Modern, Organic Wedding at St Norbert Arts Centre
Every wedding that I’m hired for full event design for is a special project for me. Chantal and Avo were planning from out of town (she’s originally from Manitoba) and we had a few bumps in the road thanks to Covid causing us to postpone a year AND their venue closing a few short months before their wedding.
The creative brief called for a calm, intimate atmosphere (Avo wanted it to feel like a family dinner) with a modern, organic vibe. Whites with cool mixed blues and greys, warmed up with a few wood accents felt so good.
Every wedding that I’m hired for full event design for is a special project for me. Chantal and Avo were planning from out of town (she’s originally from Manitoba) and we had a few bumps in the road thanks to Covid causing us to postpone a year AND their venue closing a few short months before their wedding.
The creative brief called for a calm, intimate atmosphere (Avo wanted it to feel like a family dinner) with a modern, organic vibe. Whites with cool mixed blues and greys, warmed up with a few wood accents felt so good.
Photos by Esther Funk Photography
I really hit the flower jackpot the week of Chantal’s wedding! The ranunculus was gorg, the spirea was delish, but the icing on the cake was that we were able to find some white lilac — Chantal’s fave that I just never guarantee because if I get it in wholesale, it always craps out. But if it’s blooming locally, then we’re good! And my friendly neighbourhood flower farmer, BLD Gardens, had these gorgeous lilac AND the most mind-shattering tulips that blew all of Instagram’s minds that week.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: white lilac, ranunculus, tulips, sweet pea, and spirea, with a few touches of olive and stalks of wheat to remember Chantal’s late father with.
The stationery suite! We worked really closely with Meredyth from Leech Letter Co to design this custom suite, in both French and Lebanese. I wanted to create this watercolour ombre effect on the vellum overlay, with a blue fade. We kept the rest of the design quite simple, with just a minimal branching touch.
Nothing to do with flowers, but Avo’s first look reaction was just amazing. This deserved to be memorialized.
Everything was out at St Norbert Arts Centre. I wasn’t confident that there was enough space on the lawn to fit their smaller guest list, but the chairs were angled to kind of work around some tree stumps and it actually fit just fine!
Originally, we were going to be at the the former Cloakroom Wellness, which was a downtown venue with an industrial vibe. Obviously the very natural setting of SNAC is pretty different than the original vision, so we tweaked the design plan. We were always going to use a lot of greenery, but instead of ground-based pieces that curved around a window nook, we went up, creating some greenery pillars to frame the couple in.
And now inside! I love the feel of SNAC (though it can get really hot there, as it’s not air conditioned, so just a word to the wise!). The only thing I don’t like is the red beams. Whyyyy anyone would use red as an interior colour is beyond me, especially in a space that is otherwise white/wood/light brick. Those red beams were the first thing to address.
I worked with Planned Perfectly to add some draping between red ceiling beams down the centre of the room — it didn’t perfectly hide the beams, but it softened and somewhat camoflauged. And it would have made for a lovely rain plan for the ceremony as well, to walk beneath the drapery as an aisle.
The next thing I wanted to do was camoflauge the red posts that greet you at the entrance. In the original venue, we were going to have greenery boughs suspended from the ceiling, hanging above all the guest tables. We basically took all that greenery and funnelled it into these central posts. It looked gorgeous!
I loved the way we used the small entryway to welcome guests in, with this lovely blue seating chart and floral piece along with a small cocktail table for guest cards.
We brought in all of the wood tables and crossback chairs (which were planned for the original venue), which brought in some much needed warmth.
The centrepieces were simple and minimal, leaving enough space for family style platters of food (the menu looked incredible, tying together specialities from both their heritages). We cannot use real flame candles as the venue is a heritage building, but I don’t mind the battery-powered tealights when they’re tucked inside a coloured glass votive holder! Textured white florals in ceramic stem vases featured sweet pea, spirea, and tulips.
I always want to make sure there’s a beautiful place setting — there’s just something about them that I love. Layering a charger and a dinner plate can feel wasteful if budget doesn’t allow, but with family style meal service, they’re super functional. The salad was served on a small grey salad plate, which was then layered with white and grey plates. An oatmeal linen napkin and blue water goblet were added, with personalized menus added to each.
Looking for a Wedding Floral & Event Designer in Winnipeg?
2024 wedding dates are now booking! 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 for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Rainy Fall Wedding at Pineridge Hollow
After a Covid postponement and an intimate wedding the woods, it felt like it was high time for Tiffany and Stephanie to be able to celebrate their wedding with ALL their loved ones. It was mid-September, with a moody and rich colour palette, and some surprise rain.
After a Covid postponement and an intimate wedding the woods, it felt like it was high time for Tiffany and Stephanie to be able to celebrate their wedding with ALL their loved ones. It was mid-September, with a moody and rich colour palette, and some surprise rain.
The design was rich, dramatic, and warm — and also completely cozy.
Photos: Megan Steen Photography
Their Covid wedding was also GORGEOUS. It was an intimate day at Wild Skies Resort — see it here!
One of the things I really admire about the way Emily from Feast & Festivities designs is the strategic way she uses colour. Take this magenta, for example: she wanted to use this bright pop, but obviously it’s the type of colour that can very quickly take over a palette. So we added just a few touches into the florals, and like how totally perfect is that velvet ribbon around the invite?
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: This was another bouquet that was mostly locally grown — woo woo! Zinnias, scabiosa, lisianthus, amaranthus, ninebark, yellow and burgundy smoke bush, and I added in imported garden roses, pepper berry, and viburnum berries.
Welcome to Pineridge Hollow like you’ve never seen it before.
It can be hard to re-envision a space that has been doing weddings for so long. We certainly don’t want your wedding to look or feel like every other wedding, so we’ve got to find ways to bring your style into it.
For this wedding, the floor plan, the tent entrance, and the ceiling greenery and lights made the biggest differences. Steph and Tiff (and their guests) aren’t huge dancers, so instead they set up multiple cozy lounges for hanging out. The mix of banquet, round, and cocktail tables brought a lot of visual interest and depth through mixed (but still elegant) linens. And the ceiling greenery, well. Chef’s kiss, right there. A huge thank you to Event Light for adding the cable for us to work from!
I love this floor plan! I’m always down for a mix of table shapes, because it creates a lot of interest and movement, and also allows people to interact in different ways. A sea of the same thing over and over gets really boring, really quickly. It can also be a clever way to maximize your space.
Okay friends, here are the elements of this wedding that you’re going to want to steal if this is the look you’re going for: romantic lighting and plenty of candles, velvet textures, moody linens (these deep emerald linens are gorgeous!), and a few pops of something jewel toned in the flowers to bring it all to life. Once again, CHEF’S KISS.
Megan Steen Photography ~ FEast & FEstivities ~ Pineridge Hollow ~ Stone House Creative ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Event Light ~ Trend Decor ~ Bailey Vanderveen ~ Hair by Guy Lemieux
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
2024 wedding dates are now booking! Whether it’s an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, 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!
Disco Balls, Mini Dress, and Pizza Trucks: The Perfect Backyard Wedding
When the couple has only been to a few weddings in their lives, it means that they don't care about the typical traditions. So we did everything awesome and nothing that wasn't.
Julia and Austin's wedding was the perfect low key, fun backyard wedding. Their tagline was "we got a good thing" and we wanted them to be at the centre of the entire day, which took place at her family's urban backyard. We wanted to evoke the spontaneity of an elopement, but with just a few more people, and tie through a bit of Julia's rocker edge. Her mini dress and mullet were complete perfection.
When the couple has only been to a few weddings in their lives, it means that they’re not interested in/aware of the typical traditions. So we did everything awesome and nothing that wasn't.
Julia and Austin's wedding was the perfect low key, fun backyard wedding. Their tagline was "we got a good thing" and we wanted them to be at the centre of the entire day, which took place at her family's urban backyard. We wanted to evoke the spontaneity of an elopement, but with just a few more people, and tie through a bit of Julia's rocker edge. Her mini dress and mullet were complete perfection.
Floral & Event Design: Stone House Creative
Photos: Kassandra Donaldson
Nearly all of the flowers for the entire wedding were locally grown, which is always a priority for me. Something I love about locally grown is the range and depth in colouring that we get, that you simply don’t find in wholesale flowers. These are farmed for their consistency, which is what flower shops want so their customers know what they’ll be getting. But when we’re working with a broad, delicious colour palette like this one, we want to be able to blend and move the colour throughout the bouquet.
Bridal bouquet ingredients: cosmos, ranunculus, zinnias, stock, rudbeckia, corn cockle, garden roses, forget me nots.
We worked with Rae & Dot to custom design the stationery. With a small guest list, we didn’t need a lot of pieces but we did want to make sure we gave a sneak into the style and level of casual-cool the wedding would have.
The ceremony was personalized with a dear friend guiding the vows, and we emphasized the existing space with the addition of ground-based florals tucked throughout the garden, and a rattan rug to ground the space. The clear acrylic chairs were one of the first and only requests that Julia made and I love how they worked into the design.
Post-ceremony, the garden gates swung open and a pizza truck pulled up in the back lane. The backyard is completely gorgeous but wouldn't allow enough space for a full sit-down dinner. We tucked in a mix of long tables and cocktail tables, popped a newlywed lounge under the pergola, and a few guests grabbed a seat on the deck and it all worked perfectly.
Julia’s mom has a lovely garden with a lot of green, so we wanted to enhance it with colour and texture. I LOVE foxtail lily and will use it any chance I get. While I was working on the newlywed lounge, Deanna whipped this garden out and it looked so amazing.
As event designer, one of my favourite things to do is figure out an amazing floor plan. With a small backyard space, we didn’t have a ton of options and I knew we’d need to flip the entire space post-ceremony. Deanna and I hid in the garage while the ceremony was going on — I LOVE getting a glimpse of the big moments of your day ✨
We didn’t need to worry about seating for each guest because the wedding was so casual. But, we did want to create as much space as possible, so I started with one long banquet table along the garage, and a second banquet table the deck. This left us with enough space to do a combination of seated and standing cocktail tables along the garden, where the ceremony had been, with the bar tucked into a nook between the garage and a tree, and it fit perfectly!
We rented in some vintage wicker bar backs and a bar cart, creating functional storage for the limited space, along with adding in some retro personality to fit their vibe.
I knew I wanted to use toffee table candles placed on terracotta trays, and we tucked in the CUTEST mini arrangements to further the colour scheme. I also added a few little disco balls for fun.
THE NEWLYWED LOUNGE. My favourite part of the design, I think. Well, everything was my favourite actually, but this lounge was just amazing. Obviously we were working with a small amount of space and the deck and pergola area needed to be both functional and beautiful, and it was just the right size to add in additional seating so we could get as many seats as possible and a cool design feature, as well. We tricked it out with some big disco balls and hanging flowers above, a funky combination of furniture, and the most perfect floral arrangement that my designer Deanna has possibly ever made. It was SO CUTE and apparently the newlyweds didn’t even get a chance to sit in it because guests loved it too much to share 😉
Looking for a Wedding Floral Designer in Winnipeg?
2024 wedding dates are now booking! Whether it’s an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, 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!
Creative Rock N Roll Rainbow Wedding in Winnipeg
Sam and Evan’s rock-n-roll themed rainbow wedding was definitely a career highlight for me. Everything about it was SO creative, so well thought-out. They clearly put in so much effort to consider making their wedding an amazing experience for all of their guests, as well as for themselves. The personalization level was top-notch. The music was amazing. The ceremony was so engaging.
And obviously, the florals were 🤌🏻 You know I LIVE for colour and this palette and overall design that Soiree Event Planning created was just DIVINE and such a delight to flower for.
Sam and Evan’s rock-n-roll themed rainbow wedding was definitely a career highlight for me. Everything about it was SO creative, so well thought-out. They clearly put in so much effort to consider making their wedding an amazing experience for all of their guests, as well as for themselves. The personalization level was top-notch. The music was amazing. The ceremony was so engaging.
And obviously, the florals were 🤌🏻 You know I LIVE for colour and this palette and overall design that Soiree Event Planning created was just DIVINE and such a delight to flower for.
Photos by Joel & Justyna
There are endless things to say about how wonderful this wedding was. They hosted their guests on Sam’s parent’s private property in Charleswood — it’s one of those amazing places where you don’t realize the yard is going to be big enough and then you walk out the back door and discover that it’s TOTALLY PERFECT.
The ceremony faced the river, with a clear top tent installed beside it. Guests entered through the house, enjoyed a welcome cocktail on the patio, and then walked across the shaded lawn to a long, narrow aisle. Samantha’s walk down the aisle was breathtaking — it was deliciously dramatic, with her beige veil with custom embroidery catching the breeze.
The couple are music lovers, and came up with a clever wedding slogan: “Stairway to Evan.” This was embroidered on Sam’s veil and it was just so stunning. And I mean, her dress. Yes. I know that a colourful dress is not for everyone, but I think we can all agree that her gown was spectacular.
Given the colour in her dress, I wanted to minimize the colours in her bouquet. We definitely wanted to hit the creamy/beige tones, and the red. I decided to add in the violet to play off the rest and just love how it worked. This was one of my fave bouquets of the year, and Sam’s, too — Sam had it preserved by Stephanie Singh in Toronto and sent me a picture of her tear drops on the box as she packed it up! Click here to see how it turned into an incredible art piece.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: anthurium, nina and sahara roses, lavender sweet pea, red ranunculus, and lavender phalaenopsis orchids.
Sam’s career is in the colour world, so she had a ton of Pantone swatches that she thought could be used. Enter, the creative genius of Michelle from Soiree. She took the couple’s love for Big White (the ski hill where they first met, had their first kiss, and have vacationed many times) and transformed these Pantone swatches into an art piece / photo backdrop inspired by the mountain ranges.
The Big White theme kept coming, with this incredible seating chart also conceptualized by Soiree. They took the run map and created individual lift tags for each guest, which told guests which table they were at as well as became their ticket to get into the after party. ADORABLE.
And obviously, we added some slick colour blocked floral to enhance it.
This isn’t the first time I’ve done a rainbow wedding with Soiree — we did one at Whitetail Meadow a few years ago, but with a very different overall style. Take a look!
OHHHHKAY. The ceremony florals were my favourite. Evan constructed the open air chapel beams — amazing. We went back and forth on a few ideas for aisle florals, and always knew that we wanted a dramatic altar with colour-blocked floral pillars. They needed to be pretty tall and full to suit the scale of the white aisle beams.
Down the aisle, I decided to grow up clustered florals around the chapel uprights. We wanted to camoflauge any grass damage (there wasn’t much, in the end) and just blend amp up the colour and the garden-inspired ambiance even more.
I could have lived here happily for the rest of my life.
And here comes the tent! The Soiree team worked SO diligently on this layout to maximize the design and it paid off. White linens paired with clear and smoke chairs, to set a minimal base. The tables were carefully laid out to colour block the entire tent. We decided on three different centrepiece styles (a full floral arrangement in a compote, a low floral arrangement with no visible vase, and a clustering of unique stem and smaller vases), per colour. This meant that my team never made the same arrangement more than 3 or 4 times — it was so refreshing and creatively inspiring.
My favourite part of the tablescapes was the custom-made, colour-blocked velvet charger plates. The Soiree team handmade them all and anytime I asked them “isn’t that going to be a big project?!” Michelle would say, “oh, it’s not bad! You just do this and do this and and and” and I was astonished. But the effort was OBVIOUSLY worth it.
The head table was so perfectly coordinated to hit the entire rainbow palette with detailed colour-blocking. The charger plates lined up perfectly with the centrepieces, and lined up perfectly with the seating. You’ll notice a mix of velvet and leather chairs and sofas used for seating for the wedding party at the head table, and we sprinkled in bud vases and candles in the entire range of colours down the length of the table. So fun!
I also had Meg Does Pottery, a local artist, create a couple of ADORABLE bud vases custom for the head table in the red/lilac palette. They’re on my shelf and I will love them forever.
My team was SO mighty. I’m so grateful for their hard work! It’s always a long week, and a long wedding day, and it’s so rewarding to see it all come together but it’s exhausting nonetheless.
Deanna, Emily, Vanessa, Andrea, Chad, Tricia — thank you all SO much. My hands certainly couldn’t have gotten this much done alone.
Joel & Justyna Photography ~ Picture and Poet ~ Soiree Event Planning ~ Planned Perfectly ~ COllective event rentals ~ Trend Rentals & Decor ~ Event Light ~ beyond the lounge ~ two fold paper co ~ Cathy Wiebe Clothing (AFter party Dress and custom veil) ~ BERTA ~ MYUZ Artistry ~ Creating a Scene
Spanish-Inspired Red Wedding at The White Poplar
Natasha and Joe, in August at The White Poplar — better known as one of my favourite weddings of the year.
And one of your favourites, too — every time I post something from their wedding, Instagram goes wild. The reel I posted of their arch has almost 300 shares…that’s WAY WAY WAY more than anything else I’ve ever shared. So yeah. Natasha and Joe’s wedding is a good one. Let’s dig into it.
Natasha’s style is obviously impeccable, and she came into the planning with a Spanish-inspired vision. The colour palette? Perfect. Her dresses? Breathtaking. The ceremony arch? One of my absolute faves.
Natasha and Joe, in August at The White Poplar — better known as one of my favourite weddings of the year.
And one of your favourites, too — every time I post something from their wedding, Instagram goes wild. The reel I posted of their arch has almost 300 shares…that’s WAY WAY WAY more than anything else I’ve ever shared. So yeah. Natasha and Joe’s wedding is a good one. Let’s dig into it.
Natasha’s style is obviously impeccable, and she came into the planning with a Spanish-inspired vision. The colour palette? Perfect. Her dresses? Breathtaking. The ceremony arch? One of my absolute faves.
Photos by Rachwal Photography
BOUQUET PERFECTION. If I do say so myself 😘 Everything about this bouquet was just perfect. We obviously kept the colouring rich (which looks amazing against white dresses — if you’re on the fence about colour, please: GO FOR IT), focusing on those poppy reds with touches of brighter and softer pink added in, and finished with those breathtaking orchids that couldn’t have been more perfect.
FYI there’s a lesson in here — we don’t have a lot of control over the flowers that come in at our wholesaler, specifically when they’re more specialty flowers. Like, your roses are basically always going to come in with the correct variety and stem count that you want. But something like an orchid is trickier up here in the great white North, so I gave my rep a few colour options that I liked and the overall palette of the wedding, and then hoped for the best. I couldn’t guarantee to Natasha that I was going to get something that was going to be perfect, and so we couldn’t try to control it. BUT IT WAS PERFECT.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Nina roses, rockstar roses, gladiola, ranunculus, snap dragons, Jewels of Opar, sweet pea, anthurium, and those perfect phalaenopsis orchids.
The ceremony. This arch. The perfect spot in the trees. I don’t know what else I can say aside from PERFECTION.
I love designing a statement arch but the red obviously kicked it up a notch unlike any other palette. Someone else, please give me a red palette and I will KISS you.
Okay, so we obviously had a lot of fun with the reception design. Natasha had a clear vision but wasn’t totally sure how to bring it all together or what products were available for rent here in Winnipeg, so I was happy to come alongside her and make suggestions about rentals, styling, and so on — and honestly, the trust that she put in me was AMAZING and that’s what creates the best experience and final product.
Since their wedding was originally going to be at a different venue (and then postponed because of Covid, and then that venue wasn’t actually BUILT so she had to switch gears altogether), Natasha viewed White Poplar as a blank slate that she could do whatever she wanted with.
First, Natasha brought in cross-back chairs instead of the black metal that are standard at the venue, and added white draping to soften the more barn/industrial style space. She also added a dusty rose velvet linen to the head table to create an elevated aesthetic and also make sure the bridesmaids don’t have to worry about sitting prim and proper all night long. We added a gorgeous low floral piece to the centre of the head table, along with clusters of candles and greenery touches to finish that design up.
I wanted to create a sense of undulation down the tables, and Natasha liked the idea of these low arrangements that felt like they were growing out of the tables. We paired those with fuller florals in gold urns, and added plenty of candles in a soft taupe to elevate the aesthetic (this makes SUCH a big difference…sometimes a white candle is the way to go, but sometimes it’s just too stark and basic!).
I loved the place settings! The gold-rimmed plates were lovely and felt rich, and I suggested layering in a terracotta napkin underneath the bread plate, for both function and fashion. It added a bit of authentic rustic vibes, and also didn’t blow away — word to the wise, The White Poplar is suuuuuper windy. Natasha’s friend designed all the stationery on this luxe, luscious paper (isn’t the colour stunning?!) and then on the day-of, when Alex from Alexandra Lillian Events was setting everything up she came up against the wind when setting the place cards. I suggested they be tucked into the salad fork tynes, which again felt a little rustic (in a good way guys, not in a burlap barn way, k?) and also got that job done.
We need to give a MOMENT to this cake. Woah. Jenna Rae Cakes absolutely blew it out of the water with this complete masterpiece. I connected with Jenna in advance of the wedding and let her know what flowers I was using, and what I could provide her with that would last on the cake, and then she just went for it. Seriously, if you want your cake to be a true work of art, you need to connect with Jenna.
And, obviously, the flowers were pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself! My team really killed it, and we had an awesome time designing lush pieces filled with locally grown and specialty imported flowers.
Everything about this day was amazing. What made it even better was the vendor team, all listed below. This was my first time working at White Poplar, and AJ is AMAZING. Alexandra Lillian Events provided coordination services, and she’s always such a breath of fresh air and such a gentle spirit to work alongside. Jenna Rae Cakes BROUGHT IT. Truly, everything about this wedding was just chef’s kiss.* Hire vendors who get your style, and let them help you along the way. It’ll work out so much better for you!
Izabela Rachwal Photography ~ The White Poplar ~ Alexandra Lillian Events ~ Jenna Rae Cakes ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Idyll Paper ~ Faith Robert ~ Chef Ben Kramer ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique ~ JP Media works
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
My 2024 calendar is now open!
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!