Tayiba + Javier at The Solarium in Oakhurst

A lovely bride was Tayiba! 

She was looking for something "fresh, green and a little unusual" for her wedding flowers.  Her collection was comprised of delicate maidenhair fern, hypericum berries, green cymbidum orchids, super green roses, eucalyptus seeds, fiddlehead fern, kalanchoe, kermit poms, lily grass, dendrobium orchids, chocolate cosmos and all kinds of succulents for a beautiful, windy day in May.

Her girls wore all different styles of the 'little black dress'.  And the wind made Tayiba's veil take on a life of it's own!

I love this shot of the veil!

 Javier's boutonniere had a few strands of "explosion grass" to add a touch of whimsy.

For the buffet, a large glass cylinder vase was filled with small river rock and fiddlehead fern shoots at the bottom.  The topper was similar to the bridal bouquet with a few lily grass swirlies!

Centerpieces were like little wild terrariums.

 Classic groom's cake.

The flowers couldn't have matched the ribbon on the cake any better.

The firehouse across the street always provides a fun backdrop.

The ceremony and reception were held at The Solarium in Oakhurst.  One of my favorite venues (and not because I live in the neighborhood ;)

These images are all courtesy of the wildly talented Laura Stone of Artstar Photography. 

Rochelle - Anemones and Pea Hen Feathers

My bride this past weekend was the lovely Rochelle. She envisioned a black and white theme with a touch of christmas for her big day. She had wanted white anemones with the black center for her bridal bouquet. I told her that anemones are a difficult flower to plan for - and that proved to be very true.
First - the flowers usually come from the west coast. However, because it's been so wet this past season, the white anemones were behind schedule and wouldn't be available until late December, early January. So, my wholesaler ordered them from Holland. The shipment arrived in the US early in the week, however it was confiscated by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture because they found a bug. I had to reorder a completely new shipment and they arrived Friday morning. I was happy to see they did have black centers (there's no guarantee on that). However, they were tight as a drum. They really needed about 3 or 4 days to open up. Unfortunatley, I did not have that much time since the wedding was Saturday. So, I was able to include a few in Rochelle's bouquet that had opened, but not as many as she wanted. I've had difficulty with anemones in the past and this little episode pretty much seals the deal that I will not work with that flower ever again.

Now Rochelle also wanted guinea feathers (or pea hen feathers) used throughout her floral decor and she ordered them herself off of ebay. She was quite surprised when they arrived as sort of a "pelt". I was the lucky one who would 'pluck' the feathers from the skin. I will tell you that it was not a pleasant experience to touch the crackly, yet oily skin. The accompanying smell was not enjoyable either! Ah, the glories of floral design!


Feathers with skin.

Feathery side.

Groom's boutonniere - white ranunculus, pea hen feathers, tiny pinecone.

Ushers.

Grandmother's corsage.

Groomsman.

Grandfather.

Groom's closeup.

Bridal bouquet - white hydrangea, fiddlehead fern, privet berries, white ranunculus.

Bouquets were wrapped with black and white satin ribbon.

You can see one tiny anemone here. When they first arrive, the anemone is closed up tight and is actually a slightly green color. As it opens, it lightens up and becomes more white.

Mother's posies.

Rochelle was married at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer with a reception at The Solarium. Reception flowers were lots of snowball white hydrangeas with iced branches and pussy willow atop a tall ornament-filled cylinder. Low centerpieces held white hydrangeas and white amaryllis with ornament and berry accents. Fresh noble fir wreaths were hung in the windows with fabulous black and white velvet bows that Rochelle tied herself.

A truly elegant and classy affair. Once again, I can't wait to see the professional shots! More wonderful details to come...

Lindsay and Ben - Decatur United Methodist Chapel - Part One

The Decatur United Methodist Chapel was the obvious choice for Lindsay because she had grown up down the street. In fact, her parents still live close by and Lindsay has a house around the corner. It is a sweet little chapel with a top notch wedding director!

The handrails leading up to the chapel were lightly decorated with tree fern, colorful flower sprigs and butterflies. As you will see, butterflies were a very important part of the day!

Lindsay is so completely photogenic it is hard to choose the best photos to post since they are all so good. And that is due also to the incredible talent of photographer Christine Gallagher.

This is undoubtedly my favorite bridal bouquet of late. A vibrant mixture of astilbe, kangaroo paw, freesia, nerines, sweet pea, rosemary, snapdragons, and poppies. And, of course, a tiny turquoise butterfly.

Bridesmaids bouquets were a stunning mixture of rosemary, nerines, poppies, sweet pea, snapdragons, and freesia wrapped with a beautiful brown faux bois ribbon that Lindsay had special ordered from Paris.

(The above shot is currently the wallpaper on my laptop...!)

Ben's boutonniere was a pink nerine with hypericum berries, fiddlehead fern and sword fern wrapped with bark wire.

And that is just the beginning...check back soon for part two!

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.

Emory wedding, cont.

Here are a few more from Leslie's wedding:

Flower girl halo and posy of iris, solidago, ranunuclus, fiddlehead fern.

Ringbearer pillow of moss and bark twine. Not the best photo of this, but you get the idea.

Osaka path lanterns were used to line the aisle during the ceremony and then they were repurposed into centerpieces. Half the tables had lantern centerpieces and the other half had arrangements in natural wooden bowls. The bowls are actually the discarded root balls of chinese fir trees hand-carved by artisans into useful containers.

Again, not the best photo, but...

Emory University Evergreen Conference Center wedding

I am so excited to get these photos. This was my first wedding of this year. It was held at Emory University's Evergreen Conference Center back in January. I had first met with Leslie almost a year prior and she was very organized and knew exactly what she wanted.

I think I'm going to add her bouquet to the list of my top 5 favorites. I had never used iris before but they fit perfectly with the whole arts & crafts movement style of the location. The white iris were stunning! Her bouquet also consisted of white and saffron ranunculus, ladies mantle, yellow baby iris and fiddlehead fern.

More to come! (photos courtesy of Cynthia Jill Photography)