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! 

Stephanie and Christian's Pastel Garden-Inspired Wedding

With one of my very favourite wedding colour palettes, Stephanie and Christian's pastel wedding was filled with garden-inspired florals and delicate touches. I truly, truly loved being a part of this day! There were a lot of beautiful floral details that were included, with some of my favourite flowers, making this one of my most memorable weddings of 2017. Scroll through for more details!

 Fort Garry Hotel ~ Rachwal Photography ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Sweet Impressions

This is probably my favourite palette to work with for bridal bouquets: pastels! I love it because it accomplishes the soft, romantic feel that many couples are looking for, while being a lot more interesting than just white and blush. For Stephanie, I was thrilled to work in a lot of the light purple and lavender tones, with a hint of pale blue along with whites and pale pinks. 

Bridal bouquet ingredients: garden roses (some of my favourites, in fact!), sweet pea, delphinium, Ontario-grown spray roses, and Manitoba-grown lisianthus, anemones, ranunculus with a mixture of eucalyptus and nagi foliages.

Let's take a moment to love on the gorgeous tones of these bridesmaids' dresses. Those dusty mocha and lilac tones are complete perfection. 

I LOVE working with this palette in the Provencher Room at the Fort Garry Hotel. The soft ivories, golds and champagnes are gorgeous there, especially with gentle touches of pastels worked in through the flowers. The gold chivari chairs and these medallion overlays are actually one of my favourite linen/chair combos that Winnipeg has to offer so I was super excited to know that this would be the setting the stage for the rest of the decor!

You'll notice that we did several styles of centrepieces, as the floor plan was varied between round tables and long rectangular tables. We combined trios of tall, curved glass vases with greenery arrangements on the long tables, and alternated low floral arrangements in bronze urns with greenery wreaths encircling trios of candles on the round tables, while the head table was set apart simply with a long, oversized greenery garland lain down the centre of the table. This table design was completed with the re-purposing of the large gold urns from the ceremony and two greenery wreaths, tied onto the bride and groom's chairs.

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! 

Limited 2018 dates are still available and a 2019 waitlist has been started. Inquire today!

Holly and Sam's Berry Toned Wedding at Cielo's Garden

When Holly first inquired with me, I was so excited. Not only were she and Sam getting married at Cielo's Garden, but anytime a bride wants berry toned florals, I'm a happy gal! We decided to really go for it with the palette, tucking florals in everywhere along with tons of greenery. And also, Holly's dress. Can we please take a moment to acknowledge how gorgeous that sleek, simple dress is? I had to cram in a lot of photos into this post because of how beautiful they all are! 

Photos: COJO Photo ~ Planner: Alli Mae Fresh Events ~ Venue: Cielo's Garden ~ Videography: Prairie Film Co ~ Tabletop Rentals: Planned Perfectly

Holly's bridal bouquet was one I was looking forward to for months. Rarely do I get to work with a palette that is more "me," and that weekend I actually got to do two! (the other wedding was also coincidentally at Cielo's Garden! You can see it here!) Along with those rich berry pinks, we used some softer blush tones, deeper plums, and lavenders along with rich, dark foliage. 

Bridal bouquet ingredients: garden roses and standard roses, locally grown zinnias, cosmos, sweet pea and scabiosa, along with white and navy anemones. 

I talk about it all the time: you all know that I love working at Cielo's Garden! This little stone chapel in the woods is the perfect place for the dreamiest wedding ceremonies. Holly was open to my ideas and loved the idea of something hanging from the ceiling to create a one-of-a-kind altar for their vows to be said under. This asymmetrical design was something I've had in my mind for a while and was excited to bring it to life! I used a lot of greenery and then tucked in plenty of berry-toned blooms with touches of light pink to bring some depth.

You'll notice a picture of a bouquet set on a chair. Holly wanted to honour her mother, who passed away a few years ago. She asked me to design a bouquet just for her mom, who loved purple. I thought it was a beautiful gesture and the perfect reminder that when someone passes, it doesn't mean that they're not with us.

I love this picture of Sam. It's just a totally happy, best day of my life kind of goofiness. 

For the reception, Holly fell in love with the idea of long greenery garlands spanning the length of the tables, like these ones, with florals tucked throughout for a pop of colour. We finished the design with plenty of candlelight thanks to assortment of different height pillar candles. The couple added in clear glass charger plates, mixed metal votive holders, personalized matchbox favours, and quirky stationery (including napkins printed with hilarious sayings).

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! 

(PS I'm now booking appointments for 2019 wedding dates!)

Krystin and Randy's Romantic Ashgrove Acres Wedding

Krystin and Randy's romantic wedding at Ashgrove Acres had so much beauty woven throughout the day, and the photos below just feel so refreshing. Everything about it is just so pretty! So I'll let the images speak for themselves.

David Bryan Photography ~ Ashgrove Acres ~ Alexandra Lillian Weddings

“Lauren -

Thank you so much for all the beautiful flowers. You outdid yourself. We have been given so many compliments on how gorgeous everything was and elegant and that was exactly what I wanted! Wishing you an even more successful 2018!! “ - Love, the Mutchmoors

Krystin's bouquet is probably my most favourite blush and white bridal bouquet I've ever made. The flowers were perfect and the textures were just dream combinations, but my favourite part? That accent of caramel foliage. It just set the whole thing off while also making it stand out from all the other blush bouquets out there. So here's a tip for you, brides: if your style fits in with some of the more popular trends but you want aspects of your wedding to stand out from literally everything else on Pinterest, then ask your floral designer to just have a little fun with it. Good things happen :) 

Bridal bouquet ingredients: Quicksand roses, white garden roses, white lisianthus, white scabiosa, blushing bride protea, and rice flower with eucalyptus foliage, smokebush foliage, and foraged fall foliages.

I love the colour palette Krystin chose! The guys' burgundy/brown ish suits are just top notch. And the soft blush tones and white of the bridesmaids feel very romantic and pull it all together. The palette also just happens to work gorgeously with the brick and stone facades of the Exchange District!

Not every wedding can have perfect weather. It was raining on and off for the entire day for Krys and Randy, and I just really love that they went for the outdoor ceremony anyways. You can see in the pictures that it was very lightly showering throughout the ceremony (a lot of guests had umbrellas up). It's a really good reminder of what's actually important: a little rain can't beat the immense excitement of becoming married.

We kept things simple and pretty at the reception, with mixed styles of stem vases on the tables. Some of these had just a single bloom, some had mini arrangements, all within the soft palette. They were really the definitely of pretty! We added in some gold-rimmed candle holders to each table, and more stem vases around the cake tables and guest book table to finish it off. The large floral piece from the ceremony arch was re-purposed onto the head table as well!

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! 

Laidback Elegance at Cielo's Garden

When I first started talking with Stephanie and Kurt about their wedding flowers, it was actually at an open house for Cielo's Garden! I was struck by the way they interacted with each other. Kurt was just SO sweet in the way that he deferred to Stephanie, allowing her to explain their vision and how they wanted their wedding day to look and feel.

That laidback attitude was going to be a large part of the wedding day - the couple really wanted to have a simple, comfortable wedding. The colour palette of deep plum, watery grey/blue, nude, blush and gold brought an elegant feel to the overall design, and was really fitting for the setting.

Kaboha Photography ~ Amanda Douglas Events ~ C&T Rentals ~ Cocoabeans Bakeshop ~ Cielo's Garden

Any time I have a chance to play with berry tones I am a happy lady! This was a very feminine take on a berry tone palette. 

Bridal bouquet ingredients: roses, dahlias, ranunculus, cosmos, anemones, succulents, Queen Anne's Lace, silver dollar eucalyptus and agonis foliage.

And here we are, back at one of my favourite places for couples to get married at! The chapel at Cielo's Garden is an incredible building. With open sides and stone walls, complete with a bell to ring post-ceremony, it's basically perfect on its own but I think it's even better with something at the front to frame the altar. Planner Amanda Douglas shared this awesome sketch with me when we started planning, and I love that the design turned out just right: 

First off, Amanda helped Stephanie and Kurt to choose this two-toned drapery to create a dreamy focal point at the front of the chapel. We then added in all of the floral-accented lanterns that were being used as the centrepieces. Some of them were placed down the aisle on crates, and some were hung from the open rafters at the front. And of course, that colour palette is gorgeous for an elegant, fall feel - sage greens, burgundy, berry pinks, light pinks, and cream. Dy-na-mite.

So, this was a different guest book table than I'm typically used to. Ha! When Stephanie first told me that she wanted to me to floralize a skull for the guest book table, I'll be honest: I had a really hard time envisioning how this could be nice. And while it felt super weird while I was doing the designing, I have to say that I love how it turned out. It's sort of like this deer gets to have a beautiful floral halo. 

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!