Fresh and Feminine Editorial at The Gables
When Vanessa Renae Photography first reached out to me about creating an early summer editorial at the brand new venue The Gables, I was on board immediately. The venue is an absolutely gorgeous, newly built facility in Southern Manitoba, which has been so beautifully designed and constructed. I couldn’t wait to get to work!
Vanessa sent me just a couple of inspiration pictures, and I knew right away that I wanted to design an earthy, feminine, and fresh aesthetic that would bridge the rustic barn-like setting with a romantic feel.
When Vanessa Renae Photography first reached out to me about creating an early summer editorial at the brand new venue The Gables, I was on board immediately. The venue is an absolutely gorgeous, newly built facility in Southern Manitoba, which has been so beautifully designed and constructed. I couldn’t wait to get to work!
Vanessa sent me just a couple of inspiration pictures, and I knew right away that I wanted to design an earthy, feminine, and fresh aesthetic that would bridge the rustic barn-like setting with a romantic feel.
I really, really love using locally grown flowers and so I was determined to use 100% locally grown product for this editorial. Why? Not only are the flowers more ruffled, scented, and variegated in colour, focusing on locally grown flowers is also far better for the environment and for our local economy. I’m able to support local farms at the same time as eliminating packaging waste, lowering shipping fuels, and lessening chemical usage.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: peonies, ranunculus, foxglove, lisianthus, phlox, sweet pea, yarrow, and poppies with a touch of brown ninebark foliage.
Every year there comes that hazy, lazy time when summer has really just started, the vibe is great, and everything feels fresh and full of possibility. And when you live in a climate that is covered with snow for 5-6 months of the year, you REALLY want to celebrate in that perfect window of time.
I worked with Leech Letter Co from Brandon (she’s actually one of my former wedding clients!) on this gorgeous stationery suite.
When working on the design plan, I wanted to highlight the gorgeous wood tones of the venue, so I chose to keep the overall colour palette feminine and earthy: taupe, yellow gold, peach, salmon, blush, touches of brown, and focused on placing a ton of florals on the table.
Want to design this table alongside me? Download my Design Guide here!
The cross-back chairs add that somewhat rustic feel, which was complimented by the natural textures in the stationery, soft fringe in the napkin, and pottery vases.
When it came to selecting the rentals, I knew that I wanted to keep the place settings sleek and clean. C&T Rentals’ Lilly place settings were just the right choice, with their simple, modern lines and minimal lip.
I love working with coloured candles, and for this table, I chose 2 tones: sandstone and toffee. I wanted the candles to emphasize the earthy side of my design, and loved the warmth these neutral tones brought to the tablescape.
My favourite images are the glowing early evening portraits on the expansive lawns and meadow (secret: that meadow is actually a small sheep pasture!).
Thank you so much to Ashley from The Gables for hosting us — your space is mesmerizing and I look forward to coming back!
The Gables Wedding Barn ~ Vanessa Renae Photography ~ Stone House Creative ~ Leech Letter Co ~ Adrianna Papell from Christie’s Bridal ~ Mokada ~ Mrs Box ~ Ashley Lauren from Nikki’s Beauty Bar ~ Emily Leiding from Nikki’s Beauty Bar ~ C&T Rentals
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This is a day exclusively for photographers and videographers who are looking to build their portfolio and attract their dream clients. You’ll find an expertly planned and thoughtfully designed styled shoot and bridal editorial created to give you the time and space to get inspired, explore, try new things, and hone in on your skills in a one-of-a-kind outdoor setting.
Whether you’ve been in business for several years already or if you’re just starting out, or maybe you’re thinking about branching out to offer video services to your already established photography business, the Portfolio Builder is the right fit for you.
And let’s be honest…after the dumpster fire that was 2020 and that 2021 is turning out to be so far, we all need some inspiration.
Why I Love Using Locally Grown Flowers
There are few things I love more than a big old bucket of blooms grown right here in Manitoba soil.
Every wedding season, I aim to use as many locally grown flowers as possible. And every week when I get my delivery, I get excited. It’s a different kind of excitement than I get when I pick up flowers at the wholesaler (which is still exciting), and I’m not entirely sure I can explain to you why…but I’ll try.
There are few things I love more
than a big old bucket of blooms grown right here in Manitoba soil.
The colour. The texture. The uniqueness.
There are endless reasons to love locally grown flowers.
Every wedding season, I aim to use as many locally grown flowers as possible. And every week when I get my delivery, I get excited. It’s a different kind of excitement than I get when I pick up flowers at the wholesaler (which is still exciting), and I’m not entirely sure I can explain to you why…but I’ll try. Here are a few of the big reasons to love Manitoba-grown flowers:
Environmental benefits: When I design your wedding bouquets with locally grown flowers, I’m reducing the environmental harm caused by shipping flowers in from around the world. My local farmers also use a reduced amount of chemicals on their flowers (or none at all!), and limited to no packaging materials to reduce unnecessary waste.
Supporting the local economy: Buying flowers from a local farmer means keeping my (and your) money in-province, to support a local business that pays her employees a living wage. As with many international trades, the international flower world often involves underpaying, overworking, and poor working conditions. My wholesaler does work with fair-trade farms, but that’s not as wide-spread as I wish it was. And, the more I can keep money in Manitoba, the better.
Colour and variety: when ordering locally grown flowers, we need to be more flexible. My farmers simply can’t guarantee when a specific variety will open or that a bug won’t eat it, or that a hailstorm won’t come along and damage a crop. BUT, the results of this flexibility are mind-blowing. The colour, texture, and uniqueness that you can achieve with locally grown flowers is what I dream of!
Not every flower can be locally grown (for example, we don’t really grow roses successfully in Manitoba, though one of my local farms is starting to grow garden roses!). Some of my personal favourite locally grown flowers include zinnias, sweet pea, Queen Anne’s Lace, bleeding heart, ranunculus, cosmos, scabiosa, foxglove, and lisianthus!
How about I show you just how awesome locally grown wedding flowers are?
When I’m selecting flowers for a wedding bouquet, two of the things I’m thinking about are the shape and texture of the overall design. Whatever the client’s style is, I have specific goals I need to achieve and I think strategically about which flowers I can use to do so.
In Kat’s bouquet, I needed to add the perfect sense of whimsy with a trailing line, and this rust amaranthus was perfect. I also wanted to add a lot of boho-inspired texture, so along with imported blooms, I used strawflower. Even when it’s freshly cut, strawflower has a unique dried texture that adds a really cool vibe.
When you want jewel tones…and not just filler flowers! Focal flowers tend to be easier to order via wholesale — think roses, garden roses, hydrangea, etc — so it’s a great challenge to use a locally grown focal flower when I can.
My favourite focal flowers that can be grown in Manitoba include zinnias (one of my top 5 fave flowers!), dahlias, and lisianthus.
In Roberta’s jewel tone bouquet, you can also see a lot of the awesome texture and movement that those locally grown flowers add!
A lot of flowers have a stiffer stem and a more structured feel to them. When I’m looking for a softer, airier, and more romantic texture, I look to locally grown flowers and vines as much as I can: the ruffled petals of a ranunculus or peony bloom, the romantic curlycues of a sweet pea vine and bloom, or the delicate and petite petals on a phlox bloom can all add a sense of lightness and femininity to your arrangement.
I’m always on the hunt for flowers that will blend my colour palette and add that something special. The hues that are muddier, muted, even a little ombre variation within the petals…that unique colouring can be hard to find when you’re ordering from wholesale farms that make their money off of growing reliable flowers. They don’t want those magical little touches that makes one bloom different from the next…they want them to all be as close to the same as possible.
But local flowers? That’s where we can get those perfect little variations that make your bouquet sing. The taupe lisianthus here is PERFECT.
Fluttery sweetness! And another bonus — super lightweight! All of the flowers in this bouquet were locally grown (I did use imported foliages, though), and though there were a LOT of stems in there, the bouquet was shockingly lightweight.
Again, the colours here are amazing. These rich berry tones are so easy to achieve with locally grown flowers.
Here in Manitoba, we can reliably use locally grown flowers from mid June through early September, though some early bloomers can be available as early as late May (ranunculus, tulips).
With the reality of covid, using local flowers feels different than it did in the past. I KNOW the flower farmers that I work with. I’ve walked through their fields and talked with them about their businesses. Supporting my local growers is also a step that I can take to provide a small measure of support to people and an industry that I care deeply about.
It doesn’t really matter to me if using locally grown flowers is a priority to you or not (though I would love to hear that it is!). It’s a priority to me, and so I will use them as much as I possibly can.
LOOKING FOR WEDDING FLOWERS IN WINNIPEG?
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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!
Carolyn and Nick's Summer Lake of the Woods Wedding
One misty summer day last year, I headed up to Kenora to the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club for Carolyn and Nick's wedding. Aside from the touches of rain that sprinkled down throughout the afternoon, it was a beautiful day for the wedding! Nick is from New Zealand, so Carolyn came up with the idea to include plenty of ferns in all of the flower arrangements. I guess ferns grow all over the place over there, though I wouldn't know, having never been!
We met Carolyn's dad at her aunt's cabin, and he boated across the lake to meet the bridal party, and then across the lake again to get to the Yacht Club! It's always an adventure setting up for weddings there, as you never know quite how long it's going to take to get there and how bumpy the ride is going to be. We loaded all the flowers into the back of the boat, and covered it all up so the rain couldn't get to them.
I love the photos of the newlyweds with the the sun setting over the lake in the background!
Photos: Josh Dookhie Photography
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: hydrangea, faith roses, ranunculus, sweet pea, zinnias, blushing bride protea, stock, Queen Anne's Lace, scabiosa, fern, ivy. The zinnias, sweet pea and scabiosa were all locally grown, which was such a treat. My studio was beautiful that week!
Carolyn wanted to keep things soft and feminine, so we used a lot of soft pink and white in the flowers. The blue of the bridesmaids' dresses picked up the hues of the lake really beautifully.
A Flower Field Day
Back in August, I spent the BEST morning at a flower field day with some of my local flower friends (we affectionately call each other our #flowerfriends). We toured around Lily Stone Gardens, cutting stems to our hearts' content, chatting about our businesses and the flowers that we love the most, and playing with these wonderful, locally grown blooms. It is so exciting to me that I have the opportunity to include locally grown flowers in my designs; these stems are grown with the utmost care, attention, and love! If you're getting married in the summer, chances are that I'm going to use local blooms, whether you ask for them or not ;)
Enjoy this trip to the farm!
Photos: Holly Gilson Photography // Flowers Friends: Kelly and Nicole of Lily Stone Gardens, Britney of Fache Floral Designs, and Tatiana of Oak & Lily
