Colourful Elopement in Assiniboine Park
I’ve known Vanessa for a very long time. We first “officially” met on set a photoshoot when I worked for a bridal magazine and Vanessa was modelling for us…except I found out she was only 14 and somehow was modelling as a bride. Excuse me? But then we got to talking and it turned out we went to the same elementary school, and I think my mom was her teacher.
Fast-forward a few years, and Vanessa was interested in working with flowers. She interned for me one summer, learning some of the basics of wedding flowers and starting a cool friendship.
I was so honoured when she asked me to design for her elopement to Richard.
I’ve known Vanessa for a very long time. We first “officially” met on set a photoshoot when I worked for a bridal magazine and Vanessa was modelling for us…except I found out she was only like 15 and somehow was modelling as a bride. Excuse me? But then we got to talking and it turned out we went to the same elementary school, and I think my mom was her teacher.
Fast-forward a few years, and Vanessa was interested in working with flowers. She interned for me one summer, learning some of the basics of wedding flowers and starting a cool friendship.
I was so honoured when she asked me to design for her elopement to Richard.
Photos by Kass Donaldson
“As a florist, flowers played a huge role in our wedding. And no could have pulled through on my vision better than Lauren.
I’ve known Lauren since I was 16 and I told her she was going to do my wedding flowers when I was 19. Lauren is the reason I became a florist myself!
Our colour palette was very intentional. Touches of red to honour ‘Red’decopp. Touches of lilac to honour my childhood obsession with purple. Pinks and oranges to harmonize with our gingery complexions. Lauren was also able to include feverfew daisies to honour our daughter, Daisy. And of course, it all stood out so well against the dark green fluffy forest backdrop.
They were perfect in every way.”
- Vanessa
I wanted to use a lot of locally grown flowers for Vanessa, which I often find is the best way to blend a vibrant colour palette.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Locally grown lisianthus, dahlias, cosmos, scabiosa, feverfew, sweet pea, and zinnias, with a few imported ranunculus and I think 1 single rose.
I am so enticed by a true elopement, and I think it’s incredible when a couple truly honours what they dream of for their wedding. Vanessa and Richard really dreamed of just a few of their closest friends to be there with them — there were literally just 2 witnesses and 1 officiant/friend (my darling Erika, who’s getting married next year!!).
That didn’t stop them from going for it. Vanessa had a custom-made gown from Cathy Wiebe, they hired their favourite photographer (Kass Donaldson), and found the perfect spot in Assiniboine Park to tuck themselves away in. After they exchanged their vows, they all shared dinner at a favourite restaurant.
We decided to design 1 ground-based floral piece for their ceremony — we obviously didn’t have a need to go over the top in any way, but their elopement was in mid-September and you can never be sure what will still be growing in Assiniboine Park at that time! The jolt of colour the flowers brought in were just so perfect for Vanessa. She’s a colour-lover, just like me :)
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
We love working on weddings of all sizes, creating magic just for you. Reach out to inquire about your date availability!
Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to find out how we can create the perfect ambiance for your wedding.
Maximalist Chic Museum Wedding at Alloway Hall
From the first email from Ashley to me, I was excited. I couldn’t wait to take her maximalist chic meets art gallery vibes at the Manitoba Museum (Alloway Hall) and make it all come to life through the flowers!
This wedding had literally everything I could ever ask for: phenomenal colour, delicious floral ingredients (soooo much sweet pea and oncidium orchids!), an interesting venue and challenging design elements, and a chic, caring client who was just thrilling to work with. A total dream day ✨
From the first email from Ashley to me, I was excited. I couldn’t wait to take her maximalist chic meets art gallery vibes at the Manitoba Museum (Alloway Hall) and make it all come to life through the flowers!
This wedding had literally everything I could ever ask for: phenomenal colour, delicious floral ingredients (soooo many sweet pea and oncidium orchids!), an interesting venue and challenging design elements, and a chic, caring client who was just thrilling to work with. A total dream day ✨
Photo and Video by Picture & Poet
BRIDAL BOUQUET OF MY DREAMS. Fluffy, lightweight yet still with some fullness to compliment her full skirt, soft pastels with a pop of brightness, and alllll of the sweet pea (my personal favourite flower). For the bridesmaids, we went with a simpler, chic, petite posey style bouquet, with similar florals to the bridal bouquet — stock, ranunculus, and sweet pea.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Sweet pea, Icelandic poppies, ranunculus, oncidium orchids, stock, and phalaenopsis orchids.
I always love a room reveal. I rarely get to be part of it, so the excitement on your face when you see your vision completely come to life is always so much fun for me. I’ll probably tear up along with you, give you a hug, and possibly fix your sweaty hair if you need it ❤️
This was the indoor ceremony of my dreams! Sunlight flooding in, beautiful draping and a crisp white setting, and tons of colourful florals. Lush pieces moving down the aisle, with lots of height and texture, and a delicious chuppah with slightly colour-blocked florals. I love that the overall design achieves the maximalist meets art gallery vibe.
We did a lot of work behind the scenes, prior to the wedding, to make sure that everything we envisioned was possible. Alli carefully crafted a floor plan that would allow functional flow both for guests, and for the crew working behind the scenes.
In the photo below, you see that the back wall of the ceremony space was draped, with a curtain opening. What you don’t see from this angle is the wall of drapery completely cordoning off the reception space, so that guests didn’t wander into the reception instead of the ceremony and lose the impact. Instead, they entered through a romantic partially draped tunnel, with the guest book and kippah table at the start, that exited into this stunning ceremony scene. Guests entered their rows around the sides so the white aisle runner stayed crisp for Ashley’s entrance, which came through the draped curtain opening.
While the ceremony was going on, Deanna and I were cutting up all the fruit that would be placed on the guest tables. We wanted to keep them as fresh looking as possible and it worked great.
Post-ceremony, there was a LOT of work happening quietly while the guests enjoyed cocktail hour with signature cocktails and a whiskey bar. After guests left the ceremony space, allllll of that drapery came down. We then shifted all of the tables (which were pre-set behind the drape) into position to ready them for the dinner. While this isn’t usually our job, some venues are less hands-on than others, and so my floral team kicked into high gear to assist Alli’s team in making this reception space look amazing. Chairs and tables were moved, and we also flipped all of those gorgeous aisle meadows to the front of the stage so the band had a little extra colour, too.
Working with a client who loves colour this much is incredibly fun. The creative team met several times in the months leading up to the wedding, for venue walk-throughs, as well as a tablescape mockup. I don’t often do mockups (but certainly can if requested!) and I loved it in this case, because it gave us the opportunity to make sure we had the right shades of each colour, and the right amount of each colour, too. Knowing that we’d have the orange patterned table runner added to the long tables, and the lavender patterned circular mat on the round tables, helped us figure out what we wanted to do.
This is a venue that doesn’t allow real candles, so Ashley purchased the lamps and we added some battery operated tealights!
There were so many fun details in this event design. Ashley envisioned it all and Alli exquisitely brought it to fruition. Like this patterned dance floor — isn’t this great? I love the angled check design, and the soft sage and lavender palette. Gorgeous! Obviously we had a lot of fun with the hanging floral piece above the dance floor, as well. I really love the dripping amaranthus and all the joyful colour included.
Hanging pieces like this require a lot of collaborative work — we worked closely with Event Light, who configured the truss rigging and even hung my grid panels so we could go up and safely install the florals without worrying that anything was going to come crashing down (there’s a reason Event Light is on my list of my top 15 wedding vendors in Winnipeg!).
Everything about this day was amazing and I’m incredibly grateful that I was able to be part of it. And, of course, my team did a wonderful job (as always). It made me so happy to see all of us pitching in to help other vendors whose schedules were getting tight (like helping to lay the aisle runner!). Truly, everything about this wedding was just chef’s kiss.* And here’s a bit of wisdom for you: hire vendors who get your style, and let them help you along the way. It’ll work out so much better for you!
Picture & Poet ~ AlLi Mae Events ~ Manitoba Museum ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Spark REntals ~ Creating a Scene ~ Myuz Artistry ~ Event Light ~ Beyond the Lounge ~ Big City All Star Band
looking for a wedding floral designer who can take your over-the-top floral dreams and make it reality?
Look no further 😘 We love working in unique venues like the Manitoba Museum, creating magic in any and every special place. Reach out to inquire about your date availability!
Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to find out how we can create the perfect ambiance for your wedding.
Chic White and Green Tent Wedding near Winnipeg
I designed for more all-white-and-green weddings in 2023 than I have in years. I’m always a little surprised because I’m very vocal about my love for colour, but when I started talking with Kyra, I totally fell in love with her chic vision for their tent wedding at a family property just outside of Winnipeg.
Tent weddings, my friends. There are a lot of potential issues that can come up and I had to roll with a few punches during setup for Kyra and Luke’s wedding (helllloooooo wind — it knocked over quite a few vases, broke just one candle holder, and also knocked out the power in the entire neighbourhood for a few hours). But, it all came together beautifully in the end!
I designed for more all-white-and-green weddings in 2023 than I have in years. I’m always a little surprised because I’m very vocal about my love for colour, but when I started talking with Kyra, I totally fell in love with her chic vision for their tent wedding at a family property just outside of Winnipeg.
Tent weddings, my friends. There are a lot of potential issues that can come up and I had to roll with a few punches during setup for Kyra and Luke’s wedding (helllloooooo wind — it knocked over quite a few vases, broke just one candle holder, and also knocked out the power in the entire neighbourhood for a few hours). But, it all came together beautifully in the end!
Photos: Charmaine Mallari
When Kyra reached out to me, she requested “clean, elegant, white, and bright.” Then she shared a few inspiration images, and a photo of her dress. I immediately fell in LOVE with her dress! It’s SO chic! But, the inspiration photos didn’t live up to her dress and to her vision.
This is one of the things that I always feel a bit awkward with, because I would hate to accidentally communicate something hurtful or that seems judgemental to a client. But at the same time, I think that Pinterest can be a curse because the images that you’re seeing are mostly 5+ years old and have been around the block. And you don’t come to me because you want the same wedding that 14,000 other couples have had. Right? Right.
So, I asked Kyra if it was okay if I took inspiration from her dress to come up with some other ideas for her. Obviously we still wanted to go with the clean, bright, white and green, but modernize the overall design with some interested pieces and textures.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: White dahlias, Playa Blanca roses, ranunculus, and locally grown lisianthus with a few touches of Italian Ruscus.
This family property was STUNNING, and huge. The ceremony was in front of the garden, with the reception tent over on the other side of the house.
For the ceremony, we went with a clean set of white pedestals topped with modern, fluffy white floral arrangements in low white bowls. I clustered the florals for a fresher look, and I love how the low-profile containers elevates the aesthetic and feels a bit more chic than the common urn would.
I love that they did their first look in the ceremony site, and that Charmaine got such a great shot of Kyra’s first glance at the floral arrangements!
Cocktail hour was on the lawn between the ceremony and reception spaces. That was another spot where I had to get creative due to the wind. We were supposed to have some petite floral arrangements on the cocktail tables, but there wasn’t a chance they were going to stay put. I pivoted, placing those inside the tent, and instead taking some extra greenery and wrapping them around the cocktail table linens. We still got a little something at cocktail hour, but didn’t have to worry about glass toppling over and breaking.
The reception was in a clear tent, and we also dealt with some fun (not fun) wind situations inside the tent. Wind really does suck. I can deal with rain, I can deal with bugs, but wind…we just have to shift a lot of plans when the wind picks up. But, if it weren’t windy that day, it would have been like 40 degrees celcius so it actually kept us a lot more comfortable. You win some, you lose some!
Inside the tent, I was originally intending to do a good amount of fresh vine on the chandeliers. But due to wind, and to the shape and size of the chandeliers, I ended up with a lot left over. Rather than waste the remaining vine, I added it to the tent straps at the entrance.
The guest tables alternated centrepiece styles: half with a fuller floral arrangement in a modern vase and fluttery textures, and the rest with a clustering of chic ribbed glass stem vases and mixed pillar and votive candles in great containers. The vases and candleholders we use make a huge difference in elevating your style, friends! I take great pride in sourcing modern and stylish vessels so we can make your designs as beautiful as possible.
“I will never get over the flowers 🥹🤍 Thank you for exceeding my flower dreams!” - Kyra
Charmaine Mallari Photography ~ Kayla Lagos Weddings & Events ~ DEnis Et Jean Louis Catering ~ EPH Weddings ~ Bliss BRidal Boutique ~ Azazie ~ Alana Veert Beauty ~ Collective Event rentals ~ Bark Wedding Date ~ mobile bartender Winnipeg
Looking for a Wedding Floral Designer in Winnipeg?
Tent weddings have a few more logistics to deal with, and we know how to roll with the punches!
Whether it’s an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, chic ceremony backdrops, and elevated floral centrepieces and decor to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
How to Have Sustainable Wedding Flowers in Manitoba
It should come as no surprise to you that weddings as a whole can be rather wasteful events. After all, most weddings are very large parties with large guest lists, so even if there’s just a bit of waste per guest, anything times 150 guests adds up pretty quickly.
It might, however, come as a surprise to you that the floral industry can be very wasteful. From huge amounts of plastic packaging, to all of the environmental harm caused by chemicals in large scale farming, to the ramifications of shipping flowers from all over the world, and more…there’s a lot of room for improvement.
I know that many of us are actively looking for ways to reduce our footprint and waste. Our weddings don’t have to sacrifice that!
How to Have Sustainable Wedding Flowers
It should come as no surprise to you that weddings as a whole can be rather wasteful events. After all, most weddings are very large parties with large guest lists, so even if there’s just a bit of waste per guest, anything times 150 guests adds up pretty quickly.
It might, however, come as a surprise to you that the floral industry can be very wasteful. From huge amounts of plastic packaging, to all of the environmental harm caused by chemicals in large scale farming, to the ramifications of shipping flowers from all over the world, and more…there’s a lot of room for improvement.
I know that many of us are actively looking for ways to reduce our footprint and waste. Our weddings don’t have to sacrifice that!
So, here are some of my top ideas for having sustainable wedding flowers in Manitoba!
-Hire a florist who prioritizes locally grown flowers. This means probably getting married in July, August or September if you’re getting married in Manitoba so you’ll have the best selection of blooms.
Now friends. Just like there’s greenwashing in other industries, there are florists and/or online floral suppliers that want to make it seem like they’re more of an earth-friendly option than they are. “Seasonal flowers” means almost NOTHING if they can’t tell you which farm from Manitoba grew their flowers. Basically everything is in season when you buy it in Ecuador and ship it across the ocean. This becomes a particular issue with websites that market themselves as cost-effective (like Costco or a particular online “floral shop” starting with C and ending with allia…) because there is literally nothing remotely locally grown through them. Promise you.
-Back to locally grown flowers. If you are open to it, give your floral designer free reign over the flower selections. This gives them the confidence to choose the best options for you and using entirely locally grown flowers.
-Rent, don’t buy. You do not need to purchase your own vases. I repeat, you do NOT need to purchase your own vases (or linens…the number of people who buy their own linens and then attempt to resell them…what on earth is the reason when you can rent them?!). Just rent them from your floral designer. No extra shipping, no extra packaging, and a lot less work on your end, too. If you do have some really cool vessels in mind, I’d love to suggest that you have them made by a local, small batch artisan like Meg Does Pottery.
-Ask your florist not to use floral foam. You’ve likely noticed this dark green stuff in arrangements before — but I’ve got some bad news for you: floral foam is basically the devil. It is a plastic, it’s non-biodegradable, it’s made with toxic chemicals. It’s killing aquatic life. It’s baaaad. But, it’s also not necessary! Be clear with your floral designer that you do NOT want them to use any floral foam for your wedding, and then listen to them when they say what types/styles of designs they can do for you without foam. Foam has made floral design annoyingly easy (and honestly, lacking in skill), and a lot of the design styles that have been trending in wedding design rely on foam. Allow your designer to lead the conversation towards what will be best for you.
-Ask your florist what their compost protocols are. Locally grown flowers aren’t grown with intense chemicals, so they’re able to composted in home composters. However, imported flowers ARE grown with a ton of chemicals that aren’t compostable by all facilities. I’ve always been told that Winnipeg’s facilities can’t handle the chemicals (though my neighbourhood has never been on a compost route anyways) so I started working with Compost Winnipeg a few years ago, as they can properly handle it. It’s been AWESOME. I went from producing 2-3 large garbage bags of trash every single week to maybe 2 bags a month.
-Avoid dyed or preserved flowers. We’re finally on the other side of the “dried” flowers trend, which was sadly filled with flowers that weren’t actually dried, but cranked full of chemicals to bleach, artificially dye, and then preserve them. You don’t just get neon pink bunny tails, my friends. In the end, things that are dyed and preserved generally can’t be composted, which means you’re taking natural, compostable materials and turning them into literal trash.
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
In case you couldn’t tell, sustainability is important to us at Stone House Creative.
Call me 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 — and we’ll make it as environmentally friendly as we possibly can!
Modern Country Tent Wedding near Winnipeg
Okay, my friends. Get ready. This wedding is the brainchild of one half of the very popular Rae + Dot Studios, which means that everything was designed to perfection, no detail was left unattended, and the party looked like it was killer.
The wedding was held on Lexi’s family farm, which is IDYLLIC. Granted as I’m writing this, it’s wintertime and I would love to feel that warm sun (it was actually so hot this day) and smell warm wheat fields right now, but just take one look at all of those trees and the huge lawn! It was the perfect setting for their tent wedding just outside of Winnipeg.
Okay, my friends. Get ready. This wedding is the brainchild of one half of the very popular Rae + Dot Studios, which means that everything was designed to perfection, no detail was left unattended, and the party looked like it was killer.
The wedding was held on Lexi’s family farm, which is IDYLLIC. Granted as I’m writing this, it’s wintertime and I would love to feel that warm sun (it was actually so hot this day) and smell warm wheat fields right now, but just take one look at all of those trees and the huge lawn! It was the perfect setting for their tent wedding just outside of Winnipeg.
Photos by Kassandra Donaldson
I love the way Lexi blended a modern design style with the country atmosphere. We used a warm palette with lots of rich neutrals (toffees, browns, taupes), and punched it up with accents of black. And that burnt orange tone in the bridesmaids! Hot dang. We did each bridesmaid bouquet a bit differently so nothing was totally perfect.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Toffee roses, apricot lisianthus, cosmos, zinnias, yarrow, hypericum berries, ninebark and olive foliages.
This tree! Could there be a more perfect spot for a wedding ceremony? The only thing was, that Lexi’s sister was married in the exact same spot a year earlier, so we wanted to make sure we weren’t designing the same focal flowers.
We went with a ground-based installation, incorporating dried hydrangea, rust amarnathus, lots of olive and nineback, lisianthus, and stock. Lexi sourced hunks to tyndall stone, that we incorporated into the installation. Adding in a styling element like this can take a floral installation from good to great.
Lexi gave me full creative reign over the centrepieces (and all florals, actually). They had a large guest list, and a lot of tables, so we didn’t want to have everything look the same throughout the tent.
I started by taking a look through some of my wedding rentals and sketched out a few options for centrepiece styles. I wanted some with fuller florals, some more focused on candles, some modern stem vases…we ended up with 4 centrepiece styles and I loved each of them equally.
Lexi tucked in more of the tyndall stone as table numbers and it all pulled together so beautifully!
These design elements! This is what happens when the couple is creative AND good with their hands. Look at that bar — they custom made and branded that bar! It was enormous, by the way, which is totally what you need when you have a large guest list so you can station several bartenders there. We added one large focal floral piece — my current favourite floral features.
Lexi hung three grid panels and a neon sign behind the head table, that we added some fresh floral pieces to. A few of the ceremony floral pieces were added to the chair gap in front of the couple (my favourite layout for a head table is double-sided seating with a space for the couple to be able to look out and see everyone!).
I love a wedding party who knows how to party :) And a wedding party who knows how to support the couple, and help create the ambiance the couple is hoping for. I’ve seen a lot of wedding parties interacting…my friends, don’t ignore this part of the role that you play when you sign up to be in a wedding party!
Anyone else totally on board with the removable sleeves trend? You get two looks without needing to run away from the party and get changed. Sweet!
Deanna and Jason set up this wedding, which I was so grateful for because I was at a wedding in Kenora. But I was also SO SAD to not be able to see how this wedding came together in person because it was just so gorgeous.
Everything that Lexi planned and designed elevated the work the rest of us did. It was a dream tent wedding ✨
Kassandra Donaldson Photography ~ Soiree Event Planning ~ Rae + Dot Studios ~ D’Lite Tents ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Baked Expectations ~ Trident Films ~ King Cole ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique ~ George Foreman and the Grills
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
We love working on private properties, creating magic in your special place. Reach out to inquire about your date availability!
Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to find out how we can create the perfect ambiance for your wedding.