One of our weddings at Robert Hall Winery this summer featured one of my very favorite blooms – and Jack Odening over at Mike Larson Inc. captured them wonderfully (Note to brides getting married in May – Coral Charm Peonies, outrageous simple beauty!!).

Korina our bride, sweet creature – and  teacher (I have a very soft place in my heart for teachers),  wanted a very pristine and simple brand of beauty for her wedding.  Everything was straight forward and scaled back – but the results were visually powerful.  One of the simple design elements we brought to the mirror pools at the winery, ending up being a breathtaking feature in many of her ceremony pictures (again thank you Jake!).  Her centerpieces of simple glass vases featuring just a few stems of her favorite blooms, tulips, peonies and gerbera daisies on the house white table clothes were elegant and lovely.

We loved working with Korina & Steven and hope you enjoy this peak into their day.

Lighting can create ambiance and set the mood for sure, but more important to us, as your floral stylist, is that a great lighting company can pin spot light each table to show off your vision.  We love to sit down with the lighting designer and work out a lighting plan with high visual impact that will be an image, etched in your memory for the rest of your life.  This is about that WOW moment when you first walk in the room and see how incredible it looks – in the dark, there’s simply nothing to see.  Recently, in part due to the state of many wedding budgets, we’ve even noticed that  even simple centerpieces vastly benefit from some lighting.

Truly, this element of light can make the biggest visual impact out of anything that you do for your reception.  Of course there are, what I consider bonus elements that can really create a fun and upscale feeling to your event.  Up lighting, dance floor washes and special effect lighting can each play a part in transforming a room from nice – to ridiculously awesome!  In June, we worked with the lighting team over at Kramer Entertainment DJ’s & Event Lighting to enlighten a wedding reception in the Chai Barrel Room at the beautiful Meridian Vineyards.  Definitely one of our favorite wedding venues, we coordinated concepts with Zach, the lighting designer at Kramer Entertainment & Lighting and Laura at TOS Events, to create a beautiful and cohesive presentation.  Below are some great photos from Jill Hewston at Allyson Magda Photography.  These images represent what a great team of professionals can bring to your wedding day.

To check out more fabulous examples of flowers & lighting design check out these posts on our blog or see more beautiful weddings at Meridian Vineyards.

Although it is going to be at the beach, we don’t want to get too carried away with beach kitsch, we want to have the view itself play a dynamic roll as the back drop, but play off of elements of nature and water, while having it be romantic AND cost effective.  Flowers … are expensive.  So, every bloom has to count in terms of impact, so we will carefully choose, big showy blooms, but use less of them.  In this case, we will focus more on hardscaping rather than fresh elements.

One of the best ways I know to stretch a décor budget, is through candles.  Sorry if you’ve heard me say this 1001 times, but – people feel good in candlelight, they look great in candlelight and it is inviting and sets the tone for warmth and conversation.  Often when there is little budget for centerpieces, I suggest a fabulous candle element on the guest tables because it is high impact and provides great ambiance.  So… candle elements we shall have, but in addition, I want it to feel light, luminescent yet swank.  Completely pulled together, clean and finished.

Outside in the sand, we will construct a simple bamboo structure (Groom’s request), add some soft fabric and let the mighty Pacific do the rest.  To carry the concept of water and color back onto the sand, I will embed simple cylinder vases in varying heights down both sides of the aisle.  We’ll fill them with water that is slightly aqua colored to provide interest and create just a bit of drama.  We’ll float candles well below the rim to avoid the wind catching them.  Intermingled with the boarders of floating candles will be several vases of a single stems of white antherium.  White starfish will be randomly tucked into the sand around the cylinder vases, completing the aisle.

Inside the Ballroom at Avila Lighthouse Suites, the candle aspect and cylinder vases continue on the tables,  though using a custom aqua hued silk overlay on the tables will bring some mileage in terms of color.  Again, some very tall cylinders with larger scale tropical leaves will provide visual structure to the space.  A level lower, floating candles will provide glow at eye level, and further down, a pop of bright green dendrobium orchids (bride’s favorite color is green) and lily grass for texture.  Silver mercury glass votive candles in an eclectic combination of shapes will provide the luminescence on the table.  A couple of scattered white star fish and we’re set.  White square plates with a natural colored napkin will complete the tablescape.

Our white leather lounge furniture will complete the vibe with accents of silver mod side tables and accents of over-sized vases featuring real fish (Groom’s request), but we’ll light them from below.  Of course, lighting is going to play a huge roll for the reception.  Our favorite lighting guys over at Kramer Entertainment DJs & Event Lighting are going to work their magic by warming up the room with glow, spotting the tables with light and bringing some serious fun to the dance floor. Ok, so how crazy fun was that?!!

Mark and I jostled about a modern garden conservatory approach and he selected a subtle butter linen for the tables to balance out the deep dark tones of the wood paneling, along with a platinum gray napkin – a very current palette.  To bring just a hint of modern to the room, I selected generously proportioned brushed stainless steel containers to house the lush blooms.  As well, we did two versions of the centerpieces, a high and low, round and square, to provide a visual leveling effect to greet the scale of the room and again provide balance.  Sumptuous white hydrangea, large white roses, spring viburnum, yellow freesia and tulips rounded out the containers, accented with bright green lucky bamboo and green pears.  Small pears provided a fun accent to each napkin along with the beautiful menu card that Mark put together on custom paper.  Variegated succulents were used to provide a little accent on the classic chairs and a combination of gray and frosted votive candles provided glow to the table.

Zack and Ryan from Kramer Entertainment DJs & Event Lighting worked their genius by flooding the entire circumference of the room with warm lights – think candle light on speed!  The warm tones against the dark wood trim made the room completely inviting and provided ambiance to the max.  None of the house lights were used and it really made a huge impact in transforming this room.  In addition, pin spot lights illuminated each of the centerpieces on the guest tables.  What good are incredible flowers if you can’t see them?  Lighting is a game changer – you have to have it.

Speaking of have to haves, Jake Odening at Mike Larson Inc. shot these pictures of our efforts and it just goes without saying that in our business, we are no where without pictures.  Thank you Jake for your support and expertise in this department.

• Monochromatic Arrangements in simple containers are timeless, and you don’t need to spend a fortune on the vases. – Nancy Liu Chin
• Be kind to your florist and he [they] may surprise yo uwith unexpected details, and even throw in extras you didn’t pay for. – Lewis Miller, LMD New York
• Choose a venue that embodies your wedding’s aesthetic rather than trying to transform a room into something it is not. – Grayson Handy, Prudence Designs
• Align your design.  If your location is soft rose pink and pale yellow, embrace a color palette that complements that combination. – Todd Fiscus, Todd Event Design Creative Services
• Rent colored linens – they will make a big impact on the look of your reception.  Amy Fuerstenberg, Mi Mi Design
• A great container or vessel can be it’s own design statement – making a few awesome blooms will go a long way – find a florist that has some beautiful options available to you. – Corinne Samu Smith, panacea event floral design
• Make use of natural and organic elements that contribute to the visual impact of your overall look.  Branches and willow or mood moss and grass can really pump up a centerpiece without adding significant cost.  – Corinne Samu Smith, panacea event floral design