Angie wanted her flowers to really be different and unique. She is definitely not a “white wedding” kind of gal. Her and Jimmy are fun and funky and we wanted their wedding flowers to reflect that, but we still wanted to make sure they were elegant. “Funky elegant!” It can be done!  Since the bridesmaids wore black, we had free range in terms of colours.  Angie had complete trust in me and my vision (thanks Angie!) and was completely on board when I showed her examples using the colour palette of plums, magentas, deep purples, blues, fuchsia with a hit of green! We ended up with stunning, lush flowers that certainly didn’t fade into the background!

The Bouquets were composed of Coolwater roses, hydrangea, local dahlias, callas, phaleanopsis, cymbidium and dendrobium orchids. I really love how they turned out!

We kept the boutonnieres and corsages fairly simple by using callas and orchids for all.

In keeping with the unique, vibrant and lush floral theme, the centerpieces were a combination of amazing large green callas for the tall and a mix similar to the bouquets for the low.

The next series of photos were sent to us from HRM Photography. The very talented Heather did an amazing job capturing the day!  You can take a look at her blog for more photos and details about the day.  On HRM’s blog, Angie lists the flowers as her favourite detail! That always makes my day!

Angie’s dad surprised her by renting a horse and carriage for the day!

I love the contrast of the bouquets against the black bridesmaids dresses.

I’m always so impressed by the photos from HRM but check out this one, so incredible! And just to bring this back to the flowers- doesn’t her bouquet just look awesome against that stunning blue sky?

- Samirah

Professional photos courtesy of HRM Photography.  More photos from this wedding can be seen on their blog here.

- Samirah

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.

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.