Ashli and Mr. Price

This wedding, held last year on the infamous 10-10-10, is very dear to me.  The beautiful bride above was my daughter's third grade teacher!  Ms. McMahon, (Ashli), would always refer to her fiance, Adam, as Mr. Price when she would discuss her wedding plans with her third grade students.  So naturally, I refer to him the same way!

Ashli announced during the school year that it would be her last as a teacher.  She had decided to follow her growing passion of cooking/catering and start her own business.  As she is a foodie, I tried to incorporate some familiar elements into her wedding bouquet.  Sage and mint, along with hypericum berries, orange ranunculus and white asiatic lilies comprised Ashli's simple and romantic bouquet.

Her color palette was vibrant and earthy. 

The ceremony took place in the gazebo at The Avondale Community Club

All sides of the gazebo were hung with mason jars filled with floating orange gerber daisies.

My daughter helped set up the wedding and she stayed for a sneak peek at some of the other teachers/administrators who were bridesmaids!

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I love that the dresses were in three shades - scarlet, burnt orange, and mocha. 

Different sized mason jars were used for the table arrangements.  Filled with orange ranunculus, white lilies. gerber daisies and all different kinds of herbs - sage, mint, rosemary, thyme, dill, etc.  I also added a few ornamental peppers to round out the garden/foodie feel.

Catering was by Sawickis, a local Decatur purveyor of artisanal and local products.

The Avondale Club has a beautiful lake view.

Lilies in hanging mason jars decorated the front porch.

And here's the most delightful part of the event!  Ashli LOVES bacon...so what better place for bacon?  On the wedding cake!  Bacon bows...a true foodie knows that bacon goes great with chocolate icing!

The happy couple - Mr. AND Mrs. Price!

All photos courtesy of Anna Kate photography.

And by the way, Ashli's catering/personal chef business has taken off!  Check her out at http://www.plantoplate.com/.



Colby & Justin at The Little Chapel / The Carlos Museum

The bit of breezy coolness and low humidity this morning has got me thinking and hoping for fall!  I've been meeting with brides recently to talk about dates for next spring/summer, but my actual favorite time for weddings is fall.

Here's one of my fall favorites.  Colby and Justin were married at The Little Chapel at Emory with a reception at The Carlos Museum.

Colby's bouquet was a ivory collection of mums, garden roses, hypericum berries, ranunculus and variegated pittosporum foliage.

It was wrapped with a bit of lace from her mother's wedding gown.  Her mom was a doll and handled most of the communication regarding the flowers.

Adorable flower girl photo on the steps of the big Glenn Memorial church.

Justin's boutonniere was a cluster of variegated pitt, white ranunculus, scabiosa pod, ivory  hypericum berries and a rose hip wrapped with paprika ribbon.  Note the snazzy tie!

Now here is where it's gets spicy!  Colby's bridesmaids wore navy dresses with paprika shawls so their bouquets were truly vibrant!  Peach and red garden roses, circus standard roses, orange dahlias, peach and red hypericum berries, rosehips and orange and red spray roses created a strong dose of color.

The sweet flower girl posy (a mixture of ivories, reds and oranges) was the link between Colby's soft ivory  and the girls' vibrant colorful bouquets.

Colby is from South Carolina which means sweetgrass.  Her mom provided a huge bagful, so we incoporated it in the aisle markers in the chapel.

The reception at The Carlos Museum was so elegant and beautiful.  I love the sculptured architectural pieces adorning the walls and guests are allowed to wander the museum during the event.

A collection of tall and low designs centered the 60"rounds.  Tall vases were filled with bittersweet vine and crabapples were everywhere!

Justin works for a spice company so naturally the wedding favors were a custom blend of spices created especially for them -  "A Season of Love".

Sparklers sizzled at the end of the evening as Colby and Justin headed off to married life!

Ring shots can be so clever!  All photos courtesy of Shawna Herring photography.

Here's a note from Colby's mom:

"Dear Cathy,

Thank you so much for everything!!  It has been a joy to work with you and I'm so glad your creative artistry added color and beauty to all our wedding memories.  With best wishes always, Angela"

Family Farm Wedding - Morgan & Shane

This is one of my favorites, I must say.  When I met with Morgan and her mom, there was no question that we were going to work together.  We were on the same page from the very beginning and both Morgan and her mom were so sweet and laid back.

When they told me that the location for the wedding was the family's farm in Conyers, I was intrigued.  And I was not disappointed when I arrived for a site visit.  Here's a shot of Morgan in the entry foyer of her mom's house.  You can imagine that the rest of the house was just as interesting and eclectic. 

Bright, colorful, whimsical and natural were the words Morgan chose to describe her flowers.  Above are the mothers' corsages of orange spray rose, pink nerine, lime green button mums, purple asters with an accent of explosion grass (really, it's called that).  Twine finished it nicely.

The pasture that separated Morgan's parents' house from her grandparents' house was the ceremony site.
And to complete the "family compound" feel - Morgan and Shane were moving into the renovated barn after the wedding!

  

I had been dying to use the big round balloons again since I had used them at The Not Wedding and when Morgan mentioned she liked balloons - it was meant to be.  You must be careful though...those balloons require an extreme amount of helium so they are not a budget item. 

The bride and her sister - the maid of honor.  Morgan carried a bouquet of peony, orange spray rose, green button mums, billy balls, pink nerines, fiddlehead fern, and purple aster. 

Morgan and her sweet dad.  You can see the barn in the background which served as the "get ready" area and where Morgan and Shane would move after the wedding.

Bridesmaid dresses were a vibrant purple with flirty little organza flowers over one-shoulder

The reception tables were covered in burlap toppers and the stacks of wood were handcut by Morgan's dad.  We added moss, spanish moss, votives, river rock, butterfly accents and a large allium bloom floating in a bubble bowl.

The favors were big white gumballs that matched the big white balloons!

Signs were handpainted by dad.

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And the sweet little cake topper finished it perfectly! 

Photos courtesy of Jamie Howell photography.