Red Rose Composite Bouquet

This is a practice piece for a wedding later this month. The actual bouquet will be white. Red was what I had for practice and I thought it would be very dramatic. What do you think?

Thanks to Cori Cook for the inspiration and some how-to information.

I can't wait for the real thing. Olivia the bride will love it.

Tour d'Brides

It was so fun to take part in the Wine Country Wedding Professionals' wedding show last Sunday. What a great concept! Brides and friends were shuttled by limo, trolly and party bus to four wonderful venues in Yamhill County. It was especially fun to be at Hotel Oregon which was set up in cocktail party format.

Hotel Oregon's uniqueness inspired a Gentleman's Library theme, which was also carried out by Renae of Custom Cakes. Her liquor-infused mini-cupcakes were displayed in shot glasses surrounded by flasks and other "gentlemanly" things.

 Hopefully brides took home some fabulous ideas and had fun touring some of the best wedding venues in the area.

Another Summer Wedding

Andrew and Teresa had a '40's-themed wedding at the Evergreen Aviation Museum. The ceremony was in the lovely shaded oak grove behind the museum, but the reception was in the museum itself - under the wings of The Spruce Goose! What a memory!

         

It turned out to be a beautiful day, and this arch swag really stood out against the summer sky. The gorgeous little kales were one of my favorite finds for this wedding.

Bridesmaids carried cream and green mixes, and the Bride got my all-time favorite Piano Frieland rose grown right here in Oregon by Peterkort Roses.

Circus Roses at Wine Country Farm

          Gail created this beauty for Joy and Cody's Sunday wedding at Wine Country Farm. Hopefully they beat the heat with an early afternoon ceremony. Circus roses are one of my all-time favorites. So full and open, and such a gorgeous color combination. I love the unique touches on this bouquet - the ti leaf wrap and the cluster of flowers hanging out the bottom. Congratulations Joy and Cody. I hope you had a wonderful day!

Early June Wedding

Here are a couple more photos of an early June wedding - from Jenny Hill Photography. Beautiful!

June Wedding at Wine Country Farm

Angelique and Kyle came from Colorado to be married in Oregon Wine Country. They were so lucky! It rained every day for a week around their wedding - but not on the wedding day. It was a beautiful day. The wedding was at one of my favorite venues, Wine Country Farm, and the photographs were from Jenny Hill Photography. Thanks, Jenny! There is nothing like professional shots to make flowers look their best.

Summertime Pink

How about a little dose of summertime pink to combat the grey Oregon sky?
This sweet little wedding at Kelty Estate in nearby Lafayette was all about vintage and romantic touches.

I especially love the button detail on the heirloom handkerchief in the bride's bouquet.

The ceremony was in the estate's cool and inviting backyard, with the reception on the big front lawn.

The peonies perched in their little nests were a "must have" for this bride, and I can see why.

They looked adorable gathered on the shady front porch.

They looked even cuter on the tables.

Inspiration!

I found this beautiful little Victoria's Secret box at a thrift store the other day while I was looking for inspiration for table designs for our Sunday wedding show. At that point I was trying to be open-minded and think outside-the-box for a floral container. As it turns out, inside-the-box was just the ticket. Here's what I did with it! And it looked great on the mock reception table at the wedding show.

Wine Country Farm

I realized recently that I have never posted pictures of one of Yamhill County's lovliest wedding venues - Wine Country Farm. It sits high up on Breyman Orchard Road in the Dundee Hills and overlooks the beautiful Yamhill Valley - wine country! They have this picturesque spot to say your "I do's", as well as at least one other outdoor site: a charming well-established gazebo, covered most of the wedding season with a gorgeous blooming trumpet vine. There's also an indoor area for intimate ceremonies or receptions plus a great under-the-stars dance floor.

Joy, one of my 2011 brides told me she knew it was her site the moment she saw it.

Free Bridal Bouquet

The Garden Path has a deal for couples getting married in Oregon Wine Country in 2011 (or even later this year). Book your future wedding flowers with The Garden Path this month, our 15th birthday month, and you may get your bridal bouquet for free! If your flowers total more than $500 (and that's easy!), we'll provide a $100 wedding bouquet at no charge to you. It's an offer that doesn't come around often, but you need to complete your reservation by the end of August. That doesn't mean we need to finalize all the details. Just get your reservation in, and we can fill in the blanks - exact colors, number of corsages, etc. - later if you wish. Call us for a consultation time.

Wedding at Kelty Estate

Kelty Estate in the little town of Lafayette was the perfect setting for Rachel and Robert's vintage themed wedding. It is a lovely old home turned Bed and Breakfast, located in the heart of Oregon's Wine Country.

Rachel's favorite flower, the peony, was brought in from Holland. But the roses, sweet peas, succulents, Kent Beauty oregano - and even the baby's breath - came from nearby growers. You can imagine how wonderful it smelled! Take a look at the handkerchief detail in her bouquet











The estate's shady backyard garden served as the ceremony site, with vows being said under the iron arch.
Reception tables were set up on the front lawn with these cute little birdnests as the centerpieces. It was a beautiful day, and I hope everyone had a great time!

Kristin's Garden Wedding

The rain finally cleared and Kristin had a beautiful sunny day for her wedding in her dad's garden. The garden was lovely, and featured some of the same local flowers that I had used in Kristin's bouquets.
There was a bit of a vintage theme, brought out in the use of her grandmother's handkerchiefs. Kristin told me she remembered wrapping her dolls in these hankies when she was little. What a nice way to bring fond memories of Grandma to your wedding day!
In addition to an all-natural garden look, Kristin's inspiration was the colors of the sunset. She loved the idea of pods and berries mixed in. I was especially excited about finding the sea holly and the scabiosa seed heads. You can see both in the bridal bouquet. And - yes - that's another handkerchief in the bridal bouquet!
One of the unique things about Kristin's wedding is that our first meeting was only three days before the wedding! It was all done via pictures and through her wedding coordinator. She was really happy that we had hit her look so right on!

Here's a close-up of last weekend's bridal bouquet, "hot pinks" ordered by the bride's mom. For this wedding we did only the bridal bouquet and the groom's boutonniere, and it came in at a very affordable $80. You can spend a bundle if you want, but you don't have to!

Wine Country Thanksgiving

We collaborated with No Ordinary Affair to provide a table display at Zenith Vineyard over the weekend. Thanksgiving weekend is one of two all-out wine tasting weekends here in Oregon Wine Country. (The other is Memorial Day.) Hundreds of wineries host open houses - even those whose tasting rooms are usually not open to the public. Although the wine tasting is a casual affair, Zenith uses the opportunity to showcase their beautiful wedding venue. We were happy to be included in the plans this year.

Red Roses . . . Beautiful Day!

It was a beautiful day for a wedding at Youngberg Hill Vineyards and Inn, one of Oregon wine country's best sites. The little buckets helped define the aisle, and were transferred to the tables for centerpieces later. Becky, the lovely wedding coordinator from No Ordinary Affair, added red rose petals under the buckets to outline the aisle just before the ceremony.

You get only a glimpse of the view in these photos, but it is enough to tantalize. If you're planning a wine country vacation, you'll definitely want to check out Youngberg Hill.

Lissa's bridal bouquet was a very clean and compact bouquet of just red roses. The other ladies carried smaller bouquets of cream roses. Everyone looked beautiful, and I know they had a great day.

Wedding at Portland's Hotel deLuxe

Courtney's wedding was a very elegant affair in the ballroom of Portland's wonderful Hotel deLuxe. She carried a hand-tied bouquet of green flowers and - one of my favorites - Circus roses. Her centerpieces were simple cube vases with four open roses.

This elegant piece was on the bar table in the ballroom. It looked great in the 1920's style decor of the ballroom. The green hydrangea was a focal flower, complemented by bells of Ireland, Circus roses, green cymbidium orchids and trailing amaranthus.

Danielle's Wedding

Danielle chose this very colorful assortment of flowers for her wedding. The bouquets were built around some of her favorite flowers. She wanted them to have green cymbidium orchids and sunflowers, spiked with other very colorful summer flowers. We hope you had a wonderful wedding day, Danielle!

We made 8 of these centerpieces in vases that Danielle provided for us. Originally she was going to do her own flowers, but was happy to turn the job over to us when she found out how reasonable the cost would be. The boutonnieres were made of small green cymbidiums with equisetum. Very nice!

More August Weddings

I love how every wedding is different, and every couple has their own distinctive taste. These are our latest wedding bouquets - plus some newly-made gerbera boutonnieres. The white bouquet was very sweetly scented, with sweet peas and garden phlox. The bridesmaids in the second wedding carried hand-tied bouquets of white gerberas to complement these boutonnieres worn by the groomsmen.The groom's boutonniere was a burgundy gerbera to match these in the bridal bouquet. So pretty!

Wedding at Linfield College

A wedding of all white flowers was the first of our August weddings. It was a beautiful - but hot! - day for the ceremony on the lovely campus of Linfield College in McMinnville. In this photo our floral designer is putting the finishing touches on one of two feature arrangements. They sat atop 5' garden stands. I wish I could have photographed them in place, but it was such a hot day we opted to leave them in the relative cool of the indoors until just before the guests arrived. You couldn't ask for more perfect orchids than these white dendrobiums.Simple and elegant is an excellent choice if you ask me. This bride chose a clean bouquet of just 8 white calla lilies for herself, and 3 for each of her bridesmaids. No greens, no fluff! Flowers as beautiful as these callas make a statement all by themselves.These little arrangements were hung on shepherd's hooks to define the ceremony site. Mother of the bride designated a helper to hang them just before the ceremony, so they would be fresh and lovely despite the 100 degree day. Congratulations to the bride and groom! I know you had a wonderful day.