Beautiful Winter Wedding Decor Ideas
Well, I realize that we are heading into summer (which I literally could not be more pumped about), but that means that all of you brides and grooms getting married in winter are in the midst of making all of your decisions! So, I want to share my favourite ideas for beautiful winter wedding decor.
Add in Texture - And Lots of It
One of my favourite "tricks" when designing a winter wedding is using lots of texture - branches, pine boughs, berries, wood, velvet. Emily from Feast & Festivities came up with the idea to create a winter ceremony backdrop out of firewood. It was gorgeous!
Esther Funk Photography
Serve a Hot Drink
Whether it's a hot chocolate bar where your guests can choose from fun mix-ins, an espresso cart, or serving hot toddies as your signature cocktail, serving a hot drink during your cocktail hour or as your guests arrive at the ceremony is a lovely way to welcome them to your celebration. Abiding Citizen is my favourite craft beverage company; their shrubs, bitters, and syrups are perfect.
Decorate with Warm Textiles
For this tablescape designed by Host Winnipeg, we used a gorgeous blanket as the table covering. The texture added warmth softness, which is just what you want in winter. Thick linen tablecloths would also be great!
Janine Kropla Photography
Gift a Fresh Favour
Some of my favourite wedding favours have been Ferrero Rocher chocolates or individually packaged macarons, but the idea of a fresh bundle of herbs waiting for your guests is beautiful. The fragrance alone would be intoxicating, and your guests could take these home for cooing savoury soups and stews, or throw them into their fireplace for a cozy night in.
Focus on Lighting
Mood lighting is the best way to create the right atmosphere for your winter wedding. Whether that means soft candlelight for an elegant evening or cafe lighting for a celebratory fË´te, lighting will accomplish the right look.
Don't Shy Away from Greenery
One of my December brides once told me that she wanted her wedding to look the way it feels when you look up at the dark, starry sky through the bare branches. I thought this was so beautiful. But, rather than using branches everywhere, we chose greenery! I used a lot of feather eucalyptus, which has skinny, feathery leaves that created that branchy feeling. Greenery bouquets marking the aisle, tall arrangements of evergreens, suspended greenery installations - any of these would be beautiful at a winter wedding.
Get Outside, Even if it's Just for a Few Minutes
Half the reason you chose a winter wedding date was probably so you could take some outdoor photos. No matter how cold it is, pop outside for a few minutes with your photographer, to grab some of those coveted snow falling, rosy cheeked, chilly aired photos.
Choose Rich Flavours
Warm, savoury soups and rich, luxurious desserts are the way to go! In the winter, we all crave a little extra luxury, so a thick chocolate cake slathered in buttercream or a classic New York style cheesecake is the perfect choice.
MY FAVOURITE VENUES FOR WINTER WEDDINGS IN MANITOBA:
Bridges Golf Course
Hotel Fort Garry
Fort Gibraltar
Qualico Family Centre
Hawthorne Estates (I can't wait until their 2018 re-build! The plans are incredible!)
Fairmont Hotel
Reflections on the Sinclair & Moore Workshop
I make it a goal to always be learning new techniques, meeting new flower friends from around the world, and expanding my floral knowledge so that I can always be serving my brides and grooms better. This past February, I headed down to Seattle to attend the workshop of a lifetime, with Sinclair & Moore.
I had the most amazing time - not only was it already spring there (such a treat!), but alongside the very beneficial learning that we attendees got to do, we also got to be a part of an amazing wedding. Our workshop tuition went towards blessing this couple with the wedding of their dreams, and being a part of the team that got to put it all together was phenomenal for me. But, more will come on the wedding another day!
In the meantime, here's a look at our classroom sessions and some of the pieces that I put together. Photos by Kate Price Photography.
We were greeted by the most stunning selection of blooms, all of which made their way into the wedding at the end of the week. Steve's studio is hands-down the most beautiful space I've ever worked in, and it gave me quite a few ideas to spruce up my own workspace! More to come on that soon :)
Steve and his team had thoughtfully put together this beautiful gift box for us, welcoming us on our first morning. Monogrammed aprons, samples of silk ribbon from Tono & Co, and delicious French macarons were such a wonderful surprise.
Above is the inspiration board for the wedding we worked on, and below is a rack filled with centrepieces that we created! We each worked on two different styles of arrangements, all in this delicious palette of dusty rose, mauve, mocha, cream, and burgundy. Delicate accents of terracotta toned sweet pea were the perfect finishing touches.
I'll be sharing more soon from the wedding itself - can't wait to show it all! We had quite an amazing time and designed some very breathtaking pieces.
By the way, i'm now booking for 2018 weddings! I love working with creative couples who want something different for their wedding than what their friends have had. I'd love to hear from you and find out more about your wedding plans!
How to Make a White and Green Wedding Unique
One of the most frequently requested wedding palettes I get is white and green. To be honest with you, this stresses me out a bit, because it can be very difficult to make a white and green wedding unique. I want all of my weddings to feel personalized and special, so you can see where my struggle comes in.
So today, I want to show you different wants to make a white and green wedding palette unique!
Add an Accent Colour to the Flowers
Blush has been a very popular accent for the past few seasons. In 2017, I'm tucking in shades of burgundy, caramel, lavender and blues to add a bit of dimension and interest. Adding in a delicate touch of colour doesn't mean that you suddenly have a colourful wedding. I'm talking about a ratio of about 10% colour accent and 90% white and green. With a touch of colour, you get a distinct effect depending on the accent shade chosen: light blue becomes whimsical, burgundy becomes luxe, caramel becomes fresh.
Bring in a Lot of Texture
Bringing in a lot of texture adds interest. In the ceremony arrangement below, the texture is brought in through several different types of eucalyptus. Different shapes of leaves and the introduction of seeds make this feel interesting and fresh.
Accent with Natural Elements
I also love the idea of introducing natural textures - branches, pods, twigs, vines, herbs. For some wedding ceremony installations, I have gathered sticks for months ahead of time, knowing that they were going to add in a beautiful touch.
Layer in Different Shades in Your Reception Decor
I always like to select one key foundational colour to use throughout a wedding and tie it all together. I usually prefer something that's softer and more neutral, but it doesn't have to be that way! A white and green wedding palette works well with all sorts of great foundational colours, like soft grey, brown, champagne, blush, other shades of green, mocha, light blue, burgundy, lilac...really, anything!
Choose a Different Tone of Foliage
This is definitely one of the simplest ways to make your white and green bridal bouquet look differently than all the other white and green bridal bouquets. For Katie's bouquet below, I tucked in green viburnum (which is actually a flower!) and the fresh, bright green was a great choice. Or, you can go a completely different route with a different colour of foliage altogether! Magnolia is a gorgeous choice with those big, velvety, coppery leaves and copper beech foliage is also awesome. This would be amazing for a fall or winter wedding.
kampphotography
How to Choose a Gorgeous Wedding Colour Palette
Your colour palette is one of the most important things when it comes to the visual experience of your wedding, and there are a number of things to consider when you're first choosing the right combination. I'm going to briefly walk you through a few of the top things to consider, and then tell you where I think a lot of couples go wrong.
1) Your venue. Let's face it, a lot of venues have some BIZARRE and very noticeable colour palettes already going on. Purple and orange carpet, anyone? I've seen it (at more than one venue...barf). You definitely have to keep the built-in colour palette of your venue in mind when selecting your colour combination.
2) Your favourite colours! Are you drawn to warm tones or cool tones? Neutrals or bright colours? Do you like contrasting colours or complimentary colours? Pulling out a colour wheel is a great way to identify some possible accent colours. Check out this post for some great help.
3) How you can tie these together in a way that is unique, interesting, and not boring? Like all trends, colour combinations tend to go in cycles. And like everything that pops up on Pinterest, most colour combinations become VERY overdone. That doesn't mean these colours aren't great...it just means that the chances of your wedding looking a LOT like everyone else's are pretty high. Take, for example, navy/blush/gold. It's a great combination, but because of how overused it is, it doesn't lend anything personal or unique to your wedding style.
Okay, so what is it that I find most people do wrong when it comes to choosing a gorgeous wedding colour palette? They play it too safe! There's no need for you to stick to just 1 or 2 colours, or a palette which is predictable, or sticking to a combination that is overly seasonal (you don't need to use only white and green in winter...just do whatever you want!).
HERE'S MY TOP TIP FOR DEVELOPING A GORGEOUS WEDDING COLOUR PALETTE:
Don't be afraid to expand on your colour palette to find the right accents.
1. Take the colour palette progression photos above as an example. I started with a pretty basic colour palette: white and green. Now, there's nothing wrong with white and green but it's really hard to make a white and green bouquet different from the last white and green bouquet.
2. So, I added in a touch of burgundy foliage and berries. This added a bit of depth and texture at the same time, but it's not too much and if you're a bit afraid of colour, this is a great level for you.
3. Now, if you're ready to go a touch farther, layer in a bit of soft pink. This can be just an accent, or it can be bolder, too. Bonus points if your pink blooms have a touch of that burgundy tone, like the centre of these gorgeous lisianthus.
4. And finally, if the idea of adding in colour doesn't stress you out, then just go for it: add in some yellow. In almost every palette, I find that a delicate hint of yellow brings life and excitement.
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Here's another example, with a fall palette!
If you're unsure of how to develop your wedding colour palette, flowers are a great place to work in accent colours without needing to have different tones splashed throughout the decor. And if you need a second opinion or some different suggestions, I'd love to talk with you.
I'm now booking 2018 weddings! Click the button below to send me an inquiry. I can't wait to hear from you!
The Perfect Spring Wedding Flowers
Around this time of year, I always get restless. Well, let's be honest. Restlessness sets in as soon as January 1 has come and gone and I'm just good and ready for all the snow to MELT ALREADY. My grandpa used to say, "If I can just make it through January, I'll be just fine." That's how I feel about both January and February. I love living in Winnipeg and I love having 4 distinct seasons, but I could do with a lot less winter.
Needless to say, I've been craving spring (I know I'm not the only one out here on the prairies feeling that way). And with a desire to get working and get my hands dirty, combined with a particularly stressful week, I headed off to my wholesaler to pick up anything with colour. And so, here we are: the perfect spring wedding flowers.
I also thought I'd break this down into a few steps, to show you a bit of the behind-the-scenes of how I work! (although, I designed this in my kitchen and my studio is NOT as beautiful as this is, ha!)
Ingredients: green viburnum (yeah baby!), peach spray roses, white lisianthus, skimmia, calcynia, sprengeri fern, peach Icelandic poppies (yeah baby x2!), and soft blue muscari (yeah baby x3!). I also had some hellebore I was hoping to use, but they bit the bullet pretty quickly. There's no telling with those guys if they're going to make it or not!
Layer 1: Greenery and shape. I actually cut this sprengeri fern off a plant that I have! It's nice and light, but sometimes it can be on the thorny side, so I don't use it all that often. The viburnum is my favourite thing. Depending on where you live, you won't see this in green for too long, as the blooms quickly turn white and they look like big, beautiful snowballs. But I do really love the green of the blooms - it's that soft, springy, fresh green that is just perfect.
Layer 2: Texture. Here I added in calcyina for a little bit of pink, and skimmia for interesting texture. I also really like that the skimmia leaves are a bit of a darker green, which adds some nice contrast.
Layer 3: Base flower layer. I added in the peach here with the spray roses, most of which were tucked down pretty deeply for coverage in the vase (speaking of which, I LOVE this concrete vase). White lisianthus is always pretty, and has lovely little buds, and that was added in here as well.
Layer 4: All the good stuff :) This layer is definitely my favourite! I really could have left it at layer 3, but having the chance to use some more special, unique flowers and really letting them shine was too good of an opportunity to pass up here. So, poppies and muscari went in! I've never used this type of poppy before and I don't think they're particularly long lasting, so I'll give these a test and see what happens. I do love their incredible, paper-thin pleated blooms and the way each is a slightly different shade - they're PERFECT for spring wedding bouquets. And the muscari is a delicate little bloom. The blue is a lovely complementary tone of the peach, and adds a little more dimension to the overall palette.
By the way, I'm now booking for 2018 weddings! I am meeting with quite a few eager brides and grooms over the next two months, so if you want to talk wedding flowers with me, don't hesitate to reach out with more details about your wedding day. Just click the box below!