Katie and Dan's Outdoor Vineyard-Inspired Wedding

As I'm writing this blog post, I'm finding myself having a very difficult time. Why? Because Katie and Dan's wedding was such a dream wedding for me to be a part of. First of all, Katie was just such a wonderful client to work with. She was kind, excited, and full of fantastic ideas. Second, they really wanted to host their friends and family at an unforgettable celebration - and unforgettable it was. Words absolutely cannot do this wedding justice; thankfully, Jake from Kampphotography was on hand to capture their day in beautiful fashion.

The couple initially wanted to have a destination wedding, in the Napa area. Knowing that there were just too many logistics to sort out, they instead settled on country wedding in St Norbert, with a vineyard-inspired theme. We'll start things off today with their ceremony. 

Designing gorgeous florals for wedding ceremonies (especially outdoor ceremonies!) are one of my absolute favourite things to design. Katie's talented brother built this enormous wood altar structure, and it was placed in this beautiful little clearing amidst towering oak trees. I spent a lot of time up on a ladder working on all of these pieces! Ingredients included hydrangea, delphinium, roses, mock orange, oak, and other assorted foliages. We placed two big urns at the start of the aisle, popped on wine barrels to fit with the vineyard-inspired theme.

Katie's bridal bouquet has easily become one of my all-time favourites. She wanted it lush, garden-inspired, and in a classic white and green palette. We used a lot of her favourite flowers - hydrangea, peonies, anemones, ranunculus, and parrot tulips. I tucked in clematis and ivy vines, this gorgeous green viburnum and sweet pea, along with several varieties of eucalyptus. It was all tied up in a lovely selection of soft, neutral toned silk ribbons from Stella Wolfe.

Oh, and these bridesmaid dresses? Amazing, right?

And now, on to the reception (planned by Tammy at Divine Weddings)! Sometimes, I'm a little afraid that an all white-and-green wedding palette is going to be a bit boring. But this wedding reception design was absolutely nothing but! We loaded these tables with gorgeous arrangements (in both longer wood boxes as well as pretty stone urns), clusters of stem vases, and plenty of candles. There was actually so much on the tables that Katie's brother built wood extenders, to make the tabletops larger! Tables were dressed in a natural grey linen, and the cross-back chairs from Planned Perfectly were just the best finishing touch. Not a single detail was left untouched - herbs on each place setting, calligraphed name cards for each guest by Jennifer Bianca Calligraphy. The dinner was catered by The Mitchell Block restaurant (and if you haven't been there yet, go - it's delish!) and Thom Bargen coffee even had a setup for all of the guests to enjoy.

Coming Soon

Coming soon - something exciting, beautiful, and totally me. I can't wait to show it all off! 

For now, a sneak peek from Brittany Mahood Photography.

#PEONY4PRESIDENT: FLOWER WORKSHOP WITH BOWS & ARROWS

Earlier this spring, I travelled down to Dallas to visit a wonderful friend of mine, Linda from Wedfully Yours, and together, we took an intimate workshop with Bows & Arrows (one of my floral design idols). Alicia at Bows & Arrows is the originator of #peony4president on Instagram, and she had so many amazing varieties of peonies available for us that I couldn't think of a better title for this post. I loved being able to learn from Alicia and her team, as well as work with some varieties of flowers that I don't usually have access to in Winnipeg. Peonies galore, as well as beautiful varieties of roses, lisianthus, scabiosa, bleeding heart, frittilaria, tropical anthurium (which I've aways been afraid to use but I love how it paired with the more romantic, ruffly blooms!), and sweet pea - so many of my favourites! It's hard to decide what my favourite part of our design day was - the gorgeous ceremony arch, or the joy pf placing each stem into my centrepiece arrangement. It all came together beautifully!

Dallas is a beautiful city, and this particular venue was absolutely stunning - it's an old mansion, which has been renovated into a hotel and is nothing short of extraordinary. I think we need something like this place around here! 

Mentorship: Bows & Arrows / Photos: Kayla Barker Photography / Planning and Design: The Wildflowers Events / Dress: A&Be Bridal Shop / Hair and Makeup: Tracy Melton Artistry / Calligraphy: Script Merchant / Model: Alli K / Venue: Rosewood Mansion, Dallas / Decor Rentals: Bella Acento / Linen: La Tavola / Ring: Trumpet & Horn

Blue and Yellow Wedding Decor Ideas at Cielo's Garden

A few weeks ago, I worked with Amanda Douglas Events to style the Cielo's Garden open house. This is one of my favourite wedding venues in the Winnipeg area - it's just so beautiful! The clear top tent allows for the most charming views, making it easy to work with so many different colour palettes and styles. This means it's literally a bride's dream venue!

I wanted to do a brighter, springy colour palette so Amanda Douglas Events and I chose blues and yellow,  mixing in greens and terracotta tones. I've been wanting to incorporate terracotta into a design for a while now, so I jumped at the opportunity to add some terracotta accents into these table designs - on one table, potted herbs lining the table, and on the other table, a large terracotta tray serving as a base for several clean glass stem vases. Amanda selected some stationery from Robin Egg Blue Design and we added in these clear charger plates from Planned Perfectly, which I really love for the light way that it ties the look together. 

Thank you so much to Keila Marie Photography - I have a feeling that she's going to be in very high demand over the next few years, so brides and grooms, if you haven't yet had a chance to check out her work, be sure to do so and inquire about her availability!

Wedding Ceremony Decor Ideas at Cielo's Garden

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I absolutely love Cielo's Garden! It is definitely one of my favourite Manitoba wedding venues and the little stone chapel in the woods is the most beautiful spot I can imagine for a wedding ceremony. Even better, it's incredibly versatile. The open rafters make it so easy to create a wide range of gorgeous designs! 

For the Cielo's Garden spring open house in May, I worked with Amanda Douglas Events and Planned Perfectly to design a simple but striking ceremony set up. We started with the draping, working with both white and champagne tones. The colours looked beautiful against the soft palette of the stones in the wall, and created enough interest that white on its own might now. I added in my custom-made dark wood stands, with two simple arrangements of flowering branches. Flowering branches are really only available in the springtime, but there are definitely other options that you could use throughout the summer and fall to create a similar style. I loved the light, airy feel these arrangements created in the space. 

Photos by the very talented Keila Marie Photography!