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 Mary by filling out the form below:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

We first mentioned our relationship with Carly and Jeff in a post last fall, but we have recently gotten access to her professional pictures, SCORE! The wonderful Gary Johnson was her photographer (as well as my own wedding photographer!) and he captured every detail of her wedding day, and I mean EVERY DETAIL. I can always count on him for beautiful work, thanks so much for that Gary!

For Carly’s wedding, she loved loved loved calla lilies and we tried to include them in every aspect for her, I think by her beautiful smile that she was pleased! Her fall wedding at Greate Bay Country Club was on a perfect day, she got lucky with the weather! Dawn and I really appreciated how she let us take the design reigns, Carly wanted to be pleasantly surprised with her flowers on her wedding day and I love that kind of attitude. Give us your vibe and we will take care of the rest! Her mom was so excited for her first daughter to get married, we got tied up in the emotions too haha! Jeff’s mom even got in on the wedding planning fun, which I always think it is nice to include the groom’s side too, everyone wants to help make the day magical! As a mother to a little boy, I am banking on the fact that my future daughter in law will let me in on the wedding planning…fingers crossed! Well, maybe I am jumping the gun a bit, Lee is only 10 months old!

I have been experimenting with the photos on my blog, I think this lightbox gallery player will be easier for you to view the pictures. Just click to scroll through them and the captions are underneath. I think my old way of posting the pics took too long to load, let me know what you think!

Again, a big thanks to Gary Johnson for the pics and the biggest thanks ever to Carly for sharing them all with us! Best of luck with the new puppy Carly and Jeff!

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:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

Talk about a blushing bride…Colleen certainly was! I just got these awesome shots from David Humphrey, a local photographer serving the tri state area. FYI to my budgeting brides out there, he has maney different packages and prices listed on his website, thanks Dave! Anyway, back to Colleen and Stephen. Their wedding took place at Paris Caterers at the Palace in Blackwood NJ, which is a great local venue that a lot of brides don’t know about! It is nicely updated with beautiful decor, the ballrooms are very clean, the managers are organized and friendly and they also have space for indoor or outdoor ceremonies of any size. Since Colleen and Steve got married on Novemeber 14th, they had their ceremony inside the Paris Room, with the reception immediately following in the Garden Room. Her aunts crafted these beautiful fall wreaths and hurricane candle centerpieces and Colleen chose to use many of the existing flower arrangements at The Palace to decorate her ceremony, so we just focused on the bouquets, personal flowers, unity candle and the cake.

 Colleen wanted to capture the colors of the season with her wedding flowers and bridal party, so her maids wore a rich chocolate brown (one of my favs, it is the perfect neutral!). For her bridal party flowers, we used saturated fall tones like red, purple, yellow and orange, which looked great against the warm dresses! Their hand-tied bouquets of red mini gerbers, purple lisianthus, yellow roses, peach ranunculus and hypericum berries were finished with some of our favorite accents – peacock feathers and brown beaded wire!  

Surrounded by lots of love!

Our happy bride and her maids…the colors stand out nicely, don't you think?

Colleen and her maid of honor…notice how we added a few of the stephanotis to make her stand out from the rest of the beautiful bridesmaids.

Colleen’s bouquet was designed to be a bit more traditional with mostly ivory flowers with a touch of color, it was so elegant! She loves calla lilies and stephanotis, so those flowers were the stars of her bouquet. Ivory roses, a soft peachy orange ranunculus (OBSESSED), hypericum berries and of course some peacock feathers and pearls (sassy and simple!) completed the bouquet.

Traditional with a twist…our specialty!

Colleen, you are so stunning! A natural beauty.

Love that bout too!

Steamy!

A timeless shot…

Her mother’s corsage coordinated with the bridal party flowers and showcased peach roses on a beaded wristlet (we NEVER use those tacky elastic scratchy wristlets) and I just had to include this picture, because now you know where Colleen got that beautiful smile from! Great shot Dave!

Love it!

For their unity candle, we just did a simple arrangement of these HUGE orange roses that really said it all. After the ceremony, the arrangement was moved to their sweetheart table to serve as the centerpiece there. Great way to save some money!

This one is from our own camera, but at least you can see the size of those awesome roses!

The couple’s cake was a traditional design with a topper. We accented the layers with coordinating flowers in bright colors, which stand out best on any wedding cake.

I like the rounded layers of this cake!

So thanks again to Colleen, you were a total pleasure to work with and we were happy to be a part of your wedding day. May the seasons of your new life together be full of many many smiles….

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:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

Everyone surviving the snow out there? I have actually enjoyed our blizzard this weekend, I got so much accomplished and my husband was not working for once! We tackled our dining room redo and I guess we had a little but too much gumption, since we had it all repainted and put back to order by noon on Saturday. Oh well, it left us the afternoon to play with Lee and watch some more episodes of Rescue Me…can’t get much better than that, folks. Anyway, back to business. 

Last June (yes 3 weeks before my due date,  and no my mother was not happy about this), Dawn and I had the pleasure of working with a lovely bride named Lori. Her wedding was held at Swansea Vineyards, a local winery in Shiloh. Her marriage started out with lots of luck, since she had LOTS OF RAIN, but it looks like it stopped long enough to take some pictures! Listen up brides-to-be planning outdoor ceremonies and receptions, order a LARGER tent than you think you will need. You can thank me for this later Oh and at least entertain the thought of a rain plan. Lori did and it all worked out!

 Thanks to Bryan Littel (609.280.0378, bryanlittel@gmail.com) for sharing some of his shots. Lori is also a photographer, she works for the good ole Salem Sunbeam, but also does other photography sessions too. Contact her at 609.501.3160 or LMNOP915@gmail.com for more info.

Orange Unique roses, Mango mini callas, orange tulips and echinacea buds create a tonal bouquet. We love this look!

A vintage garden gate was adorned with red roses…so cute!

Down her aisle, we hung small buckets of roses on garden hooks. A perfect look for a casual outdoor ceremony!

The happy couple soaking up some sun! Seriously, this groom was one of the nicest guys we have ever worked for! Lori is a lucky girl!

The bride and her maids…everyone loves callas!

Thank you Lori and Stephen for letting us be a part of your special day! I am already looking forward to all of our summer weddings, this snow will be gone soon and replaced with many sunny wedding days (and maybe a few rainy, but lucky, ones!).  Happy shoveling!

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:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

A beautiful holiday card from one of our beautiful brides!

 As I looked at the front, I thought, “Oh, how sweet, she sent us a Christmas card!!” but as I flipped it over, I realized it was a thank you card AND and Christmas card! What could be better? I hope she doesn’t mind if I share it with you…

Her hand-written note was so sweet, it totally made my day! Maybe my week!

I think my favorite line is “…we found your ideas very refreshing and exactly on point with what we were looking for. I also really appreciated your willingness to work with our budget, it was such a relief to know we could still have such classy, beautiful arrangements without breaking the bank.” That statement says a lot to me! Dawn and I try very hard to help each bride select floral designs that reflect their personality and style, but still at a reasonable price, and I think we hit this one out of the park. Here is a flashback from her wedding day.

An all white bouquet with white callas, stock and orchids with bear grass loops.

Submerged cymbidium orchids in orange tinted water with floating candles in our belle vase.

Her second centerpiece option, a simple arrangement of floating candles in tinted water and rose petals. I love how the dark grey tablecloth makes the colors pop!

Thanks for the note Clarisa…I am still blushing

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:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

For those recently engaged brides out there, congrats! We have seen quite an increase in inquiries since the holiday engagement season…who said the winter months were supposed to be slow for florists? We are busier than ever and loving every second of it! Dawn and I love to hear engagement stories, we really are that sappy.

 I get a lot of emails and calls requesting appointments and all of my brides have the same question,”what do I need to bring to the meeting?” To help you out, I have made a list of suggestions:

1. Your happy face!

Wedding planning should be a happy time and we think that choosing your floral designs is one of the most fun parts, ok we are a little biased, but we can’t help it. So many of our brides say that the one thing they are most excited about is seeing how the flowers pull everything together on that special day. We agree! While we do understand that there are a lot of decisions to make, we are here to help. Don’t stress about all the little things at the first meeting, we will send you a little “to-do-list” to help you remember to ask your dear Granny if she wants a pin on corsage or a wristlet.

A happy bride!

2. A Wish List

It will save a lot of your time at the meeting if you have a list of all the things you will need from us on your wedding day. If your wedding is 6 months off, we don’t expect you to have the exact centerpiece count, but a rough idea will help. Don’t fret if you decide to add or delete a few things, we can make changes to your order until 30 days before your wedding. Here is a list that might help….

Bridal Party flowers: bridal bouquet (duh.), bridesmaid bouquets, groom’s bout, groomsmen bouts (we will need names for labeling), father and grandfather bouts (with names), mother and grandmother corsages (with names), flower girl and ring bearer flowers, reader or soloist bouts or corsages

Ceremony flowers: alter vases or urns, aisle runner, pew or chair decor, presentation flowers, unity candle, wreaths, toss petals for guests

Reception flowers: cocktail tables, head table or sweetheart table, guest table centerpieces, votives, cake flowers, place card table, bar decor, throw bouquet, gift table

Now I am sure you feel overwhelmed about all of the things on that list, but just reeeeeeeeeeelax. We can discuss all the options at our meeting, but it is a good idea to think about everything that you will need prior to sitting down.

3. Wedding Day Details

We encourage our brides to go about their wedding planning in this order…..get the man, get the ring, book the venue, find the dress, call A Garden Party! Your venue and dress will help set the tone for your wedding floral designs, so it helps to have those decided on. Also, choosing a bridesmaid gown is recommended so we can get a color palette going. To help estimate the price for delivery, we will need to know the general wedding timeline, like where and when you are getting ready, where and when the ceremony is being held and what time the cocktail hour and reception will begin. Dawn and I also like to contact the wedding photographer and bakery prior to the wedding day to firm up arrival times. Many brides will look for suggestions for a photographer or cake designer, and we are happy to recommend Tina Jay Photography  and Sweet Life Bakery…we adore them!

Sweet Life Bakery….I want a piece of this right now!

4. All of your hard work!

Dawn and I are sticklers about making sure the wedding flowers compliment all of the other wedding day details, from the invites to the favors! We would love to see a sample of the invitations, programs, favors or anything else that you have been working on. Believe me ladies, all of those little details add up and make a big statement! Let us help you pull it all together! For example, one of our brides wanted a country chic wedding and planned to make homemade jam as her favors. We used coordinating mason jars for her centerpieces and for her aisle decor. It was so cute and totally country chic!

Mason jars hung on shepherd hooks down the aisle for this outdoor ceremony.

5. Pictures!

We love when brides come to us with stacks of inspirational pictures, it gives us a head start! We all know you have that huuuuuuuuuuge pile of wedding magazines at home, take a night to go through them and tear out any pictures that you like. Or head on over to TheKnot.com for lots of ideas and inspiration (be sure to add us as your vendor)! Bring them to the meeting and we can review them and create a custom look, just for you! If you have them, bring pictures of the ceremony and reception location too. A beautifully ornate church may not need the same decor as a simple country church. We can make copies of your pictures to keep in your file.

6. Some help!

We love when brides bring their moms, mother in laws, bridesmaids and even the groom! We kinda go with the motto “the more the merrier”. Everyone has a good time and likes to be a part of the planning, just be prepared to hear lots of opinions We have lots of books and albums to keep everyone busy while we discuss all the details. I have a big table so everyone can fit!

7. A Budget

Many of our brides are unsure about what the cost of the flowers will be, which is totally understandable, you have never ordered wedding flowers before! According to the wedding experts, 10-15% of your overall wedding budget should be spent on flowers. Of course this varies greatly since every bride is different and each case is unique, but let me give you an idea of price ranges. Most bridal bouquets start at $125 and can range to $175, depending on the floral selection and design. We have done simple tulip bridesmaid bouquets for $50 to more elaborate designs for $85 with roses, callas and orchids. Bouts are usually $15 and corsages are $25. Since centerpiece options are so varied, the range does too. We have candle rentals starting at $20/table or more elaborate designs priced around $150, depending on floral selection and season. There are plenty of options everywhere in between too!

A trio of floating candles and bear grass in rented candle holders.

Lush pink elevated centerpieces on silver flower tower.

I hope that this blog has helped! Let me know what you think and if I missed anything!

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:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

For those recently engaged brides out there, congrats! We have seen quite an increase in inquiries since the holiday engagement season…who said the winter months were supposed to be slow for florists? We are busier than ever and loving every second of it! Dawn and I love to hear engagement stories, we really are that sappy.

 I get a lot of emails and calls requesting appointments and all of my brides have the same question,”what do I need to bring to the meeting?” To help you out, I have made a list of suggestions:

1. Your happy face!

Wedding planning should be a happy time and we think that choosing your floral designs is one of the most fun parts, ok we are a little biased, but we can’t help it. So many of our brides say that the one thing they are most excited about is seeing how the flowers pull everything together on that special day. We agree! While we do understand that there are a lot of decisions to make, we are here to help. Don’t stress about all the little things at the first meeting, we will send you a little “to-do-list” to help you remember to ask your dear Granny if she wants a pin on corsage or a wristlet.

A happy bride!

2. A Wish List

It will save a lot of your time at the meeting if you have a list of all the things you will need from us on your wedding day. If your wedding is 6 months off, we don’t expect you to have the exact centerpiece count, but a rough idea will help. Don’t fret if you decide to add or delete a few things, we can make changes to your order until 30 days before your wedding. Here is a list that might help….

Bridal Party flowers: bridal bouquet (duh.), bridesmaid bouquets, groom’s bout, groomsmen bouts (we will need names for labeling), father and grandfather bouts (with names), mother and grandmother corsages (with names), flower girl and ring bearer flowers, reader or soloist bouts or corsages

Ceremony flowers: alter vases or urns, aisle runner, pew or chair decor, presentation flowers, unity candle, wreaths, toss petals for guests

Reception flowers: cocktail tables, head table or sweetheart table, guest table centerpieces, votives, cake flowers, place card table, bar decor, throw bouquet, gift table

Now I am sure you feel overwhelmed about all of the things on that list, but just reeeeeeeeeeelax. We can discuss all the options at our meeting, but it is a good idea to think about everything that you will need prior to sitting down.

3. Wedding Day Details

We encourage our brides to go about their wedding planning in this order…..get the man, get the ring, book the venue, find the dress, call A Garden Party! Your venue and dress will help set the tone for your wedding floral designs, so it helps to have those decided on. Also, choosing a bridesmaid gown is recommended so we can get a color palette going. To help estimate the price for delivery, we will need to know the general wedding timeline, like where and when you are getting ready, where and when the ceremony is being held and what time the cocktail hour and reception will begin. Dawn and I also like to contact the wedding photographer and bakery prior to the wedding day to firm up arrival times. Many brides will look for suggestions for a photographer or cake designer, and we are happy to recommend Tina Jay Photography  and Sweet Life Bakery…we adore them!

Sweet Life Bakery….I want a piece of this right now!

4. All of your hard work!

Dawn and I are sticklers about making sure the wedding flowers compliment all of the other wedding day details, from the invites to the favors! We would love to see a sample of the invitations, programs, favors or anything else that you have been working on. Believe me ladies, all of those little details add up and make a big statement! Let us help you pull it all together! For example, one of our brides wanted a country chic wedding and planned to make homemade jam as her favors. We used coordinating mason jars for her centerpieces and for her aisle decor. It was so cute and totally country chic!

Mason jars hung on shepherd hooks down the aisle for this outdoor ceremony.

5. Pictures!

We love when brides come to us with stacks of inspirational pictures, it gives us a head start! We all know you have that huuuuuuuuuuge pile of wedding magazines at home, take a night to go through them and tear out any pictures that you like. Or head on over to TheKnot.com for lots of ideas and inspiration (be sure to add us as your vendor)! Bring them to the meeting and we can review them and create a custom look, just for you! If you have them, bring pictures of the ceremony and reception location too. A beautifully ornate church may not need the same decor as a simple country church. We can make copies of your pictures to keep in your file.

6. Some help!

We love when brides bring their moms, mother in laws, bridesmaids and even the groom! We kinda go with the motto “the more the merrier”. Everyone has a good time and likes to be a part of the planning, just be prepared to hear lots of opinions We have lots of books and albums to keep everyone busy while we discuss all the details. I have a big table so everyone can fit!

7. A Budget

Many of our brides are unsure about what the cost of the flowers will be, which is totally understandable, you have never ordered wedding flowers before! According to the wedding experts, 10-15% of your overall wedding budget should be spent on flowers. Of course this varies greatly since every bride is different and each case is unique, but let me give you an idea of price ranges. Most bridal bouquets start at $125 and can range to $175, depending on the floral selection and design. We have done simple tulip bridesmaid bouquets for $50 to more elaborate designs for $85 with roses, callas and orchids. Bouts are usually $15 and corsages are $25. Since centerpiece options are so varied, the range does too. We have candle rentals starting at $20/table or more elaborate designs priced around $150, depending on floral selection and season. There are plenty of options everywhere in between too!

A trio of floating candles and bear grass in rented candle holders.

Lush pink elevated centerpieces on silver flower tower.

I hope that this blog has helped! Let me know what you think and if I missed anything!

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:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let\'s chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

Last weekend Mary and I had the pleasure of setting up a wedding at the Greate Bay County Club, http://www.greatebay.com/. Carly and Jeff were so great to work with. Carly gave us a lot of creative license and it all turned out just fabulous. The Greate Bay Country Club in Somers Point was gorgeous, the perfect spot for an outdoor wedding ceremony. Mary and I split up that day as we had another wedding also (blog to come about that one), luckily Mary got some great pictures so I could see how well everything turned out.

The bridesmaid’s bouquets were orange calla lilies (Carly’s favorite flower). I am sure these photographed beautifully against their champagne colored dresses!

 The bride bought these cute little bags to hold the toss petals.

We did two style centerpieces. They were all done in the same container, and were made for the guests to take them home after the event. This centerpiece has callas, pepperberry, coffeebreak roses, protea, safflower, and scabiosa stellata.

The second centerpiece had calla lilies, croton leaves, coffeebreak roses, celosia, and safflower.

Congrats Carly and Jeff.  We loved working with you and hope you had a fabulous time on your special 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:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]