Windows on the Water at Frogbridge, Millstone NJ, May 25th

I did a wedding at this location back in October of 2012, and while I was working a bride and her family were checking out the venue...I gave her my card and that's how I ended up back at Windows on the Water.  This venue is beautiful and the staff there is professional and fantastic to work with.  

In fact when the venue revamped their website they included the wedding I designed the flowers for as one of the featured weddings of 2012...take a look!

Over the winter by husband and father renovated our basement...I finally have a proper work room!  And here it is in the midst of making the centerpieces.  

I want to eat these peonies....they look so delicious!

Boutonierres of Orange Spray Roses...

Bouquets ready for transport....

The bridesmaids carried bright bouquets of mint, orange spray roses, pink spray roses, juliet garden roses, yellow craspedia, orange freesia, and succulents.  

The Bride carried a bouquet of pink scabiosa flowers, garden roses, orange protea, succulents, orange freesia, coral pink peonies, pink hypericum berries.

There was debate about if we should make the centerpieces in square boxes or rectangular...I'm glad the final decision was the rectangular boxes...and they were perfect on the table runners that the bride provided...the table numbers were also a DIY endevor taken on by the bride.  She had the most amazing run of the day spreadsheet that she provided.  She plans events for a living, and it clearly showed in how relaxed she was on the day of the wedding and how smoothly everything went.  
Crazily enough there was an unfinished bridal gown she was to wear...it never got finished...the day of the wedding...day of...her bridesmaids ran to David's Bridal picked out 3 dresses...she tried them on about 3 hrs before the ceremony and made her choice.   And through all this...completely relaxed!  I loved it!

There were 4 different color peonies, each centerpiece focused on one color (yellow, coral, light pink, dark pink).....my favorite, the yellow. The blooms were huge!  The unifying elements in each were the mint, garden roses, succulents, and babies breath.

 Dark Pink Peonies...

Coral Pink Peonies...

 The Bridal party sat at a long rectangular table...with each of the different colored centerpieces.  The mason jars were for the bridal party to place their bouquets in when they sat down.

Lambertville House, Lambertville NJ

I do have a few posts to get to between this wedding and my last post, but I wanted to get it up while it was fresh in my mind.  The wedding was right after we had a few days of scorching heat, but it broke the day before giving the bride a warm, but not a hot 'your relatives are cursing you for having an outdoor wedding' kind of day.


The wedding took place at the charming Lambertville House, in Lambertville NJ.   With rooms for your guests to stay in, a beautiful courtyard for the ceremony, and the reception hall located on the premises, this is the perfect place to hold a smaller wedding.  (Nicole the event coordinator was so great to work with, and I guessed she liked working with me too, because I have just been added to their list of preferred vendors!)  And there is plenty for your guests to do in the surrounding area, quaint shops, great dining, and a fun steam locomotive ride right across the bridge in New Hope, which is equally as charming.  (I brought my family with me on this job, and my 4 year old and 2 1/2 year old loved, loved the train ride..while I was setting up my husband had the fun job of walking around town with them ;)


The bride wanted to use the camomile that is in season everywhere during June and the flower gave the arrangements the relaxed laid back feel she was looking for.   She is also a big fan of Lilies and while they didn't fit in the budget she was so great to work with, I squeezed in a few stems for her bouquet.  


Enjoy the flowers!  


Brides Bouquet:  Lily Marisa, camomile, green hydrangea, freesia, green, pink and peach roses.

Centerpieces and cocktail table:  White hydrangea, pink, green, and peach roses, with camomile

The Groom's Boutonniere:  Yellow Rose and Camomile

Aisle:  In mason jars, hydrangea, roses and camomile.

DUMBO

Down Under the Manhattan Bridge

Another hot, hot summer day.

And while the ceremony site was amazing, the Manhattan Bridge to the left, the Brooklyn Bridge to the right, I worried for the bride in the crazy heat. These are some pictures I took of the ceremony site after it was dressed up with red Gerbera Daisies and bright green ribbon.

Her fiance brought her red Gerbera daisies with the black center when he flew to see her (I can't remember if it was a first date or not), and had a very difficult time getting through security with the liquid in the water piks on the end of the stems. They were going to make him leave the flowers all together but he convinced them to just let him dump the water out. All the trouble he went through was very sweet. So it was very important for them to have these flowers as part of their wedding day.

The heat made me very nervous for the brides all white bouquet. On a cool or even warm day a white bouquet is ok as long as you treat it well. White flowers show their bumps and bruises very easily. But on a hot day white flowers, 95 degree temps, and the sun do not make for a happy bouquet. I left my bride with specific instructions to keep it cool and in water for as long as possible. I haven't heard from her and am hoping everything turned out fine.

Here is her lovely bouquet before I left to drop it off. It was made of hydrangea, freesia, gardenia, and large and small calla lilies...My husband was laughing at me as I took these pictures...the green in the background is actually the weed patch currently growing next to our front door...in the future I see a patio of slate with moss growing in between...but for now...weeds.

I was really happy with how the boutonnieres and the little pomander for the flower girl turned out.

Small bunches of daisies for the bridesmaids and a wristlet of freesia for the mothers...

The reception was held in the Dumbo Lofts. Place card table was very cute....they were paper airplanes...I wonder if they 'used' them during the reception?

There were two centerpieces, small green ones with green hydrangea, spider mums, and small pom mums.

And tall tree's with hanging candles and white dendrobium orchids. These vases were perfect to give the arching effect the bride was looking for. And being about 6ft tall they definitely filled in the open loft space.

My Next wedding, Heather's Wedding! Sept. 18th Brigantine, NJ.

My new favorite Color Palette

What a strange day for the end of October.  Saturday October 24th was a dreary, humid, rainy day...not the best weather for flowers...especially Ranunculus.  Their thin petals seemed to droop under the weight of the air.  Still I was pleased at how the flowers turned out, just wish they had been a little fuller.  And I can't forget the colors...It's my new favorite palette....Orange, blue, and white.  

A boutonniere of white ranunculus and blue hydrangea

A boutonniere of orange ranunculus

A corsage of white ranunculus

Bridesmaids Bouquets; orange ranunculus, freesia, and greens

Maid of Honor Bouquet;  orange and white ranunculus, blue hydrangea, and freesia

Brides Bouquet;  white ranunculus...simple and elegant

It was a bit of a harried morning.  In between making bouquets/boutonnieres and such I was feeding little 1 month old Kenzie.  So my husband was in charge of taking the pictures before we left.  He didn't get all the shots I usually do, but you can still get the idea.

For the reception the bride found these amazing vases, such an interesting shape, and perfect for a dramatic centerpiece of floating ranunculus and a table loaded with candles.  I wasn't there to see the final result but can just imagine how sparkling the room was with the candles reflecting off of the vase and the water.  I thought it would be a cute touch to place one single ranunc under the center portion.  Ranunculus under glass.  

Unfortunately I have no pictures of the centerpieces...in the rush of getting out of the house with baby...yes Kenzie was on the job...I forgot the camera.  It was her first gig...and last...it's only because I am nursing and she is so young.  Here is a link to the pic of the vase.  It measures 9 x 9 and was definitely big enough to make a statement without using a ton of flowers.

http://www.wholesaleglassvasesint.com/images/product/VCP0909-CL.gif

This winter will be a slow one, with my next event not until April.  Last winter I had at least 1 wedding per month, but this year...who knows, I think maybe the economy might be deterring some brides and grooms from making their wedding plans.  Anyway it might be for the best as Kenzie is so little and by April it will be much easier to leave her with a sitter while I work.  

Don't worry though ;)  I'll keep posting with floral designs I create in the mean time (the holidays are a really fun time for flowers) and any interesting ideas I come across.