Danielle at Houston Mill House

One of my favorite venues around Atlanta is the Houston Mill House near the Emory Campus. It is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Emory with space for both indoor and outdoor ceremonies. My weddings have always been near the gazebo and under the huge japanese maple tree. The house was built in the 1920's and the old millstone has been turned into a cool fountain in the front yard.

Danielle was married there in May and I've finally gotten some photos to show! Tina Rowdon was the photographer.

Danielle was beautiful in a strapless gown of chantilly lace over organza with a cathedral train. Her heart was set on hydrangeas, roses and tulips. Hers were white and her girls were pink.

For the ceremony site, we lined the walkway with shepherd's hooks and sweet glass vases with rose and tulip posies. White "orchid ribbons" were hung from the branches of the japanese maple tree providing the perfect backdrop to the chantilly lace.

Francine and Charles

Francine Cecilia Alwine and Charles Henry Ford were married on July 17, 1928. The ceremony was held at the Conewago Chapel near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at 7:00 am. That seemed to be the norm at the time, an early morning ceremony and then a breakfast reception.

Francine and Charles are my maternal grandparents. It appears that grandma's bouquet consisted of roses, babies breath, larkspur, tree fern and a large tulle bow. Pappy's boutonniere was a rose.

I wonder if that type of veil will ever come back in style...

They were married for 52 years. God rest their souls.

In memorium...

I'd like to share a story today of an event that occurred at one of my weddings several years ago. The ceremony and reception were held in the backyard of the groom's parents' home which was situated on the banks of a tranquil lake. They had placed an arch in front of a small alcove for the vow site.

There was a small stone wall that lined the property at the edge of the lake. Along the wall we placed over 25 glass bubble bowls with floating candles. These were to be lit upon nightfall to add sparkle onto the water.

I had learned through our consultations that the groom's father had passed away about a year prior to the ceremony. The bride and groom had asked if there was some way we could light a 'memorial' candle and have it float out on the lake to honor his memory. I devised the idea of wrapping a styrofoam wreath with satin ribbon and then placing a short pillar candle inside a large glass bubble bowl. The wreath would provide support and allow the bowl to float on the water. The groom then figured out how to rig a pulley across the alcove so that the wreath could be attached and moved into position in the middle of the alcove.

The bride and groom performed this sacred memorial after their vows and before the reception. All the guests were witness to the placing of the lighted candle out on the water.

Now, as the evening wore on a storm started to blow in. It was very windy and we tried in vain to keep the candles lit that lined the stone wall. It was quite a challenge. We had also planned a festive way to end the reception by floating hundreds of tiny glass bubble bowls with tea lights out onto the lake. These were small enough that the wind didn't affect the tea lights and it was a beautiful sight to see as they all drifted off into the darkness.

The next afternoon, a beautifully sunny day, I had to return to the house to pick up some things. The backyard was covered in debris from all the wind and the fairly heavy rain that had fallen after midnight.

The groom's mother looked exhausted but happy. She led me down to the lake and the alcove. Perfectly situated in the middle of the alcove was the wreath, the glass bubble bowl and a pillar candle with its flame still burning bright...

bloom floral design in The Knot Georgia

So, I'm flipping through the latest edition of The Knot Georgia (fall/winter 2009) and stumble across a photo of one of my bouquets! How crazy is that! I had no idea it was in the magazine!

It is a bouquet I did for a wedding at The Atlanta History Center a while back. I'm waiting to receive a pdf from the magazine but I just had to go ahead and post! Yay bloom! Here's what it says:

earthy elegance

Twigs give this hydrangea and ladies mantle bouquet an organic edge.

There is so much more than just hydrangea and ladies mantle however. The bouquet also included dendrobium orchids, stock, ranunculus, and scented geraniums. It is one of my favorites!

Lindsay and Ben

Fabulous photos of Lindsay and Ben at the chapel and The Trolley Barn from 9.12. Her bouquet consisted of pink nerines, poppies, astilbe, montbretia, sweet peas, freesia, snapdragons, fiddlehead fern, bells of ireland and rosemary.

A very cool couple...creative, easy to work with and photogenic! (click on image to enlarge)
Photos courtesy of Christine Gallager photography.

More Lindsay and Ben

Again, photos courtesy of Christine Gallagher photography. Beautiful shots of all the details. bloom created three different centerpieces for the reception. The small one in the upper left was outside on the patio. A glass vase, wrapped in burlap and moss ribbon and filled with sword fern, fiddlehead fern, sweet pea, ranunculus, bells of ireland, snapdragons, montbretia and poppies.

The image underneath that is a wrought iron candletree. These were used inside The Trolley Barn and along with the 10 votive cups at the top of the tree, three additional votive cups were hung from its branches to bring candlelight to all levels of the room. Smaller votives were nestled at the base of the tree. (click on an image to see larger size) And of course, butterflies were everywhere! They even had a package of live butterflies that were released when Lindsay and Ben arrived at the reception.

First pics of Lindsay and Ben

Here's a photo montage of the first pictures released from Lindsay and Ben's wedding on September 12. They were married at the Decatur United Methodist Chapel with a reception at The Trolley Barn. Lindsay is a true creative soul and her handiwork is evident here in the fabric flower hair clips worn by some of the bridesmaids. She handmade lots of other things as well, as you will see...

If you look closely at her bouquet, a tiny turquoise butterfly is perched amongst poppies, freesia, snapdragons, sweet peas, astilbe, nerines and rosemary. I'll admit that she cried when she saw her bouquet! She's gorgeous and doesn't her groom look like Dave Matthews?

Photos courtesy of the fabulous Christine Gallagher Photography.