Danny & Jessie's Rustic Wedding

Jessie and Danny were married at the Martinelli Event Center in the late afternoon of August 18, 2012. The event center is tucked in the rolling vineyard hills of Livermore Valley wine country and offered the couple the combination of seclusion and sophistication that the they were looking for on their big day.

When we began discussing what they envisioned for the reception decor words such as rustic, polished, casual, high-end, burlap and lace continuously came up; and through brainstorming I was able to marry these seemingly opposite descriptive visions into a final product that captured exactly what the bride and groom wanted.

We decided to use flowers typically seen in very expensive looking centerpieces, like hydrangeas and Calla Lillie's, mixed with stems that looked as though they were hand picked out of a field of wild flowers. The bride wrapped two mason jars with burlap and a spray of lavender attached to every jar with lace ribbon for each of her eighteen tables. Additionally, each guest was greeted at their seat by a small spray of lavender; so to continue this subtle touch I incorporated dried lavender into all of the arrangements that were used throughout the venue.

Take a look!

 The beautiful and unique centerpieces:

The toss bouquet:

Jessie asked me to make an flower arrangement for the cake table and mentioned that she had misplaced her silver monogrammed cake topper and gave the creative freedom to turn her raw craft materials into a replacement. I took a wooden "M" and wrapped and secured jute around it. In the end it if in perfectly with all of the elements that Jessie had planned for.

The cocktail hour centerpieces were a mix of several

different types of flower combinations and vases:

The aisle was lined with hanging mason jars filled with hydrangea and baby's breath:

My absolute favorite decor item that was put together for this wedding was on the fireplace.

I have noticed that it has become somewhat of a trademark for me to make my couples a monogram of their initial and there was no exception at this affair. I flanked the couples monogram with two matching vases, the bases were filled with dried lavender and the top was a bouquet of baby's breath hand tied with jute. I was quite happy with the very unique look that it added to the cocktail hour.

Here's to Danny and Jessie! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

Christopher & Rachel's Romantic Evening

On a warm, sunny evening, under an arch adorned with curly willow branches, roses, and tulle Rachel Avila became Rachel Edwards. Christopher and Rachel were married at Poppy Ridge Golf Course, surrounded by Livermore wine country. The weather couldn't have been better and the guests couldn't have been more lively.

In my pre-wedding consultations with Rachel we discussed what she and Chris envisioned for their big day and it soon became clear that they wanted their guest to be able to speak to each other across the table with ease, but also wanted the flowers to be a main focus within the reception space. They wanted their alter to captivate onlookers with delicate touches framing them as they exchanged vows. We also discussed the details of the wedding, such as bridesmaid dresses, what the mothers of the couple would be wearing, Rachel's jewelry, etc. with the intention of pulling all of these elements together with the floral design to make the overall decor of the wedding perfect. And this is what we came up with:

Here's the alter before:

And the alter after:

Because Rachel's bridesmaids were wearing deep pink colored dresses we decided to have them carry all white bouquets adorned with a small vintage looking broach.

After choosing her bridesmaids bouquets Rachel decided that she wanted to compliment their dresses by incorporating the color into her bouquet. She told me right off the bat that she wanted her bouquet to include peonies, so we distinguished her bouquet in this way and tied them all together by incorporating dahlias into all of them.

I was also asked to make the boutonnieres for the men in the bridal party, as well as corsages for the mothers and grandmothers. The groomsmen, fathers and grandfathers wore a soft and simple boutonniere made out of queen Ann's lace and lisianthus, wrapped in a rustic twine. The groom wore a single peony (to compliment his brides bouquet) with queen Ann's lace, wrapped in the same rustic twine that adorned his groomsmen boutonnieres. 

In order to make a dramatic statement in the reception space we decided on a mixture of tall and short centerpieces that would allow guests to comfortably speak to each other. By incorporating empty, tall glass vases into the more dramatic of the centerpieces we were able to accomplish this.  

The short centerpieces were done in such a way that there was a collective uniformity as well as slight differences in each one that added to the romantic atmosphere that the bride and groom wanted to capture.

Overall it was a beautiful event that was filled with the romance and love that the couple had hoped for while planning the day.

(A special thanks to Brian Gross Photography

for allowing me to use some of his beautiful pictures)