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!

Modern White and Green Wedding at The WAG

When I first met with Jessica and Andrei to talk about their wedding flowers, I simultaneously felt like I wasn't cool enough to be a part of their wedding and also knew that I had to become cool enough to be a part of their wedding. 'Cause when a city planner and an interior designer get married, you know it's going to be pretty slick. 

As featured on Host Winnipeg

Photos by Kamp Photography

And if this one picture doesn't prove it to you, allow me to continue. This couple has a modern aesthetic, the coolest house in Wolseley, and just check out Jessica's Houghton NYC gown. 

Jessica's bridal bouquet was really fun to create, and it was SO light and easy to carry. I used three different types of eucalyptus, olive foliage, air plants, white  protea, and a few stems of large-headed white roses. I also created a large, full white rose floral crown for her.

For the bridesmaids, we did up bouquets of just greenery, and also loose blooms for their hair. This was probably the best-dressed group of bridesmaids I have ever seen.

The couple crafted this incredibly cool, geometric arch for their rooftop ceremony at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. They also made mini cement planters for potted succulents, and I provided them with monstera leaves and white protea for their centrepieces.

Colourful Summer Wedding at Cielo's Garden

When we started planning their wedding flowers, Devon told me that her overall theme for her wedding to Lucas was "classy camping." Having never gone camping before (I know, so crazy), I was definitely intrigued. She had such fun ideas: a jewel tone colour palette, porcelain jugs for the centrepieces, and antique oil lamps for the candles. They wanted their wedding to feel comfortable but still full of colour and style, and I think Cielo's Garden was the absolute perfect choice for location. 

It was SO awesome to work with Aly from Victoria Anne Photography again. She's so fantastic!

Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Zinnias, dahlias, asters, gomphrena, solidago, eryngium, veronica, and lilies with lemon leaf and oak leaves. This wedding was in mid-September, and I got to use the last of the locally grown flowers!

I'm not sure these bridesmaid dresses could be any more perfect! I absolutely loved the floral prints.

Devon designed the ceremony space, and I loved what she came up with. One of the things I love the most about Cielo's garden is that every wedding there is able to have a completely unique, personalized design plan. Devon definitely used this to her advantage, defining the space with a large rug and popping the floral centrepieces into the window sills.

The couple's sweetheart table was another of my favourite designs from 2016. They brought in this antique wood table, just big enough for two, and set it with smoky grey acrylic chairs. I created a lush greenery garland, and added in a ton of jewel toned florals to make the table really pop. Doesn't it look fantastic?

When the wedding couple is seated at a sweetheart table, that opens up the floor plan to some unique possibilities. In this case, the bridal party was seated at two long tables perpendicular to the sweetheart table. I created two more greenery garlands here, but wanted to use different florals. Working with the same colours as the sweetheart table garland, I chose coral snap dragons and purple waxflower. 

On the guest tables, we used all of the camping jugs and porcelain vessels that Devon and Lucas had collected, and filled them with wildflower-inspired arrangements. The tables were finished with emerald-tinted glass votives and antique glass oil lanterns. It came together beautifully!

Check out this video trailer from their wedding by Baroncraft Productions!

Natalie and Mark's Marsala Fall Wedding at Qualico Family Centre

I met Natalie just a few months before her wedding. Sometimes, a short timeline like that stresses me out, but definitely not in this case. Natalie had such a clear, lovely vision for their fall wedding at the Qualico Family Centre in Assiniboine Park. The primary colour in their palette was a rich marsala, and we worked in champagne, gold, ivory, and soft pink. Natalie even handmade tons of paper flowers to use at the reception! More on that later :)

Aren't these photos by Ariana Tennyson just gorgeous?

Bridal Bouquet ingredients: Hearts roses, quicksand roses, faith roses, white football mums, burgundy spray roses, dusty miller, podocarpus, and heuchera. 

I always like setting up wedding receptions at the Qualico Family Centre in Assiniboine Park. The space is really lovely - all of the floor to ceiling windows allow in so much natural light (and a gorgeous view, especially in the fall with all the leaves!), the stone fireplace is gorgeous, and the overall colouring of the space creates a nice soft, warm setting.

For the centrepieces, I used a combination of fresh flowers along with the paper flowers the bride made by hand - they were so beautiful and so fun to use! I also got to add a few floral touches throughout the room, including to the donut display.

Chivari Chairs: Planned Perfectly | Donuts: Oh, Doughnuts

Loriann and Keith's Whimsical Woodsy Wedding at Pineridge Hollow

Happy Valentine's Day! This year, I'm not doing much in the way of flowers for lovers BUT I'm heading off to Seattle in a few days to take a workshop with Sinclair & Moore, one of my absolute floral and event design idols. I can't wait! 

Designing Loriann's wedding flowers was so peaceful. She wanted a whimsical style for her woodsy wedding at Pineridge Hollow, and had such a calm, peaceful palette of soft purples and greens. Loriann's bouquet was light and airy to hold, filled with textured greens, and a few touches of pale lavender, mauve, and blush.  The colours and textures were so beautiful with the dusty pink bridesmaid dresses!

Take a look at these beautiful photos from Sugar & Soul Photography!

Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: 
Amnesia roses, scabiosa, limoneum, snap dragons, astilbe, and eryngium with acacia, feather eucalyptus, and seeded eucalyptus.

Can we talk about how cute these little flower girls are? So adorable. I made these sweet and light flower halos of light purple limoneum for each of them!

Pineridge Hollow has a beautiful birch arbor for their outdoor garden ceremonies, and I love adding flowers to it. For this wedding, I started with a garland of silver willow and other greenery, tied the ends back with limoneum ties, and added in that large, asymmetrical floral piece using hydrangea, stock, snap dragons and eryngium.

Inside the tent reception, Pineridge Hollow's gorgeous metal lanterns were placed down the tables, and I simply added in touches of greenery to complete the whimsical, woodsy feel.