Modern Meets Whimsical Wedding at the WAG
Jess and Nick’s wedding took place on the literal hottest day of 2023. 🫠 But we loved it anyway!
The overall design vision called for a modern, intimate feeling wedding (yet with a full guest list) that incorporated garden-inspired whimsy.
Jess and Nick’s wedding took place on the literal hottest day of 2023. 🫠 But we loved it anyway!
The overall design vision called for a modern, intimate feeling wedding (yet with a full guest list) that incorporated garden-inspired whimsy.
With the venue being at the Art Gallery, we didn't have a clue what the exhibit was going to be in the gallery where the reception would be, so we just had to roll with the designing and hope that it worked out in the end — the clean, feminine design style ended up working really well with the bold and colourful exhibit, and the last minute addition of hints of lime added a lot of fun that played off the artwork really well.
Photos by Brittany Mahood Photography
With all the florals, I wanted to warm up whites with taupe and added in accents of lime. The bouquets ended up looking so fantastic with the selection of bridesmaid dresses!
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: white dahlias, sahara roses, white lisianthus, brown lisianthus, white iris, green amaranthus, white sweet pea, and phalaenopsis orchids.
Jessica's gown is an Alex Perry gown, which she selected from LOHO Bride in LA. It was the perfect combination of classic A-line meets super chic, with a sleek bust line.
Each of the bridesmaids wore a unique dress from different designers, in a kind of mushroom palette (cream, taupe, mocha). They were all floor length, but different silhouettes. The girls looked so great that you'd have no clue it was the hottest day of the entire summer!
We fully sought to blend modern, classic, and garden-inspired design at Jess and Nick's wedding, and the florals and decor were a major component of this.
I love a groom who sheds a few tears. My husband bawled our entire wedding day so seeing Nick tear up is so sweet to me!
The ceremony took place on the WAG rooftop, focusing on a classic black garden arch with whimsical, locally grown florals growing up and around. We included plenty of lime amaranthus, green and white hydrangea, white and brown lisianthus, and Queen Anne's Lace. Several arrangements were also clustered together at the front of the aisle, both had their fair share of work contending with the wind to stay where we wanted them.
And hello to that cute petal toss bar! Prior to guests walking onto the WAG rooftop statue garden, they stopped at a Petal Toss bar, filling up paper cones with cream and blush petals. Luckily one of the photographer assistants reminded a few guests to actually go ahead and toss them, and it made for such a sweet ambiance while the newlyweds walked down the aisle.
And now to downstairs! The reception took place in the former Eckhardt Hall on the main floor of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, featuring a clever floor plan utilizing banquet tables and round tables, and a combination of grey smoke acrylic chairs, gold chivari chairs, and grey banquette seating.
Have I mentioned frequently enough how much I LOVE an interesting floor plan? It creates so much interest in a room, allowing the eye to move or pause, prompting conversation or comfort or dancing depending on where you are in the room.
Notable design elements include: a double-sided seating display (I LOVED the placement of the seating chart at the front of the room!), statement bar florals, fruit incorporated into the tablescape to satisfy Jess's last minute request for some lime green accents, ribbed glass elements, and primarily white florals.
We repurposed the ceremony arch to the cake display (see below!) and the aisle arrangements to the base of the seating chart.
One of the things we need to consider when repurposing an arch is accounting for additional stems to allow us to replace flowers that are spent — especially when the ceremony was outdoors on a hot day. We spent about half an hour moving the ceremony florals from the rooftop down to the main floor, and then refreshing the arch with new blooms.
This might be something that needs to be budgeted for extra, or it might just be something your florist will include in the cost of the arch. Just know that it’s something you definitely want!
The cake and desserts display was set up in the entrance to the Hall, cleverly planned to repurpose the ceremony florals behind while taking up as little space in the floor plan as possible. Trays of mini cheesecakes, cookie sandwiches, cupcakes, and chocolate-dipped pretzels were styled on black and glass shelving and on cream and black ribbed pedestals.
A small vintage-inspired cutting cake (funfetti flavour!) was set on a pedestal, under their repurposed ceremony arch, which made for a super cute photo opp.
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Colourful and Fun Winnipeg Art Gallery Wedding
It’s always fun to design for someone I know! Katelin is my brother-in-law’s sister, so I was excited from the start. It also became the perfect combination of elements — the WAG, juicy colour, a collab with Soiree Event Planning, my cute niece and nephew as the flower girl and ring bearer…everything was awesome!
If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you’ll know I’m an unapologetic colour lover. This wedding shows you exactly why!
It’s always fun to design for someone I know! Katelin is my brother-in-law’s sister, so I was excited about this Winnipeg Art Gallery wedding from the start. It also became the perfect combination of elements — an art museum, juicy colour, a collab with Soiree Event Planning, my cute niece and nephew as the flower girl and ring bearer…everything was awesome!
If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you’ll know I’m an unapologetic colour lover. This wedding shows you exactly why!
Photos by Cojo Photography
Another day, another one of my favourite colour palettes 😍😍 Katelin was totally on board for colour and I was thrilled. She was really drawn to oranges, and Soiree created this lovely palette of lavenders, peaches, a pop of orange so it wasn’t overwhelming, and a nice base of soft pinks. Some people think neutrals are only white/grey/beige…in my opinion, soft pink is totally a neutral.
Another bonus of August weddings — the LOCAL FLOWERS. Ugh they just make all the difference in the world. We had a ton of locally grown goods for this wedding.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Locally grown foxglove, sweet pea, zinnias, and lisianthus along with cafe latte garden roses, anemones, and ranunculus.
(Pause for a moment to notice my ADORABLE (sassy) niece as flower girl!!)
This ceremony arch was so delicious. We’ve designed similar styles many times, but never in this palette and it was SO juicy and yummy. We wanted it to be fuller at the base and lighter at the top, in part because we were on the WAG rooftop, so we needed to heavily weight the base and ensure it was sturdy enough to not blow over.
Those orange dahlias were total perfection, and added just the right change in texture to pop in here.
Excuse the interruption while I tell you WHY YOU ABSOLUTELY WANT TO HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER. There’s no knowing what’s going to happen at your wedding. For example, there might be a wasp infestation…
While we were setting up the ceremony, there were a few wasps buzzing around and then a few more and then a few more…and I thought “this seems like more than usual” while Deanna was this close to losing her ever-loving mind over them. I walked over to the stone/tree area along the side of the rooftop, and realized I could hear a lot of buzzing. There were hundreds of wasps. I’m known for exaggeration, but there were HUNDREDS.
I went to Andrea from Soiree right away and let her know that we had an issue. And professional that she is, they took care of it. They had to call in an exterminator, who came in SO quickly, and move the cocktail hour from the rooftop to the Skylight Gallery. There were still wasps buzzing around during the ceremony BUT not a single sting because they had been sprayed and were on their way out. Soiree took care of all of this behind the scenes, and didn’t even worry the couple with the details.
SO YEAH. Hire a wedding planner. I’ve got a few recommendations for planners that we love, if you want (and yes, Soiree is on that list!).
Can we take a moment to talk about HOW LUCKY we got with the artwork in Eckhardt Hall?! Dang. One of the things about having a wedding in an art gallery is that you never know what the artwork itself is going to be. I know this very vibrant, colour-celebrating exhibit isn’t ideal for everyone but it was incredibly perfect for Katelin and Derek.
One of the design elements I was MOST looking forward to for Katelin and Derek’s wedding was the base palette of monochromatic pinks at the reception: light pink linen, pink glassware, pink vases, and then of course, tying pink into the flowers with vibrant pops of orange and lavender.
I LOVE how this gave a soft and fresh feeling base for the entire event — definitely something to consider for yourself!
A lot of the time, people get stuck in the idea of “white plus my accent colours” or “our main colour is x and therefore that’s what our linen needs to be.” That’s not necessarily true — I think it can work a lot better if you choose something as your neutral, and use it heavily as a base throughout. Then add your primary colour as a focal point but in fewer areas, and that’s what’s going to pop! Like here, the neutral is the soft pink, and the focal colour(s) are the lavender and orange.
Katelin comes from a family of dance-loving people — I wish I could have been there to see it in person! I am a horrible dancer, but I do love it and wish that I could. At my sister and brother-in-law’s wedding, their parents and friends just had their way with the dance floor and it was so impressive.
A huge thanks to my amazing team of freelancers who helped make this floral magic come together! My associate designer Deanna, Andrea from Addison Taylor Designs, and Andrea from Cameo Flowers. The WAG has a shorter setup timeline (which makes sense, they are open to the public during the day!), so when it comes time to setup, it’s GO TiME and all hands on deck. So grateful for these hands and the way they made my vision come together.
Cojo Photo ~ Soiree Event Planning ~ Winnipeg ARt Gallery ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Collective event rentals ~ Event Light ~ Bailey Delbigio ~ Taylor Neufeld Hair ~ DJ Sir Charles ~ Keith MacPherson
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
Getting married at the WAG? Stone House is one of their preferred vendors, and in our completely biased opinion, we’re the best at bringing the space to life 😎
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!
Elena and Jeremy's Romantic Spring Wedding at the WAG
If you like fluffy, ruffled flowers (like peonies, ranunculus, and stock), then springtime is totally when you should get married. That made May the ideal month for Elena and Jeremy's romantic spring wedding at the WAG. Seriously. Take a look at the fluffy dream cloud that was Elena's bridal bouquet (and by the way, if you love peonies, then check out this gorgeous springtime inspiration shoot I did at Cielo's Garden!).
Austin Kylie Photography ~ Winnipeg Art Gallery ~ Storm Catering ~ Jessica Kmiec Makeup Artistry ~ Planned Perfectly
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: peonies, anemones and ranunculus (both locally grown!), and roses with touches of eucalyptus foliage.
Elena actually booked her wedding date around my availability - talk about an honour! Their entire day came together so beautifully. The couple has two sweet little kids and it was so lovely to receive these photos from Austin Kylie Photography and see their beautiful family. Even cooler? Elena grew up with my younger sister! We all went to school together when we were kids and I remember sleepovers in our bunk beds and tons of time playing together when we were little.
I did a simple hair piece for the bride to wear, and white ranunculus boutonnieres for the men. It was all simple, classic, and beautiful!
And now we get to the decor! Sometimes, we have to go with the backup plan. Plan A for the outdoor ceremony (on the rooftop at the WAG!) was to have a 4 post chuppah with a lush floral garland added to the entire top. Unfortunately, the chuppah that was made didn't come close to supporting the weight of all the flowers that we had planned for.
SO, what did we do? After calling a few vendor friends to see if we could get an alternative arch that morning (sadly, that option didn't pan out but we tried!), we decided to forgo the floral on the top and instead attached two bouquets to the sides of the arch. We took all those flowers intended for the top of the chuppah, and moved those over to the head table. Can't wait to show you that beauty!
WOAH, GUYS. LOOK AT THIS HEAD TABLE. CAN EVERY COUPLE PLEASE ASK FOR THIS? I WILL HAPPILY OBLIGE.
We did a combination of tall and short centrepieces in the reception space, which filled out the venue really nicely. Both of them features peonies, roses, and stock in whites,, blush and peach.Gold chivari chairs, gold-rimmed glass charger plates, and ivory linens from Planned Perfectly finished the design off beautifully.
I'm going to be designing flowers for a few more weddings at the Winnipeg Art Gallery this year and I'm excited for all of them! Each is going to be so different.
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