August 26, 2010
Beautifully thoughtful – English Garden roses, peonies and hydrangea, Denise’s romantic palette of blooms for her wedding. Her thoughtful approach to all of the aspects of her wedding made the day so memorable. Denise’s grandmother’s rosary was interwoven into her bridal bouquet along with a fabulous soft ivory taffeta ribbon bow. The reception was decked out with elements from our reserve wrought iron collection, including grand candelabras and glass hand blown bowls nestled in wrought iron stands with small floating bouquets in them. Another wonderful detail provided by the caterers at Epic Weddings at CateringUnlimited.com, were the handmade bread sticks on each of the tables which not only provided a great rustic visual element, but were completely irresistible.
The setting, Vina Robles Winery with its rolling hills of vineyards and dramatic reception room, was an inviting venue for guests, mostly from out of the area. Working with photographer Lindsey Hahn was also pure joy. We’re always so grateful for these images of the details from the day.
August 11, 2010
Wow – wedding season is going strong and incredible photos from beautiful weddings and crazy talented photographers are pouring in faster than we can get them up – so stay tuned, there is some wonderment on the horizon and coming to our blog soon!
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.
July 5, 2010
We LOVE to infuse weddings and events with stunning flowers – it’s what we’re about. Coming up with the perfect centerpiece design concept to meet a bride’s vision is part of the whole process that we completely get excited about – and the more flowers involved – the better! However, (hear the brakes screeching), if you walk into a dark barrel room at the most beautiful winery and can’t even see the tabletops – it won’t matter how much design time or how many intricate details are involved – you won’t see it.
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.
June 2, 2010
Our bride flew in for one weekend from Beijing, China to plan her entire wedding. Fortunately, she hired the Central Coasts’ Mark Padgett Event Design to bring some of the best local wedding vendors together for her and she chose the beautiful Meridian Vineyard Chai Barrel Room to host her beautiful, one of a kind reception.
From our one meeting with the bride, we worked closely with Mark on the design and came up with a sumptuous and romantic approach that transformed the room into an opulent California ballroom. Mark engineered stunning columns of soft light intermingled with his decadent crystal chandeliers over the dance floor washed with pattern. We used our classic silver and crystal candelabras, adorned with lush white arrangements of white orchids. A low version of the centerpieces were modern low arrangements of pavé large white mums in metal containers with votive candles in the middle of them – the result was pillows of glowing flowers. To provide a little “pretty” at the table level for the high centerpieces, we set incredible gardenias in silver votive holders. The subtle fragrance to the room, set the tone for a beautiful celebration. Cuisine provided by Two Cooks Catering and of course the entertainment delighted the guests for hours – the guys over at San Luis Jazz Band. Zach, our favorite lighting designer set the room alive with focused light – allowing the centerpieces to wow the guests on entry. Stunning night!
The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa held the ceremony part of the day. Julie Wilson Photography shot stunning photos of the family and bridal part in the parish garden. Deep espresso silk dresses provided the perfect background for lush bouquets of purple, lavender and green orchids – loved these! The little flower girls carried espresso silk boxes of white orchids with a Tiffany blue ribbon handle. Custom silk pillow of lush white mums and ribbon were carried by the ring bearers.
May 28, 2010
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is such a beautiful and historic statement, very little is required to ensure that it looks great. I have “Mission schpeel” that I share with my brides at our consultation – basically, let the Mission carry it’s own weight. The paintings on the walls, the simplicity of the pews, the amazing iron lighting fixtures, the old adobe and tile – it all has it’s own wonderful story. Sometimes, we’ll attach some simple bouquets to the pews, but we really like to save your decorating budget for the celebration at the reception.
Dana, a good friend of one of my all time favorite brides from 2005, brought some great tear sheets and ideas to our consultation appointment. We developed a palette of beautifully simple and elegant blooms in shades of white, green and brown. In keeping with the Mission and the rustic California feel, we decided on elements from our Wrought Iron collection for the reception at Robert Hall Winery. Our wrought iron candelabras lit the Paso Robles evening with soft candle light. Curly willow was wrapped around them to add some funky natural elements and stunning green cymbidium orchids were tucked in to the willow to add some color. The simplicity of this look was really striking. The other version of the centerpieces incorporated our wrought iron stands with hand blown glass bowls. Each one featured three fragrant gardenias floating in it. Super simple – but classic. The subtle fragrance immediately sets the tone for your guests to have a great time. The linens were a khaki shade of taupe and chartreuse napkins brought more of Dana’s favorite color to the table with a menu card tucked in the fold at each place setting. Our personalized candy bar provided a little sugar for guests to enjoy through out the evening. To complete the ambiance at the winery, perimeter up-lighting maximized the winery’s architecture while providing an incredible back drop for the party.
Melissa at Kramer Entertainment DJs and Event Lighting kept the dance floor full and moving. The incredible lighting was also provided by Kramer Entertainment DJs and Event Lighting. The dinner was catered by my soul sista, Jennie Sturgeon over at Trumpet Vine Catering and was beautifully presented, including my favorite signature appetizer – mission fig & prosciutto torte. The night was topped off with milk and home made donuts for the road, also provided by Jennie.
Many thanks to the incredibly talented Amy Wellenkamp at Amy Wellenkamp Photography for sharing her awesome photos with us. She is truly and artist!
May 22, 2010
Super simple vineyard elegance. Honestly, your wedding day is about the vows, then, having your dearest friends and family there to celebrate with you. Might sound strange coming from someone who lives to sell you a kazillion blooms and decor elements, and given the chance, we’ll definitely do that, but the bottom line is that if it doesn’t bring ambiance and feeling to the day, it shouldn’t be there. Kristen completely got that, and from the beginning knew that given a limited decor budget, everything we did, really needed to count. Along with Mark Padgett Event Design, we set out to bring her vision of simplicity to a heart warming gathering at the beautiful Still Waters Vineyards.
Mark draped and gathered some soft ivory voile simply over our wedding arch and we tucked just a couple decadent white cymbidium orchids into the corners with some lux double satin ribbon to complete the intimate cathedral. To add a little rustic element, we chose our lanterns from our wrought iron collection, pulled the glass out of them and used them as a fun structural element to house cubes of lush flowers, with little “satelight” cube bouquets towards the ends of the long family style tables set on deep chocolate brown table runners. Mark’s fabulous brown mosaic votive candles completed the tables and brought some glow as the sun went behind the vine covered rolling hills.
The bride & groom opted for a dessert bar instead of a traditional wedding cake, and the guys over at Two Cooks Catering, heartily obliged with chocolate fondue, profiteroles, chocolate mousse, lemon tarts – ok, I can’t go on, but you get the idea! An authentic Klezmer band played during cocktail hour and into dinner while Kramer Entertainment DJs kept the party moving and everyone on the dance floor after dinner.
All photos by Julie Wilson Photography
May 21, 2010
Loved meeting Grace and Travis. Between considering swatches of linen, we chatted about city planning and upcoming projects in Santa Monica as both Grace and Travis work as city planners in the LA area. I loved that they both had very definite in put on the design elements of their day and approached things with an architectural slant. We wound up with some really great elements that made their wedding uniquely them, and that’s what I live for!
The centerpieces were simple – but super fun and effective. Modern pots with a garden of succulents and accented with crushed colored glass. We used brushed stainless steel pots in groupings to house some color blocked blooms on top of Meridian wine barrels for their “altar” and then reused them individually as special centerpieces for the family tables at the reception. Fire orange and midnight purple tulips and calla lilies were joined with bright green spring hydrangea and vertical bells of Ireland throughout. I absolutely loved the effect of color blocking the pots – it was a simple yet highly effective visual display. Little accents of succulents were incorporated into the little hanging bouquets that flanked the stunning aisle of orange rose petal swirls. For me this wedding was a prime example that show good design can provide great visual impact, and it doesn’t have to cost a bundle!
The day ran super smooth thanks to the orchestration of Laura’s team at TOS Events and this fantastic images were shot by my dear Chloe Murdoch over at Mike Larson Inc. Elegant cuisine provided by the Ben & Russ over at Two Cooks Catering and entertainment by AMS DJs.
To see more shots of this beautiful wedding, check out Chloe’s blog.
One of our favorite weddings for last fall was recently featured on Destination Inspirations. Thanks to Mike Larson Inc. for all these beautiful pictures from this wedding at Meridian Vineyard in Paso Robles Wine Country.
January 24, 2010
Red calla lilies, dahlias, cymbidium orchids and cranberry hydrangea set the flower mood for this beautiful Thanksgiving wedding celebration wedding. The dramatic fall vineyards at Robert Hall Winery were the perfect backdrop for this wonderfully fun couple.
Chloe at Mike Larson Inc. Photography sent over (actually walked them over from right next door!) some stunning pictures the other day – these are a few of my personal favorites.
 
 
December 2, 2009
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