I was honoured when a well known Toronto wedding planner (Helen: www.weddingsbydesign.ca a division of Spectra Events) sought me out to help her plan and create the flowers for the wedding of her clients Tatiana and Greg!

Tatiana and Greg are a great couple who really wanted their wedding to be spectacular! The end result of lots of planning and work was truly an amazing event complete with gorgeous linens, florals, lighting and décor. The colour palette of purples, fuchsias, ivories and silvers created the lush, luxurious ambiance Tatiana and Greg were looking for. At the reception, Manzanita trees with hand wired dendrobium orchids were showstoppers, while on other guest tables, vases with cymbidium orchids and floating candles stole the show! (While I have larger versions of the Manzanita trees which I use for everything from ceremony arrangements to wish trees, if you’re looking to rent the smaller versions (perfect for a centerpiece) for your wedding, Tatiana and Greg actually decided to purchase 12 of them and have them available for rental- contact me for details if you’re interested).

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but check out all the amazing details including orchids on each guest napkin, mirrors lining the head table and the gorgeous cake!

- Samirah

I apologize for the wait! Wedding season has officially begun and the blog took the back seat for a little while.  I’m excited to share some of the amazing weddings that we’ve already completely this season, but want to try and wrap up 2009 weddings first!

Amy and Daryl were married at a beautiful church in St. Thomas and then had their reception at the Best Western Lamplighter in London. The fresh colour palette of whites and greens is always one of my favourites as it is timeless and classic yet very fresh at the same time.  The bouquets really looked great against the black bridesmaids’ dresses!

The bouquets consist of hydrangea, peonies, hypercium berries, roses and cymbidium orchids.

Since the groom is a Firefighter a fire engine was ‘borrowed’for a few shots. I just LOVE the vibrant red! What a great backdrop!

The centerpieces were a combination of submerged green orchids with a floating candle low hydrangea arrangements.

- Samirah

Professional photos courtesy of Toogood Studios.

Now for the fabulous reception! … (see previous post for ceremony) … Details, details, details…

A few details worth noting: Black chivari chairs with leatherette cushions and white silk linens were brought in from Toronto. Exclusive Events covered Sunningdale’s curtains in black and white silk. They also created a fabric canopy above the head table which I then decorated with orchids and crystals! The centerpieces were a combination of lavish tall and lush low. Each centerpiece was surrounded by 3 vases filled with either hydrangea, succulents or orchids. Atop each guest napkin is a green and white orchid. Crystal candle holders along with regular votive holders were used to add sparkle and tie in all the crystal details. Even the table numbers aren’t simply numbers, they are Italian places and food the bride and groom would be experiencing on their honeymoon!

No matter how many weddings I do, I’ll never get over how much life flowers can bring to an ordinary reception room. This wedding demonstrates what a powerful impact flowers have in transforming a room.

Flowers abundantly surround the guest seating chart.

Some shots of the amazing crystal and orchid canopy! This sure had the guests talking!

I absolutely love what I do but most people are not aware of the time and labour that goes into creating and setting up the flowers for an event. Here are a couple of rare shots of us in action! I’m on the left and my fiancé was brought in (on the right) for crystal duty! His engineering skills come in handy when it comes the mechanics of wire tension vs. weight of the crystals… and “technical” things like that! Plus I just like his company!  He was one of the 4 workers who along with myself, worked to transform this room.  For those of you interested in the process: Usually I get the flowers on Wednesday for a Saturday event. Because they are perishable and I want them to be as fresh as possible, I don’t have the luxury of starting earlier. On Wednesday, the entire day, right into the night is spent conditioning the flowers, cutting and putting them into buckets. Thursday and Friday are usually long days of designing, for a big event like this one, I would have only slept a few hours Thursday night and gotten no sleep Friday night!  Saturday, the entire day is spent setting up and going from bouquet drop off, to church, to venue, and back again! Sunday is pick-up day. Monday and Tuesday, my studio gets put back into order- recycling of boxes, sweeping, washing buckets, sorting supplies, washing any rental vases etc. I also must prepare for the next weekend of weddings and meet with clients for upcoming weddings. And then Wednesday it starts all over again! When do I rest you ask? I don’t- not during wedding season!  You really have to be passionate about what you do to stay in this business. As my massage therapist can attest, standing and designing for 2-3 days straight, can sure do a number on your back!

You’ll have to forgive my appearance here- At this point I’m on day two of no sleep!

But the hard work is totally worth it when I make a bride and groom’s dream wedding into reality!

- Samirah

Professional photos courtesy of Ralph Heinze Photography.

Lauren and Chris were married at the magnificent St. Peter’s Cathedral and then celebrated their early June wedding at the beautiful Sunningdale Golf and Country Club. Sunningdale was the perfect backdrop for this elegant wedding.  Lauren came to me a bit frustrated after having met with a couple florists and event decorators. Well, I’m glad she found me!  We immediately “clicked” and I just knew I’d be able to incorporate her ideas, colours etc. to create something fantastic!  Flowers were very important to Lauren and the key element in making her dream wedding a reality. No detail was left unattended to.  I have to say, it was great fun planning this with Lauren!

We worked with colours that could be considered “classic” (whites and greens), but threw in some unexpected twists like succulents, gorgeous eggplant callas and deep plum cordyline leaves.

The bride’s bouquet consisted of roses, peonies, aubergine callas, orchids and jade plant.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of aubergine callas that looked amazing with their gorgeous blue dresses!

Lauren was a stunning bride!

St. Peter’s really is awe-inspiring; a perfect place for this grand wedding.

We flanked the altar with two spectacularly lush arrangements. Flowers also adorned the pews.

The groom and groomsmen wore green orchid boutonnieres.

I just love this shot of the two mothers waiting in anticipation by the church doors. The mother of the groom wore a large white cymbidium. The bride’s mom wore her favourite flower: a gardenia.

The bride switched from a white flower embellished sash to a black sash for the reception.

Reception pics to follow in a separate post…

- Samirah

Professional photos courtesy of Ralph Heinze Photography.