A random fact– I went to high school with both of the Phindys. The lovely Mindy was in my class, and we even had a few classes together & actually knew each other. I don’t stay in touch with many of my H.S friends, and I didn’t even know she was still in town and married to Phil until I “met” the Phindy’s last year. Phil was in the class below mine and I didn’t know him, but I still think that’s a super small-world coincidence.

Phindy & Phil on their wedding day, courtesy Angela Bynum

Now, be sure to go check out their beautiful blog & website, and stay tuned for a Phindy wedding on the blog next week!

I love old things & creating new things out of the old. The frame was a fun art project, the mason jars are from 1920-1932

The studio exterior. The Arcade was built in 1903, so there’s a lot of charm in the architecture & big huge windows that let in light

Me & all my lovely flowers behind me– yay

Oh so cool Craspedia.

Learn more about the Studio Here, and click to read the new Studio Wed Nashville blog here

You can register to attend at http://studiowedopenhouse.eventbrite.com/

Can’t make it this time? No worries– a new open house is scheduled for every second Tuesday!

A little backstory: To start the design process, I came up with a little bit of a fall flavored inspiration board that incorporated some of the key design elements Lindsay, the bride, was looking for– pumpkins, classic autumn shades (deep reds, oranges, chocolate browns), berries, leaves, and branches.

You’ll notice the abundance of gourds & pumpkins in the inspiration board above. Fall makes all sorts of beautiful gourds available. We kept our gourds local, purchasing the gourds & all of the Pumpkins from the farmers market. I helped the Bride & her family carve out the monogram “C”s using a drimmel tool.

Kristin Kaplan of Simply Stunning Events was the amazing planner for the celebration, and Gregory Byerline captured the images from the day (thank you so much!),

Without further adieu, Lindsay & Mike:

The bride carried a beautiful, lush, and textured bouquet of red sox calla lilies, mango callas, pincushion protea, and mokara orchids. Delicious, no?

Fall boutonnieres & corsages with calla lilies & strawflower, and a single-stemmed calla:

The bridesmaids carried callas and circus roses:

The moms had a corsage full of fall color:

Sweet & simple fall pew markers with mums & eucalyptus

The altar was decorated with various fall flowers, gourds, & leaves:

A closer look at the unity candle we decorated:

A medly of the fall-themed centerpieces featured at the reception at Embassy Suites Cool Springs:

A delicious cake by Cakes By Rebecca– in white fondant with orange ribbon accents– was embellished with mokara orchids & a monogrammed “C” cake topper we commissioned for the bride, carved from wood and a keepsake forever:

What a beautiful celebration to honor the sights & sounds of the fall season and a beautiful couple!

The cocktail tables were dressed in green poly linens and then accented with arrangements both rustic and refined: moss formed the base, then we accented with amnesia, cool water, and faith roses, mums, and mokara orchids with curly willow wisps:

The couple married beneath an arch decorated with grapevine loops, carnations, orchids, and roses:

Another image of the arch

And in pretty black and white:

The aisleway was framed with antiqued white lanterns embellished with flowers:

We had a series of different table centerpieces. The first was a cluster of three pomanders with elevated heights and accented with moss & candles:

The second set was lantern centerpieces covered with flowers & set upon a bed of moss embellished with flowers. Roses & mums wound up the base:

A closer look at the lantern centerpiece:

The pomanders proved a perfect backdrop for a ring shot:

We designed programs and they coordinated with the candy apple favors beautifully:

A tall vase was filled with curly willow lashings then embellished with hanging mini pomanders in purple. The base of the arrangement was accented with glass lanterns filled with candles:

We draped the cake area in organza, then covered the tablecloth in purple petals and embellished with delicate blossoms:

One last look at the cake as we round up the celebration for such a great couple– a lifetime of happiness, Stephen & Taylor!

The colors were shades of purple, merlot, and dashes of cream & green– with earthy accents. The overall look was something magical.

The beautiful bride:

The bridal bouquet was comprised of antique purple hydrangea, dahlias, amnesia roses, callicarpa berries, and framed with white hypericum berries:

We embellished the bouquet handle with a strand of pearls that was the bride’s “something borrowed”:

The father of the bride, seeing his lovely daughter (this picture made me get a little teary eyed. Mr. Putnam, you are the best dad in the world):

The boutonierres were composed of fresh acorns, callicarpa berries, hypericum, and manzanita lashings:

We of course fashioned a smaller version for the darling ringbearer

The bridesmaids carried a miniature of the brides bouquet– but we collared theirs in green hypericum for contrast:

Our darling flower girl carried a pomander of purple mums:

Stay Tuned for Part II, and in the interim, let me share the lovely vendors with you:
Photography & all photos contained herein: Krista Lee Photography
Venue: The Belle Meade Plantation Grounds & Carriage House
Cake: The Savannah Tea Company
Lighting: Nashville Event Lighting
Catering: Martha Stamps Catering

The primary invitation card featured a gray paisley flourish at the top and bottom. The font selections were very classic– high tower for the non-script, and bickham fancy for the script font:

The couple had a second celebration, a Sofreh Aghd, a Persian Wedding Ceremony. For this card, we used an abbreviated card size, squared off to a 5X5:

The RSVP offered meal options to guests:

The Menu Cards were printed on shimmery gold cardstock:

Their monogram “R” became a central theme in the dinner papergoods, we also incorporated the same header design in the large seating chart organized alphabetically.

The table number cards featured the same color combination and design attributes, and was also printed on shimmery cardstock:

The doctors had a favor of chocolate covered espresso beans that we placed in cool vintage-inspired dispensary bottles and labeled for each guest to serve both as favor & seating assignment. I had a lot of fun making these look like a prescription label:

And now, for flowers
The bride carried a bouquet of ivory hydrangea with accents of cream hypericum & ivory & pink kissed roses:

The bridesmaids all carried a similar style, but with more pink and accents of green:

The bouquets contrasted beautifully with the girls’ navy blue dresses:

The guys had hypericum berry bouts. The grooms was in cream (to match his bride) and finished with antique gold wire:

The centerpieces were a combination of ivory hydrangea, pink roses, and green hypericum berries and white oriental lilies:

We had several series of looks– here’s from the mock-up session we did about a month before the wedding:

I love this image of the cocktail table arrangements:

And, to end on a sweet note: The delicious cake from Dessert Designs was embellished with layers of pink hydrangea accented with green hypericum berries,then topped with a family heirloom cake topper of sweet little birds:

Special Thanks to Chris & Adrienne Scott for the beautiful images, Kristin Kaplan from Simply Stunning for her divine Planning, Dessert Designs for the yummy cake, and the venue, Union Station for being a beautiful backdrop for a lovely wedding. Craving more details? See coordinator extraordinaire blog on this super sweet couple: Rehearsal Dinner, Ceremony, Reception

Luckily, this fab couple had a fab planner to help pull all the details together– Kristin Kaplan with Simply Stunning Events. She was by their side each step of the way and also helped in working with me to come up with the essential details of the weekend’s festivities. Chris & Adrienne Scott were there to document the rehearsal dinner and wedding, so no special moment was missed.

The night before their wedding, we had a fabulous rehearsal dinner at Marathon Village that was inspired by lush, tropical flowers & hatch show prints. The colors: orange, steel gray, and hints of magenta & green. We wanted to stay far removed from the colors of the wedding (creams, blush, navy & gold with pops of green) so the rehearsal dinner was a very solid departure in style and theme. Hamilton Bartending Services kept the libations in quick supply, and Bacon & Caviar did an amazing job catering the soiree. When guests entered, they found signage that we created that asked them to fill out a nametag and get signed in– the perfect way to let out of town guests and family members get to know each other in a handy way. Each sticker asked the guests their name & their relation to either Andrea or Mario that Brocade designed and printed for the couple. I love the use of informative signage as a means to keep your guests in the know each step of the way.

The invitation that we designed, inspired by a Hatch Show print :

Guest Nametags:

One of the big focal points to the room was this…thing…we lovingly referred to as “The Temple”… it looked like a homage to Mayan Architecture. I had the bright idea to make it a beautiful space with candles & single stems of flowers:

The tables were lovely rectangles covered in white linens with green runners & napkins from Connie Duglin Linens. We did arrangements filled with tropical flowers that the mother of the groom & the soon to be newyweds loved: pincushion protea, dendrobium orchids, torch ginger and birds of paradise along with bells of Ireland and lily grass:

A lovely shot of one of the centerpieces:

And another. The balance of color is achieved by integrating the crisp greens of the spider mums & bells of ireland, then pairing with the bold color of the birds of paradise & the dendrobium for a tropical look without overpowering the senses:

I love the use of lighting in this space– Nashville Event Lighting always does an amazing job.

A wonderful night was shared by all at this beautiful space.

Stay tuned for details from the wedding & reception!

In the hours since, Nashville and our nearby neighbors in other counties and cities have banded together to help, with gifts of kindness to a stranger in need, a dry roof, or a bottle of water. We encourage you to support these efforts by researching some of the links below and finding your best way to give.

For a first step, Brocade has decided to limit our business to ONLY pre-booked weddings and events indefinitely in effort to conserve water and limit our usage in this time of need! We feel this is the most socially responsible and environmentally conscious decision we can make as we all band together in support of our local community.

If you would like to help, please reference the links below:
Hands on Nashville: looking for local volunteers to help in the aftermath of the flooding
You can text ‘REDCROSS’ to 90999 to donate $10 to disaster relief; or visit www.redcross.org
Many pets were displaced in the flooding, so the Nashville Humane Association is in need of food, toys, blankets, and volunteers: (615) 352-1010, www.nashvillehumane.org
You can also always reach out to your local churches & community centers to help

Image Credit: The Boston Globe