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!
Sweet Simplicity Spring Wedding at the Pavilion
Last May, I had the pleasure of designing two weddings at the Pavilion at Assiniboine Park. The first was kind of a modern take on a garden-inspired design, and the second was Gwen and Gavin’s simple, intimate, blush and peach wedding.
Gwen’s style is very feminine and romantic, and she wanted her ceremony arch to be the centrepiece of the floral design.
Last May, I had the pleasure of designing two weddings at the Pavilion at Assiniboine Park. The first was kind of a modern take on a garden-inspired design, and the second was Gwen and Gavin’s simple, intimate, blush and peach wedding.
Gwen’s style is very feminine and romantic, and she wanted her ceremony arch to be the centrepiece of the floral design.
Photos: Brittany Mahood Photography
It’s always good to keep a bride’s frame in mind — I knew that Gwen was petite with tiny hands, and we didn’t want anything too large. And when I gave her her bouquet, I was astonished because what looked so small in my hands looked full and large in hers!
Bridal bouquet ingredients: ranunculus, sweet pea, sweet escimo roses, freesia, baby’s breath, and sahara sensation spray roses.
Oh I loved designing this arch! I really like the deconstructed arch base — it’s so easy to do so many different designs on it. Gwen wanted a lot of baby’s breath and we went with a modern garden style, tucking in peach and light pink florals with lots of stem length.
With about 30 guests, the room had more than enough space to keep the ceremony and reception in the same room. The morning ceremony was followed by brunch, and we decided on 4 banquet tables set with Planned Perfectly’s toffee linen (see how nicely they can skew pink?) with gold chivari chairs. We decided on mixed pink, peach, and white florals with an airy feel. Sweet, simple, lovely!
Photos: Brittany Mahood ~ Venue: The Pavilion at Assiniboine Park ~ Video: KT Films ~ Linens and Chairs: Planned Perfectly
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
2024 wedding dates are now booking! 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 for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Disco Balls, Mini Dress, and Pizza Trucks: The Perfect Backyard Wedding
When the couple has only been to a few weddings in their lives, it means that they don't care about the typical traditions. So we did everything awesome and nothing that wasn't.
Julia and Austin's wedding was the perfect low key, fun backyard wedding. Their tagline was "we got a good thing" and we wanted them to be at the centre of the entire day, which took place at her family's urban backyard. We wanted to evoke the spontaneity of an elopement, but with just a few more people, and tie through a bit of Julia's rocker edge. Her mini dress and mullet were complete perfection.
When the couple has only been to a few weddings in their lives, it means that they’re not interested in/aware of the typical traditions. So we did everything awesome and nothing that wasn't.
Julia and Austin's wedding was the perfect low key, fun backyard wedding. Their tagline was "we got a good thing" and we wanted them to be at the centre of the entire day, which took place at her family's urban backyard. We wanted to evoke the spontaneity of an elopement, but with just a few more people, and tie through a bit of Julia's rocker edge. Her mini dress and mullet were complete perfection.
Floral & Event Design: Stone House Creative
Photos: Kassandra Donaldson
Nearly all of the flowers for the entire wedding were locally grown, which is always a priority for me. Something I love about locally grown is the range and depth in colouring that we get, that you simply don’t find in wholesale flowers. These are farmed for their consistency, which is what flower shops want so their customers know what they’ll be getting. But when we’re working with a broad, delicious colour palette like this one, we want to be able to blend and move the colour throughout the bouquet.
Bridal bouquet ingredients: cosmos, ranunculus, zinnias, stock, rudbeckia, corn cockle, garden roses, forget me nots.
We worked with Rae & Dot to custom design the stationery. With a small guest list, we didn’t need a lot of pieces but we did want to make sure we gave a sneak into the style and level of casual-cool the wedding would have.
The ceremony was personalized with a dear friend guiding the vows, and we emphasized the existing space with the addition of ground-based florals tucked throughout the garden, and a rattan rug to ground the space. The clear acrylic chairs were one of the first and only requests that Julia made and I love how they worked into the design.
Post-ceremony, the garden gates swung open and a pizza truck pulled up in the back lane. The backyard is completely gorgeous but wouldn't allow enough space for a full sit-down dinner. We tucked in a mix of long tables and cocktail tables, popped a newlywed lounge under the pergola, and a few guests grabbed a seat on the deck and it all worked perfectly.
Julia’s mom has a lovely garden with a lot of green, so we wanted to enhance it with colour and texture. I LOVE foxtail lily and will use it any chance I get. While I was working on the newlywed lounge, Deanna whipped this garden out and it looked so amazing.
As event designer, one of my favourite things to do is figure out an amazing floor plan. With a small backyard space, we didn’t have a ton of options and I knew we’d need to flip the entire space post-ceremony. Deanna and I hid in the garage while the ceremony was going on — I LOVE getting a glimpse of the big moments of your day ✨
We didn’t need to worry about seating for each guest because the wedding was so casual. But, we did want to create as much space as possible, so I started with one long banquet table along the garage, and a second banquet table the deck. This left us with enough space to do a combination of seated and standing cocktail tables along the garden, where the ceremony had been, with the bar tucked into a nook between the garage and a tree, and it fit perfectly!
We rented in some vintage wicker bar backs and a bar cart, creating functional storage for the limited space, along with adding in some retro personality to fit their vibe.
I knew I wanted to use toffee table candles placed on terracotta trays, and we tucked in the CUTEST mini arrangements to further the colour scheme. I also added a few little disco balls for fun.
THE NEWLYWED LOUNGE. My favourite part of the design, I think. Well, everything was my favourite actually, but this lounge was just amazing. Obviously we were working with a small amount of space and the deck and pergola area needed to be both functional and beautiful, and it was just the right size to add in additional seating so we could get as many seats as possible and a cool design feature, as well. We tricked it out with some big disco balls and hanging flowers above, a funky combination of furniture, and the most perfect floral arrangement that my designer Deanna has possibly ever made. It was SO CUTE and apparently the newlyweds didn’t even get a chance to sit in it because guests loved it too much to share 😉
Looking for a Wedding Floral Designer in Winnipeg?
2024 wedding dates are now booking! 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!
Sophisticated Vineyard-Inspired Tent Wedding
Diane and Bryce reached out to me just 3.5 months before their wedding. Normally I would have my calendar confirmed well in advance of that, but I had just had another wedding for that weekend cancel so I was pretty thrilled to hear from them.
They live in BC but are both originally from the Winnipeg area, and hoped to have an intimate wedding with just 30 ish of their most loved people (and simultaneously avoid having to have the huge wedding that didn’t feel like them at all!).
So though 3.5 months is a short timeline to plan an entire wedding, I rolled up my sleeves and dug in to their full event design!
Diane and Bryce reached out to me just 3.5 months before their wedding. Normally I would have my calendar confirmed well in advance of that, but I had just had another wedding for that weekend cancel so I was pretty thrilled to hear from them.
They live in BC but are both originally from the Winnipeg area, and hoped to have an intimate wedding with just 30 ish of their most loved people (and simultaneously avoid having to have the huge wedding that didn’t feel like them at all!).
So though 3.5 months is a short timeline to plan an entire wedding, I rolled up my sleeves and dug in to their full event design!
One of my favourite aspects of the event design process is designing the colour palette. The palette we created for Diane and Bryce was just phenomenal — and it all started with an image Bryce had found that incorporated orange and a dove grey. I decided to deepen the orange to more of a rust tone, added in some peach and dusty pink tones, and rounded it out with a forest green. Overall, it evoked a seasonal early summer/late fall vibe, and Diane shared the palette with all their family members so they all chose outfits in those tones too, and looked SO good.
Dang, I just loved Diane’s bridal bouquet. I was able to use a large amount of locally grown flowers with some premium imported roses, and design something that felt natural but not too wild.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: toffee and cappucino roses, lisianthus, zinnias (from my garden!), phlox, calendula, amaranthus, ninebark, and nandina foliage.
We started the event design process with the colour palette and the stationery design; Diane had commissioned a local BC artist to create incredible pen sketches of both the church where the ceremony would be, and her parents’ yard where the reception was hosted. I worked with a stationery designer in Langley to create a 2 card invite, so that we could prominently feature both sketches, and the little country church in Teulon was just so quaint.
All we needed here was to add 2 overgrown, old-world feeling urn arrangements at the front, just to bring in a bit of colour and freshen up the space.
The reception was hosted in a small tent in Diane’s parents’ backyard, with one half dedicated to the u-shaped dinner table and the other half, a small dance floor and lounge area. I was hoping to have all sides of the tent open but it ended up being quite windy so we had to close a few. Ah, weather!
They have loved touring local BC vineyards, so we wanted to bring that feel in to the reception with greenery draping from the ceiling and cross-back wooden chairs. We let the colour palette warm up the entire space, with taupe linens, warm caramel menus and forest green place cards, toffee taper candles and copper flatware. Designing the place settings was a lot of fun!
Some of my favourite elements were added just a couple of weeks before the wedding! The lounge furniture, the champagne wall with custom decal, and a photo wall with coordinating custom decal as well. It’s great to have that kind of last minute flexibility to really complete a design.
“Your design is an absolute delight to look at and relive. Thank you, THANK YOU again for being so amazing to plan and communicate with. Not going to lie, I was a little sad coming back home and no longer receiving email updates from you! Authenticity multiplies trust — I cannot emphasize enough how grateful and proud we are that you were able to work with us this year. It’s easy to see the value of your floral and event design throughout the gallery but most importantly to us is remembering how you presented it, how you presented yourself, how you made us feel about it, and how you made us feel about ourselves.”
Janine kropla Photography ~ Stone House Creative ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Paper Poet ~ Wildflower and Thistle ~ Ornare ~ Union Table ~ Event Light ~ Luxe LInens ~ Asarye Paperie ~ Chew Catering
Polished & Elegant Private Property Wedding
Shannon and David’s wedding was a literal dream come true for me. They are both originally from Manitoba, but now live and work in Toronto (fun fact, I’m actually neighbours with 2 of Shannon’s sisters!). They have incredibly demanding professions and needed to hire a team for their wedding back home that could take the reigns and be trusted. I was so honoured that they reached out to me first, wanting to hire me for floral and event design, and asking for recommendations on other vendors who could make their wedding happen without a hitch.
Shannon and David’s wedding was a literal dream come true for me. They are both originally from Manitoba, but now live and work in Toronto (fun fact, I’m actually neighbours with 2 of Shannon’s sisters!). They have incredibly demanding professions and needed to hire a team for their wedding back home that could take the reigns and be trusted. I was so honoured that they reached out to me first, wanting to hire me for floral and event design, and asking for recommendations on other vendors who could make their wedding happen without a hitch.
Shannon is a self-proclaimed “anti-wedding” kind of woman. Neither of them enjoy a lot of the typical wedding things, and they really just wanted to create an atmosphere of casual elegance that felt like the best dinner party their chosen guests (about 30 of them) had ever been to, with a polished yet still genuine and comfortable experience.
Right off the hop, I knew that they’d be best served by a full service wedding planner (weddings at home or on a private property — especially outdoor ones — are no joke!) and made a few recommendations. I was so pleased when they hired Soiree Event Planning, and while I don’t typically offer my event design services in collaboration with a planner’s, Andrea and I felt that we could work alongside each other to create some magic. It worked so well and we’re both so pleased with how everything came together!
Being the very epitome of anti-bride, Shannon wasn’t even sure that she wanted a bridal bouquet. They actually weren’t even sure if they were going to have an official ceremony! I gently talked her into it, knowing that she’d appreciate having the accessory of a bouquet and if she didn’t want to carry it all day, then you put it down and that’s fine. In the end, she was really happy to have it!
I decided to soften the colour palette of the bouquet a bit (the event’s full palette featured more warm beiges, terracotta, accents of black and mauve, along with a range of pink and peach shades).
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: garden roses, ranunculus, foxglove, anemones, and scabiosa. I kept it simple but just loaded in all the good stuff!
When I saw the front yard and this tree, I knew I had to push for the couple to have a ceremony and to have it RIGHT HERE. I didn’t know how I was going to design the flowers until a few days before the wedding, but I knew that this was going to be an amazing focal point. Dave called it “tranquil,” so I’d say my team and I did alright!
The lounges! Shannon and Dave love to travel, and I had them send me some pictures from some of their favourite resorts and destinations that they’ve been to. I was inspired by the idea of cabanas and wanted to create comfortable, well-styled cabana-like lounges so I suggested using some sort of draping to make that happen. Soiree took it from there and added in the rattan elements and the adorable champagne truck!
We hoped and hoped for an outdoor dinner and no need for a tent (which we had at the ready if needed) and we got our wish! And the weather was absolutely PERFECT for al fresco dining. A cafe light canopy, one long table, and tons of flowers were some of Shannon’s only requests and obviously we were happy to do that.
We started with this taupe linen from Planned Perfectly (honestly, it’s my favourite — you’ll notice it’s a go-to in so many of my weddings and for such a good reason!) and layered in tons of candles (tapers, pillars, and votives) and large floral arrangements to create a sense of lush abundance. The place settings came together so beautifully — Soiree located these gorgeous fringed fabric chargers from Table Tales in Toronto (they ship Canada-wide, but in this case, Shannon and David just travelled with them when they came in for the wedding), and then we added a detailed menu booklet and place card to each setting.
Robin Egg Blue Design took care of all of the stationery. With changes to the wedding date thanks to postponements, and a very intimate guest list, we didn’t end up using actual wedding invitations but we thought it would be really nice to have a statement paper element at each place setting that sort of mimicked an invitation. I’d been pushing to use a leather detail since the very beginning of the design work (I wanted to use a leather envelope for the invites…how amazing would that have been?!) so Michelle from Soiree actually hand-made these beautiful leather place cards with each guest’s name! The front of the place setting featured a custom, hand-drawn floral illustration with the couple’s monogram, and the reverse side had a personalized note from the couple to each individual guest. It was such a beautiful way for them to share just how grateful they were to be celebrating with their most loved group of people.
Robin also created a detailed menu booklet, and because Shannon and Dave are HUGE food lovers and wanted to create a really customized gourmet feast complete with wine pairings for their guests, this was a much-needed (and very elegant!) guide to the many courses. It included a thick card stock, a vellum insert, and the same floral illustration before getting into the menu details.
Despite their love for food, Shannon and David aren’t really dessert people, but still wanted to have something sweet for their guests. They just weren’t sure what to do for a cake itself — that’s when I saw an image of a rustic cake that was decorated simply with figs on the cover of a magazine, and I sent that to them for their thoughts. Kayla from Sugar & Salt Bakeshoppe took that inspiration and ran with it, and I love that this cake continued to emphasize the gourmet nature of the dining experience.
And, obviously, the flowers were pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself! My team really killed it, and we had an awesome time designing lush pieces filled with locally grown and specialty imported flowers. The neutral base of the table allowed us to hit the more colourful aspects of the palette in full force with the flowers, and it came together beautifully.
Event Designed in Collaboration with Soiree Event Planning
I loved the string light canopy over their dance floor! What a magical and romantic place to spin around in your first dance as newlyweds!
And of course, major props to Brittany Mahood, who always does an incredible job of capture both the emotion AND the detail of a wedding day ❤️
Brittany Mahood Photography ~ Soiree Event Planning ~ Karina Walker ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Trend Decor Winnipeg ~ Union table ~ Event Light ~ Robin Egg Blue Design ~ Table Tales ~ Loversland ~ Simii Bedi ~ Academy Hospitality ~ Keith MacPherson ~ Sugar & Salt Bakeshoppe
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
My 2023 wedding date 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!