What's Happening Soon

Please join us for a truly unique bridal experience at....................
The Bridal Engagement at Spring Garden
Sunday Nov. 2 from 11:00-3:00pm.

We will be participating in this event by providing bouquets for the models and an elegant Bridal Table display.

Visit the website for details, directions and a list of the participating vendors.

www.thebridalengagement.com

Sponsored by Event Planning Network and Commonwealth Caterers.

A Colorful Autumn Wedding

I'm so excited to post this week's wedding flowers because the colors are so cheerful, this bride is the sweetest thing, and because my 4th daughter (not really, but I would take her if her mom would give her to me)-Erika was in this wedding. Erika is Jessie's best life-long friend, and we consider her a part of our immediate family, so I'll start with the picture of them.

Jessie was asked to coordinate this wedding, which she's quite good at, though doesn't do it for anyone but special friends. She also had the task of photographing the flowers and details for me, so she was a very busy girl. I am thrilled with her new hobby, and with the shots she took for my website and blog.

The bride's bouquet consists of Freedom Roses, white, orange and pink Ranunculus and large crystal- studded pearls with a collar of green Pittosporum. She told Jessie that she loves her bouquet so much she wants to take it to bed with her. Oh, thanks Chrissy-I'm so glad you loved it! She was one of those brides that said to me. "You pick the flowers to go with my red dresses. Just make it colorful and bright, I trust you." What fun that was!

Bridesmaid's bouquets were Freedom Roses, assorted colors of Ranunculus, Crocodile poms, and Monte Casino Asters.

The groom wore a white tux so he had a Freedom Rose and green Hypericum wrapped with black ribbon and a silver wire.Groomsmen carried bouquets...No just kidding. I don't know how Jessie managed to get this shot, but he looks like a really nice guy that doesn't mind having a little fun.

Here is what they really had for boutts. Orange Babe Spray roses, Yoko Ono Poms and a tiny little purple Aster with a Pittosporum leaf.On to the reception.....................Rice filled bubble bowls, pillar candles and pearls. We added petals and lots of colorful button -Mum blossoms.

Some Bridal table decor, and finally the cake. Made by Oregon Dairy.
Congratulations to Chrissy and Chillingy. May you be blessed with a lifelong happy marriage!

One for Summer's End and One for Fall's beginning

The summer has lingered into early October and we had the joy of doing one more wedding with a summer feeling. The bridesmaids wore sky blue, which is still beautiful in the fall because we always have that color in the decor of an outdoor wedding. The leaves still had not begun to change colors, and the gardens at The Stone Mill Inn still had so many flowers still in bloom.

Using blue Hydrangea, pink Gerbera daisies and Jade roses for the bridesmaids bouquets,

and white Hydrangea, white mini Callas and pink Gerberas for the bride.

The Venue offers a brass candle holder and a hurricane-so we added a little bit of blue Hydrangea florets inside and outside of the vases on some of the tables, and...............

A pair of Gerbera daisies with blue wire on the outside of some of the hurricanes.

A few extra flowers left, so we added them to the Guest Book Podium and...............

The Memory/Place Card Table. These placecards were actually also the favors.

And a few flowers added to the hi-top tables for the Cocktail Hour.

Same day/Fall Decor

This wedding features the beautiful and very expensive 'Mango' Mini Callas. This bride carried a combination of Mango and Swartzwalder (Black Forest) mini Callas. Her sister was her only attendant. She wore dark burgundy and carried Mango callas. The color choices could not have been any better! Here are a couple close-ups of these beautiful colors.The flower girl was just a teeny-tiny sweet little girl, so this Teddy Bear was just the thing. She had burgundy mini-carnations and Solidago with burgundy ribbons hanging down the back.Mother's carried tiny posies of Swartzwalder mini callas and Solidago with Nagi greens.

And one last little side note:

I attended a wedding recently where every single detail was absolutely perfectly -perfect!....Flawless. Perfect setting, perfect dresses, perfect hair, make-up, flowers, linens, lined- up ceremony chairs, programs and favors. They hired the very best photographer and the very best chamber orchestra. They didn't forget a single little decorating or musical detail.

But in observing the bride and groom, waiting for my tears to start, as they always do,... it felt empty and emotionless. The photographer had to work extra hard, trying to coach some emotion into the shots.....it seemed to me that they forgot one very important detail ...... Could they have been so caught up in the planning and details of one single, yet very important day-that they forgot to bring along the most important thing? The Love?

Rewind 2 weeks.

I just received the images from our weddings 2 weeks ago for Diana and Scott, and a few from Barb and Ross's wedding.

Diana's bouquet was Latin Lady roses with pearl-studded Stephanotis.

Her bridesmaids wore 'Claret' (bright red) dresses, and carried Virginia roses with Cherry Follies spray roses and purple Statice.

This arrangement of apples and limes with Starfighter Lilies, white Snapdragons, Purple Larkspur, Silver Dollar Eucalyptus and Bells of Ireland was designed for the Escort Card table by Joyce. She loves the large arrangements, and nobody does them better then her!

These flower spheres were made of red mini-Carnations, Yoko Ono poms and green Hypericum. They were made to hang on the chairs in the aisle, then be place on top of candle holders to decorate the high-top cocktail tables.

Barb's Bouquet was made of Engagement Roses and white mini Cymbidium Orchids. She brought to me a necklace and earrings from Ross' late grandmother to add to the bouquet. It was a precious heart-felt gesture that Ross' parents were so touched by. They didn't know about it until they saw the bouquet. Her only bridesmaid wore a smokey- blue dress and carried Virginia roses with blue pearl pins, and pink mini Cymbidium Orchids.

Beside the bouquet is part of the Head Table arrangement of Roses and green Hydrangea.Some of the guest table centerpieces were hand-tied bouquets of Pavarotti and Engagement roses. The guests could take the bouquets home and leave the glass rental vases.

This weekend's weddings were at the gorgeous Cameron Estates Inn, Mount Joy, and the Stone Mill Inn in York County. Images are still being edited and will be posted shortly. It was a beautiful weekend for outdoor weddings...far better than last weekend!

Rain, Rain Go Away

It's pouring buckets as we unload our van -full of centerpieces, the organza -covered canopy for the ceremony and the bouquets. The courtyard with a tent is an ankle-high swamp covered with hundreds of black walnuts dropping from the trees on the tent and the barn roof.

This is Landis Valley Farm Museum- and it is NOT a good day for an outside wedding.



With the bride at the salon, and the groom not here yet...what do we do??? Will they still want the wedding under the tent in the swamp?

Bride's Bouquet is South American Blue Hydrangea, white Lisianthus and blue Delphinium.

One Maid Of Honor wore Kelly green and carried white Hydrangea, blue Delphinium and white Spray roses.

Centerpieces were blue Hydrangea and varigated bear grass in bubble bowls.
Head Table was marked with a tall arrangement of Blue Delphinium and White Orchids. We soon got the word to set up the canopy in the barn ; so we had to rearrange the room to prepare for an indoor ceremony. With no wedding coordinator it was up to us to make this wedding fit in the barn as well as the reception -with room for a band and the dance floor area. Tables needed moved, place card and gift table as well as cake table had to be rearranged.

A chubby little chipmunk made a quick run through the barn as we are setting this up. We discovered a little later, that (she) had been up on the one of the guest tables sampling the Wilbur bud favors! Must have been her pms chocolate craving! She might be paying dearly for her craving now!!


All done. Just in time for the couple to arrive. Jennifer, the bride, told me that they opened up the 2 large sliding barn doors, brought her in a carriage to the door, and she never got wet. The guests circled the couple around the canopy as they exchanged vows making it a very enchanting entrance and intimate ceremony. It all worked out in the end and the bride and groom were very happy. The rain didn't ruin a thing for them after all.

Rene of Bella Manse delivered this beautiful cake. Jessie was a wedding guest and told me that the cake was Wonderful! Some kind of amazing dark chocolatey ganache filling. Yum!! We love cake! (and Rene:)


This teeny-tiny bride and groom look so cute. Always beautiful and dee-licious!

Our second wedding was to take place in a hot-air balloon. That didn't happen either.
The couple exchanged their vows in a private ceremony at Lancaster Country Club Friday evening after hearing the hopeless weather report. So disappointing, but they had a beautiful ceremony and were getting ready to celebrate at the Pheasant Run Farm Bed &Breakfast.
The Bride's bouquet was dark red Hybrid Lilies. There were no attendants since they were to be married in a balloon.





Guest table centerpieces were orange and red lilies floating in a bubble bowl. The Bride and Groom's table had a pair of orange and yellow Alstromeria topiaries.
The Pheasant Run Farm is a beautiful place for an outdoor wedding. There is a lovely barn for small receptions as well as a large meadow for ceremonies and tent receptions. They are such nice people too.
Thanks to Amy and Jessie for helping me to get thru a very long day. I couldn't have done it without you. And to Lindsay for going out in the mud and rain with me at nearly midnight to collect the canopy. A hard day for us, but we had the satifaction of knowing it all worked out beautifully for Jennifer and Ernie. Makes it worth it all!

Elvis is in the House!!

We started our wedding weekend with a rehearsal dinner at Armstrong Manor for Ross and Barb. Jewel-tone colors were requested for the "porch dinner". Here we used Dianthus, African Orange Marigolds, Billy Balls, Hydrangea, Carnations, Ornamental Crab-apple, China Berry and Old Fashioned Blue Bachelor Buttons for Ross' last day as a bachelor; though I'm sure he had no clue they were in there for him.
I love the feeling of the long family-feast set up so much more than the round tables. It's so much more fun to decorate too.
I forgot to take my camera with me to the wedding site, which was at the home of Ross' mom and dad. It's a lovely garden with a large white pergola. The perfect size and place for a wedding at home. It was just so beautiful. Watch Leslie Gilbert's blog for wedding pics.
Then off to the Hamilton Ballroom-where we love to work with Lindsay and Jill. Here is what we did in the lobby. These were also centerpieces for half of the guest tables.
The Guest Book was a beautiful hard bound engagement photo album created by Leslie Gilbert photography that had pages to be written in. What an awesome idea. There were 4 memory candles at the guest book with the names of their family members printed. We add roses.


Then to our surprise....Elvis in a turquoise bow tie! We later found out that Elvis is a member of the family that always appears at every family celebration. They even buy gifts for him. Sometimes he comes in his "Jailhouse Rock" apparel. What a fun family tradition! This week daughter #2, Lindsay joined Team Beautiful. She and Amy had a good laugh taking pictures of themselves with the king before the boss arrived! Both new mommies get a little silly when they get out of the house for a bit!
So Lynne and I decided we didn't want to be left out of the photo opp. Thank -you very much!

Centerpieces were both tall and short. This is the head table. (Could someone please straighten that candle!)? We took care of that before we headed out the door, of course.

Congratulations to Ross and Barb.

Our other wedding can be seen on Jonnaysa's blog, and KM Photography blog.

Congratulations to Diana and Scott.

Before I finish, just look at my sweet little baby boys. Thanks for sharing your mommies with me this week, and thanks Mike and Erik for being on baby-duty all day!! They are both great daddies!

Hudson- 5 months old
Kole- 6wks. old

These little guys are the joy of my life. We are ever so blessed!!!

Links: http://lesliegilbertphotography.com/

http://kmphoto.bigfolioblog.com/

http://www.plannedperfectionpa.com/blog