Weddings

Theresa and Tom had an intimate wedding with close family and friends on the sands of Santa Monica followed by a reception at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica.

The bride’s daughters were her bridesmaids and each held a simple and elegant bouquet of all ivory “polo” roses. The stems were wrapped in cornflower blue satin ribbon, provided by Theresa, so they matched perfectly with the bridesmaid dresses.

The bride carried a bouquet of all ivory “polo” roses to match her bridesmaids, as well as with the addition of white cymbidium orchids. White on white, roses with orchids – perfect for an oceanside wedding in Santa Monica!

For the reception table centerpieces, Theresa requested something tall, with glass gems in the water and to continue with the rose and orchid theme. With slightly free range, I made these slightly modern arrangements in 24″ tall clear glass cylinders. Put together in a hand-tie, a large bouquet of ivory “polo” roses is accented on one side by long stems of white dendrobium orchids and then entirely surrounded by salal. Voila! Traditional white wedding flowers arranged in a modern style!

Lisa and Raul were married at the lovely venue, Occasions, in downtown El Segundo. The ceremony was held in the garden and the bride and groom stood beneath a wrought iron canopy. We decorated the canopy with ivy vine, roses, dahlia, seeded eucalyptus, and hydrangea. The colors were subtle – pale pinks, peach, gold, ivory, and greenery – so it all blended and fit well with the rest of the garden.

Mason jars of dahlia, roses, stock, and snapdragons hung from the aisle chairs.

The bride carried a gorgeous bouquet in the garden style with dark brown/burgundy cymbidium orchids, pale yellow ranunculus, pink lisianthus, ivory roses, pale pink cymbidium orchids, pink ranunculus, peach roses, golden orange dahlia, and white snowberries.

The groom wore a matching boutonniere featuring a pale yellow rose accented with dusty miller and snowberries. Groomsmen and family members wore ranunculus boutonnieres accented with dusty miller.

The bridesmaid bouquet was similar to the bride’s, but with slightly fewer flowers for a simpler bouquet.

The mothers wore wristlets of burgundy/brown cymbidium orchids with dusty miller and snowberries.

Reception table centerpieces were also in the garden style. Dahlias, snapdragons, roses, stock, ranunculus, hydrangea, snowberries, and seeded eucalyptus were held in brown wooden boxes. Tea lights in 1/2 pint jelly jars surrounded each centerpiece.

For the escort card and guestbook table, we placed a medium arrangement of garden flowers in a 1 pint mason jar. The edge of the table was lined with smaller mason jars holding stems of garden flowers – dahlias, stock, snapdragons, seeded eucalyptus, roses, and ranunculus.

We placed a cake topper of flowers on the top tier of the wedding cake and decorated each tier with small cluster of flowers. The bottom tier was surrounded by ivory, peach, and light orange rose petals. I loved how the flowers looked against the exposed brick wall!

Elisa and David were married at the Pacific Palms Resort on a late summer day. Their colors were fuchsia-magenta and silvery-grey and the theme classic simplicity. Tiny Wren Press (my other newer business venture) got to supply their letterpress wedding invitations as well! The ceremony was held outdoors in front of a lovely gazebo we decorated simply with a large mass of flowers hung from the top center. The aisle runner was edged with hot pink rose petals and pomanders made of dark pink hydrangea hung from the aisle chairs.

The gazebo flowers we used included: roses, dark pink and purple hydrangea, magenta phalaenopsis orchids, and dusty miller, acacia, and seeded eucalyptus for their silvery-grey tinted foliage.

The bride carried a bouquet of late blooming peonies, dahlia, freesia, ranunculus, tulips, phalaenopsis orchids, and dusty miller. The bridesmaids bouquets were slightly smaller with lisianthus, dahlia, freesia, ranunculus, tulips, and dusty miller.

The groomsmen wore sweet boutonnieres of hot pink ranunculus accented with a dusty miller leaf. Family members wore tulip boutonnieres and the groom wore a magenta phalaenopsis orchid.

We created an installation of hot pink and fuchsia flowers for the escort card table. Tall clear glass cylinders held slanted bouquets of dark pink mini calla lilies. Lower silver and clear glass footed vases held several stems of hot pink hydrangea. Hot pink petals and mint julep cups filled with hot pink ranunculus and hydrangea completed the look.

For the reception, half of the tables held a low arrangement of all pink and magenta flowers in a garden arrangement and half of the tables held a modern arrangement in a tall glass cylinder filled with hydrangea and phalaenopsis.

These tall arrangements have what I like to call a “tail” – reminiscent of those side ponytails from the 80s!

The low arrangements featured two-toned “lotus shaped” dahlia, purple hydrangea, and dark pink tulips, ranunculus, and roses. Seeded eucalyptus and silvery dusty miller leaves completed the arrangements.

The wedding cake was decorated simply with magenta phalaenopsis orchids and the toss bouquet propped on the side.

A bouquet of mango mini calla lilies and bright orange tulips.

A matching boutonniere with a mango mini calla lily accented with an orange freesia.

Fun boutonnieres made from not-yet-fully-open ball dahlia – perfect size!

Wristlets for the ladies made of orange cymbidium orchids and orange freesia.

Arlene and Danny were married at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown LA, followed by a reception at Lot613, a modern warehouse event space.  Flowers for the bridal party and reception were in fuchsia and green on silver, shimmery table lines.

Arlene’s bouquet was all green with green cymbidium orchids and “green tea” roses.

The maid of honor carried a fuchsia hand-tied bouquet of “hot lady” roses and magenta freesia.

The women wore corsages of green cymbidium orchids and fuchsia freesia.  I love the brightness of the lime green against the hot pink!

Arlene and Danny wanted a simple, clean, and modern look for the reception flowers.  The first thing guests saw upon entering Lot613 was a long row of clear glass cubes each holding a single rose blossom.  Alternating between the cubes were  votive candles in frosted glass holders.  We used battery-operated tea lights that looked just like the real thing – amber in color and flickering to boot!

The bride and groom were the king and queen for the day – sitting on tall white thrones at the head table!  Rose petals surrounded the long row of fuchsia ball dahlia arrangements and votive candles in between.

On each reception table we arranged a long row of small cube arrangements, each holding the same type of flower and lined with variegated aspidistra leaves for a very clean and modern look.  Frosted votive candles were placed between each arrangement.

There were cubes of fuchsia roses…

Fuchsia dahlias…

And lime green cymbidium orchids.

Finally, I just wanted to show you the cool lounge chairs and mirror topped lounge tables placed outside of the reception area. We placed a long row of flickering candles down the length of the tables – tres chic!

Sofya and Edward were married at Cravens Estate in Pasadena, a beautiful historic mansion that now houses the San Gabriel Valley Red Cross Chapter. Here’s an example of The Flower Lab providing just the personal flowers for a more DIY-inclined bride. Although they are typically smaller jobs, I always welcome the small break during the busy wedding season!

Sofya’s bouquet was a hand-held bouquet of all vintage garden roses called “Caramel Antique”.

To go with the lovely historic surroundings of Cravens Estate, Sofya wanted her flowers to be more garden in style in yellows and greens. The groom wore a boutonniere of yellow freesia accented with green kermit pom and yarrow.

The male family members wore boutonnieres made of succulents and yarrow.

And the women wore corsages of yellow freesia, spray roses, and yarrow.

Beautiful!

Marisa and Francis were married on a clear summer day at Palos Verdes Country Club. With the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop, the ceremony site was resplendent with 360 degree views of the sea and rolling hills of the peninsular community of Rancho Palos Verdes.

We decorated the wedding arch with mostly curly willow branches and tucked in individual stems of red of white flowers. We used red “Freedom” roses, white cymbidium orchids, and white phalaenopsis orchids.

The aisle chairs were draped with ivory organza fabric with a small puff collected at every other chair. We then tied a posey of red of white roses and dendrobium orchids on every other chair. The ceremony floral decor was simple and elegant, yet had much impact in its simplicity.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of red roses and white cymbidium orchids. The bride held an all white bouquet of “Tibet” roses, cymbidium orchids, spray roses, and stephanotis, edged with green salal leaves.

Continuing with the red and white color scheme, the reception centerpieces featured tall branches of curly willow sprayed chocolate brown with individual cymbidium orchid blossoms attached to the branches.  A collar of red roses circled the neck of each glass cylinder.

The bride and groom gave each of their guests a mini canning jar to fill with a variety of candies from their sweets table.  The candy jars also doubled as escort cards, with names and table numbers attached to each.  We decorated the favors and escort card table with smaller versions of the reception centerpieces – curly willow branches and cymbidium orchid blossoms.

Here are beautiful photographs taken by John Li Photography of Jennifer and Michael’s purple and white wedding at Calamigos Ranch.

I love their sweetheart table with the Just Married sign draping from the front edge! We transferred the green cymbidium orchids from the ceremony aisle chairs and covered every centimeter of the table with green cymbidium orchids – probably about 150 orchids!

What a cool red background! Was this from a barn at Calamigos? Leave it to John Li to scope out some awesome places for interesting shots.

Jennifer and Michael were married under a large tree draped with long strands of Christmas lights. We mimicked these hanging lights with actual strands of white cymbidium orchid blossoms and clear crystals hung from the branches, surrounding the bride and groom.

Jennifer and Michael were married at Calamigos Ranch, in the lovely Cottage Pavilion. Jennifer loves orchids!! So we featured several different types of orchids in her wedding color scheme of white, green, and purple. Calla lilies were also used in white and purple.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of all bright green cymbidium orchids.

Jennifer carried a bouquet of white cymbidium orchids with purple lips mixed with white mini calla lilies.

An modern installation of 5 tall clear glass cylinders were arranged on the escort card table. The two taller cylinders were topped with purple mokara orchids and the lower cylinders held bouquets of purple mini calla lilies.

On each cocktail table, we placed a clear glass vase with vines and long stemmed purple mini calla lilies twisting within the vase.

A tall manzanita branch arrangement was placed on the guestbook table next to wedding pictures of the bride and groom’s parents. I always get a big kick out of seeing these vintage wedding pictures – love it! We anchored the sandblasted manzanita branches in a tall glass square vase filled with white pebbles. I like how you can see the pebbles through the glass of the vase making it look like the branches are in a white vase. The branches were decorated with white cymbidium orchid blossoms, clear crystals, and stems of purple dendrobium orchids.

The ring bearing flower girl carried the sweetest pillow made from flowers! Here we used green kermit poms and tied a white satin ribbon around the pillow and accented it with orchids.

For the aisle chair decor, we tied entire stems of green cymbidium orchids onto every other chair with purple satin ribbon.

The reception was held under a big white tent decorated with twinkling lights. Each table held a tall skinny white tower vase topped with all purple dendrobium orchids. And flickering battery-operated tea lights in frosted glass votive holders completed the look.

Stay tuned for John Li’s gorgeous photographs of the lovely bride and groom on their wedding day!

Gina and Will choose vivid wedding colors of orange and blue. I loved how these orange summery flowers looked against such deep and intense blue hydrangea!

For her wedding bouquet, we used golden cymbidium orchids, white mini calla lilies, “caramel antique” garden roses, white freesia, and orange tulips.

Gina was also a little bit of a DIY-bride. She found her own clear glass vases to use for the reception and The Flower Lab filled them with flowers. We used large and fluffy deep orange dahlia, garden roses, alstroemeria, roses, blue hydrangea, and chocolate geranium leaves.

These small square vases each held 3 stems of dahlia and were placed on the cocktail tables.

Tall stems of orange “mango” calla lilies were held in skinny clear glass rectangular vases.