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.
Looking for a Wedding Floral & Event Designer in Winnipeg?
Dates at the Winnipeg Art Gallery book quickly, and we’re one of their top designers! Reach out to inquire about your date availability.
Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to find out how we can create the perfect ambiance for your wedding.
Energetic, Colourful Wedding at the Gates on Roblin
If you’re a lover of colour and fun design elements, then get your pinning fingers ready because you’re going to love Erin and Daniel’s wedding at the Gates on Roblin.
They hired me for full floral and event design and I was so excited to get started. I collaborated with their event planner, Alli Mae Events, who took such awesome care of all the logistics so I could focus on the visuals
The most fun couple, the life of the party. Just wait til you see their chaotic and sweaty dance floor pics.
If you’re a lover of colour and fun design elements, then get your pinning fingers ready because you’re going to love Erin and Daniel’s wedding at the Gates on Roblin.
They hired me for full floral and event design and I was so excited to get started. I collaborated with their event planner, Alli Mae Events, who took such awesome care of all the logistics so I could focus on the visuals. It was a dream.
The most fun couple, the life of the party. Just wait til you see their chaotic and sweaty dance floor pics.
Photos by Picture & Poet
Helllloooooo super fun and dramatic ceremony!
The ceremony design was Erin’s first priority, and in fact, when we first met to discuss their flowers and overall event design, the only inspiration images she had were of ceremonies. They wanted The Gates to not look like The Gates. We had some logistical challenges to figure out (namely, the ceremony and reception were taking place in the same room and would require a complete flip during cocktail hour).
I immediately knew that I wanted to create a really cool aisle. At first we looked into building a platform aisle and painting it in this magenta tone, but that wasn’t a logistical feasibility. Then, knowing that the aisle would also become the dance floor, we decided to explore a patterned decal. We worked with Two Fold Paper Co on all the stationery, including the pattern for the aisle (we just adjusted the scale of it to ensure it wouldn’t make people dizzy on the aisle!).
My original plan was also to hang flower clouds above the aisle, but I didn’t end up pitching it due to budget constraints. Cue my excitement when, maybe 6 or so weeks before the wedding, Erin asked if we could add hanging flowers above the aisle. HELLO. Yes. The answer is yes. The BTS of how I made this is actually my highest performing reel of all time, in case you want to check it out here!
Now, I am no photoshop or canva expert. In fact, we all laughed at the rendering I put together below (it’s like my favourite ugly child…like it’s kind of pathetic but I’m also so proud of it and it took me forever lol) BUT can we acknowledge that the mockup was SO close to reality? I’m so pleased with this before/after and how this ceremony design all came together.
We had Creating a Scene custom-paint the seating chart signs in the palette, which we actually installed double-sided so we could have the late night treat menu displayed on it.
For the bridesmaids (all Erin’s beautiful sisters!), we designed single-variety bouquets and I love how chic they were with the women’s black dresses.
Have I mentioned before how much I love a room reveal moment? Eek ✨✨ The middle image above is Erin and me locking eyes and both being so freaking excited about how gorgeous and how perfectly them it all was.
Once the ceremony was over, the drape came down to reveal the dining tables, which we had to shift into place and finish setting during cocktail hour. There was a lot of running around, but it worked so smoothly.
We chose a combination of long tables and round, with coordinating dusty rose velvet linens and toffee belize linens. I chose a white chivari chair for its' clean, classic appeal, and added in taper candles in 4 coordinating shades of the palette.
We wanted to add touches of the wavy stationery trend, so we played with that on the personalized menus, and we backed the table numbers with the same graphic print as the aisle decal.
The party was of utmost importance. They wanted fun food, killer music, and an amazing dance party. As you can see, mission accomplished. I wish I was there for this part — they obviously had the best time. I love the enormous cut outs of their head (my husband suggested we also make decals of their faces to stick on the bathroom mirrors but that got vetoed), and we really went all for it with the late night snacks. All their favourite junk food was served, including McDonald’s blizzards with custom E&D wrappers.
This was truly such a fun wedding to get to be part of. The couple knew that having a great time (both for themselves and their guests!) was their top priority and really let that influence all the design related decisions that we made. They are also enjoyable people to be around and to work with. Thank you, Erin and Daniel, for trusting me with your design and being such wonderful people!
Once again, I absolutely couldn’t have done this alone! A big thanks to my team who worked a long day to make this amazing design happen; Deanna, Vanessa, Emily, Fareedah — you guys are the MVPs!
Picture & Poet ~ Alli Mae Events ~ Stone House Creative ~ The Gates on Roblin ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Creating a Scene ~ Collective Rentals ~ Spark REntals ~ Something Borrowed ~ Union Table ~ Myuz Artistry ~ Fifth ~ Big City All Star Band ~ Two Fold Paper Co
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
Dates book fast at the Gates on Roblin! Contact us today about availability.
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!
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!
Moody Romantic Wedding at the Leaf
Welcome to Tara and Adam’s moody, romantic wedding at the Leaf in early September.
When we start our floral discussions, I always clients (and their planners) to tell me about the overall vibe they’re hoping to achieve. Tara said, “romantic, moody, with lots of lighting and candles, and focusing on making it a memorable experience for guests.” I LOVE that. Such a fun brief for us to get creative within!
Welcome to Tara and Adam’s moody, romantic wedding at the Leaf in early September.
When we start our floral discussions, I always clients (and their planners) to tell me about the overall vibe they’re hoping to achieve. Tara said, “romantic, moody, with lots of lighting and candles, and focusing on making it a memorable experience for guests.” I LOVE that. Such a fun brief for us to get creative within!
Photos by Brittany Mahood
This palette — whew! It started off as mostly white, green, and gold. I wanted to bring more richness and depth to it, so I started tucking some cappuccino and brown tones into my floral design board, along with some of those neutral pinks — the idea was to transition pink into a fall palette. As you scroll, you’ll see how that developed in the reception with the perfect linen selections and the custom stationery. This couldn’t have come together more beautifully, and I forever want to use brown ninebark in everything from now on.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Cappuccino and cafe latte garden roses, magic mocca spray roses, white ranunculus, and locally grown lisianthus, orlaya, jewel of opar, ninebark, and explosion grass.
The ceremony took place in the Leaf Performance Gardens. When we started planning, this site was actually developed yet so we tentatively decided on a loose plan of ground-based pieces, and it worked perfectly in the end. I even incorporated some potted plants that corresponded with the gardens (and they’re now planted in my garden!).
Listen. You can fight me if you want to, but I might be almost fully converted to a lily lover. These rose lilies (double blooms) are particularly spectacular. They don’t always have a place, but in installations like this where I am desperately looking for anything with a non-circle shape to bring some architectural variety, the star shape of a lily can really elevate a design and bring a lot of visual interest. I love roses, but I can’t JUST use roses, and basically everything available to us at the wholesale level is round so I need something different!
See what I mean about the depth of this palette looking SO chic and delicious in the reception?
One design element that I really wanted to hit on when designing the tablescapes was repeated clear glass elements. I knew that would work perfectly with the clear acrylic chairs, and pick up on the twinkling of all the candlelight. I chose clear glass vases for the floral centrepieces, as well as all the bud vases and candle holders.
The overall space felt so warm, so welcoming, and just held a really beautiful, modern and moody ambiance.
Bonus — a large majority of these flowers were locally grown!
I love a good floor plan that integrates multiple table shapes. A room with all round tables can just get really boring, really quickly. Connie at Harlow designed this floor plan around the dance floor and the bar, making them 2 natural focal points in the room.
The dance floor featured a twinkle light canopy, flanked on three sides by long banquet tables and by the band stand on the other side. Round tables were set outside of these, with another long banquet table along the exterior wall with windows, mirroring the bar on the opposite end of the room. This was a really nice way to use the Leaf space!
I loved the place settings! The “toffee” napkin paired with “taupe” linen (all from Planned Perfectly was such a gorgeous combination that added femininity and richness. The personalized menus by Blake Creative Co were also the PERFECT colour.
On the round tables, we placed a medium size floral arrangement, incorporating the full palette and some fun locally grown textures. I flanked that with a collection of different candle holders with soft taupe and beige candles for a little more depth.
The long tables featured those repeated clear glass elements, with the taupe and beige taper candles in clear hurricanes, votives on gold-rimmed and gold-based candle holders, and a mix of stem vases with petite stems in each. The gold flatware and clear carousel goblets were a really nice finishing touch.
And by the way, all these vases and candle holders are part of my rental collection :)
We need to give a MOMENT to this bar. This is the perfect example of why you need to trust your vendors and leave it in our hands to create the good stuff. Connie from Harlow had planned out the curved bar with the black bar backs, framed with those gorgeous gold chandeliers hanging above and a gold pedestal at the front (which served a dual purpose, first with the signature cocktails and then later with the wedding cake). We were intending to repurpose some ceremony flowers but hadn’t really settled on anything specific.
As soon as we walked into the room during setup and saw the bar with the chandeliers, it looked good — it looked really good! But the scale felt a bit off. It’s hard to get the scale right when we’re just at the mercy of what rental items we have available to us (we have a smaller rental market here in Winnipeg, so a huge kudos to our planners and event designers who roll up their sleeves to constantly be reinventing what we have and find new ways to display it all!). I digress — but the shelving unit felt a bit short.
Enter, the Stone House team. Rather than putting flowers on the bar top as was the original plan, I asked Connie if we could veto that and instead line the top of the shelving units with flowers. She is always down for whatever we suggest, and DANG, DID IT TURN OUT GREAT. I picked my three favourite pieces from the ceremony ground floral nest, and placed them on top of the shelves (we weighted them down to make sure they were nice and sturdy up there), placed another in the centre of the bar behind the signature cocktails menu, and tucked a few more on the floor to camouflage the base the truss system that suspended the light fixtures. The bar became an immediate focal point in the room, which I always love to do, because people are going to spending a lot of time there, anyways!
This lighting canopy over the dance floor was SO special. I love the idea of twirling around together (I mean…if you can dance. Which Tara and Adam clearly can!) for your first dance under this romantic canopy of lights with all the rest of the room dimmed. Especially when you have a live band like Big City!
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
Planning a wedding at the Leaf and want to elevate the space? I’d love to be your floral designer.
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!
How to Plan a Cocktail Style Wedding Reception
I thought I’d do something a bit differently on the blog today — at the same time as showcasing one of our recent weddings, I’ve also included some wisdom from the planner, Andrea at Soiree Event Planning! Scroll down a bit to see her Top 3 Tips for Planning a Cocktail Style Wedding Reception.
Kendall and Dylan’s wedding was my first time working at The Leaf, and I was so excited to see the room completely transformed from its corporate feeling natural state. It was a long day of setup, with a lot of logistics, but it looked so good!
I thought I’d do something a bit differently on the blog today — at the same time as showcasing one of our recent weddings, I’ve also included some wisdom from the planner, Andrea at Soiree Event Planning! Scroll down a bit to see her Top 3 Tips for Planning a Cocktail Style Wedding Reception.
Kendall and Dylan’s wedding was my first time working at The Leaf, and I was so excited to see the room completely transformed from its corporate feeling natural state. It was a long day of setup, with a lot of logistics, but it looked so good!
Photos by Kassandra Donaldson Photography
Did you know that if you’re having a ceremony or photos in one of the biomes at the Leaf, that you cannot bring in fresh flowers? A bummer for sure, but we do often have little critters coming out of our flowers while we’re designing them, so I’d absolutely hate to have that happen on a wedding day and they mess up the carefully composed environments in each biome.
So, that means that all of Kendall’s personal and ceremony flowers had to be composed of faux flowers. We used fresh flowers throughout the reception.
PS These flowers are all for sale! I am currently selling Kendall’s bridal bouquet and 3 bridesmaid bouquets, and the 5 arrangements plus additional loose flowers that we composed the ceremony installation out of. Send me a note if you want them!
Top 3 Tips for a Cocktail Reception from Soiree Event Planning
1: Seating
Ensure you plan for an intentional amount of seating. If you want guests to mingle, plan for seating for 60% or less.
2: Menu
Select menu items that are simple to eat while standing and don't require much in the way of cutlery.
3: Timing
Adjust your start time to be a touch later. Food service will naturally take less time than a formal dinner, and ideally you don't want dancing to start too early or the party may end prematurely.
More on the seating note — check out the amazing variety of seating that Soiree curated: large sit-down tables, standing and seated cocktail tables, and 3 lounges with a mix of banquettes, love seats, individual chairs, and plenty of coffee and end tables for plates and glasses to be placed on.
This layout was visually interesting and created lots of great nooks for people to either gather together or hide away for a quieter conversation.
It also made sure people know what to expect — they were encouraged to mingle and move around the room, and not stay in a chair for an entire evening.
Kendall and Dylan’s evening featured multiple food stations placed throughout the room, including a mini slider bar, soft taco station, as well as a pasta station. A little bit of cutlery was required, but the pasta was served in small, light weight vessels that were easy to walk around with. And that, my friends, is why you hire a wedding planner — I wouldn’t have had the foresight to realize any of these logistics but the Soiree team certainly knows what they’re doing!
Hello to the ceremony flowers, repurposed and back in action. The newlyweds are friends with Sweet Impressions, and option for the bakery to provide 3 small cutting cakes, one for each of Dylan’s children, so they could do a family cake cutting. So sweet!
The ceremony flowers were designed in individual vessels, making this super easy to repurpose by placing them around the pedestals while still feeling polished and well designed.
This wedding looked REALLY good — and as always, I’ll remind you that it takes a village. A village who are willing to go above and beyond for the client, and do the job right. Each venue has funny little things about it that make working at it hard, and the Leaf is no exception. From loading doors that we’re not allowed to open because they’re right beside the kitchen, to the fact that Creating a Scene had to carry the bar up a hill BY HAND to get it into the room (because it didn’t fit in the elevator), I’ll leave it at this: hire professionals.
Kassandra Donaldson Photography ~ Soiree Event Planning ~ The Leaf ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Event Light ~ Karta House ~ Creating a Scene ~ Sweet Impressions ~ Myuz Artistry ~ Trend Decor
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
We can design a beautiful, unique wedding at the Leaf for you. Find out more about our floral services by inquiring below!
Call me 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!