Behind the Scenes of a Real Winnipeg Wedding
If you’re like most engaged couples, you haven’t thought about the behind the scenes of making your wedding happen. You’ve thought about your budget and your meal selections, you’ve thought about your music selections and choosing attire, and you’ve probably thought about the hair and makeup timeline on the morning of the wedding.
But most of you, unless you’re DIYing every single element of the wedding, haven’t thought about HOW the actual wedding comes together.
So today, I’m sharing a behind the scenes look at how a real Winnipeg wedding comes together (from a floral designer’s perspective!).
If you’re like most engaged couples, you haven’t thought about the behind the scenes of making your wedding happen. You’ve thought about your budget and your meal selections, you’ve thought about your music selections and choosing attire, and you’ve probably thought about the hair and makeup timeline on the morning of the wedding.
But most of you, unless you’re DIYing every single element of the wedding, haven’t thought about HOW the actual wedding comes together.
So today, I’m sharing a behind the scenes look at how a real Winnipeg wedding comes together (from a floral designer’s perspective!).
Professional photos by Brittany Mahood Photography, all the obviously crappy footage is from me lol
By the day of your wedding, we’ve already put in more than a full week’s worth of work that we’re not really going to touch on here, aside from to list off the things that have already taken place: obviously I’ve met with you / we’ve planned everything out / we’ve confirmed everything 5 weeks before the wedding etc. I’ve then written and submitted your floral order (depending on your wedding, this can take just a couple of hours or up to 20 ish hours for a large wedding with lots of different design elements and a lot of colour variation). I’ve hired staff, rented a uhaul if needed, washed vases, ordered candles, washed buckets, etc. We’re ready for your flowers.
I usually pick up your flowers on Tuesday morning, and some of my locally grown product is delivered on Tuesday as well. We’re hydrating and processing them (fresh water, fresh cuts on all the stems, removing thorns and unnecessary foliage, dealing with garbage, compost, and recycling). We then prep all your vases which chicken wire and tape (we try to work as foam-free as possible, to minimize our impact on the environment and take better care of our health, too), along with prepping candles, supplies, etc. There’s lots to be done!
Throughout the week, we’re then designing all your flowers. We always start with things that stay in water (centrepieces, bouquets), then work through large pieces (aisle pieces, large arrangements for the bar, etc) and finish up with boutonnieres and corsages (if there are any on the order — many couples are opting to remove these from their order).
Then comes your wedding day!
It takes us a surprisingly long time to pack up all the vases and load them into the vehicles. It’s a big game of tetris, basically. We drive so carefully — I can’t tell you how many visions I’ve had of getting into a car accident on the highway and dying on the road with flowers falling all around me 😂
THEN we get to your venue. Cue load-in.
Many venues have a pretty decent load-in situation. Some don’t have vehicle access so we have to hoof everything over, some have tiny terrifying elevators that we need to take so many more trips with, some don’t actually let you open the overhead door because the genius architects put a restaurant kitchen right beside the overhead door…etc etc. Basically, I’m saying that all venues have different load-in details and it’s part of our job to know the details.
I like to first bring in our personal items and get a feel for what other vendors have done so far and what the current set up stage is.
For this wedding at the Pavilion, we lucked out with pretty nice weather. It was Thanksgiving weekend, and you never know what you’re going to get. We were just happy we didn’t have to bag all our flowers to keep cold air from getting at them.
There were a few other vehicles at the loading zone already, so we had to unload and carry everything to the loading zone (not far) and I’m sure the loading zone has never looked so pretty. There’s no ramp here, so it’s just a bit awkward with carefully carrying flowers up steps and then we put them in the wagons and pull them into the venue’s backdoor.
Here’s what it looked like shortly after we arrived! The dance floor was just being completed when we got there, and the linens and chairs had already been delivered. Event Light was up on ladders, creating our airline cable structure for the greenery that we were going to be hanging.
This is where the behind the scenes gets messy and a little convoluted. If you’re a DIYer, chances are that you’re not hanging anything from your ceiling like this, but it’s important to know that there’s still a lot that needs to get done and a specific order in which it needs to happen.
For example, we can’t place centrepieces until the table linens are set. Chairs can’t be placed until the tables are in the right spot. We can’t hang greenery until the structure is place. And tables can’t go into place until the ladders for the greenery are out of the way.
This can often look like a lot of waiting around and then hurry to get your job done.
As vendors, this means that we need to be really aware of how what we do impacts the other vendors on the team.
We can’t be hogging the loading zone or the elevators. We can’t be late, because that impacts what someone else is doing. We need to keep to the setup schedule as closely as possible so we don’t push other vendors behind.
In the video above, you can see that Event Light had finished their work, and so it was time for us to begin. While we were waiting for them, though, we had set the tables around the outside of the room so we were doing things bit by bit. This happens at many weddings! We’re always toggling back and forth.
During this wait time, we also used the atrium/bar area as a staging area. We had the ceremony arrangements mostly complete before the wedding day, but we wanted to add in the more delicate flowers on site. So we got those pieces all set up so we could finish that, took a picture of them set in front of the seating chart (which is where they’d be flipped to after the ceremony), and then carried them outside to get the ceremony ready.
And now here you can see that we finished up the greenery canopy over the dining tables (which were then removed for the dance floor, so the canopy was over the dance floor. Dreamy!) and the Soiree team busted out the table settings at the same time as we placed all the candles. Since these tables were going to be moved for the dance floor, and we wanted to feature the greenery canopy, we decided to just do candles for the centrepieces and keep it a little simpler on these tables.
After we finished cleaning up all our mess and setting all the tables, we came back out to the atrium and helped the planner shimmy all the lounge furniture into place, because it was all going in the space we had commandeered earlier as our staging area. And then it was time for photos and load-out. I had my 1 am tear-down crew coming that night, so I stashed away all of our boxes and containers they would need for clean up.
And here’s a little look at the end result! I’ll be sharing a full blog post with the entire wedding eventually, but for now, enjoy this peek :)
The focal point of the room was the greenery canopy, with the couple sitting right underneath it. We used long banquet tables that were removed for the dance floor, and complimented them with round tables around the room.
I loved the brighter take on a fall palette, with the toffee linen, rich pinks, and additions of coral, plum, caramel, and orange. Delish!
Looking for a Wedding Floral Designer in Winnipeg?
We can design a beautiful wedding for you, no matter the logistics of your venue!
Whether it’s an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
2024 WRAP UP
At the risk of sounding cliche — here we are! The end of another year and I can’t believe we’re here.
It’s been a pretty amazing year. I’m going to run through some of the high points and hopefully that’ll help me actually remember what we got up to because the year went by so quickly.
This year saw us complete 35 weddings! I think I’ll try to cap future calendar years a little lower than that — we were thrilled to be part of each of those weddings, and the season went farther into November than I’ve done in the past, but I’ll be honest, it was definitely exhausting and we could have done with a few more breaks.
At the risk of sounding cliche — here we are! The end of another year and I can’t believe we’re here.
It’s been a pretty amazing year. I’m going to run through some of the high points and hopefully that’ll help me actually remember what we got up to because the year went by so quickly.
My family moved last October — literally the day after my last wedding, we all got hit with food poisoning, and then the day after that, we moved. That was pretty chaotic.
The plan was to build my new workshop over the spring to be able to work in it this summer, so we started off the year working in our very messy garage until the shop was built. I sort of can’t believe that it all happened!
Photo by Vanessa Renae
This year saw us complete 35 weddings! I think I’ll try to cap future calendar years a little lower than that — we were thrilled to be part of each of those weddings, and the season went farther into November than I’ve done in the past, but I’ll be honest, it was definitely exhausting and we could have done with a few more breaks.
The studio build
The building process was really cool. The permit getting process was not. It was just frustration after frustration with very little helpful information available and a really poorly designed submissions website. But eventually we got everything approved, with like 4 days to spare before the concrete was poured!
My brother-in-law’s company, Abe’s Kongcrete, poured the pad for us and installed the heated floors. You know what’s funny, is I totally didn’t anticipate how messy this stage of the process was. Like somehow I thought that my yard wouldn’t get totally destroyed and everything would be perfectly tidy. So that clearly wasn’t accurate.
We then worked with Star Builders to build the actual shop. It’s 20x30 so we’ve got an awesome amount of space, and it was astonishing how quickly it went up.
Insulating, OSB walls, painting, my husband built me an incredible and huge work bench, the cooler got all set up…and there we were. It took a little longer than I hoped for, but then we were in and it was amazing.
Next year I’ll do a proper studio tour. The front space is all intended for designing, and the back houses the cooler and lots of storage space for vases and stuff, and overall I’m really proud of the entire studio!
Above are a few shots from when we were working in the attached garage! It worked out quite well all things considered — aside from the fact that my entire living room was filled with all of my inventory (literally the ENTIRE LIVING ROOM) and we needed to move our bikes in and out of the garage every single day. It was chaotic and not ideal, but it did work.
One of my personal and work values is to work as earth-friendly as I possibly can. As I’ve said before, it’s surprisingly hard to do in the floral and in the wedding industry.
You know I love my locally grown flowers, and I use as many as I possibly can for each summer wedding. Of course we can’t get everything we need locally, and one challenge we have is that imported flowers typically can’t be composted here in Winnipeg, because our facilities can’t properly handle the high level of chemicals coming in on the flowers.
So, I work with Compost Winnipeg to compost all of my green waste!
Working with them, I have diverted 405 kg so far this year! That is equal to 365kg CO2e, and equal to the carbon sequestered by 6 trees grown for 10 years or the emissions avoided by 16 bags of trash composted rather than landfilled. I don’t understand it all, but it’s cool!!
We did a lot of pretty things.
We launched our Rentals Collection! I did this for a few reasons — to bring in a little more revenue, to be part of a few more weddings and help elevate their aesthetics, and because it really bothers me when every supplier brings in the exact same inventory and all of our weddings just look the same over and over and over. I hope that by offering my rentals to other floral and event designers, that they won’t all feel the need to expand their rental inventories with more of the same.
Each year brings me to different wedding venues, and it’s always interesting to see any patterns in where I’m working. Last year, we worked at so many venues one time each. This year, we had a good spread but our top venue was by far the WAG, with 4 weddings, along with a couple each at the Assiniboine Park Pavilion, St Charles Country Club, and the Leaf. We also designed a stellar wedding at Alloway Hall for the first time, and at Lilystone Gardens!
I got lucky this year with a fantastic combination on multiple occasions: indoor weddings that actually look good 😂 I really don’t mean to be rude with this, but let’s be honest: a lot of indoor locations are really just lacking (especially for ceremonies). But I managed to snag myself a handful of clients who get sunburns as easily as I do, at great venues, so we had a comfortable working day. Aside from the one time that Deanna got heatstroke on the hottest day of the year!!
Stone House will be turning 10 in June 2024! I’ve got some ideas rolling around for something celebratory, but overall, I’m not great at allowing myself the luxury of celebrating so I’ll need to really force myself to let it happen. I’m really proud of these last 9 years and year 10 is going to be a record breaker in many ways.
Photo above by Keila Marie Photography
3 Photography Toronto
Planning for Next Year
We’re going to be launching an A La Carte floral service — still working on the details, but we’ll hopefully announce it soon!
I’ll be taking part in some cool opportunities within Winnipeg next year — Camp Rover (a conference for creatives), along with Design Your Day (a wedding workshop for engaged couples with Kayla Lagos Events).
Hopefully a trip to Quebec for some floral design inspiration, if the stars align!
You know what I love? Room Reveals.
I don’t often get to be there in person when you see your wedding design for the first time. But sometimes I do, like with both of these weddings below, and I LOVE seeing your excitement and complete overwhelm at how good everything looks in person. Making this all come true for you is one of my favourite things ❤️
Also, if you have 5 minutes in your schedule, and the details have been important to you, ask your photographer and wedding planner to arrange for a room reveal. It’s so special for you to see the room completely put together, with no one there aside from the two of you.
Photos below by Picture & Poet
Some other notable moments for the year:
Designing for Stanley Cup Winner Mark Stone
In late July, I designed the flowers for NHL Las Vegas Knights’ Captain, Mark Stone (a Winnipeg man!) for his Stanley Cup party at Breezy Bend Golf Course with Soiree Event Planning. I even got to see the Stanley Cup itself about 3 feet away from me— I am not a hockey player, but grew up in a hockey family, so that was very cool.
Designing for TikTok
We don’t have a ton of intriguing corporate events here in Winnipeg, so when I got a call from TikTok asking if I would design for the final dinner of an Accelerator Program for Indigenous Creators that they were hosting at the Millenium Centre, I was super excited. It was a very last minute event, but it went so well!
Some Near Misses
I’m 9 years into this business. I’m really good at it. I won’t pretend that I’m not. But this year we had some near misses — one wedding that I somehow forgot to order 2/3 of the flowers for, and one wedding that my wholesaler missed the order on. In both situations, we managed to pull EVERY SINGLE THING that we needed and everything else went off without a hitch. Aside from the panicked stress moments 😂
The cutest bridesmaid proposal party
We don’t just do weddings! This bridesmaid proposal party was the literal cutest I could possibly imagine. So here’s a note for you: I want to be part of your bridesmaid proposals, your rehearsal dinners and day-after brunches, your wedding showers, your engagement party…anytime you want something a little extra, you just call me.
I am so grateful for all of the amazing people who were part of making this wedding season happen. It’s absolutely not just me over here.
Deanna’s been working with me for at least 7 years now, but this year, she came on with me full time. It was a big leap for me to do that, but I couldn’t be happier that we did it. It was SO amazing having her full time, not only because she’s a phenomenal designer but also because having her here meant that my time was freed up to work so that I didn’t have to work every single evening. She designs most of our centrepiece arrangements and we tackle most installations together; we work really well together and I truly trust her with everything. She’s amazing!
At various weddings, we’ve also had in a crew of wonderful freelance designers and set up help. I’m so thankful that I can hand off jobs to people who I know will do an amazing job so I can keep other things moving along on schedule. Vanessa, Andrea P, Andrea N, Emily, Natalie, Fareedah, Shantel, Roberta, and of course, my husband Chad as well — YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. Thank you!
Before I close out, I wanted to mention an organization I’m connected with that’s doing amazing work in some of the poorest, most underserved communities in the world: Village of Hope Africa. It’s a Christian organization, so if that’s not your thing then that’s fine, but they work to bring hope to children through education, nutrition, shelter, and healthcare. We (aka you and me together if you’re one of my clients!!) support a child in their Malawi school (the 9th poorest nation in the world).
They’re organizing something called HOPE PACKS, which are just $25 and include toys, books (children in Malawi have such limited access to books!), clothing, and treats. If you’re feeling generous today, I’d be thrilled if you’d send a hope pack!
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Photo by Picture & Poet
Wrapping Up 2022
I honestly don’t know how I’m ever going to top the 2022 wedding season — it was AMAZING. And such a joy to see so many of you celebrate your long awaited weddings!
In the spirit of things, I thought I’d take a quick look back at some of my highs from the year.
Mary-Margaret Magyar
I honestly don’t know how I’m ever going to top the 2022 wedding season — it was AMAZING. And such a joy to see so many of you celebrate your long awaited weddings!
In the spirit of things, I thought i’d take a quick look back at some of my highs from the year.
-I designed for 27 weddings this year! And each was different from the last, which made things so much fun.
-We worked at different venues almost every weekend, which was really cool and kept things fresh.
-I saw so many of my vendors friends for the first time in a few years!
-Finally got to execute several designs that we’d been waiting on for years! And with that, the last of the postponed Covid weddings has been completed. HALLELUJAH.
-Along with florals, I also designed the full event design for 2 amazing weddings. I love taking on event design, but only take on 1-3 event design contracts per year so I can make sure my attention isn’t too spread around.
-I also designed for a Hallmark movie (shh, I’m not technically allowed to say this but it was exciting and awesome)! Deanna and I got to design a really beautiful arch for a wedding scene…and then they came and put twinkle lights in literally everything 😂 — the centrepieces, the arch, the aisle bouquets. It was so ugly haha but it was still incredibly cool. I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to make something pop on screen.
Plans for 2023:
-I’m so excited to launch my new rentals collection in early 2023 (pieces will be available to anyone, even if I’m not doing your florals)!
-W'e’re building a new shop at our new home (currently trying to decide on layout and the best way to use the space. Bigger walk-in cooler here I come!).
-I'm looking forward to weddings at a few venues I haven’t worked in before, or haven’t been to in a few years, and 2 weddings bringing me out to the Kenora area.
-Stone House is coming up on 9 years in business!
-I’m heading to Toronto in the spring for some hands-on design brush-up time with one of my favourite designers!
Here’s a little sneak at some of the new rental pieces I’m bringing in!
I’m primarily bringing in candle holders and vases, along with a few unique styling pieces that will complete your style (think trays and bowls for guest cards, trays for kippahs, great vases for guest book table or bar arrangements). I’ll also be providing candles for all those rentals to make your life as easy as possible!
More on this will be launching in the new year, but in the meantime, sign up for my newsletter to make sure you’re in the know.
Did you know that I keep a list of design ideas that I want to do, so that I can keep things fresh and offer you some great ideas? Here are a few things I’ve craving to do and hope to add to 2023 weddings:
-Upgraded focal design elements — think, impressive seating chart displays, unique head tables that aren’t just your bouquets plopped on top, glorious cake table moments.
-Rounding out a tablescape design with the addition of petite satellite arrangements and candles.
-Completing a ceremony design by improving the entire ambiance: adding baskets with flowers down the aisle, ground-based arrangements at the start of the aisle, elevating pieces on pedestals.
-I’m also dreaming up some incredible hanging installations — I just need the right couple and venue to go for it!
Now Booking 2023 and 2024 weddings
Looking for a wedding floral and event designer in Winnipeg?
2023 wedding dates are limited, and 2024 dates will begin booking in January!
Call me biased, but I think flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. I would love the creative challenge of taking your wedding vision and spinning it into a reality that you never could have dreamed of.
And with that, I’ll wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Merry Festivus, Happy Solstice — whatever you’re celebrating this year. I’m taking off to be with my family in Mexico this year (!) and look forward to chatting with you all in 2023!
What I Bought vs How I Styled It — Wedding Flower Edition (and How Much it Costs!)
What I Bought Vs How I Styled It
And how much it costs!
I love this Instagram Reels trend with home decor and design, so I thought it might be fun to add a little floral twist to it.
Floral Ingredients:
Top Row: Hellebore, Cappuccino Rose, Schwartzwalder Mini Calla Lilies
Bottom Row: Lepto, Amnesia Rose, Tulip, Barista Rose
And here’s the final product!
Well, “final” before the design tweaking and the ribbon went on :)
Now let’s talk about the Cost.
I made this bouquet for myself, so I’ll start this off by saying I chose flowers regardless of budget. Some of the selections I made were very premium, so this bouquet is more expensive than my average bridal bouquet.
Bridal Bouquet PRice: $375
The more expensive elements in the bouquet are the calla lilies, the hellebore, and the cappuccino roses. I’d personally say that they’re totally worth it, but that’s up to you!
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
I’m now booking 2023 weddings!
Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
How to Hold Your Bridal Bouquet and Some Behind the Scenes Wedding Prep at My Studio!
You might assume that holding a bridal bouquet correctly is easy — and it is! But in my years working in weddings, I’ve learned that you really just can’t assume anything 😂 Including something as simple as how to hold a bridal bouquet. Here are my 3 easy steps to help you correctly hold your bridal bouquet to show it off the best!
How to Hold Your Bridal Bouquet in 3 Easy Steps
You might assume that holding a bridal bouquet correctly is easy — and it is! But in my years working in weddings, I’ve learned that you really just can’t assume anything 😂 Including something as simple as how to hold a bridal bouquet. Here are my 3 easy steps to help you correctly hold your bridal bouquet to show it off the best!
Step 1: Find the front.
Gosh, you would be amazed at some of the pictures I’ve received back from weddings just to think, “how did no one realize that the bouquet is SO backwards?” Even with trailing ribbon attached to the front, bouquets have been held backwards. I always put the pins in the back, so put your thumbs on those pins and you’ll be fine. And if you have requested trailing ribbon or a ribbon bow, that’s obviously going to be in the front. Finally, no matter how the bouquet is designed, the most glorious of the flowers are always going to be in the front!
Step 2: Find the Proper Height.
Let’s all avoid that awkward early 2000’s bridesmaid look, okay? No one needs to be walking down the aisle with their elbows up next to their ears. It’s pretty simple: just put your wrist bones to your hip bones. This allows you to comfortably carry your bouquet at a flattering height that also shows off the neckline and waist of your dress, which is often where a lot of the detail of your gown is. Let’s show that off.
Step 3: Angle the flowers out.
Angle your flowers toward the camera and your florist will love you forever 😏 Seriously though, no one needs to see the stems of your bouquet, so you don’t need to hold it perfectly up and down. By angling the flowers out, you’ll show off all their beautiful shapes and textures, and let the flowers have their glory moment. Have fun with it, maybe resting it over your elbow or letting it hang down by your side, but overall, just let the flowers themselves do the talking.
Mid-summer, Karina Walker from Creative Capture came by the studio to take some video footage of me prepping for a wedding, and then also came along on a wedding set up to capture the installation and setup process. I can’t wait to show you all of that (along with the final images of that wedding from Izabela Rachwal!), and in the meantime, here are some behind the scenes shots she took while I was working!
Thank you so much Karina!
Karina Walker, Creative Capture
If you’d like to see more of my studio, check out this studio tour post from last summer! I love working here in the summers. I keep the garage door open all day, with sunlight streaming in (and once in a while, a bee) and it makes me so happy to work in the fresh air all the time. It’s a great little space!
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
My 2023 wedding wait list has been started!
Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!