A few weeks ago Mary and I had the pleasure of designing and setting up the wedding flowers for Jenna and Mark at Running Deer Golf Club in Pittsgrove, NJ. The wedding planning started months in advance as Mary searched high and low for the perfect turquoise glass beads to use as an accent for Jenna. We really love how it all came together and are so excited to share the pictures with you. Issy Schmid was kind of enough to send us these fabulous shots. Definitely check out her website and blog, she does some amazing work!

The bridesmaids wore these cute little black dresses (love these!) and carried bouquets of yellow calla lilies. The yellow really popped against the black! Jenna carried an all white bouquet of roses, lilacs, calla lilies, tulips and stephanotis….and of course we accented with some turquoise bling.

Here is a close up of Jenna's bouquet. The rhinestones in the stephanotis were gorgeous. We also wrapped her bouquet with a handkerchief that had been handed down in her family, these are the kind of little touches that we love to add.

I had to add this picture because they both looked so awesome in it. You can also see how the handkerchief was wrapped around the stems of her bouquet.

Look at this gorgeous bride!!!

As usual the set up at Running Deer went perfectly. We used our tall bell vases with a stem of yellow orchids in the bottom and a mound of white hydrangea on top. We hung the turquoise beads from the top of the centerpiece and of course sprinkled some on the table.

For the low centerpieces we used this coordinating bowl with floating orchids and candles. Look at how pretty the glass beads are on that mirror.

Jenna and Mark were married outside at Running Deer underneath their new pergola. We hung these cute little bubble vases with hydrangea from the pergola. We had some strands of the beads left and didn't want any to go to waste so we decided last minute to add them to the pergola – I think this really made it all come together.

To line the aisle we hung these adorable little daisy pomanders from shepherds hooks.

Thanks to Issy for all of the great photos.  And congrats to Jenna and Mark – we had so much fun doing this wedding!

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:

I love to be surprised, who doesn’t? This wedding handed me a lovely little surprise, I had NO IDEA that Pratt Gardens on County Home Road in Pilesgrove NJ even existed! And I grew up on a farm just down the road! From the looks of Aimee’s wedding photos, it was a perfect location for their outdoor ceremony and tented reception. Aimee’s wedding was a casual family affair, full of many personal touches that I just adored….I can’t even take credit for them, Aimee did all the planning! However, during our first consultation when I discovered that her fiance was a glass blower, I quickly expressed my excitement (and jealousy – I took a glass blowing class in college and phew, that stuff is harder than it looks!). I asked Dan to make some glass beads to add to our floral designs and I just LOVE what he came up with. I knew I would, so that wasn’t really a surprise haha. I was happy to design the bridal party flowers for their special day and I hope that Aimee doesn’t mind me showcasing some of her other creative gardeny ideas for all of our other brides out there. Thanks for the inspiration Aimee!

Aimee and her father heading down the "aisle". I love the natural cascade design that she selected, a perfect fit for her natural and casual theme!

Dan's glass teardrop beads were added to her bouquet for the perfect amount of sparkle and movement. So sweet.

Aimee is really into lady bugs and I just had to put Dan's glass lady bugs on display in her bouquet, love love love them!

I like how his light blue shirt matches the hydrangea we used.

He gets a lady bug too!

I think Aimee's friends were the photographers and for non-professional work, she got some great shots!!

They decorated the gazebo themselves and look how pretty it is!

Hanging baskets and ribbon add color to the ceremony background.

Instead of a unity candle, they planted a tree. Ok, you totally won me over here kids.

Dan's mom admiring her glass beads too! I love when all of our little details are noticed!

Her set up for a wishing tree!

What a cute idea! The cards were hung on those trees for all to admire, especially Aimee and Dan.

They get a personalized brick installed at Pratt Gardens! I hope they go back every spring to admire it.

Place cards were actually pinwheels!

Dan also made the favors, beautiful and simple hand-blown glass drops. Perfect for a Christmas tree or hung from a chandelier!

It sure is.

               Many congrats to Aimee and Dan, we will always adore your personal touches that you added to your wedding day. Thanks for the delightful surprises!!

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:

Congrats to the newlyweds! A few weeks ago, Dawn and I were a part of Liz’s wedding day in Swedesboro NJ and we just got the professional pictures back and couldn’t wait to share them with you. Liz’s photographer, Michelle La Brake (call 267.978.6043 for info) did a fabulous job capturing some great flower shots for us, thanks so much Michelle! The lovely Liz was keeping it classy with a black and white theme (I told ya it was popular!) and she fell in LOVE with the look of hot pink “but not fluorescent 80′s hot pink” (direct quote from Liz) against the black dresses. We used a few shades of pink to give it some dimension, lighter pink peonies and bright pink Hot Princess roses. What a classic and beautiful combo!

A Garden Party was happy to create these bouquets for her wedding day!

Peonies, roses and the invite….so pretty!

Delicate stephanotis are accented with rhinestones, we do a lot of this and it never gets old!!

He bouquet was wrapped with a family heirloom handkerchief, a thoughtful touch!

I think this was taken on her front porch, how cute!

The pink really lightens it up!

The whole gang…

Ta da! The highly anticipated cake (I don't know about you, but that is the best part about a wedding! Oh well that and the whole love for eternity thing too.)

Thank you Liz for hiring us to be a part of your wedding day, it was a pleasure! Especially because you picked one of my favorite flowers, peonies! Drive by my house and admire them all blooming (what is left after my harvesting, anyway). We wish you all the best…and tell your hubby to plant a peony for you so he can cut a bouquet for your anniversary every year <3

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:

Give us a shout out on The Knot! The biggest wedding website now has a vendor reviews section and we want you to tell others all about your experience with A Garden Party. I don’t know about you, but that is how I shop nowadays (the little bit of shopping that I do now is always online, shopping at the mall with Lee is just too much fun), so help your fellow brides out and let them know about those crazy sisters haha.  Here is the link to log in and leave your review, thanks for your time!  Check back later this week for some more wedding posts, I am waiting on professional pics from some photogs….can’t wait to see them all!

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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The words I am choosing to describe this wedding….fun, stylish, personal, light-hearted, and did I say fun? I met with Nick and Irene many many months ago to get started on the planning for their April showers themed wedding day, and what a delight that was! Immediately I knew we were gonna get along juuuuuuuuust fine. They wanted to find a florist to portray their modern and slightly funky theme without all the fuss, well glad you found us Irene! On April 24th, Nick and Irene tied the knot (I want to know where that expression came from) at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Gloucester City NJ and then hopped the bridge to Philadelphia’s Society Hill Dance Academy for the wedding reception. Both so beautiful!! Even though it didn’t rain that day (it was picture perfect!), her April showers theme was a hit! We added in touches of umbrellas and bright turquoise blue to compliment the pops of pink and orange flowers and it was oh-so-adorable! I kinda wish more brides would have concrete themes, instead of just colors, we had fun adding in all these creative details. Check out these AWESOME pics from Alimario Photo, there were so many great ones to choose from, I had a hard time! T, you were great to work with and I can’t wait to do it again!

Irene's colorful bouquet or orange mini gerbers, hot pink garden roses (the scent was intoxicating), Cherry Brandy roses (one of my favs!!), stephanotis with pearls and dusty miller….something tells me she isn't afraid of color

Showing off our stem treatment of ivory ribbon overlapped with orange polka dotted trim and we just had to add her umbrella charms on there too!

T Alimario, you are my hero.

The smoky bridesmaid dresses were the perfect backdrop for bright bouquets!

The wedding kiss framed by our ceremony urns, filled with roses, snapdragons and pussy willow.

Gasp!

I love everything about this picture!

Looks like the bridal party is ready for a cocktail!

We took this close up shot of the cocktail tables, so cute!

I designed this umbrella arrangement for her bar; rose petals filled the cylinder vase and dripped off the coordinating parasol! (Sometimes I even impress myself!)

From our lens as well, we just had to show the cute card box that she made. This must be the new thing, a few of our brides have done this! We just finished it off with rose petals and votives.

Centerpieces were an eclectic mix of blue glassware and bright florals, love this look!

Could you two be any cuter? Nice kicks Nick

Thanks to Nick and Irene for letting us have all that fun! Best wishes!

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:

I am so blessed to have such supportive/amazing/inspiring friends, you know, the kind of friends that make you want to be a better person. Tina is in that category for sure. It just so happens that we have become industry buds too, which adds to the fun. Whenever we are together, we swap stories about creative and awesome weddings that we have been a part of and we are always trading tips and advice. As A Garden Party grows and develops, I can’t help but think that Tina has something to do with it. She has been so generous with sharing her beautiful photos (see many more on her website), always sending me a cd bursting with tons of high res pics for me to play with…come see many of them in the new studio on display! So today’s post is showcasing her talent showcasing our work, cool huh?

This is a sample of Tina's wedding bouquet for her big day in October, we are IN LOVE with the texture/bulk/drama of this bouquet! There is nothing delicate about this baby except for the feathers! Many of our brides are interested in sample bouquets, which we think is a great idea. We do charge for the sample though, these things cost money ladies!

It was windy this day and those feathers were dancing! Every bouquet needs a little bit of movement, that is my motto.

A centerpiece sample that you may have seen at our last bridal show…a trio of square vases with an electric mix of green cymbidium orchids and perfect blue hydrangea, this was HOT people!! Brides loved it at the show!

So we might have went a little overboard on the feathers that day, but you gotta love it. Peonies and roses are a romantic duo.

We got these new jeweled collars that are sooooooooo beautiful mixed with simple pink callas.

Purple mokara orchids (my new addiction), grape hyacinths and ranunculus are cute cute cute for bridesmaids. I think this would look great with black dresses!

We that is my little bit of randomness for today! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks again to Tina for sending me the beautiful photos and for being an inspiration. Love you 619 McKean!! To everyone that has no idea what that means, we were PSU freshman neighbors and loved every minute of that chaos. Looking forward to the weddings we are teaming up for this summer and of course your own wedding in October!

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:

1. Sisters are a funny bunch to work with (believe me, I know!) because the personalities are so different yet complimentary, which was certainly the case with Maria and Michelle. Loved em!

2. Upon delivery of her bridal bouquet, Maria was getting her hair and makeup done while her sweet dad took it all in. He asked her if she was going to wear a veil. Maria quickly replied, “There is no veil, the hair is the veil.” That was seriosuly the funniest thing to overhear, check out the pics, it is true! Her hair was totally veil like!

3. We never know what we are about to encounter while delivering at the reception hall. Thankfully The Merion welcomed us with a perfectly ready room and even some entertainment! There was a school fraternity that was using the room as a place for pictures and dance practice, it was the most entertaining set up of all time! They were great dancers!

4. I fell in love with our bell vases again <3

Check out the beautiful pictures from Joseph Clementi Photography (and a few from our own camera mixed in!). Thanks so much for sending them to us Joe!  Without further ado, I present Maria and Craig’s Marvelous Wedding….

See what I mean about the hair/veil comment! Jealous!

Maria’s bouquet featured 2 shades of ivory roses and stephanotis with pearl accents, you can’t get much more classic than that!

The happy couple…think this will be in their living room one day?

A close up of the bridesmaids bouquets: ivory roses + white anemone = simply chic!

Centerpieces stole the show with elegant white hydrangea, glittering branches and the adorable hanging table number!

Not that we had anything to do with it, but I loved her favors! Wawa coffee and the newspaper! Something tells me Michelle had her hand in this…

Well, I would love to add another pic of the beautiful bridesmaids in their lovely black gowns, but my comp is being insane and I am giving up! Use your imagination haha. I will try it again later. Oh technology!

Dawn and I are always up for driving down the to shore with the windows down! We are so happy that Melissa and Joe came into our lives so we could do just that! Melissa contacted me several months back to set up an appointment and on our meeting day, this cute little car pulled into my driveway featuring Joe, Melissa and a lovely bridesmaid. As Joe stepped out of the car, I could tell he was taken aback by the view….I live in the middle of a FIELD. Sod fields to be exact (not for long, that sod is rolling outta here!!). As I welcomed them into my home for the consultation, I discovered that they drove down from BROOKLYN to meet with me! Wow, I was totally shocked/amazed/flabbergasted that someone would want to drive that far (about 3 hrs?) to order their wedding flowers. I of course had to ask her why Melissa was interested in my business, she replied that she loved my website (thankyouverymuch) and could tell that ordering her wedding bouquet would be fun and easy from me (you can tell that from my website? Sweet!). I could already tell I was going to adore her. It didn’t take me long to discover that Melissa and Joe wanted to have a fun, artistic, relaxing and unique wedding day at Renault Winery in Egg Harbor NJ and I am sure they achieved their goal. Here are some shots that I received from her photographer, Allison Herbert.

Melissa and her dramatic bouquet of the darkest red roses, callas, green cymbidium orchids and bear grass.

A close up of her wedding bouquet. We added pearl accents to compliment her gown.

She looks like a model! So classy and naturally beautiful.

Bridesmaids carried simple bouquets of green cymbidium orchids with bear grass loops, finished with coordinating chocolate satin ribbon and a row of pearl pins.

Again, I would like to express my thanks to Melissa and Joe for a) driving the terrible turnpike down to me! b) being so cute and super easy to work with and c) playing Smashing Pumpkins during your wedding ceremony. That was awesomely jaw dropping! Best wishes for a long and happy life together <3

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:

Wouldn’t you love to admire your wedding bouquet each anniversary? It is possible! Get your bouquet (or any other flowers) preserved and display it inyour home. Many of our beloved brides have asked us about preserving their cherished wedding bouquet and while we do not perform the service, we are happy to recommend a company specializing in preserving flowers called Keepsake Floral. I wish I had done this with my own wedding bouquet!

This is how it works in a nutshell: You send them your bouquet, they take a few weeks to dry it down and preserve the color and shape of the flowers, you will work with a rep from Keepsake Floral to design a shadow box or jewelry box or whatever you want to include the flowers (or even photos and your invites!) and after a few weeks, it will be sent back to you as a new work of art! I have attached some pictures, just so you can get an idea of what they can do. It is such a special way to keep those memories close to your heart! I love it!

Your bouquet and invitation in a shadow box.

They can even make a monogram for you!

The colors look great!

So elegant and pretty.

All photos are from Keepsake Floral.

That is one of my many tips for brides! Stay tuned for many more…have a great 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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