Luxe Fall Inspiration Highlights

Early this past fall, I wanted to play around with some really beautiful flowers and had a lot of fun designing and creating this luxe inspired fall shoot. My team included the wonderful Kat Willson Photography (who I'm excited to have a few awesome weddings in 2015!), Robin Egg Blue Design, Bliss Bridal Boutique, Caroline Gautron of Edward Carriere, Two Chicks and a Bag of Makeup, and Planned Perfectly. This shoot was featured on one of my favourite international wedding blogs, Wedding Sparrow!

Here are some of my favourite images from the shoot!

When planning this fall shoot, we wanted the overall feel and look to be purposefully simplistic. With the goal of evoking a warm, rich feel as fall colour palettes often do, we also wanted to maintain an overall sense of dignified, elevated style. We wanted to appeal to the fall bride who is stuck with the idea of trotting our those overdone fall themes and who doesn't know how to bring her own sense of style to her wedding. The goal was to create a luxe setting for a wedding, but not overworked and blinged out as is often done. So, it was important that we ground the look with a strong natural element, for which I chose rich wood and natural linen accents on the table and in the bouquet wrap to introduce a quality of depth and texture to the look. Keeping things simple allowed us to explore the colour and texture palette – how would the caramel hues of the garden roses play against the burgundy tapers? What does the contrast between a rich velvet table linen and the refined chair cover bring to the look?

DREAMING OF...

This week, my reflections on Team Flower Workshop are being featured on Vale + Vine, a brand new Canadian wedding site that focuses on fine art weddings - that's my kind of site! All my brides are definitely going to want to check it out :) 

In that interview, I also discuss the importance of being inspired by what's around you, rather than the current wedding industry trends. Those are good too, but when you're wanting to design a wedding that truly feels like you, why would you look to what other people were inspired by for their weddings? Open your eyes to the beauty that surrounds you in your setting and your everyday life, and you'll find that the decisions you make for your wedding will start feeling much more authentic. Right now, this is what I crave: 

As a farmer's daughter, I long for those dusky summer evenings where the horizon and the sky are painted with palette of golden wheat and dusty wildflower purples. I created this moodboard to show you what I am inspired by right now. 

Images via Silk & Willow, Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, The Lane, Joy Proctor, Project Wedding, and Snippet & Ink.

Connecting with your Vendors

I cannot stress enough how important it is that you connect with your vendors - especially those who are working on the aesthetic elements of your day (florist, decorator, stationery designer) - but I'm serious when I mean that you should connect with ALL your vendors. 

I'm not saying that you need to become best friends with them. What I am saying is that you should have a fundamental respect for what they do and get along well with them. When you're meeting with your vendors for the first time, consider how much you actually like them - it's important to like their work, yes. But it's just as important to like them as well. Why? They'll be taking care of you on this really big, important day. I can't emphasize how much you especially need to get along with your photographer - he or she will be there the WHOLE time. If he irritates you, guess what you're going to remember from your day?

There's another layer when it comes to the vendors who deal with the visual components of your day, like your florist. A few weeks ago, I met with a bride who had a really hard time communicating to me what she was looking for, but because of the connection that we had, I could say "I've got you!" and she knew that it was true. Her stress just melted away. You shouldn't be concerned about making sure your florist "gets" your style or what you want to do - if she connects with you and you with her, it's going to work out! There have also been a few times when a bride and I just can't get on the same page, and I've had to tell her that I'm just not the right floral designer for her. I can pretty much guarantee that the florist/event planner/designer that has you stressed out and constantly feeling the need to oversee is the one who's not going to do the best job for you.

Still looking for your florist or event designer? I have limited availability throughout June - October of 2015, but lots of spring dates are still available! Shoot me an email if you want to talk - stonehouseweddings@gmail.com. Can't wait to talk with you!

Photo by Victoria Anne Photography for the upcoming Wed Prep Workshop, which you should definitely attend!  :) 

Announcing Wed Prep Workshop!

I am so excited to announce the launch of Wed Prep Workshop, Winnipeg's first interactive wedding planning workshop!

Coming February 21, Wed Prep is a one-day workshop hosted by myself and Amanda Douglas Events, and featuring several of Winnipeg's favourite wedding professionals, who will provide you with all the information you need to plan the best wedding you can. We're gearing Wed Prep towards you, so that you can have the wedding of your dreams, at the budget you can afford. 

This one-day intensive workshop will include interactive demonstrations, valuable handout materials, and Q&A's with your presenters. Tickets are on sale now and registration is limited to 30 brides at the maximum, so be sure to book yours today!

If you need more info or have any questions, feel free to send me an email to stonehouseweddings@gmail.com. I hope to see you all there!

Thank You

I recently started to revise my business plan. You know, that pesky document that everyone says you need when you start a business? It was actually really fun for me to put together, but when I did that this past spring, I really had no idea what to expect. So about 6 months later, I found myself excited to revise it and reflect on where things have come so far.

I want to say thank you. Thank you to the amazing brides that I have been overwhelmingly happy to meet with; thank you to this city's vibrant, incredibly talented wedding professionals who have been helping me grow my business and referring me to my brides; thank you to my friends and family and my awesome husband Chad, who built me an awesome studio in our house; thank you to my flower friends both in Winnipeg and internationally, for your sweet comments and encouraging notes. Thank you for your emails, your consultation requests, your support and encouragement. 

When I developed my business plan this spring, I set myself the goal of booking 2 weddings for 2015. I've now booked 16 and am almost fully booked for June through October 2015. SIXTEEN! I am just blown away and so so excited for the future. I am so blessed. Thank you!

Photo by Heather Payne Photography.