Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about The Sweet Life Bakery last week. This week, I have interviewed Tina from Tina Jay Photography. If you frequently read A Garden Party’s blog, you know that Mary and Dawn constantly rave about Tina. Here is what Tina had to say about being a wedding photographer…

Why should engaged couples choose your services?

Photography is one of the most important aspects of your wedding day; your photos are the only thing you’ll have left after the wedding! It’s the only way to preserve the moments on one of the most special days of your lives, and these pictures will be treasured by your family for many generations to come.  Choosing the right photographer, and not just booking whoever is cheapest, is one of the most important wedding decisions you’ll make.

What makes your business stand out?
The relationships I form with my brides are what make me stand out among the competition.  I love when brides become friends of mine, so I’m not just another vendor showing up on the wedding day.  I think it adds something to your photographs, when we actually form a personal connection rather than me just showing up without ever meeting the bride or groom before the wedding day. (We couldn’t agree more Tina! We feel the same way about forming friendships with our brides!)

Why did you want to enter the wedding industry?
I was working as a CPA in a public accounting firm when I first started my journey into wedding photography. When I shot my first wedding, I realized THIS is what I’m meant to do with my life, not sit in a cubicle.  I love that my job involves hanging out with amazing couples on one of the happiest days of their lives; it doesn’t get much better than that!

Is this a family owned business?
I started this business on my own about four years ago. I quit my day job and have never looked back.  I personally shoot all of the weddings, and I also bring a second shooter to the weddings with me.

What is your favorite part of being involved in weddings?
I love documenting the love between a couple and bringing out the personalities and qualities that make them unique.  I also love documenting all the moments of a wedding day, knowing that they will become treasured memories held in that family for years and years. I always consider it a great honor when couples choose me for the job.
What advice would you offer to engaged couples looking for a vendor who provides your services?
I always have two very important suggestions for couples when they’re looking for a wedding photographer. 1) Make sure your personality clicks with the photographer.  They’re the one vendor who will be with you all day long, so you have to make sure it’s someone you want around you all day long.  I’ve heard so many brides say they wish they would have thought of that when hiring their wedding photographers. 2) Make sure to ask photographers to see an entire edited wedding that they’ve shot.  So many photographers make the images on their website/blog look amazing; then they hardly touch the rest of the photos, so it can be a little misleading.  I strive to make each and every picture I deliver have the same quality as the ones you see in my website/blog.

What general advice would you offer engaged couples?
Planning a wedding can be incredibly overwhelming.  I always suggest booking all of your major vendors as soon as you get engaged, since it feels like a huge weight off your shoulders when you have all of that set in place.  Then you can take a break, and just enjoy planning all of the little details as you get closer to the wedding date.  Also, check out wedding websites like Style Me Pretty and Wedding Chicks. They really give you inspiration and ideas for your day.

What are your short and long term goals?
My short term goal is to continue booking weddings as I have been, filling up my 2012 and 2013 wedding weekends.  My long term goal is to potentially hire more photographers for my business, which will allow me to offer brides different packages based on the photographer you choose.

Additional Comments:
Two more things I always suggest to brides: 1) Do an engagement session!  A lot of people ask what the point is of an engagement session.  Besides having amazing photos of the two of you (duh!), it’s great to schedule an engagement session with your photographer.  This session gives you a chance to bond with the photographer and learn a little bit about each other. It also gives you a good idea of what to expect on your wedding day.  That way you’ll feel at ease on your big day. 2) Do a First Look session!  This is when the bride and groom decide to see each other before the ceremony.  The traditional notion of waiting to see each other when you walk down the aisle is going by the wayside. About 80% of my brides are opting for a First Look session.  It’s great because it gets jitters out of the way, it’s an intimate moment just between the two of you, and it gives you the opportunity to get all photos (family and bridal party as well) done before the ceremony.  That means you can go straight to your cocktail hour and enjoy the party.  And I promise, you still get the same “feeling” walking down the aisle.

Obviously, Tina is an amazing photographer. She loves her job, and she has sound advice to offer both the bride and groom. One look at her work and you will see exactly why A Garden Party loves Tina! Check out these weddings photographed by Tina Jay Photography.

Jena and Mike at Centerton Country Club

Adelina and Michael at the Hyatt Regency

Sara and Simon at the Mansion

Kari and Dave featured on Style Me Pretty

Sarah’s Winter Wedding at Waterfalls in Claymont, DE

Love what you see? Check out even more photos on Tina’s official website and her blog.

We’d love to know, who is your favorite photographer? What is most important to you when choosing a photographer?

***Just a reminder, we will be closed July 9th through the 17th, as we will be on our annual family beach vacation to Strathmere! Emails and phone calls will be answered upon returning to the office on July 18th, I just hate when my laptop gets sandy I will be scanning messages, so if something critical pops up, we will get back to ya ASAP. Thanks for understanding and have a great week!

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact us by filling out the form below:

For the past month and a half, I’ve had the pleasure of sharing juicy details about celebrity weddings with A Garden Party readers. Now, I’m switching gears and starting a new series that features vendors that A Garden Party frequently works with. This week, I talked to Stephen from The Sweet Life Bakery in Vineland, New Jersey.  Here is what one of A Garden Party’s favorite bakers had to say.

What makes your business stand out?

The Sweet Life Bakery is owned by a husband and wife team. We were both trained at the Culinary Institute of America, in the kitchens of San Francisco and during a backpacking tour through Europe.  We employ two artists that do our sugar and fondant work, as well as a staff of trained pastry chefs that make and bake all the cakes.  Everything at the bakery is made from scratch. We never use shortening or corn syrup, so our cakes taste AMAZING!

Why should engaged couples choose your services?

We offer delicious, beautiful, custom designed cakes along with superior service, all at a fair price.  Not only were we named by TheKnot.com as a “best of weddings” winner and got a WeddingWire.com “brides choice” award, we were also named by SJ Magazine as having the BEST wedding cakes in South Jersey.  We’re very proud of those accolades, and we strive to live up to them with every cake that goes out the door.

Why did you want to enter the wedding industry?

The cake is the edible centerpiece of the wedding celebration, and it symbolizes the sweetness of the couples’ love for each other; we LOVE playing such an important role.  We’re constantly surrounded by happiness and love, and it’s a very positive working environment.

What is your favorite part of being involved in weddings?

I really enjoy the cake tasting.  By talking with the bride and groom, looking at pictures and getting a feel of their style, I tease out the elements of their imagined cake, put it on paper and create their very own cake design.  My job is to get their idea out of their heads and onto paper… I love when I finish the sketch, show it to the bride and she says, ‘It’s exactly what I had in mind!’  Then I know that I’ve nailed it, and that’s a good feeling.  Jill, however, enjoys making the sugar pieces and flowers, piping the buttercream and turning the cake that I sketched into a reality!

What are your short- and long-term goals?

Our short-term goals are to follow our mission statement and make sure our staff is as well.  The five most basic goals of our business are to provide our guests with consistent, tasty and wholesome foods; to provide reliable, warm and professional service; to treat our employees and each other with the utmost respect and dignity; to be aware of our social and environmental impacts; and to always have fun!  Our long-term goals are to be the best bakery in the country, to win a James Beard award, to write a cookbook and to live happy and healthy lives!

What advice would you offer to engaged couples looking for a vendor who provides your services?

Check out their online presence such as TheKnot.com and WeddingWire.com to see if they have good reviews (we have stellar reviews, by the way). Also, check their website.  Look at pictures, of course!  Make sure you do a cake tasting to get a feel for how they are personally and professionally and of course, to see how the cakes taste. Most importantly, make sure you ask lots of questions!

What general advice would you offer engaged couples?

Have fun!  After all it’s a party… Do what you want (remember it’s your wedding!); don’t take it too seriously, and make sure you’re working with good vendors who will take on the stress so you don’t have to!

Do you have any additional comments?

The Sweet Life Bakery was named as one of the “places in New Jersey to get the dessert of your dreams” by Edible Jersey Magazine. Also, Jill and I were named by Mother Nature Network as two of the “top green chefs under 40” for our sustainable practices!

Well, with all their awards and their commitment to tasty cakes and professional service, it is no wonder The Sweet Life Bakery is one of A Garden Party’s favorite vendors. In case Stephen’s answers weren’t enough to make you go purchase a cake right now, check out these gorgeous cakes made by A Sweet Life. (Flowers courtesy of A Garden Party Florist)

Kari and Dave’s Wedding in Pilesgrove, NJ

Jessie and Scott’s Wedding at the Southern Mansion

How does your dream wedding cake look and taste? Who is your favorite baker? We’d love to hear your feedback.

Also, be sure to check back next week to read about one of  A Garden Party’s favorite photographers.

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact us by filling out the form below:

So it is officially summer!  I am so excited…nice weather, tons of weddings, and a week at the beach coming up soon   It really doesn’t get much better than that.  The nice weather means we have access to some really great locally grown flowers too…which we have been taking huge advantage of.  It is so much more fun when we get to go pick out exactly what flowers we are going to use for an event!  We also recently purchased a birch arbor / Chuppah that is to die for.  One of our brides had her fiance and family make it by hand for her ceremony and once we saw it we fell in love with it.  We are so excited that we can now offer it as a rental item to our brides, contact us if you are interested!  Now on to the fun stuff   We have had the pleasure of working with Marc Anthony a few times already this wedding season, and as usual his photos did not disappoint. You can check out his blog about Lindsey and Rich’s wedding HERE.  Lindsey and Rich were married this past March at Lucien’s Manor in Berlin, NJ.  Lindsey was seriously one of the most gorgeous brides I have ever seen…simply stunning, and super sweet to work with to boot!  Jessica (another one of our gorgeous brides) was in this wedding, and did hair and makeup for all the bridesmaids and Lindsey.  She has her own business, Your Day Your Way, and any bride looking for hair and makeup for the day of their wedding should def check her out, she does beautiful work!  Now check out these photos….

This may be one of the cutest first look pictures I have ever seen….you can tell these two adore each other <3

Lindsey carried a cascading bouquet of white peonies, katerina pink roses, pink esperance roses, white and pink ranunculus, red amaranthus, and erica dendrobium orchids.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of sarah bernhardt peonies, pink roses, pink ranunculus, and fiddlehead ferns.

Aren’t these two adorable?!?!  The flower girl wore a halo of baby’s breath with pink ribbon streamers and the ringbearer wore a cute little bout made of a fiddlehead fern and a spray rose bud.

Check out the movement on Lindsey’s bouquet…awesome!  Her dress was gorgeous…I think she even said she was on an episode of Say Yes to the Dress!

The room at Lucien’s was beautiful.  I loved her linens…they were gorgeous and really added to the overall look of the room.

We did two styles of centerpieces.  The first was done in our chic vase, filled with crystals light with an LED and pink tinted water.  On top we used our crystal chandeliers and designed an arrangement of dendrobium orchids.  We used our crystal candle holders around the centerpiece…they look so pretty with the candlelight!

The other centerpieces were done in the same vase, but with our natural bark manzanita branches in the top.  We hung our crystal globes and orchids strands from the branches…so pretty!

This wedding was picture perfect and we love working with Lindsey to come up with everything…this bride has definite style!  Thanks Lindsey and Rich for letting us be a part of your special day!!!

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact us by filling out the form below:

The June 13th issue of Life&Style dished lots of juicy details about Kim Kardashian’s $3 million wedding plans. Yes, you read that correctly; she has a $3 million dollar budget. According to Life&Style, ”Kim’s goal [is] to outshine the royal wedding.” To do so, Kim plans on having a celebrity, such as Christina Aguilera, sing at the wedding. She is also inviting A-list celebrities such as Eva Longoria and Jennifer  Lopez and designing a one-of-a-kind gown.

While most of the details of Kim’s wedding are over-the-top and impractical for the average bride, her flower choices are down to earth. According to Life&Style, Kim’s “favorite flowers are gardenia, jasmine, and tuberose.” Kim also revealed that she loved Khloe’s all-white bouquet. (Khloe is Kim’s sister who married Lamar Odom in 2009.)

Jasmine

White bouquets are beautiful, elegant, and traditional. Check out these white bouquets designed by A Garden Party Florist.

Kristen carried a bouquet of white anemone, white peonies, and white ranunculus. To see more pictures of Kristen and Ryan’s wedding, click here.

Mary carried a bouquet of white ranunculus, white lisianthus, white sweetpea,  ivory garden roses, ivory spray roses, brunia berries, phalaenopsis orchids and  white peonies. To see more pictures of Mary and Brian’s wedding, click here.

Katy’s bridesmaids carried paperwhites wrapped with red satin and black lace. To see more pictures of Katy and RJ’s wedding, click here.

We would love to hear your feedback. What are your favorite flowers? Do you perfer all-white bouquets, or do you like colorful bridal bouquets? What would your ideal bridal bouquet look like?

Last weekend was a fun weekend for Mary and I. We were in all of our glory with a flower shop full of wildflowers for an amazing wedding at The Southern Mansion and tons of blue and yellow (one of my fav color combos) for a gorgeous wedding at Running Deer. This week we are doing an awesome wedding at The Golden Inn, featuring flowers and VEGETABLES! I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. I am happy to report that I have lots of new and recent weddings to share with you all on the blog!  Last week one of our May brides, Alison, was kind enough to send me a photo CD from her wedding…we LOVE when our brides share their professional photos with us, thanks Alison!  Two Wedding Photographers did a great job with the pictures. Alison and Fred were married at Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood, NJ in an outside ceremony on a beautiful May day.

Alison was such a pretty bride! She carried a bouquet of orange tulips, orange mini callas, pink mini gerbers, yellow freesia, coral spray roses, and peach hypericum berries.

We wrapped the stems with yellow satin ribbon and accented with a coral criss cross ribbon over top.

To accent the bridesmaids coral/guava dresses we used yellow mini gerbers, coral spray roses, peach hypericum, and orange mini callas.

We wrapped the bridesmaids bouquets with coral satin ribbon, accented with a yellow criss cross over top.

Aren’t thes two the cutest couple?!?!  Fred wore a boutounierre of yellow freesia and an orange calla lily wrapped with yellow satin ribbon.

Alison’s mom carried a small nosegay of yellow gerber daisies and yellow freesia.

On the place card table we placed a vase full of these gorgeous orange tulips in honor of some loved ones.  I love tulips and am so sad that tulip season is over for 2011   Luckily we can order them pretty much year round from Holland!

Half of the tables had these amazing centerpieces.  We used our chic vase filled with orange tinted water.  We submerged a calla lily in the water and floated a candle on top.  We hung little bubble vases from the vase with orange wire and placed a large awesome bicolor orange and yellow gerber daisy in each vase.  It looked so cool!

The other half of the tables we used these tealight vases.  These are such a GREAT money saver!  Alison had her bridesmaids place their bouquets in these vases as soon as the ceremony was over…instant table decor!

We accented the cake with pink mini gerber daisies, coral spray roses, and peach hypericum.  So pretty!

Thank you Alison and Fred for letting us be a part of your wedding day.  We appreciate all of your referrals as well, we are so proud to build our business this way. We had so much fun with your wedding!

xoxo, Dawn and Mary

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact Mary by filling out the form below:
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Well it is Friday….a day that Mary and I look forward to all week   Friday’s we spend out in the flower shop, working on wedding flowers pretty much all day….and we couldn’t be happier!  Today I got these amazing photos from Tami Melissa Photography though, and I couldn’t wait to blog about this wedding.  Danielle and Robert were such a FUN couple.  They were married on April 1st (April Fool’s Day!) at Running Deer Golf Club, and we loved being able to be a part of their day.  Danielle was such a sweet bride, and so easy to work with.  She gave us some ideas and we ran with it…and it turned out pretty amazing!  As usual it was a joy working with Running Deer, and Tami Melissa….it is great to have such awesome connections with fellow vendors.  Now on to the fun stuff – pictures, pictures, pictures!

I loved everything about these bouquets…they had such great texture!  We used blue hydrangea, dark blue delphinium, scabiosa, tweedia, magnolia leaves, dried lotus pods, and fiddleheads in the bouquets.

We accented the ribbon wrap with brown twine.  The bridesmaids wore navy gowns, and these bouquets looked gorgeous against the navy.

We decorated the outdoor pergola at Running Deer with hanging blue glass vases filled with blue hydrangea.  To line the aisle we hung vases of blue hydrangea from our shepherds hooks.  To flank the couple we did cobalt blue vases of hydrangea on our pedestals.

Look how excited and happy Danielle looks!!!

The happily married couple <3

Gorgeous couple!

You are beautiful Danielle.

I loved Robert’s bout.  We used a magnolia leaf, a fiddlehead, scabiosa, and a touch of tweedia.

I love looking for ways to make each and every bout that we make unique and different.

For the place card table we strung clothes line between two vases of manzanita, hydrangea, and hanging crystals and used little clothespins to hang the cards on the line. Under the place cards we placed pictures of Danielle and Robert.

For the centerpieces we used assorted blue glassware filled with blue hydrangea, white lilies, dried lotus pods and blue delphinium.

We loved setting up this wedding.  It was so fun and different than anything we have done before (which we love!).  Thank you for letting us be a part of your day!!!

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact Mary by filling out the form below:
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Courtesy of Life&Style

The June 13^th issue of Life&Style has exclusive photos from Niecy Nash’s gorgeous wedding. (Nash married fiancé Jay Tucker in Malibu on May 28^th.) I may be bias because my wedding colors were purple and black, but I LOVED Nash’s purple and silver color scheme. Her wedding was beautiful, elegant, and feminine; the perfect adjectives for a wedding.

In case you are curious, here is a picture from my black and purple wedding.

During Nash’s ceremony, purple and lavender flowers lined the aisle. Nash carried a gorgeous white bouquet, consisting of roses and peonies. The stems were wrapped in white ribbon and pearls to match Nash’s “vanilla-color strapless Ines DiSanto gown,” according to Life&Style. The bridesmaids carried gorgeous bouquets of lavender roses and crystals, and they wore tiny purple flowers in their hair. Even the six-tier wedding cake had crystals and purple flowers.

Nash’s centerpieces were my favorite part of the wedding. On top of lavender tablecloths stood gorgeous crystal chandelier vases with roses, hydrangeas, and orchids. They were a beautiful combination of purples and white.

Nash and I aren’t the only brides who like purple. Dawn and Mary have done gorgeous work for other “purple” weddings. Check out these previous posts by A Garden Party:

Kerry & Garrett at Running Deer

Ben & April at Riverview Inn

Michelle & Matt at Tera Nova

I hope you enjoyed all the gorgeous purple in this blog! In the upcoming weeks we want to do more blogs geared towards wedding ideas and style.  What do you want to hear about???  What are you struggling with during your wedding planning???

Whew – this weekend has been a whirlwind of weddings!  I decided there was no better way to end a weekend of wedding madness, then with a blog about one of my absolute favorite weddings of 2010.  A few weeks ago this wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty, you can see it HERE.  We are always so excited to have a wedding featured on Style Me Pretty, it is such an honor to hear that other people love our work.  I have to be honest, while we did the flowers for this wedding, I think what really made this wedding so amazing and special was all of the details the bride and her family put into the day.  Rachael and Connery were married at Pratt Gardens in Pilesgrove, NJ (anyone looking for a gorgeous outdoors location in South Jersey has got to check out this venue!).  I was so impressed with the amount of work, planning, and love that Rebekah (the bride’s older sister) and her mother did to make sure Rachael’s wedding was perfect.  Rebekah was kind enough to send us a list of the details her and her mom came up with to make Rachael and Connery’s wedding so special.  Check out all that they did….I love all this DIY and the fact that they shared their secrets with us:

BURLAP SIGNS – “Just Married” & “Sweet Treats” – Burlap pennants 10” x 7”,stencil letters painted on the burlap, jute sewn on across the top & on the ends to hang them up.

BURLAP PETAL CONES – each cone was made from 2 – 7” circles of burlap, sewn around the edge, and turned; then wrapped into a cone shape and hand stitched to hold. A ribbon loop was sewn into the top & finished off with a small bow. Filled with colorful petals by A Garden Party.

BURLAP drawstring CANDY BAGS w/ tags – Small drawstring burlap bags were made to be filled with candy at the candy bar. Each bag had a round “canning jar” tag that read: “Love is Sweet – Rachael & Connery 10.30.10”. Each bag was finished with a jute drawstring, and canning tags stamped in orange, green & brown ink. The tags and the custom made stamp for the tags were purchased on Etsy.

BURLAP OVERLAYS – Burlap overlays covered all the tables, ivory over brown tablecloths, on the serving tables; and natural burlap over ivory tablecloths on the guest tables (provided by A Garden Party).

“Bride” & “Groom” CHAIR MARKERS – Wooden hearts stenciled with “Bride”& “Groom”, hanging on the back of the bride and grooms chairs.

DIRECTIONAL ARROWS – Wooden signs/arrows for guests to find their way around: Signs included: Connery & Rachael’s Wedding, Reception, Ceremony, Restrooms, Ladies, Gentlemen, Smoking Area, Party, Parking.

PAPER FLOWERS – Paper Pompoms were made with 6 sheets of tissue paper, 2 shades of orange & ivory. The paper flowers decorated an old swing in the yard, the bar area, the photo booth, and the golf cart that the bride and groom rode off in after the ceremony.

WEDDING CLOTH Guest Book – Large ivory tablecloth with the following instructions for wedding guests: (pencils were provided and the messages were later embroidered) “Please Sign Our Wedding Cloth, In lieu of a Guest Book, we wanted to create our first family heirloom. Each message written and signed by our dear friends and family will be embroidered and sewn into one big memory of this very special day. We will look at it always, and think of y’all. Thank you, Rachael & Connery.”

THUMBPRINT TREE Guest Book – Drawing of a tree trunk & branches (no leaves), and instructions for guests to “leaf your thumbprint”. Three different color stamp pads and hand wipes were provided for the guests.

WEDDING ATTIRE – The entire bridal party wore Cowboy boots; and the girls also wore Flower Mohair Triangle Shawls, purchased on Etsy, handmade in Istanbul, Turkey.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61818696/ready-to-shipbrown-flower-mohair
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61818692/ready-to-shipivory-flower-mohair

THE CAKE – The brides’ aunt made THE WEDDING CAKE, it was a triple layer cake with butter cream icing; and 250 matching cupcakes. The cake topper came from the brides’ grandparents, and A Garden Party topped the cake and cupcakes with an assortment of matching flowers. Carved pumpkins adorned the cake table, each with a different carving. The carvings included a bride & groom silhouette, champagne glasses & a heart with 2 birds on a branch (to match the invitations).

HAY BALES – Hay bales decorated the inside of the ceremony gazebo, and the outer areas of the guest seating, and around the reception tent.

ENGRAVED BRICK – An engraved brick bearing the names of the bride and groom & wedding date, was placed in the ground at the gazebo, where the ceremony was held. This is something that Pratt Gardens does for all the weddings held there.

PHOTO BOOTH – The Photo Booth was decorated with a sheet of burlap, with “photo booth” stenciled down the side; flanked by 6 streams of paper pom poms on each side; a chalkboard easel identified the area, and small chalkboards & chalk were provided for guests to write a message to the bride and groom; an assortment of mustaches & lips on sticks, “Groucho Marx” glasses and other masks were provided for fun props; and, a stone bench for guests to sit on.

BAR MENU – The bar menu was written on small chalkboards (to match the photo booth), honey sticks stirrers were provided, for hot beverages.

INVITIATIONS – Invitation designs were purchased on Etsy, and printed locally. Table menus and Programs were made to match, and were printed on Ellie Pooh paper (Mr. Ellie Pooh LLC is an eco-friendly Fair Trade company making exotic gifts and paper made partially out of elephant poo!)

And one final story…when I asked Rebekah about the PacMan and PacWoman that greeted the guests as they entered the driveway I knew I was in for another amazing story.  Here it is, I just had to share it! From Rebekah:

“When Rachael was home, Connery had to do some training in the states and flew to NJ to spend the weekend here, meeting the rest of the family and friends. It was the weekend before Halloween and we were all going to a 80s themed party. So in true Rachael fashion, nothing can be done small scale, Rachael made the costumes – wood, cardboard, glue, nails, paint – I think it took her like 2 weeks to put them all together. This is how Connery met all of Rachael’s NJ friends, dressed as an oversized pacman..so we knew he was a good sport and would pretty much do anything for her. So, since it was Halloween weekend the following year they were getting married it was only fitting to pull them out and have someone wear them!”

I had to include a few more photos showcasing some of the flowers

Rachael was gorgeous!  Her bouquet featured locally grown dahlias, calla lilies, craspedia, tulips, and bittersweet.

We added these charms to each bouquet.  Each charm was slightly different – so unique!

The gazebo at Pratt Gardens looked amazing after we added some hanging mason jars with votives, and ribbons with flowers.

Beautiful shot of the bridal party!

We hope you love this detail filled wedding as much as we did.  Thanks for working with us Rachael and Connery!

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact us by filling out the form below:

Credit: MP/SC/Flynet

Last weekend, Shedding for the Wedding Hostess Sara Rue married fiancé Kevin Price. The couple tied the knot during a beachfront, hummingbird-and-butterfly-themed ceremony. According to Us Magazine and People StyleWatch, butterflies and hummingbirds were incorporated into everything from the invitations to the cake to the bride’s shoes.

While the ceremony and reception were beautiful, the real showstopper was the beautiful bride. According to People, Rue, a Jenny Craig spokeswoman, lost 50-lbs, four dress sizes, before the big day. To celebrate her achievement, Rue flaunted a strapless Amsale dress.  The princess-like gown was perfect for the whimsical butterfly-and-hummingbird-themed wedding.

I love the butterfly and hummingbird theme. It is perfect for spring or summer, especially an outdoor wedding. Since butterflies typically symbolize change and transformation, they are a perfect symbol for a marriage.  Check out a butterfly themed wedding that A Garden Party did on our blog post about Tommy and Shannon.  Here are a few other butterfly themed flower and decor ideas:

Courtesy of Leminga Events

WOW – wedding season is upon us and Mary and I have been delightfully busy!  Every weekend we are delivering weddings and our coolers are bursting at the seams with tons of flowers….we are incredibly lucky to be so busy   We hope you have been enjoying some of April’s blog posts; it has been exciting for us to work with her as one of our brides and now have her working with us.  I have been waiting for a spare moment to share Lindsay and JD’s April wedding with you and once Ryan of RHM Photography sent over these AMAZING photos I knew I just had to make the time!  Ryan is crazy talented and we have loved working with him…check out some more of his awesomeness over on his blog. Working with Lindsay was a joy, this family is seriously one of the sweetest families we have ever worked with. We had the pleasure of doing her sister, Casey’s, wedding flowers last October and were thrilled when Lindsay got in touch with us about her wedding.  Lindsay and JD were having a destination wedding, but couldn’t leave NJ without having a small celebration and we were happy to here to help

Ok, is everyone as impressed with this shot as I am?!?!  I love all those cherry petals swirling around them!

Lindsay carried a bouquet of amazing orange parrot tulips, orange mokara orchids, white hydrangea, white anemone, and white narcissus.

We wrapped the stems with turquoise satin ribbon and used lace appliques from her mother’s wedding gown to accent… so pretty!

Nothing like shots of bouquets in fields of flowers!

Lindsay’s little white dress was so cute!

Check out that sky….it is gorgeous!

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of parrot tulips…which I was obsessed with

I love the idea of using just one type of flower for the bridesmaids bouquets…it always looks so fresh.  We wrapped the stems with turquoise ribbon accented with this adorable orange ribbon.

I had to include this picture because it shows Lindsay and Casey so nicely…aren’t they pretty!?!?!

Look at how frilly those tulips were!

I added the orange dotted ribbon on a whim…and loved it!

LOVE.

They had a dinner reception after the ceremony at The Green Olive in Bridgeton, NJ.  I was really impressed with how nice the room was and how courteous the staff was…would def recommend bride’s in the Bridgeton area to look into this venue!

Thank you Lindsay and JD for letting us be a part of your day.  We had so much fun doing your wedding flowers!  xoxo

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