Intimate Winter Wedding at Hawthorn Estates

It only takes 2 weeks and a bit of flexibility to plan a gorgeous wedding! Caitlin and Michael’s intimate winter wedding at Hawthorn Estates was a complete dream to flower for, with just a few pieces that each made a major impact. Her easy-going nature combined with beautiful vision and complete trust in me allowed this design to become what it did!

Photos by Ariana Tennyson

A 2 week planning timeline is just what happened for Caitlin and Michael - she reached out a few weeks beforehand, saying that she was pretty sure they would be planning their wedding for the end of February but they wouldn’t be sure until they heard the latest round of Covid restrictions. We chatted a bit about her ideas (originally, just the fireplace installation for the ceremony) and then added in a bouquet and the hanging piece above the head table, confirming everything just 2 weeks prior to the wedding when weddings were allowed to have 10 guests.

Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Toffee roses, combo roses, quicksand roses, bunny tails, dried palmettos, phragmite grass, dried strawflower, waxflower, and phalaenopsis orchids (the bride’s favourite!).

The winter wedding ceremony of my dreams ✨

I love venues that have fireplaces, and wish that all ceremonies took place in front of them. They’re such a good way to create a killer ambiance. Caitlin added the million candles, and I took care of the extremely luscious flowers, and the entire space just glowed with beauty.

More roses, delphinium, flowering branches (that weren’t actually flowering 😭), bouvardia, strawflower, a few orchids, and greenery - all good things!

Up next…the piece de resistance! When Caitlin asked about adding something spectacular hanging over the head table and shared a few incredibly luscious images with me, you could say I got a little bit excited.

A few things I knew: first, that I wanted to go overboard (lol). Second, that I wanted to make this really special. Third, that I had a huge hanging chandelier composed entirely of copper plumosa fern left from this Planned Perfectly product shoot that would be PERFECT. We started with a base of chicken wire, added in the fresh greenery and the copper plumosa, and then started tucking in the flowers…and lots of them. Some were on water tubes, some without, and this entire piece was foam free! We finished it off by adding in some of Hawthorn’s glass hanging bulbs for a little extra candle twinkle!

Want to see how this came together? I time-lapsed this install and love watching it, right here on my Instagram Reels.

I just wanted to say that the flowers were amazing!! Thank you for bringing my vision to life - it was absolutely perfect! Last night was a dream. Thank you so much!

Ariana Tennyson Photography ~ Hawthorn Estates ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique ~ Colleen Olafson ~ Modern Plate Catering

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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! 

Garden-Inspired Winter Wedding at SMITH

I’ve been waiting a long time to share Morgan and Josiah’s garden-inspired winter wedding at SMITH! But, it just didn’t feel right to post winter images during June. They were married December 28, 2019 in a big, joyous celebration and is the perfect example of why winter weddings are awesome.

Rich, luxurious while still approachable, warm, and overloaded with delicious food, there’s probably nothing that I would change about their wedding. The temperature wasn’t even that cold! Read on for more inspiration on throwing a killer winter wedding here in Winnipeg.

Photos by The Picture & The Poet

Morgan and I actually know each other a bit from church, where we both volunteer with the student ministries, so I was really excited to get her email! She and Josiah weren’t technically engaged yet, but let me tell you: that happens ALL the time.

Bridal bouquet ingredients: Tess and Keira garden roses, amnesia roses, plum and blush ranunculus, mauve astrantia, blush rice flower, and wine amaryllis.

Even though it was winter, Morgan wanted her bouquet to feel very garden-inspired and lush, so that’s what I did!

Morgan both made the centre arch AND did all the calligraphy and signage for her wedding! Her ceremony design concept was to feature the calligraphy paper roll and frame it in with flowers, so I flanked it with my copper stands and absolutely filled them with flowers. It smelled SO GREAT.

After the ceremony in the ballroom upstairs, the party moved to SMITH. We varied the flower arrangements here, knowing that the tables are very different sizes. Some got a single bud vase, and some were filled with fuller arrangements and tons of candles. The flowers brought in a lot of colour to the moody, rustic space.

When you’re planning a winter wedding, there are a few more logistical issues to work through — and specifically with flowers, you need to make sure those flowers aren’t going to freeze to death. Sometimes my brides will order a second bouquet for outdoor pictures, often a simpler posy composed of hardy winter greens and berries. Like I said earlier, it was actually pretty warm for Morgan and Josiah’s wedding (remarkable, because late December is usually AWFUL) so that worked out just fine for them!

On the other hand, when you’re designing a winter wedding, you should definitely take full advantage by playing up the best parts of the season. Ask yourself how you like to feel in winter/during the holidays — I’ll tell you that I like to feel cozy, fat (lol), warm, and surrounded by people I love, good smelling food, and dim lights. Now aside from feeling fat, the rest of that would make for a pretty stinking great wedding, and I think that’s really how Morgan and Josiah’s wedding felt! Morgan’s hand-crafted details aded so much personality and tied it all together.

The Picture & The Poet ~ Smith ~ inn at the Forks ~ AShley Brooke WEddings & Events ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique ~ Hair by Danille ~ Colour me Artistry ~ EPH Apparel ~

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LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?

Getting married in 2022? Wedding flower appointments will start in the new year and I have a wait list started in the meantime. Click the button below to get on my wait list!

Elegant New Year's Eve Wedding at Breezy Bend

While I'm a total homebody and love pretty much nothing more than laying on the couch with some chips and guac, I have to say that the idea of a New Year's Eve wedding has always given me a thrill. What better way to ring in the new year than celebrating with people you love? And for those of us who, like me, find New Year's Eve a little bit stressful (Should I host a party? What if I don't get invited to a party? Is it okay that all I want to do is go to the movies?), being a guest at a New Year's Eve wedding is the perfect solution. Built-in dinner, dancing, and fireworks. Perfect! 

So needless to say, I was really pumped to be asked to do the florals for Libby and Kevin's wedding at Breezy Bend Golf Course. I could tell right away that Libby has great style, and she had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted right off the hop. When I arrived on the day of to set everything up, I couldn't believe how much I loved everything she had chosen. It was glitzy without being tacky, elegant without being stuffy, and glamorous without being over the top. In a word, it was perfect! 

Izabela Rachwal Photography ~ Breezy Bend Golf Course ~ The Manitoba Club ~ Planned Perfectly ~ C&T Rentals

Libby went for a classic black, white and green palette (with an emphasis on lots of green). We still wanted to bring in a lot of texture to the flowers. 

Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Garden roses, lisianthus, anemones, yin and yang poms, with several varieties of ruscus, podocarpus, and English boxwood (funnily enough, Libby's only request was for English boxwood!).

Obviously I had to include one of me delivering the bouquets :) With a winter wedding, this is how everything comes: wrapped up in layer after layer of plastic to keep the warm air in and the cold air out. It was stinking cold on December 31, 2017 (as it usually is on NYE) so I think I actually had 3 layers of plastic bags on these bouquets!

You'll also see me below showing Libby how to hold her bouquet, which I do with every bride/bridal party. Unless your bouquets are round in shape, there will be a front side and a back side. I always tell my clients that the pins are in the backs of their bouquets, so that's where they can place their thumbs. Once they've got the right side, we talk about where to hold the bouquet so it's most flattering. I really don't want you to cover up your entire dress by holding your bouquet too high! The best position is to place your wrist bones on your hip bones, and angle the bouquet slightly out.

The ceremony was held at the Manitoba Club (just like this winter wedding was), in the ballrooms. It's such an elegant and high detailed space that we didn't want to do too much in here. We tossed around the idea of a draped backdrop with florals along the top, but in the end, settled on a set of 4 mixed height gold, thin gold stands with textured greenery arrangements set on top. It drew the eye in to the "altar" without taking away from the space.

We kept things much the same at the reception: lots of greenery, lots of white, lots of gold. I'll tell you, when I walked in and saw how good it all looked even without centrepieces, I got REALLY excited. The tables were covered in white sequins, which added just the right NYE feeling without feeling gaudy in any way, and the gold-rimmed glassware really upped the elegant factor.

For the head table, Libby wanted a beautiful, low, lush arrangement that would make the small table feel really special. Keeping the focus on the greenery, I decided that the only white bloom I'd use would be white hydrangea. It's a classic, and is perfectly suited to this type of setting.

The guest tables featured a large greenery bouquet, white sequinned table linens with gold accents, and a greenery sprig on each place setting with TONS of candlelight. 

Planning a winter wedding in Winnipeg?

Planning a winter wedding in Winnipeg? I'd love to dream up some incredible ideas for your wedding flowers and I'm now booking for winter 2018/2019! I have plenty of availability throughout November, December, January and February. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding! 

Intimate, Joyful Winter Wedding at Fort Gibraltar

Rachel and Matt's wedding was such a special one to me, because not only was I doing the florals for them, but I also worked with them on their full event design! I love being able to be a larger part of a wedding, because it allows me to get to know a couple better and then be able to create more purposeful designs for their wedding. 

When I get started with an event design client, my first task is to determine some theme words that will help us to communicate what the couple wants their wedding to look and feel like. For Rachel and Matt, words like "intimate," "joyful," and "approachable" kept coming up. They wanted their wedding to be a celebration,  and for the decor decisions that we made to create the opportunity for joyful, genuine moments that would be special to them throughout their lives. They chose Fort Gibraltar, which is one of my very favourite Winnipeg venues for a winter wedding.

Photo: Sugar & Soul Photography ~ Floral and Event Design: Stone House Creative ~ Venue: Fort Gibraltar ~ Stationery: Alley Cat Printing ~ Head Table Linen: Planned Perfectly

We used a LOT of jewel tones to add a richness to their winter wedding. We worked with a lot of deep reds and burgundies, plums, touches of rich pinks, and also added in a bit of blush to the bouquets to soften the look. Emerald green, my favourite colour, also played a large role. 

Bridal bouquet ingredients: ranunculus, peonies, scabiosa, amaryllis, and several varieties of roses and spray roses, with privet berries, italian ruscus, and nagi foliages.

For the guys, we chose simple greenery boutonnieres - textured, simple, and a little hardier against the cold temperatures...although on this December wedding day, it ended up being right around zero so they were able to keep their bouquets outside with them all day and have no issues at all! I also loved the rich tones of the bridesmaids' dresses. Slightly on the neutral side but still deep and rich, they really allowed the jewel tone flowers to pop.

I loved every moment of designing this hanging greenery installation for the ceremony (which was in the loft at Fort Gibraltar). I did it entirely on site, based on a concept I came up with at a walk-through with the couple the previous winter. Knowing that we really wanted to focus on warmth and intimacy, and Rachel's desire to have dim lighting, we thought we'd keep it simple but rich by focusing on lots of greenery. For this big guy I used fragrant cedar, magnolia, nagi and salal, and then wound string lights through it.  We were hoping to use cafe lights, but due to heat restrictions, we ended up switching to these little twinkle lights. A burning ceremony would not have been ideal ;) Below is the original sketch that I put together for them! Nothing like this has been done in Fort Gibraltar before, so it was pretty fun to be the first to envision a different design for a well-loved space.

The reception space is on the main floor, so the guests moved downstairs for dinner and dancing. I just love weddings at Fort Gibraltar - with the wood beams and that stone fireplace, it has so much built-in ambiance and if you play to the room's strengths, it's really easy to emphasize its beauty. We chose to keep the decor elegant but understated, focusing on candlelight everywhere and pops of rich jewel tones in the flowers and stationery.

We alternated two centrepiece styles on the guest tables, giving some a fuller floral arrangement in those rich jewel tones with the addition of a few low tealights, and others a candlelight-focused design with three pillar candles and a few floating blooms with greenery tucked throughout. The linens were kept neutral (which is a good choice in Fort Gibraltar, as the walls are a kind of buttery tone), and we added these beautiful, rich emerald greens table numbers (all named with countries that Rachel and Matt have travelled to) and added more of that gorgeous green to all of the place settings with individual menus.

And of course, if your wedding venue has a gorgeous fireplace with a pretty mantle, then as far as I'm concerned, you are absolutely REQUIRED to make it a focal point in the room and do something lovely on it :)

Rachel said, 
"Thank you so much for the most beautiful flowers I could have ever dreamed of!"

Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?

Getting married in Manitoba? Winter or spring, summer or fall, I'd love to dream up some incredible ideas for your wedding flowers. 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! 

Romantic Winter Wedding at Whitetail Meadow

So now that spring is on the horizon, shouldn't I finally post this winter wedding inspiration at Whitetail Meadow? ha!

I LOVE being a part of venue open houses - it gives me a chance to get creative and envision the space differently than it's been used for weddings so far. If you follow my work, you'll know that one thing that's really important to me in my designs is creating something that's different than what your friends have had for their weddings. However, when you're working at a brand new space, you're not hampered by anything! Such was the case for the open house I recently got to design for at Whitetail Meadow, a brand new venue open just outside of Niverville.

Esther Funk Photography ~ Amanda Douglas Events ~ Planned Perfectly ~ C & T Rentals ~ Jennifer Bianca Calligraphy ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique ~ Hairology ~ Ashley Tiopo Artistry

If you are in search of a location for your wedding, make sure you put Whitetail Meadow on your list. The structure is a refurbished barn, so it can accommodate weddings at any time of year. They did a beautiful job on the renovation, with hardwood floors, a stone fireplace, and a loft space. Ceremonies can be held on the adjoining veranda, in the meadow out back, or near a small creek, so you can really have whatever kind of setting you'd like! I'd love to do a winter wedding  here with the ceremony taking place on the staircase landing, and just covering the staircase with greenery and flowers. I can dream!

For the open house, we designed a romantic winter wedding setting, featuring a palette of pastel pink, purple, and copper hues. 

We borrowed this invitation suite from Jennifer Bianca Calligraphy. It was actually designed for a different couple's real wedding, but it worked so flawlessly with this design as well! I love the difference that a little colour makes. Those soft pink envelopes are just perfect.

Tedi and Evan are a real-life couple, and they actually work in the wedding industry, too! They own The Picture & The Poet, a dual studio offering both photo and video. They're so much fun, so if you're looking for some goofy, hilarious people to spend your wedding day with, check out their work. Also, Tedi has THE DAINTIEST HANDS AND WRISTS I HAVE EVER SEEN. I feel like she needs to be hand-modelling professionally. 

Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: I wanted to keep this one really simple, so that's what I did. Lavender roses, lavender spray roses, soft pink roses, and Queen Anne's Lace mixed with a few types of greenery. Easy peasy pie. 

If your venue has a focal point, such as this fireplace at Whitetail, then I HIGHLY recommend using it, and using it well. Allow it to truly be the spotlight that it was designed to be. Here, we've imagined a ceremony taking place in front of it, and then the head table placed in front of it during the reception. It's a great design, because the mantle is high enough for me to design statement-making florals on the mantle. 

Below are my initial sketches (super amazing, I know. My next career will be in art fo sho).

We kept the guest tables in keeping with the rest of the overall design. While Whitetail has these beautiful wood tables, we decided to add this textured copper linen to create a more elegant base. It paired really nicely with the venue's mahogany chivari chairs as well as the gold flatware we got from C&T Rentals. All of the place setting details are from them!

One large floral centrepiece was set in the middle of the table, and we clustered candles and stem vases on either end of the tables. Something to note when you're using rectangular tables is to keep in mind the width of the tables - I went a little overboard with the size of the arrangement and would have preferred it to be a little more streamlined. 

Seriously. Look at how delicate those beautiful little hands are. And that's Tedi's own engagement ring, which they found through Heidi Gibson in LA. 

Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?

Getting married in Manitoba? I might be biased, but 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!