Feminine Garden-Inspired Wedding at Pineridge Hollow
Meredith and Dylan’s wedding at Pineridge Hollow was such a sweet, feminine day with a garden-inspired style. What I remember from when I sat down with her was that she really wanted the flowers to soften the inside of the tent, and make it feel like an outdoor garden party. We planned a few different ways to bring the outdoors in and kept everything really soft, pretty and girly!
Camryn Elizabeth Weddings ~ Pineridge Hollow ~ Buttercream by Alareen
Meredith’s bouquet was feminine, fragrant, and ruffled with a bit of a whimsy. I loved the pastel lavender accents mixed in with the soft pink and cream palette.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: White o’hara garden roses, lisianthus, larkspur, stock, yarrow, scabiosa, veronica, and nagi foliage.
We also did a hair piece for each of the women - I decided to do them all on combs so that however each of the girls chose to wear their hair, the floral could be easily tucked in. Aren’t they so cute?
I love this outdoor space at Pineridge Hollow! I think they call it their woodland area, and it’s such a lovely ceremony spot (though it’s always been SUPER HOT every time I’ve been there…just a head’s up - I think this spot gets a lot of sun!). The couple provided the arch and the drapery, and we designed the airy and light floral piece on-site (it’s always a treat to be able to do this!) and added the greenery bouquets to the aisle.
One of the statements we wanted to make at the reception was at the head table. I love creating hanging installations and I think there’s no better way to bring the outdoors in. This piece was whimsical, airy, and really natural. It was built on a branch that I scoured all spring for (I have a bit of a branch hoarding tendency), using moss, airy plumosa fern, and larkspur - all chosen for their lightness!
I also built a greenery installation at the tent opening so that when guests walked in, they were greeted with a feeling of the outdoors. You can sort of see it in the picture below :) We did a few different centrepiece styles, all with candles added, and I also added fresh flowers to their cute little cutting cake.
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
My 2020 waitlist has already been started, and couples interested in full event and floral design will be contacted first about their dates. I offer a limited number of dates for event design each year, in order to allow me to work closely with each couple. Combining event and floral design is the perfect option for couples who live out of town, or couples who feel they need a little extra help in creating the visual plan for their wedding day. Click this link to learn more!
Jenn and Bill's Garden-Inspired Wedding at Cielo's Garden
Ah, Jenn and Bill’s wedding day. It was SUCH a good day. Late August (the day before my birthday, in fact!) is a gooood time for a wedding because it’s not QUITE as hot as the rest of summer and the weather is basically always perfect. Except that it actually rained throughout the evening of their wedding - which I’m telling you, has NEVER HAPPENED ON MY BIRTHDAY BEFORE. So I may or may not have told them that they’d have perfect weather and I may or may not have come out looking like a liar.
BUT, this garden-inspired wedding at Cielo’s Garden was one of my favourites of the year. A unique take on a purple palette with some of the most subtle combinations (you’ve heard me say before that I think ultra-violet is one of the most offensive colours of all time but this? This take on purple was gooooood), flowers literally everywhere, and a light and airy feel that just made this wedding feel special. I would happily re-live this day over and over again!
Moore Photography (plus some of my iphone photos)~ Amanda Douglas Events ~ Cielo’s Garden ~ Cocoa Beans Bakeshop ~ C&T Rentals
This bridal bouquet was one of my favourites! I felt like it was such a unique take on the colour palette and I really, really loved the combination that I got to use. The colour and texture depths were really lovely.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: early grey roses, menta roses, amnesia roses, pink stock, white larkspur, locally grown white sweet pea, black pearl lisianthus (drool!) and scabiosa, with mixed eucalyptus and foaged foliages. I finished it with this gorgeous mauve Stella Wolfe ribbon that I’d been hoarding all year.
Working with Jenn was one of the best experiences I’ve had as a wedding floral designer. Why? Because she trusted me SO much. She loved my style, and she knew that with her busy life AND the fact that she doesn’t live in Winnipeg anymore, she decided to just hand over the reigns and chose not to worry about anything. That made this wedding a dream for both her and me! Outside of just flowers, she asked me for vendor recommendations (helllloooooo gluten free desserts!!) and when I suggested that she consider hiring a month-of wedding coordinator, she trusted me on that, too. I actually always recommend that couples getting married at a venue like Cielo’s Garden, where there isn’t a banquet coordinator on-site (like you’d find at a hotel or a golf course), always hire at least a month-of coordinator. There’s no need for you to have to run your entire reception when you could be enjoying it!
Is there such a thing as TOO much trust? Ha! Jenn trusted me so much that she actually didn’t bother to review her flower order because she knew that I had it all under control…except she forgot that she had added a bridesmaid since the last time we talked! 😂There were a few stressful moments when that was figured out - I was working on the ceremony instal in the chapel and the wedding coordinator asked where the 5th bridesmaid bouquet was. “What 5th bridesmaid?” was my response. It actually worked out really well - I stopped working on the chapel instal, the couple did their first look photos in the chapel, and I took flowers out of the buckets that were ear-marked for the ceremony arch and sat on the ground outside and whipped together another bouquet! Ironically, that was the one day I chose to take extra ribbon OUT of my tool bag since I wouldn’t need it, but the wedding coordinator had some bits and pieces that I could use. By the time the first look photos were finished, so was that bouquet! I was also very sweaty - ha!
I’m sure you could guess without too much effort why this ceremony design was one of my favourites of the entire year! I always love coming up with different ideas to implement for ceremony spaces, and especially when it’s such a beautifully blank canvas as Cielo’s Garden is. Creating a freestanding, deconstructed arch had been on my design wishlist for a while after seeing some similar styles on Instagram, so when I suggested it to Jenn, I was pretty pumped that she loved the idea. She really let me just do whatever I wanted! I decided to use the same ingredients as the bouquets (which was very lucky when I had to create that extra bridesmaid bouquet!).
The reception was also full of beautiful things! Literally flowers everywhere! I was so impressed with the level of detail that Jenn brought considering that she lived out of town throughout the entire planning. The gorgeous rose gold and copper place setting details were from C&T Rentals and though you can’t see it too well, the vases that the centrepieces were in are also copper, which I felt really complemented the floral palette nicely! We also tucked in flowers throughout the guest book table are, the bar, and of course, on the cake. I am a bit of a fan of flowers, flowers, everywhere :) And then they also brought the ceremony arrangements and placed them behind the head table, which looked so pretty!
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
My 2020 waitlist has already been started, and couples interested in full event and floral design will be contacted first about their dates. I offer a limited number of dates for event design each year, in order to allow me to work closely with each couple. Combining event and floral design is the perfect option for couples who live out of town, or couples who feel they need a little extra help in creating the visual plan for their wedding day. Click this link to learn more!
2019 and 2020 Wedding Trends
Happy New Year, friends! I’m writing to you from my maternity leave :) I’ll still have fresh content coming to you every few weeks (don’t worry…I pre-scheduled it all before baby came so I’m not actually working that much right now!) - I just didn’t want to leave you hanging. I always love to start off the year with a post about the upcoming wedding trends that I see and really like.
I’ll start this off by saying that I actually really DON’T like “trends.” I’ve never really liked shopping in the trendy stores for whatever style is in that month, for the reason that I’m more of a quality over quantity person. Most of the time, things that are earmarked as “trends” are styles and ideas that are mass-marketed (meaning, everyone is going to have them and they’re not special anymore), cheaply made (why would I spend money on something that is going to go in the trash?), and will likely generate a response from you in just a few short months or years wondering “why on earth did I do that?” When it comes to your wedding, I firmly believe in quality over quantity and I never want someone to look back on their wedding and think “Why did I choose THAT for my wedding?”
So all that to say, you can feel rest assured that when I write about the trends that I see, they’re more general style movements that will have lasting power and you’re not likely to regret choosing for one of the most important days of your life. I’m also mostly concerned about trends that play into your wedding flowers or overall event design. With that said, here are some of the “trends” that I am seeing a lot of, or would like to see more of, which I think would be a beautiful addition to your 2019 or 2020 wedding!
Wedding Colour of the Year: Mauve
This is hardly surprising. We’re moving into a slightly deeper, moodier take on the most popular tone of the last few years, blush. But like blush, mauve can be interpreted in more than one way. It can read pinkier, more purple/lavender, or more taupe-like depending on what direction you want to take it - I personally see mauve more as a muddy purple tone but I know a lot of florists who see it more pink. So, just be sure to have some picture or colour swatch representation to make sure that all of your aesthetic wedding vendors are on the same page when it comes to understanding your wishes for mauve.
Favourite flowers in mauve: amnesia rose, cappuccino rose, cafe latte rose, frittillaria, roseanne brown lisianthus
Mauve pairs well with an analogous colour palette, which means a grouping of 3 colours that sit right beside each on the colour wheel. So, shades of pinks, purples, and peaches, as an example, would allow mauve to be the perfect base colour.
Honourable Mention for Colour of the Year: Orange!
Yes, I’m surprising myself when I say this, seeing as orange has always been right at the bottom of my list. But, I’m seeing more and more of it being tucked in as an accent colour to weddings, bringing a shot of vibrancy that many of my couples seem to be craving. Even more surprising, I’m finding that I don’t hate it…but actually kind of like it!
Take a look at the Marchesa gown below, shot by KT Merry for Flutter Mag - orange is not the primary colour by any stretch of the imagination, but it plays a supporting role that awakens the other tones mixed throughout the gown. I have a wedding coming up this year with a similar palette that I CANNOT wait for!
I personally like to see orange used as an accent, as I often find it too aggressive as a focal colour. It pairs beautifully with blue, red, yellow, green, and anything in the peaches to coral range.
Don’t Miss Trend: Touches of the Tropics
If you follow any large-name floral and wedding designers on Instagram, I’m confident that you’ll have noticed one of the more recent trends that I’m saying you can’t miss: a touch of the tropics. I’m talking a dramatic usage of large palm leaves, ferns (both natural and bleached), and tropical flowers like anthuriums or orchids. Now, you don’t need to go all the way with a rainforest-inspired wedding (though I’m definitely not knocking that!) and you can easily work a tropical accent into a garden-inspired design.
Floral Design by Oh Flora (follow her for some gorgeous inspiration!), Photo by Lana Ivanova
Wedding Planning by Amorology, Floral Design by Isa Floral
Floral design by Nectar & Bloom
What’s Trending in Table Decor? Floral Centrepieces!
I’m pretty pleased to see a return to more floral-heavy centrepieces in the coming year. I’m seeing fewer and fewer requests for garlands, which I have to say I’m happy about - as much as garlands are gorgeous, they get pretty repetitive for us florists. My clients are typically asking for arrangements that are low to the table, as opposed to tall ones, and sometimes asking for styles in which you can’t even see the vase. Of course, just be prepared that a floral arrangement will have a price tag on it. I typically suggest a minimum of $75 for a floral centrepiece, with most of the inspiration photos that people are bringing me from Pinterest coming in around $300 each (generally I find a $125 - $175 budget to be PERFECT).
Photo by Laura Foote Photography, Florals by me!
…And Coloured Candles
I’d love to see more of my clients adding depth to their tablescapes with the use of coloured candles. A subtle taupe elevates the sense of elegance in a space, a petal pink emphasizes femininity, a warm toffee adds richness, a charcoal grey feels chic and big-city. See what I mean? So much depth can be brought to your overall reception design with the simple tweak that is a coloured candle. These are always going to be more expensive than your typical white candle, but I think it’s a worthwhile investment. Some of my favourite sources for coloured candles are Yummi (which is a Canadian brand, and in my opinion, the best!), Creative Candles, and Quick Candles. The set below is from The Floral Society (they recently started selling at Anthropologie!) and I LOVE them!
So there you have it: Some of my favourite “trends” for the 2019 and 2020 wedding season! I’d love to incorporate some of these design ideas into my work so if you see something you like, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m a believer that a design style has to be in keeping with the setting that the wedding is taking place in, so it might be tricky to tuck in bits of orange if you’re getting married in a ballroom with a burgundy palette, but let’s talk :)
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
My 2020 waitlist has already been started, and couples interested in full event and floral design will be contacted first about their dates. I offer a limited number of dates for event design each year, in order to allow me to work closely with each couple. Combining event and floral design is the perfect option for couples who live out of town, or couples who feel they need a little extra help in creating the visual plan for their wedding day. Click this link to learn more!
English Garden Themed Wedding at St Charles Country Club
I love a classic wedding every once in a while! Alexis told me that she wanted an ethereal English-garden themed wedding, with a ballet pink and sage green colour palette. I loved the antique floral inspiration and how Alexis was drawn to ruffly, big roses. The wedding came together really easily because she had such a clear vision of her style and I don’t think it could have been prettier!
Charmaine Mallari Photography ~ St Charles Country Club ~ Taylor Neufeld Hair ~ Colour Me Artistry
For her wedding bouquet, Alexis didn’t want anything too perfectly shaped but also not too wild - just that perfect English garden mix. I used multiple varieties of roses and garden roses to achieve that full, ruffled look she was after and then tucked in some of my other favourites!
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: White o’hara garden roses, faith roses, quicksand roses, locally grown foxglove and white sweet pea with trailing ivy and eucalyptus.
The reception space was kept fairly simple - since St Charles renovated their banquet room a few seasons ago, it’s become a really lovely, clean backdrop for this type of style. Look at all of that natural light! We decided to do a floral arrangement on each table after looking at some candle options as well, all set in these sweet little stone urns I have. I love the slightly worn patina - it lends itself so well to that garden feel. I tucked a little more green into these centrepieces with the Bells of Ireland, along with the prettiest locally grown phlox and snap dragons. I love using locally grown flowers as much as I can during the summer! And early August is the BEST time - those gardens are fully in bloom with all sorts of great stuff.
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
My 2020 waitlist has already been started, and couples interested in full event and floral design will be contacted first about their dates. I offer a limited number of dates for event design each year, in order to allow me to work closely with each couple. Combining event and floral design is the perfect option for couples who live out of town, or couples who feel they need a little extra help in creating the visual plan for their wedding day. Click this link to learn more!
Maternity Leave Announcement
I’ve been keeping a secret!
I don’t usually share too much of the personal side of my life here - ask me about my business, and I’m an open book, but for a multitude of reasons, I’ve always felt hesitant to share too much about my life on the world wide web, especially now that someone else’s privacy is thrown into the mix. But, my husband, Chad, and I are very excited that baby is coming January 2019 (or maybe a little earlier but I’m keeping my legs crossed for January!). Needless to say, there will be come changes in the coming months.
Maternity Leave Details
Starting this week, my mat leave officially begins! I’ll be monitoring my email until the baby shows up, and will then be taking a FULL maternity leave through the end of March. I recognize with gratitude how much of a blessing this dedicated time with the baby will be, and am so happy that even as a self-employed person, I’ll be able to take this time off. During this time I will not be responding to any emails (in fact, my contact form will be turned off). I will begin limited office hours in April and plan to begin meeting with 2020 prospective clients who are already on my waitlist at this point.
Details for 2019 Current Clients
If you are planning a 2019 wedding and are already one of my clients, please feel free to email me directly if anything major comes up. Please title your email MAJOR UPDATE and when I’m back in the office in April, your email will be prioritized (major changes would be things like change of date, cancellation, etc). I may be checking my emails once in a while while I’m on mat leave, but I don’t want to guarantee that before I know what it’s actually like to be a mom! If you have a minor update (table number changes, colour palette change, change in the number of bridal party persons you have, etc) these things can all wait until closer to the wedding. I WILL STILL BE IN TOUCH WITH EACH OF YOU 1 MONTH PRIOR TO THE WEDDING, AS NORMAL. Your payment schedules will not change, though I may forget to click “send” on your invoices so those may once in a while be a little delayed. Blame the baby :)
If you are planning a 2019 wedding and are not yet booked with me, please note that May through September are fully booked and I have zero availability. October and December have limited dates available and I always love the chance to get creative with different seasonal palettes and ingredients! If you’re comfortable waiting to officially book your flowers until the springtime when I begin office hours, please email me at info@stonehouseweddings.com with the subject line “2019 WEDDING - your wedding date” so I can make sure to prioritize your email when I return.
Details for Prospective 2020 Clients
My waitlist for 2020 wedding dates is already open! If you wish to have your wedding date placed on the list, please email me directly to info@stonehouseweddings.com with the subject line “2020 WAIT LIST - your wedding date” so I can make sure to pop you onto my list efficiently during the limited windows of time I’ll have while baby naps.
In the body of your email, please include the following details: date of wedding, wedding venue locations, your email address and phone number, the number of bridesmaids and groomsmen you anticipate, your estimated guest count, your estimated wedding flower budget, whether you are interested in floral design only OR if you’re interested in adding on Event Design services as well, along with some details about your vision and ideas for the wedding! If you have a Pinterest board, you can include this link here as well.
Prospective 2020 clients will be added to my waitlist in the order in which the requests are received, and you will be contacted in April/May to set up your complimentary floral appointment so I can begin the proposal process for you. Please note that I do require a minimum floral investment of $2000, with a suggested budget of $3000+ to achieve the look that I find most of my clients desire. Some exceptions may be made for intimate weddings, and clients who are adding on Event Design (typically a $2250 investment on top of their floral budget) may receive first priority of date (though I cannot always guarantee this), as I have limited availability for these services.
My 2019 wedding season begins in May, and while I’m taking on fewer weddings this year than I typically have in the past, I am SO excited for the amazing designs and celebrations that are already planned. I don’t anticipate that you will notice a change in my services aside from a slightly longer email response time, and once in a while, you might see a little baby strapped to my chest on your wedding day ;) I do have a great team prepared to help me with weddings again this year, so don’t worry: you will be in the same excellent hands as always! While my priorities will be shifting a bit, rest assured that caring for my clients and my business will always be one of the things that I love doing the most.
My husband and I have to say an enormous thank you to our friend Brittany Mahood for the blessing that is these photos. We went out to Birds Hill Park on a VERY cold day in October and had such a great time. Neither of us is very good at actually taking photos in our everyday lives, so having Brittany capture this very overwhelming time in our lives in such a beautiful way is an incredible gift. Winnipeg, you have NO idea how lucky you are that this world-class photographer is one of ours. If you’re still looking for your wedding photographer, book her. I promise you’ll love your photos.
I also want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout this pregnancy and the kind and excited words that I’ve received from clients and vendor friends as well. Mama friends, especially mom-preneur friends, your advice and feedback on everything from bottles to maternity leave structure has been invaluable. At the beginning, I didn’t think this pregnancy would ever end and now that I’m suddenly close to that point, I feel so much more prepared because of all of your help and guidance.
And, the world’s biggest thank you to my freelance/lead designer, Deanna. I am quite confident that I would not have been able to make it through the early days of this wedding season without her! In the beginning, I was so tired and so slow and she made sure everything happened. In the middle, I was less tired but still so slow 😂and she did such a beautiful job (as she would have anyways!). And in the late days, when I started getting enormous and realized just how much bending my job entails, she packed the van and did all the heavy lifting and climbed all the ladders. Deanna, you are so amazing and I am so blessed to have you on my team. Thank you THANK YOU for working with me!
Extra special thanks to Jessica Kmiec Artistry and Hair by Dana for making me feel so good this day!