Austin and Mike's Romantic Ballroom Wedding

I consider it one of the most incredible honours whenever a fellow wedding vendor reaches out to ask me to be a part of their wedding. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being a part of several this year (this one was a major highlight!) and have a few more next year, as well. Today’s bride, Austin (the lady behind the camera at Austin Kylie Photography), is a little more special than other wedding vendors because I’ve also known her for most of her life! Her sister and my sister are best friends (you can see her gorgeous winter wedding here!) and it’s been really cool to watch her develop this talent with photography and have the chance to work with her on several weddings.

Anyways, Austin’s wedding was such a delight to be a part of! She has a fairly romantic, feminine style and right away she selected blush and gold tones. I suggested that we add in some berry tones to add depth, and it all came together really beautifully.

Brittany Mahood Photography ~ Canadian Museum for Human Rights ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Jessica Kmiec Artistry (another wedding vendor whose wedding I’ll be doing next year!) ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique

Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Peonies (the MOST gorgeous peonies of the year!!), quicksand and amnesia roses, white bleeding heart (from my garden and the perfect little touch!), tulips, scabiosa, fragrant sweet pea, with ninebark and eucalyptus foliages. We finished the stems with trailing Stella Wolfe hand-died silk ribbon.

The bridesmaids carried petite versions of Austin’s bouquet with a simpler shape, which complimented their range of dresses really nicely. Sometimes when you’ve got a mix of different styles, textures, and fabrics like these bridesmaids did, it’s better to go a little simpler on the other elements!

Austin had her two Oma’s acting as flower girl, which is probably THE sweetest thing I’ve seen. Just look at these ladies! How adorable!

For decor at the church, we started with an arch with a floral garland hung asymmetrically across it, and added on two large altar arrangements on thin gold stands. It created a lovely focal point in an otherwise fairly plain church, and were all pieces that could be re-used at the reception as well.

The Human Rights Museum is pretty dark, which can make taking photos challenging but it also creates a fun ambiance. Austin selected to upgrade to gold chivari chairs and champagne toned linens, with a few sequinned gold linens for the family and bridal party tables. We chose three different centrepiece styles - a trio of stem vases with petite arrangements, the second a collection of candles with a rose petal base, and finally, a fuller floral arrangement with gorgeous berry pink peonies in a low gold vase (obviously these were my faves!).

Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?

Getting married in Manitoba? Whether it's a whimsical garden party inspired celebration or a formal ballroom fete, I think flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Maybe you already have a specific vision or you might want me to dream up something custom just for you - either way, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding! 

Limited wedding dates remain available for 2019 - click below to check your date!

Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Wedding Flower Budget

Last December, I wrote a 3 part blog series about wedding flower budgets (links to those three posts are at the bottom of this one!) and it was incredibly popular, with both florists and wedding couples alike. I was thinking about that the other day, and with us entering planning season, I thought this would be the perfect time to dust it off - but I wanted to add a little more.

I'll be the first to admit that Stone House Creative is not a "budget" florist. I run a profitable business and I'm both proud and happy about that - I think all businesses deserve to be run profitably. If a business isn't profitable, it has no business being a business! But regardless of how much I charge for wedding flowers, something I hate seeing is when couples are over-promised and under-delivered. So, here are some of my top tips for getting the most of your wedding flower budget. 

1) First, HAVE a wedding flower budget!
To start, you must understand that flowers are a luxury item. They are a perishable item, just like the food that you're serving to your guests, often having been flown from halfway around the world and perfectly timed in order to make it here in pristine condition (it's amazing how frequently people don't think about this fact of nature). With that comes a price tag. But simply walking into a florist shop and saying "I don't know how much wedding flowers cost" isn't always helpful - often because that comes along with an enormous gasp that makes a florist feel as though she's done something to personally insult you. 

Come prepared with a number that you are both comfortable spending on this luxury item, and one that makes sense for what you're asking for. Most likely, you'll have no idea what wedding flowers cost SO here you'll find a very helpful BUDGET BREAKDOWN of different price ranges associated with pictures to help you get a visual for the size of arrangements that you're interested in. There is absolutely no shame in not having a clue what things cost, and there aren't a lot of helpful resources out there that actually show you want flowers cost, particularly in Manitoba. That link will do so!

2) Discuss with your florist what your primary concerns are.
Is the overall budget your biggest thought? If so, then we (the florists) will make very specific suggestions for lower cost, readily available flower types for you in the colour palette that you want. Maybe your primary focus is your bridal bouquet, and everything else is just background. That's awesome - we'll use the premium flowers in your bouquet, and scale back on the rest of the arrangements. Maybe you couldn't care less what your bouquets look like but you REALLY want flowers on every guest table. Cool! Again, we'll make specific suggestions for the best way we can accomplish this! I might suggest going with a single-ingredient bouquet to keep the bouquet costs at a minimum and then have more fun with different varieties and textures in the reception flowers. The point is, tell us what your top priorities are and then see what we can come up with. It's a large part of our job to be able to create awesome designs that fit your wish list, and we LOVE whenever we get the chance to actually do this!

3) Plan in advance how your arrangements can be re-purposed, and don't forget to let your florist in on this conversation.
I'm a big believer that anything you use at the ceremony should be something that can be re-purposed at the reception. Whether it's two large arrangements set on pedestals at your altar being moved to either side of your head table, or those gorgeous arrangements on your arch being re-purposed into your head table decor or as a backdrop for your cake table, it's great when you can get double-duty out of your ceremony flowers. This is why I'll almost never recommend that a couple opt for aisle bouquets: they're tricky to re-purpose and you'll get a bigger bang for your buck if you keep the focus up on the front. 16 small arrangements on the pews can cost just as much as 2 statement making pieces at the front! 

But, please don't make this plan without your florist's input. The reason for this is because we might need to build an arrangement in one way for your ceremony, but if we had known that it would be re-purposed on your sweetheart table, then we would have built it in a different way. It's our job to think about the mechanics behind the flowers, and it's also our expertise - so let us help and make it go as smoothly as possible!

4) Skip the boutonnieres and corsages altogether. 
This isn't always a popular opinion, but if you're on a tight flower budget, just don't order any boutonnieres or corsages. It's a similar argument to the aisle bouquets at your ceremony: they may be relatively inexpensive little things on their own, but anything multiplied by 3 moms and 2 grandmas, 6 groomsmen and 2 dads plus the ushers, emcee, special aunties, sponsors, etc. is going to add up really quickly! In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this is the biggest waste of money that is a part of wedding flower budgets and is often a trap that lower budget couples get stuck in. And think about it: if you're spending serious coin on a beautiful groom's suit, why would you want to stick pin-holes in it? Why would your mother want to shove a silly flower on her wrist when she's spent hours trying to find the perfect mother of the bride gown, when a piece of jewellery would look so much better? And truthfully, no matter how cute we florists make these little pieces, they're still fussy / uncomfortable / irritating / challenging to put on and make sure they stay put.

5) Don't just go for the lowest quote that you receive. 
I've seen this SO many times in my line of work. Couples shop around a few florists and choose the lowest budget one, without much comparison as to what is going into that quote. If there is a large price difference between quotes, then chances are REALLY good that you are not looking at comparable proposals in the slightest bit. A personal story:

Several years ago, I quoted a couple on the wedding of their dreams. We were slightly over their budget, but we had EVERYTHING included that they could have wanted, all of the little "extras" that they were hoping for. They were so happy with the quote, and I was astonished a few days later to find out that they decided to go with another shop. This shop wasn't known for doing weddings at all, let alone doing a nice job of weddings. They also weren't charging tax, which is a major red flag in my opinion (if a business isn't charging you tax, it means that they're not running their business legally. Is that really who you want to be dealing with? What other areas of their business are they running in a shady way?). That being said, I wasn't surprised to get a call 5 weeks before their wedding begging us to take their wedding again. Why? They had realized that the quote from this other shop, which was marginally less than what we had quoted, was not at ALL comparable to what we were proposing to them. A mock up of a $100 centrepiece that was a measly single white hydrangea and feather in a tall glass made them quickly realize that they hadn't done their proper research, and they'd just looked at the lower price tag. This is the perfect example of over-promising and under-delivering, which is totally unacceptable (and yes, we took their wedding on and did an awesome job of it - and there are lots of great, reputable shops in Winnipeg who would do their absolute best to help you if this is the situation you find yourself in).

When you're comparing different florists, it's much more important that you chose someone who you feel really understands the vision you have for your wedding, and will complement it with great floral designs. Choose the company who got you excited about the flower planning and whose work you love. That florist will be able to make the best suggestions to you on how to get the most of your wedding flower budget.

5) Be flexible. 
This probably should have been tip 1, because it's really the most important of them all. If you're concerned about your flower budget, whether it's $500 or $5000, the best thing that you can do to help yourself is to be flexible. Presenting a list of demands to your florist and requiring that he or she fits it into your budget will rarely work in your favour. Instead, I'd suggest that you tell your florist what you're drawn to and what you'd ideally love to see as a general style overview, and then allow her to create an overall plan for you. You might not see flowers filling every table, but you could end up with some of the tables having lush, gorgeous arrangements that make an enormous spotlight with scaled back designs on the other tables - and still within your budget.

This wedding is the perfect example of "be flexib le." The bride, who lived out of town and wanted to minimize her planning stress, told me what her overall vision was, gave me a good idea of her style, and was clear on what budget she was comfortable spending. She knew exactly what she was comfortable spending (and it was a realistic number) but didn’t nitpick the details, which allowed me to make the best decisions for her budget. she let me come up with the entire design plan and we ended up with such a good setup!

Photos by Kamp Photography / Planning by Soiree Event Planning / Venue Smith Restaurant

---

Need more help? Here are some of my favourite budget posts that I mentioned earlier: 

Lise and Brad's Dreamy Brunch Wedding

I cannot tell you all enough how awesome Lise and Brad's dreamy brunch wedding at Cielo's Garden was. It was on a Sunday morning in late May, and they clearly spent a lot of time identifying what was important to them because every little bit of their wedding was impeccable - but it wasn't the typical wedding! First of all, brunch. BRUNCH, people! The menu (catered by Stella's) looked phenomenal, the donut bar smelled unbelievable (I didn't really care for donuts much before I had to go gluten-free, and now? Now I want them all the time), and so many more details that went into creating a whimsical, enjoyable atmosphere. 

Ariana Tennyson Photography ~ Cielo's Garden ~ Stella's ~ Bronuts

Lise had beautiful ideas for her wedding. When she first inquired about her wedding date, she described her dream wedding as a whimsical garden party, based off the midsummer celebrations in Scandinavian countries. Her ideal would have been to have a Maypole - and I loved it all! She had a soft palette of light corals and peaches, with lots of whites and greens. She wanted to keep her personal flowers on the lighter side, and bring in those corals and peaches in the decor. So, we kept her bouquets all white and green, tucked a bit of peach into her flower crown, and had a little more fun with the colours in the decor flowers. 

Bridal bouquet ingredients: We kept Lise's bouquet VERY simple. White ranunculus and white peonies were the only blooms, while olive foliage, spiral eucalyptus, silver dollar eucalyptus, and leather leaf fern rounded it out.

We weren't originally going to add any flowers to the chapel, so as to keep the focus on a hanging installation planned for the reception tent, but as we got closer to the wedding, Lise's vision changed. She asked me to come up with something that would tie it all together and feel fitting. You'll read more about the Maypole-inspired design I planned for the reception a little further down, but for the ceremony, I decided to keep it along the same vein while changing it up a bit. Knowing Lise loves a whimsical feel, I thought that hanging strands of flowers and ribbons would be a simple backdrop for the ceremony that would pack a lot of visual punch. And I LOVE the way it came together. Simply hung, in several shades of peach, pink and coral, the ribbon streamers and carnation strands were a cost-effective option that looked amazing!

Over at the reception, Lise wanted to keep the guest tables on the simpler side so that we could have a lot of fun with a focal point: I chose to do a fun floral chandelier positioned over the head table, as a sort of take on a Maypole design. We obviously couldn't add a full Maypole into the tent, but I thought this was a pretty cool way to interpret it! There is something about hanging, dripping flowers that I just LOVE so I couldn't have been happier with the way this piece became the focal point for the room. I chose to alternate strands of carnations, strands of roses, and ribbon streamers. The guest tables were kept really simple, with stem vases lining the tables with alternating stems of pink and peach blooms or greenery sprigs.

Here's the original sketch I dreamed up to convince Lise that this would be a cool idea :) 

Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?

Getting married in Manitoba? Whether it's a whimsical garden party inspired celebration or a formal ballroom fete, I think flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Maybe you already have a specific vision or you might want me to dream up something custom just for you - either way, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding! 

Limited fall 2019 wedding dates remain available. Click below to check your date!

Emily and Adam's Romantic Pineridge Hollow Wedding

Emily made such a beautiful bride, and has such great style - as evidenced in the romantic wedding at Pineridge Hollow she planned for herself and Adam! One of my favourite things about their wedding was the palette I got to work with: light but still moody, elegant, and somewhat dramatic. Neutral but still interesting! And I LOVE that Emily chose a soft, dove grey wedding gown!

Kamp Photography ~ Pineridge Hollow ~ Buttercream by Alareen

Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Earl Grey rose (such a lovely, delicately tinged rose that's almost white but is slightly grey/lavender), plum ranunculus and scabiosa, locally grown anemones, iris and foxglove, yarrow, stock, and sweet pea along with mixed foliages including foxglove and Israeli ruscus.

The freckles on the foxglove worked as the perfect transition between the softer tones and the plum, and the addition of the peachy pink yarrow and the stock just added some more femininity. The locally grown iris was a last-minute find at my wholesaler that I'm sure I'll never be able to get again, and technically I hadn't budgeted for it but I just had to include it! It was the perfect shade of softest blue that tinged more towards the grey and was perfect with her dress. I finished the bouquet with trailing grey ribbons, in silk and pleated satin. I loved this bouquet!

Emily also asked for a floral crown for herself. I made it with soft pink and white spray roses and yarrow, and it looked really lovely on her. It just added to the feminine, romantic vibe she was going for.

The reception was at Pineridge Hollow. Emily chose long tables (if this is the way you go, just keep in mind that their tables are very narrow!) and collected a variety of mismatched antique china teacups for centrepieces. I loved the petite arrangements that I got to do in them - soft pinks and lavender tones, with mostly locally grown flowers. A bonus to this day was that I ran into my sister and her daughters while setting up, and my little nieces so desperately wanted to help me set up the wedding! It was the cutest thing - my 4 year old niece Penny went straight to my flower box and started pulling out centrepieces and carrying them over to tables. Not to be outdone, 9 year old Lily very quickly came to my aid as well!

Buttercream by Alareen provided the cutting cake, and I had so much fun adding the fresh flowers to it. This picture below is a little sideways - the flowers cascaded down the front, with ivy trailing with them. Every baker has different preferences about whether or not they want to add the flowers themselves to the wedding cakes, but I'm perfectly happy to do it. I'm totally comfortable making the stems foodsafe and I'm a bit paranoid when it comes down to it - I don't want any flower "juices" making their way into your delicious cake, let alone any chemicals that might on the blooms themselves.

Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?

Getting married in Manitoba? I might be biased, but flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding! 

Limited summer 2019 wedding dates remain available. Click below to check your date!

Planning Your Wedding Long Distance

Planning your wedding long distance? A lot of couples get a little worried, thinking that planning their wedding, set in Winnipeg, from somewhere else is going to make it a lot harder on them. And here's the thing: it can be harder, but it doesn't have to be. And I'm happy to help! 

Sure, there will be differences in your planning, depending on where you're planning from and if you're able to travel back to Winnipeg at any point throughout your engagement process. You might not be able to visit your venue in person or have a menu tasting, you might not be able to interview your photographer in person, you might need to transport your dress! But the flowers? The flowers can still be easy! 

I've worked with couples planning their Winnipeg weddings from around Canada and throughout the world! Along with living across Manitoba, some of my couples have hailed from: 
Nunavut
Saskatchewan
Alberta
British Columbia
Ontario
New Brunswick
Seattle, Washington
New York City
New Zealand
England
China
Ireland

How to Plan Your Wedding Flowers Long Distance

Whenever I get an inquiry from someone who is not local to me, the process changes a little bit, but not a ton. Here's how it goes: 

1) Instead of an in-person preliminary appointment, we'll schedule one for Skype or Facetime! We can also do it over the phone, but I prefer to be able to talk with you and look at you at the same time. It gives me a better feel for your personality and your style. For an in-person appointment, I'll ask you to prepare by bringing along colour swatches and inspiration photos. If we're meeting over Skype or Facetime, I'll ask for those things in advance, along with a general list of everything we'll be talking about. It helps me to be more prepared and get a good feel for what you're looking for - which is particularly important because Wifi connections can be a little spotty sometimes.

2) After we wrap up our conversation and I feel like I have a good understanding of your vision and your style, I'll move on to the proposal process. Usually during an in-person consultation, I like to show examples of different flower varieties that I think you'll love. I always include a digital flower board in my proposals so that you can get a visual for what I'm planning and I think this is helpful to ensure you understand how I'm suggesting we interpret your plans for the wedding. I'll also include a breakdown of everything that we discussed, as well as copy of my standard contract. If needed, I'll include pictures of vases and rentals to complete your look. 

3) From here on out, everything is basically the exact same as if you were planning in town! We'll communicate via email to make any necessary adjustments to your proposal, and you can sign your contract and make payments online. Easy! After your date is officially booked, unless there are major revisions that need to be made, you can consider me all good to go until 1 month prior to the wedding, at which point I'll follow up to confirm that everything is still correct. Once we're confirmed, I'll place your flower order and we'll be all set! 

When it comes down to it, I really just want to make this process as easy and enjoyable for you - and if you're planning from afar, I think you'll find that a LOT of Winnipeggers are like this. Many of our local wedding industry business owners have fantastic reputations and we just want you to have an awesome wedding! Earlier this spring, I worked with a couple from BC who were planning a fairly last-minute wedding due to family health issues. They remarked that if they were getting married in BC, they thought that there was no chance they would have been able to pull together as great of a wedding with as great of an experience. Our city has some pretty good people in it!

---

Looking for a wedding florist in Winnipeg?

So, getting married in Manitoba? I might be biased, but flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. No matter where you're planning from, I'm going to make this as easy and enjoyable as possible for you, culminating in a gorgeous floral experience for your wedding day!

Limited summer 2019 wedding dates remain available. Click below to check your date!