The Westin Governor Morris Hotel, Morristown NJ

I just wanted to get these last two weddings up before the baby arrives...which I think is going to be very soon and a few days ahead of her due date...good thing I have a few weeks before my next wedding...then little baby girl is going to work!...meaning she'll be hanging out in the baby bjorn ;)

So there'll be no stories here...just the basics!

The colors were yellow, green, and light pink..which I wished was more on the peachy side, but flowers are nature and their exact color can't always be controlled...I could have used regular peach roses, but the bride was clear that she didn't want too many regular roses, so I had to make the decision between peach regular roses, or the light pink spray roses which have a softer feel to them...the boutonnieres were yellow spray roses..

Boutonniere of yellow calla and pink spray roses for the groom and corsages of calla, yellow cymbidium orchids, and pink spray roses for the mothers and grandmothers.

For the ceremony two very large arrangements of white hydrangea, yellow peonies (which my camera does no justice to the color of at all....these were amazing), super green roses, white roses, yellow and pink spray roses and green ruscus.

The bride carried a bouquet of white peonies, white roses, pink and yellow spray roses...and just a note to brides...if you want you bouquet to be perfectly round you should mention that to your florist, have it in the contract, as some flowers lend better to that shape than others.  My bride was unhappy that her bouquet wasn't perfectly round...spray roses grow on one stem at different lengths so they give more texture to a bouquet...there is no way to have them all the same length.  I remade her bouquet, and all the bridesmaids bouquets, on site and did my best to get them to be perfectly round, but I still don't think she was happy with it.  These pictures here are all the before pictures..I didn't have a chance to take pictures of the remade bouquets.

 If this was something I had known before hand I would have suggested different flowers and would have made the bouquet exactly as she wanted...my priority is always creating the designs as the bride sees them..so speak up and let your florist know exactly what you like, it will be appreciated!

The Bridesmaids carried bouquets of yellow cymbidium orchids, super green roses, and yellow spray roses.

Pew Bows:  Yellow peonies, pink spray roses, yellow calla, and green ruscus...so strange that the yellow peonies came out washed out in these photos....they were so vibrant in person.

Reception Centerpieces:  I've done different variations of these....and they are so popular because you get a lot of bang for the buck....a large centerpiece without the huge price tag a large centerpiece usually has...not to say they are "cheap", but they are when you compare them to other types of large centerpieces.

White dendrobium orchids, white hydrangea, curly willow branches

I just bought these lighted bases (below), and they can be rented as can all the vases, and usually this is what I do with large centerpieces....imagine your guests trying to lug this or the centerpiece above out of the room at the end of the night!  So if that is a priority for you, that your guests can take home the centerpieces this might not be the option for you.  But price wise submerged flowers are more affordable.

So these white dendrobium orchids are so bright because there is an LED light under the vase lighting it up from below.

One more wedding to post before my baby break....then I'll be back to work July 12th with a wedding at the Eventi Hotel in NYC.

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.

The Rosewood, Edison NJ, May 3rd

This event was a very special one....My mother-in-law celebrated her second wedding to a wonderful man.  It was a Match.com union and both families couldn't be happier for them.  They chose the Rosewood in Edison, NJ for the ceremony and reception.

My Mother-In-Law, not wanting to stress her pregnant daughter-in-law...yes, that would be me...right now I am counting the days with my due date fast approaching (July 3rd).  I have had several discussions with baby that she must, under all circumstances stay put until June 16th...since I have an event on the 15th!  Any way....my Mother-in-Law was just going to use the fake arrangements the site would provide, but I just couldn't allow it...especially when it was the start of peony season....her color was red....and we could use the most perfect red charm peonies.  Nothing too fancy, but something just enough.

The bride carried a bouquet of white spray roses, red and white tulips, red charm peonies, and black magic roses.

The bridesmaids carried a simple bouquet of red charm peonies...simple...but peonies are so amazing when in full bloom they can handle it on their own.

And the centerpieces mirrored the brides bouquet....

Great Gatsby Photo Shoot for Vainglorious Brides, I do...I do.... Morristown NJ

A few years ago a bride came to me to discuss wedding flowers, and while she ended up doing the arrangements on her own the experience...all of it, the planning, the arranging, the juggling, helped lead her to discover her passion.   Selina Howard was the bride and she in the midst of launching her wedding planning services catered directly to helping brides with any and all aspects of wedding planning, Vainglorious Brides.

To orchestrate her launch she organized a photo shoot at I do...I do... Bridal Salon in Morristown NJ.  This is not your run of the mill, store stuffed to the brim with dresses in plastic.  It's a elegant space with  room to breath and take in the beauty of the dresses without all the clutter.  I was so impressed with how organized and professional everything was, and that is most definitely due to Selina's talent and skill.

Selina asked me to create a bouquet and floral centerpiece for the shoot, all based on a Great Gatsby Wedding theme...watch out English Garden..here come the 1920's.  The glamour of the 20's (before it all crashed and burned!) makes it my favorite era for fashion and with the new movie I think there will be a resurgence in wedding glam....but with the elegant twist only the 20's could give.

These are just my little photos...

Bouquet: garden snow roses, patience garden roses, Sahara roses, white sweet pea, spray roses and very unique tulip with frayed edges.    I also included some estate jewelry that I've picked up on my Saturday morning trips to estate sales...I love estate sales!

The centerpieces also include anemone, and white nerine.

Knoll Country Club East, Boonton NJ

The bride had big dreams and a little budget, but I was determined to do something for her that her guests would appreciate and not see as skimpy.  The centerpieces were made of single stems of Apple Blossom Amaryllis, draped with crystals.  Yes...these are real and not the fake flower in fake water arrangement you see in stores!  These had lights in the bottom, but I don't have any pictures of how amazingly dramatic they looked at night with the lights coming up and the candle lights from the table.  And anyway, I wouldn't even know what settings to put my camera on to capture an image like that....whenever I try it just doesn't do justice to how the arrangement looks in person.  

I know I usually include my little stories from the day, and I should have written these down.  I've been busy busy busy...already booking a bunch of weddings for 2013!  This wedding was about a month ago and I can't remember any of the silly funny things that happened....Recently though...and I think I forgot to mention this in my post about the wedding I went to pick up my flower order...and...there was no order.  My supplier forgot to place it....a brides nightmare...and mine too.  But since I always go to pick up the flowers myself, I was able to run around the flower market and get everything I needed.  That will never happen again...neva!  

This is my favorite part....a bouquet of ivory roses and spray roses...this looks so buttery!  And she requested we find some bling and a broach to place at the bottom of the wrap.  I hand sewed the crystals to the ribbon...I should open and etsy shop!  Ivory spray roses were used to make both the boutonnieres and the bridesmaids bouquets.