Brandy & TH (Volume I)

:: Spring Garden Theme :: Shades of Pink, Green, Taupe :: Peonies Galore

All images courtesy of Donald Yeager Photography, the Event Photographer

On Friday, Ashley’s Bride Guide featured the glorious wedding of Brandy & TH in a Real Nashville Wedding Story. Now, it’s time for details. Let’s start with the church, shall we?

When I started planning with Brandy, we knew a few things: one, we loved peony and green hydrangea together– the bride’s favorite bloom is the peony, particularly in pink, and she also loved the contrast of lime green hydrangea. One image she found and really loved was a wreath that incorporated hydrangea and flowers– so I replicated that wreath to go on the front doors and to flank the altar:

Our front door wreaths feature durable pink carnations– because the wreath was hanging outside, and it ended up being a very warm day, I wanted the wreaths to remain fresh and vibrant as a gift to the church once the ceremony was complete.

We envisioned a simple aisle that complemented the church and set the tone for the rest of the wedding: shades of pink and green and vibrant, fresh flowers complemented the church’s classic decor:

The aisle way was decorated simply, with the first three pews marked for family seating with roses and fresh cut ivy:

To the side, each stained glass windowledge had a hurricane vase with an ivory candle and was embellished with smilax and pink roses:

On either side of the altar, large wreaths sat at the base of the stair:

The unity candle table was embellished with beautiful details: a tall candelabra in silver wound with ivy and accented with flowers, the unity candle embellished in similar style, and an abundance of rose petals:

I love this image of the entry way table arrangement: it’s simple, but really complements the theme:

The altar pieces sat in large bubble bowls filled with moss and then antique green hydrangea, roses, peony, and curly willow:

To further communicate the spring feel, I added a few sparkly butterflies

The pieces were a bit modern, but still soft and pretty and complemented the overall theme of the wedding

Be sure to come back tomorrow to check out the bouquets & personal flowers details, and check out Donald Yeager Photography’s Blog for his favorite pics:

Legally Pink

I had the pleasure of doing some arrangements for TPAC’s guest services table at the entrance to the venue for Legally Blonde: The Musical which opened last night. The theme: pink, pink, pink.

I chose flowers that would last for the duration of the show (through Sunday) and that would tolerate a lot of sunlight & possible temperature selections. The full on view:

And now for the details: garnet glow calla lilies (a shade of mauve-y pink), pink spray roses, sweet unique roses, pink yarrow, and pink carnations are the primary blooms

Another detail shot shows off the lovely pink carnations and roses that were paired with the ruffly carnations: see, carnations can be cool, and for lasting a long time– they can’t be beat:

The design style embraced here is referred to as a pave style: little to no filler or greens, and flowers that are closely gathered together to form a composite:

The pave style of the arrangements were accented by vase wrappings: this one had a laced like back of ivory & pink ribbon, then tied with a soft pink bow in the front

I dressed each clear cylinder in ribbon to create more contrast with the black tablecloth.

I love this image because you can really see the fun marabou feathers in shades of hot pink, perched atop a deco-looking eiffle tower vase.

Be sure to get your tickets for Legally Blonde: The Musical– it’s, as one witty reviewer penned, “One Elle of a show”

Invitation: Jessica & Steven

In May, Jessica & Steven were married on the Shelby Street Bridge & I’m so excited to share their invitations– they are so cool. I love it when a bride & groom wants to explore some options with their design and reflect their own unique personalities in their paper products. We started work on the invites in the fall, the bride really wanted to incorporate the Nashville skyline, her signature colors (green, green, and more green– with a bit of black) and reflect an elegant affair without being too formal.

Let’s start with the cover: the invite folded to a 5 X5 square with a black paper bellyband, and then closed with a monogram square stamp with their first name initials and the date:

The invite itself then folded out (blurring to protect the names of the couple & any pertinent personal information

The first panel was the actual event invitation with the Nashville Skyline as the central image: the bride and groom wanted to imbue the image of the skyline to embrace their unique wedding location:

Typography Details: main text is in crisp Garamond Small Caps. The bride wanted something less fussy for the script font, so we went with Palace Script. The skyline is an actual photograph of downtown Nashville that I manipulated in Photoshop to create a stamp that looked as though it had been printed with wood blocking.

The middle panel consisted of directions to the wedding location, directing guests from different areas of town. I ghosted the image of the skyline in the background so that the text could be easily read, and used a dark green font in conjunction with black to work with the color scheme.

The RSVP was a postcard that is perforated from the invite– a fact I love and that made sending in the RSVP so easy. The frontside featured the skyline in the same green as the rest of the invite, and we used a circular “accept/deny” checkbox– a cute little detail.

I used a lighter grayish green for the back of the RSVP card, stamped it with a postcard stamp– much more cost effective than sending regular mail in an envelope, but you need to be sure you meet USPS standard postcard sizes. The same ghost image of Nashville is here, too, so it’s a consistent design element thoroughout the piece, but I used some different shading here- shades of gray (to tie in to the gray-green of the reverse side of the postcard) and white to make the image more crisp.  All of the backside text was in the Palace Script.

All in all, these invites were a blast to make. They did come in a bit more expensive to mail because they were a perfect square (which the post office charges more for– grr!) but i think they more than make up for it in their cool composition.

Pretty in Purple

Tasha & James were married on a gorgeous Saturday, a day with skies clear and blue and magnificent. The weather was perfect, the temperature a dream, and the bride and groom were stunning and unquestionably head over heels in love with one another.

The bride chose a bold and beautiful color palate: hues of purple, creamy ivory, and silver were the main players. Her bouquet: a vision of white and purple mini callas, cool water roses, hydrangea with purple freesia accents, and vendela & escimo roses:

When guests arrived to the reception, they found that the purple & white color scheme continued.  A mix of high & low arrangements were placed on the guest tables & about the room.  The bride & groom’s guest book table was decorated with a cylinder vase filled with purple and white blooms.

The guest tables were long rectangular tables that accommodated 20+ guests on either side. A series of three centerpieces, two short and one tall, were placed down the long tables, then accented with tealights

The shorter arrangements were comprised of magenta dendrobium orchids, white tulips, purple stock, and roses

The taller centerpieces had beautiful blue delphinium, tulips, and roses in shades of cream and purple

Congrats to Tasha & James: wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

Toast of Music City: Vote!

Today, I got an email letting me know I’d been nominated for best Florist in Nashville in the Toast of Music City– woah, what an honor– and whomever nominated me, THANK YOU! It’s one of those times that saying “getting nominated is better than winning” because, oh-my-g0odness, it totally is!! If you want to vote for me, you can, by following this link to brocade as the best florist in nashville

While there, you may want to vote for some other wonderful peeps (you can find yourself on here for hours– beware), like Ashley’s Bride Guide for Best Blog (it so is, you know it, so vote!) if you were engaged this year and love your ring, vote for the jewelery store it came from if you’re married and just bought your new house and <3′d your agent, be sure to vote or nominate them and if you know all there is to know about  the Nashville who’s who you may want to vote on the geekiest, most stylish, or most successful– if you can vote for it, then it’s probably an option.

So, to my nomination angel, thanks again for making my day– and be sure to vote on your favorites, or do a little angel nominations of your own!