Feminine Spring Wedding at Smith Restaurant
I first met Erin and Peter about a year before their wedding, at a Mother’s Day pop-up sale I was doing at Fools & Horses Coffee. I remember her saying that she wanted to talk about wedding flowers with me, and that her favourite flower was tulips and that was basically all she had planned! I was so pleased when I found out their wedding was going to be a feminine spring celebration at Smith Restaurant at Inn at the Forks - one of Winnipeg’s best restaurants, in my opinion! When I was setting up the flowers, I literally salivated when I read through their menu. I would have LOVED to be a guest at this wedding!
Photos: Pantel Photography ~ Venue: SMITH, Inn at the Forks ~ Calligraphy and Signage: Jennifer Bianca Calligraphy
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: May is the best time to get married if you’re a flower lover! Just look at all of these sumptuous goodies that I got to use in Erin’s bouquet! She wanted a fairly organic feel to her bouquets, and aside from the aforementioned tulips and a love for pastel pinks and purples, she really just left it up to me. That meant it was time to use some of my favourite springtime flowers.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: peonies, locally grown ranunculus, sweet pea, spirea, with spray roses and tulips.
Have I mentioned how much I love small bridal parties? 😍 And Erin’s girls’ dresses are just gorgeous.
Erin and Peter had a really cool idea for their ceremony location: the old train bridge right at The Forks! I thought this was such a fun idea. They just kind of lucked out that passersby were respectful of the ceremony, because it’s not a space that you can officially reserve, as far as I know.
And then reception time at Smith! I actually had another wedding there this fall, and have another coming up in the winter months so aside from just dining at the restaurant, I feel like I’m now very well accustomed to the space. And it’s a GORGEOUS space - it’s so easy to have a wedding at Smith because it’s just so beautiful! They have done an incredible job of creating a great ambiance. For Erin and Peter’s guest list, they used the main dining space along with the solarium, the patio, and the lounge area was re-purposed as the dance floor. There aren’t a lot of pictures of the flowers, but let me tell you that we had flowers and candles EVERYWHERE. We chose clear glass vases in different sizes and styles, and put a mix of arrangements ranging from single stems to fuller, peony-focused arrangements on all of the restaurant tables. And of course, nothing is complete without candlelight so plenty of pillar candles were mixed in as well!
I always love seeing my past clients at weddings (or let’s be honest…in wedding photos ha). Katie (far left) had a stunning, vineyard-inspired wedding day a few summers ago and since then, she’s been a bridesmaid in another of my weddings and a guest at several more. Things like this make me so happy!
Winnipeg’s Favourite Wedding Florist
I'm now pre-booking for 2020 weddings with a wait-list! I love working with creative couples who want their wedding to look and feel different from what their friends have had. Whether it's an outdoor wedding or a classic ballroom setting, I love to bring garden-inspired designs everywhere I go! Want to connect? Click the button below and fill out my contact form so I can learn more about your wedding!
Nicole and Zach's Country Wedding at Rustic Wedding Barn
When Nicole and I first sat down to talk about her wedding, she had a pretty clear vision of what she wanted, with one exception: the colour palette. See, her favourite colour is red, and her now-husband Zach’s favourite colour is orange. She knew she wanted the bridesmaids in a wine tone, and was really struggling to figure out how on earth to add in orange while making it look and feel elegant for their country wedding at the Rustic Wedding Barn in Steinbach. My immediate thought was to go for a deep, rich wine red in the flowers and instead of doing a florescent, Crayola kind of orange, to use peach. In the end, we decided to add in some soft corals and mixed pink tones to blend the palette and I really love the way it turned out! I so rarely get to work with any tone of red and it’s always fun to get creative.
Moore Photography (plus some of my iphone photos) ~ Rustic Wedding Barn ~ C&T Rentals
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Garden roses and standard roses, ranunculus, hypericum berries, scabiosa, antique carnations, and a few little locally grown poppies in the perfect peach. I finished the bouquet with several varieties of eucalyptus foliages and dusty miller.
The colours looked great with the bridesmaids’ dresses and I think is a better take on orange than going fully orange ;) And of course, the bright navy that the guys wore just rounded it all out perfectly!
I really like the chapel space at the Rustic Wedding Barn. They built it a few years ago in a hayshed style, outfitted with soft draping, faux greenery installed above the aisle, and whitewashed wooden benches. There’s also a beautiful 3 piece wooden arch backdrop and for Nicole and Zach’s wedding, we decided to do a very large floral piece above them - and let me tell you, that sucker was huge. It doesn’t look quite so enormous in the pictures, because the centre arch itself is about 15 feet high, which I didn’t realize! We had to scale two ladders to get up there, holding up the soaked floral arrangement with water slowly dripping into our armpits 🤦🏼♀️ I’m not sure I would recommend this style of arrangement again - it looked fantastic, but it was truthfully just a LOT of work to get up there and get it right.
I also added two greenery garlands, added asymmetrically to the two outer wood structures. It all framed in really nicely! Nicole had added little glass terrariums down the aisle which we sprinkled bits of greenery in, along with mixed stem vases placed throughout the wooden crates around the altar. And at the very back, placed on wine barrels to flank the entrance, were two of these gorgeous brass lanterns Nicole provided me with, set atop full wreaths of greenery and floral. Lots of detail went into this overall design and it was all Nicole’s vision!
At the reception, Nicole wanted me to create an interesting focal point for the head table and left it open to my creativity. The barn already has drapery behind the table, though Nicole changed up the design to something she liked better, and it also has copper bars suspended horizontally above the table with faux greenery tucked in. First, we decided to add in some fresh greenery to the faux, just to bring a little more life to the space. Then I came up with the idea of swagging and hanging hand-strung carnations in a mix of peach, burgundy, and antique pink, also suspended from those copper bars. I really loved the way this turned out - as with any idea, it can be tough to envision and particularly with the rounded barn roof, I wasn’t confident that I was going to be able to hang the strands at the correct heights and so on. But it was something I really wanted to do and thought would look awesome, and I am so glad that Nicole trusted me. I wanted the strands to look like they were just dripping from the ceiling!
Nicole had designed the guest tables with great detail, with a champagne table linen and soft gold sequinned table runner, wood charger plates and cross-back chairs (which aren’t normally there…I feel so badly for the crew who had to set them all up because they had to be carried up the stairs by hand! Seriously, we all need to give major props to the rentals crews!), and then wanted a mix of candlelight and florals for the centrepieces. She spray-painted mason jars gold and then had me do an arrangement in similar colours and textures to the bouquets. It was a very detailed reception and one I’m sure guests loved to be a part of - particularly because there was also an EPIC candy bar, dessert station, popcorn bar, and gorgeous hand-painted cookies at each place setting. I’m confident no one could have left that wedding hungry!
Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?
Getting married in Manitoba? Whether it's a whimsical garden party inspired celebration or a formal ballroom fete, I think flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Maybe you already have a specific vision or you might want me to dream up something custom just for you - either way, 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!
2019 wedding dates are fully booked, with the exception of limited availability in October and December. I have started a waitlist for 2020 wedding dates - inquire below to add your name to the list!
Kristen and Ryan's Perfect Summer Wedding at Cielo's Garden
Kristen and Ryan’s summer wedding at Cielo’s Garden was, in a word, PERFECT. It was perfect! And I had so, so much fun planning, dreaming up, and designing these flowers. Kristen always wanted a rich, vibrant summer colour palette but a few months before the wedding, she changed it up a bit to make it even moreso - and let’s talk about how excited I was! This woman obviously has great style and it wasn’t hard at all to see her vision. It was an honour to bring it to life!
Photos: Rachwal Photography ~ Month of Coordination: Alexandra Lillian Weddings & Events ~ Venue: Cielo’s Garden ~ Catering: Urban Prairie Cuisine ~ Dress: Chic Nostalgia from Bliss Bridal Boutique
This bouquet. Oh, this bouquet! I just LOVED putting it together. Each and every stem was just perfect. Shades of coral, peach, mixed berry pinks, orange, and a hint of yellow with rich, jewel toned greenery came together as the perfect colour combination for this vibrant, summer wedding - and looked phenomenal with the guys’ blue suits and the girls’ forest green gowns. Even better, most of these flowers were locally grown!
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: garden roses, zinnias, lisianthus, scabiosa, strawflower, sweet pea, asters, and phlox with italian ruscus, nagi, and jasmine vine.
The Cube has never looked so good :)
When Kristen changed her colour palette, she also changed the plan for the ceremony design. I can’t even remember what the original plan was…this was just THAT MUCH BETTER. She had an inspiration picture that was built off an arch structure, so I had some serious figuring to do in terms of the mechanics and how to make this big beast work - it’s actually several different pieces designed together. We kept the vibrant colour palette going here to make a major statement in the otherwise very neutral chapel: orange, coral, peach, berry pinks, and TONS OF GREENERY. Doesn’t it look so good? (PS this was a SUPER hot day and making this baby resulted in a lot of sweat. I actually sweat through my entire bra that day 😂)
Seeing this much colour in the tent at Cielo’s Garden brought a LOT of happiness into my life. I feel like we normally see a lot of soft, feminine tones or rustic wood tones here and while those both look really good here, one of the things I love the most about Cielo’s is that it’s so easily adaptable to any colour palette and almost any style. Kristen ordered these dusty rose table runners online and they added a really nice layer of texture to the tables.
We focused the florals on one large arrangement per table, designed in my favourite copper bowls. Aside from the greenery, these arrangements were actually 100% locally grown - woohoo! That always makes me SO happy - I love that I can be supporting a local farmer, while minimizing our environmental impact. Not needing to ship flowers in means not needing a large amount of fuels to trek those flowers across the world. Plus, local flowers are just more special!
Kristen, thank you so much for choosing me to carry out your vision! It was such a thrill to be a part of your wedding day.
Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?
Getting married in Manitoba? Whether it's a whimsical garden party inspired celebration or a formal ballroom fete, I think flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Maybe you already have a specific vision or you might want me to dream up something custom just for you - either way, 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 wedding dates remain available for 2019 - click below to check your date!
Austin and Mike's Romantic Ballroom Wedding
I consider it one of the most incredible honours whenever a fellow wedding vendor reaches out to ask me to be a part of their wedding. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being a part of several this year (this one was a major highlight!) and have a few more next year, as well. Today’s bride, Austin (the lady behind the camera at Austin Kylie Photography), is a little more special than other wedding vendors because I’ve also known her for most of her life! Her sister and my sister are best friends (you can see her gorgeous winter wedding here!) and it’s been really cool to watch her develop this talent with photography and have the chance to work with her on several weddings.
Anyways, Austin’s wedding was such a delight to be a part of! She has a fairly romantic, feminine style and right away she selected blush and gold tones. I suggested that we add in some berry tones to add depth, and it all came together really beautifully.
Brittany Mahood Photography ~ Canadian Museum for Human Rights ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Jessica Kmiec Artistry (another wedding vendor whose wedding I’ll be doing next year!) ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Peonies (the MOST gorgeous peonies of the year!!), quicksand and amnesia roses, white bleeding heart (from my garden and the perfect little touch!), tulips, scabiosa, fragrant sweet pea, with ninebark and eucalyptus foliages. We finished the stems with trailing Stella Wolfe hand-died silk ribbon.
The bridesmaids carried petite versions of Austin’s bouquet with a simpler shape, which complimented their range of dresses really nicely. Sometimes when you’ve got a mix of different styles, textures, and fabrics like these bridesmaids did, it’s better to go a little simpler on the other elements!
Austin had her two Oma’s acting as flower girl, which is probably THE sweetest thing I’ve seen. Just look at these ladies! How adorable!
For decor at the church, we started with an arch with a floral garland hung asymmetrically across it, and added on two large altar arrangements on thin gold stands. It created a lovely focal point in an otherwise fairly plain church, and were all pieces that could be re-used at the reception as well.
The Human Rights Museum is pretty dark, which can make taking photos challenging but it also creates a fun ambiance. Austin selected to upgrade to gold chivari chairs and champagne toned linens, with a few sequinned gold linens for the family and bridal party tables. We chose three different centrepiece styles - a trio of stem vases with petite arrangements, the second a collection of candles with a rose petal base, and finally, a fuller floral arrangement with gorgeous berry pink peonies in a low gold vase (obviously these were my faves!).
Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?
Getting married in Manitoba? Whether it's a whimsical garden party inspired celebration or a formal ballroom fete, I think flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Maybe you already have a specific vision or you might want me to dream up something custom just for you - either way, 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 wedding dates remain available for 2019 - click below to check your date!
Lise and Brad's Dreamy Brunch Wedding
I cannot tell you all enough how awesome Lise and Brad's dreamy brunch wedding at Cielo's Garden was. It was on a Sunday morning in late May, and they clearly spent a lot of time identifying what was important to them because every little bit of their wedding was impeccable - but it wasn't the typical wedding! First of all, brunch. BRUNCH, people! The menu (catered by Stella's) looked phenomenal, the donut bar smelled unbelievable (I didn't really care for donuts much before I had to go gluten-free, and now? Now I want them all the time), and so many more details that went into creating a whimsical, enjoyable atmosphere.
Ariana Tennyson Photography ~ Cielo's Garden ~ Stella's ~ Bronuts
Lise had beautiful ideas for her wedding. When she first inquired about her wedding date, she described her dream wedding as a whimsical garden party, based off the midsummer celebrations in Scandinavian countries. Her ideal would have been to have a Maypole - and I loved it all! She had a soft palette of light corals and peaches, with lots of whites and greens. She wanted to keep her personal flowers on the lighter side, and bring in those corals and peaches in the decor. So, we kept her bouquets all white and green, tucked a bit of peach into her flower crown, and had a little more fun with the colours in the decor flowers.
Bridal bouquet ingredients: We kept Lise's bouquet VERY simple. White ranunculus and white peonies were the only blooms, while olive foliage, spiral eucalyptus, silver dollar eucalyptus, and leather leaf fern rounded it out.
We weren't originally going to add any flowers to the chapel, so as to keep the focus on a hanging installation planned for the reception tent, but as we got closer to the wedding, Lise's vision changed. She asked me to come up with something that would tie it all together and feel fitting. You'll read more about the Maypole-inspired design I planned for the reception a little further down, but for the ceremony, I decided to keep it along the same vein while changing it up a bit. Knowing Lise loves a whimsical feel, I thought that hanging strands of flowers and ribbons would be a simple backdrop for the ceremony that would pack a lot of visual punch. And I LOVE the way it came together. Simply hung, in several shades of peach, pink and coral, the ribbon streamers and carnation strands were a cost-effective option that looked amazing!
Over at the reception, Lise wanted to keep the guest tables on the simpler side so that we could have a lot of fun with a focal point: I chose to do a fun floral chandelier positioned over the head table, as a sort of take on a Maypole design. We obviously couldn't add a full Maypole into the tent, but I thought this was a pretty cool way to interpret it! There is something about hanging, dripping flowers that I just LOVE so I couldn't have been happier with the way this piece became the focal point for the room. I chose to alternate strands of carnations, strands of roses, and ribbon streamers. The guest tables were kept really simple, with stem vases lining the tables with alternating stems of pink and peach blooms or greenery sprigs.
Here's the original sketch I dreamed up to convince Lise that this would be a cool idea :)
Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?
Getting married in Manitoba? Whether it's a whimsical garden party inspired celebration or a formal ballroom fete, I think flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Maybe you already have a specific vision or you might want me to dream up something custom just for you - either way, 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 fall 2019 wedding dates remain available. Click below to check your date!