Catherine Thompson, of Weeds Floral Design, was quite possibly the most helpful & talented person I had the pleasure of working with in planning our wedding. I found her early on, which unfortunately meant I had months upon months to become obsessed with flowers & change my mind I don't even know how many times. The only firm thing I knew starting out was that I wanted the flower element to be somewhat simple & subtle. No need to spend thousands on expensive (and wasteful) decorations when you're getting hitched at the Four Seasons, right? I don't really like the idea of too many cut flowers or creating waste or using environmentally un-friendly products either. Also, I love succulents. We were getting married in a desert region & I wanted to pay tribute to that. And I love the color green. So, that's where we started - low cost, simple, seasonal & local plants, greens & natural shades, succulents. From there, I must have changed my mind a million times (a pink accent color? purple? succulent bouquets? roses? orchids?) and would you believe I never even really made a solid decision regarding bridesmaids' bouquets?
And yet somehow, Catherine came up with this.
My bouquet was a beautiful bundle of cream garden roses & ruffly hydrangea (that I like to think matched the ruffles on my dress). Accented with big green leaves & those greyish, green little branches (I'll have to find out the name) that somehow brought my muddled vision of a natural, desert vibe meets vintage glam meets down home romance to life. Can't you just see it? (Oh & you can't quite see it here, but it was tied with a deep green ribbon, laced up with a thinner golden ribbon & decked out with a dangly green & purple cluster of beads. Gorgeous.)
And the maids' bouquets took my breath away. This is the thing that I had left unclear in my haste & Catherine created something more beautiful than I could have imagined! Delicate purple orchids mixed with lavender hydrangea, bits of green, some cream colored orchids for accent, tied up with ribbon & rafia. It was beyond description for me! Exactly the unique, exotic yet classic tone that I could never put into words. I mean, I almost wore a Hawaiian gown to this wedding & Neil was my cowboy. You can see how many ideas we had!
She also added the most lovely little touches to the already fantastic Fountain Terrace, where we had the ceremony. Lucky for us, the venue had these brown, wooden folding chairs that perhaps some people wouldn't like, but to me they were perfectly suited to the small bundles of cream sweetpeas tied with deep purple ribbon hanging down to the ground, the scattered lavender petals on the aisle, the imposing fountain with its trickling sounds & crazy tropical statues. It amazes me now, looking back, how perfect this setting was for us & our "look." Again, Catherine's beautiful choices added just what we needed to add a subtle signature of our own to the Four Seasons. Can't you just get that 1950s Palm Springs, Hollywood playground, laidback glitz thing we were going for?
I just have to post this pic, too. Look at how perfect Jessie's outfit is? We knew we struck gold when we stumbled upon that dress in Dublin (in the first place we looked, actually). Look at the purple shoes! Everything about this wedding seemed to be a happy, perfect accident. (Didn't me & Neil eat at *Serendipity* one night? Now, who's getting corny?) Catherine's flowers are the perfect compliment to the vintage-style tropical floral design on Jessie's dress.
And Jackie's dress was a last minute find, after the first dress we initially picked turned out not to fit properly. Wasn't this just meant to be? Can I use the word perfect again?
Back to the decor. I say decor because Catherine went above & beyond flowers for us. Like I said, we didn't budget for (or want, really) a massive flower element in the wedding. We had some other elements of decoration though to add our personality (which is sometimes hard when you're using an already-dressed hotel setting). Sure, it still looked like a 5 star hotel (not a bad thing!) but we made it our own with our own photo frames, handmade signs & posters, vintage cigar boxes, a display of vintage Vegas postcards found on eBay in lieu of a guest book... Plus, Mexican wrestling masks & Guinness hats & an instant camera to capture it all. And all of this Catherine helped make possible. She helped us get all of these bits & pieces halfway around the world & put them all into place for us on the day. We couldn't have pulled it off without her & her team. (What about when you think, half an hour before the wedding, "Um, how am I going to get my video camera downstairs? What am I going to do with my purse?" - Catherine to the rescue!)
More pics -
A few more elements we came up with that really took things up a notch visually: the brown bamboo mats I picked up in Ikea, the giant green monstera leaves as mats beneath the arrangements & the cupcake tower, the blue & clear mason jars we sourced ourselves & sent to Catherine. All the little tea lights, our Day of the Day bride & groom, the girls' bouquets put into jars on our sweetheart table, the old printing blocks I found & used as backwards table numbers.... I'll use the word one last time: PERFECT.
Just like Weeds! Thank you, Catherine. Now, can we do it all over again?
*** All above photos are copyright Jill Jennings & Highland photography. Please do not reproduce.***
The pale green twig thingies in your bouquet were a eucalyptus variety... We're quite familiar with them on the West Coast :)
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Thanks for stopping by my blog. Oh how I adore your wedding. We are going for a 50s vibe as well. Your dress and the bridesmaid dresses are to die for - especially the floral hawaii one. Too cute!
ReplyDeleteLove your mans hat too - classic.
I also love the purple ribbons on those brown chairs at your ceremony - perfect pop of colour.