and purple lisianthus in the bouquets by adding in bits of burgandy amaranthus, purple oregano, fuzzy grass heads and delicate Queen Anne's Lace.  The loose wildflower bouquets were anything but understated against the red bridesmaid dresses. 

Fun touches....wild branches in the centerpieces, whispy willow loops in the gazebo swag and cake topper.  Whispering Pines Banquet Hall in Carlisle, PA is the perfect place for an outside wedding where the bridesmaids wear cowgirl boots! 

Boutonnieres

Ribbon Wristlet Corsage

 Gazebo Swag

 

Aisle Decorations

 

 Cake toppers

 

 

 Wild Purple Centerpiece using Monkshood

 

 

Red Gerber Daisy Centerpieces



Wheat Bouquets

Simple bouquets of wheat, sorghum and globe thistle added just enough natural beauty to this joyful day. The bride now has them tucked in an antique crock on her mantle. 

A forever bouquet made of all natural materials!

A Beautiful Outdoor Wedding before Superstorm Sandy

The clouds were rolling in but nothing could have kept this wedding from being beautiful. Located at Limespring Farm in Lancaster, PA, every detail was attended to.  The 300+ year old property was spotless.
Laurie (the bride) requested burnt orange flowers since the setting would be outside with beautiful leaves falling all around.  Burnt orange flowers must mean callas and dahlias.  The orange was enhanced in the bridemaid bouquets with funky blue sea holly (thistle) since they would be wearing navy blue. 
Wheat...who would think such a mundane source of food would look so cool at a wedding?
I tied sheaths of wheat along the aisle end chairs and filled antique bottles and jars with clusters of wheat (all locally grown). And the guys wore simple wheat boutonnieres. I also filled jars and bottles with orange flowers and sprigs of garden foliage like fading birch leaves and seedpods from bluebeard. Jesse (the groom) had personally sliced massive tree "cookies" for the table centerpieces. He and Laurie searched flea markets for all of the cool jars and bottles. The mismatched look was great.  Corn filled mason jars held a single votive candle.

Elegant yet country chic ...and recycling at it's best.  Repurposed jars and bottles, repurposed tree that had fallen, repurposed antique windows as the seating chart. 

Purple Peacock

When you get married at the Capitol Rotunda there is no need for decorating!  So my task was simple, just two bouquets and boutonnieres.  But the bride requested a peacock feather handle. No easy task!  Any tips on gluing feathers around a handle are welcome!!! But it was a labor of love and in the end, it turned out to be pretty cool. Our beloved piano teacher, Meghan, was the sister of the bride, so I was willing to bend over backwards to make it work. Like in June, I was unable to get to the ranunculus flowers Rachel wanted but the locally grown lisianthus substitute was stunning.  And despite a car show blocking traffic and an unwelcome cold, Rachel had a perfect wedding day!
Check out these amazing pics from Sten at New Chapters Photography. The bouquets with matching tattoos is my fav!

Walkin' On Sunshine

Angela truly was walking on sunshine. She was such a relaxed bride SO happy!  I loved working with yellow. It's a favorite of mine but not often used in weddings.  BUT it's an "up and coming color". Especially paired with gray, which is exactly how it was used for this September wedding.  I love the bold yellow callas against those adorable gray dresses. I am not normally a huge fan of calla lilies, but man, those yellow callas were rockin'! And as you can see, they didn't need anything else. Just a twist and pin ribbon handle to finish them off.  Angela's bouquet was so fun to make.  She chose the design out of a book and then we tweaked it a bit to fit her style. I loved the soft yellow roses with the sleek callas.  The contrast of the fuzzy veronica made it so interesting.