Gwen and Shane's Summer Wedding at Pineridge Hollow

Let's start off 2016 with a look at one of my favourite weddings of 2015!

Gwen and Shane's September wedding at Pineridge Hollow was one I was looking forward to for an entire year! What made it so special to me was that I worked with Gwen on both her floral design AND their event design. This allowed me to get involved much more closely with them, working on all aspects of the visual side of their wedding. Some of my favourite details I helped them pull together were the pretty colour palette (and it looks like Pantone agrees!), mixing in stone details (rocks from their cabin at Lake of the Woods as table numbers, handmade concrete candles), and the lovely custom stationery details from Robin Egg Blue Design.

Photos: Kat Willson Photography // Venue: Pineridge Hollow // Bridesmaid Dresses: Mad About Style // Stationery: Robin Egg Blue Design // Florals, Styling and Event Design: Stone House Creative

Thank You! ~ A Year in Review of Winnipeg Weddings

Wow. First of all, I can't believe that 2015 is already at its end. And secondly, what a year it has been! 

Photo by Holly Gillson Photography

2015 marked the first full year of Stone House Creative's existence. Since I launched SHC in June 2014, I've had such amazing opportunities. In 2015, I've had the pleasure of: 
Completing 32 weddings
Designing 166 bridal and bridesmaid bouquets
Using 1300 stems of roses (I always thought I didn't like roses...I was very wrong!)
Connecting with really amazing Winnipeg wedding vendors
Coordinating a tent wedding in a rainstorm
Playing the role of florist and bridesmaid, all in one day
Visiting a flower farm and building friendships with other local florists

I'm so thankful to all of my couples. Thank you for trusting me with your wedding flowers, thank you for letting me go wild with ideas, and thank you for your kind words and referrals. I have had so much fun. 

And 2016? I'm ready for you. I have some of THE most amazing weddings and couples lined up and I am so excited for them. I was just looking through all of my weddings for next year the other day - 35+ weddings, each beautiful and fun and unique. I'm a little overwhelmed thinking about the wonderful people that I get to work with: I was just telling a flower mentor of mine how I seem to have the kindest, most excited brides. And that, dear friends, gets me very excited.

This spring, I'll be heading to Texas to learn from some of my favourite flower idols, and over the winter I'll be taking a course on designing unique and detailed ceremony spaces. I'm looking forward to bringing those experiences into my designs next year. I'm designing for a handful of weddings at the Lake of the Woods, a wedding in a historic mansion in Winnipeg, creating unique hanging pieces for both ceremonies and receptions, and am also really excited about two brides who I'm working on their florals as well as their complete event design. It's going to be a great year!

Host Winnipeg Launch - Brand New Winnipeg Wedding Blog!

I'm so excited because this week is the launch of Host Winnipeg! Host is a brand new, local wedding and lifestyle website, created by a former wedding planner! Winnipeg has absolutely been in need of something like this - a platform for brides and wedding vendors to interact in a stylish, well-designed way. I'm so excited to see how the full launch of Host impacts the local wedding industry and how brides plan.

I was so thrilled to be asked to take part in the branding shoot, and my small part was to provide florals. I had a lot of fun with this palette and these pretty blooms. Photos by the lovely Brittany Mahood Photography.

Kathleen and Lee's Summer Wedding at Pineridge Hollow

I was looking forward to Kathleen's wedding ALL summer. Why? Because she used so much colour! And of course, because their wedding was at my favourite summertime venue, Pineridge Hollow. Oh! And she hired one of my favourite photographers, Kat Willson. So all in all, a really good day. 

Designing with all this colour was a real treat. I love pastel tones and soft blush weddings, but once in a while, you need a little jolt. Bright corals, peaches, yellows, and rich greens were just perfect. Plus, I got to include some of the most delicious flowers in Kathleen's bouquet: dahlias, stock, spray roses, and locally grown zinnias, snap dragons, and sweet pea. The bow tie-inspired wrap in soft gold ribbon was the sweetest touch. I can't talk enough about how I loved this arch garland. I feel very strongly that any time flowers are designed for the ceremony, they're something that should also be able to be moved into the reception and given a second life. This garland, which had beautiful stems of some of the most gorgeous and vibrant flowers added in, was also placed on the head table in front of the bride and groom.  

I had to add in these last photos, because they made it SO obvious how awesome this wedding and this couple are. Weddings are a celebration...and there's nothing more celebratory than a happy groom dancing down the aisle, is there?

Ashley and Ken's Bold Wedding at the Fort Garry Hotel

It was a hot day at the beginning of July when Ashley and Ken got married, with their ceremony at The Manitoba Club and the reception next door at the Fort Garry Hotel (with a crazy thunderstorm in the evening!). They chose the Provencher Room at the hotel, which is one of my favourite rooms in the city - it is elegant, romantic, and classic all at the same time. I had a lot of fun with Ashley's inspiration - bold and colourful!

The couple live in Toronto, so it was a lot of emails and picture inspiration until I finally got to meet Ashley about 1 month before the wedding. We changed the plan up a few times, and I just love how Ashley's ideas evolved over the course of their engagement. She really wanted everyone to have a great time and to create a memorable night, and with the help of Amanda Douglas Events, they did just that! Special thanks to Samba Joy Photos.