freesia

Kelsey and Nick - 07/01/17

Kelsey has been a good friend of mine for almost 10 years and Nick is the perfect person for her to spend her life with. 

She gave me a lot of freedom when it came to her flowers. She knew she wanted white and Tiffany blue and picked out a few flowers that she liked. I don't think there is anyone else I would sprayed hundreds of flowers light blue for. All her flowers were roses, lisianthus and freesia.

Nick wore a boutonniere of a white rose and blue freesia. 

As a florist, I often get recruited for other jobs aside from flowers. Nick had a groomsman break his tux pants, and thanks to my tool kit, I was able to fix them. The process of me on the ground trying to fix pants was heavily photographed by both the photographer, other groomsmen, and both the fathers. They all found it hilarious. I liked this photo because it looks like we were having a moment. 

Their pew ends were white hydrangea with blue bows. The flower girls wore little corsages with long streamers and tossed petals. Sofia (pictured in front) was such a little helper. Because we were using hydrangea out of water on a hot day, I needed to spray them with a hydration and protection spray. Sofia was watching me and wanting to help so she was in charge of spraying all of the pew ends for me. She did a great job!

The altar had 3 arrangements on the altar and a unity candle. 

Kelsey said she knew Nick was "the one" the first night she met him. They met at a wedding and they talked all night. Even though it was late, he said he had to get up early for church the next morning. And with that one sentence, she knew he was a keeper. 

Kelsey and Nick both grew up on a farm so it only made sense to take some pictures out on Nick's farm! Ironically Nick's family farm backs up to farm land that belongs to my mom's cousin. 

The baker added the florals to the cake based on the photo Kelsey loved. But isn't this stunning?!?! It was delicious too!

The outdoor tables all had vases with blue hydrangea in them. The inside tables had centerpieces of a cylinder vase and a mixture of all their flowers (I don't have a picture of those) 

Kelsey's bouquet was wrapped with lace from her mother's wedding gown. I love when brides add a personal touch to their flowers!

Happy Anniversary (plus 1 day due to technological issues)! Thank you for including me in your special day, both as a vendor and as a friend. I wish you a blessed marriage and life together!

 
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Becca and Tommy - 06/24/17

Becca and Tommy were such a treat to work with for their summer wedding! We changed our plans several times to get the exact vision they were dreaming of, but I'll make as many revisions to our plan as you want to make sure you get everything you want. 

I didn't realize how many purple weddings I did this year until I sat down to blog this one and it was the 3rd in a row with purple! It's the pantone color of 2018 but I think my brides got a jump on things. Becca and Tommy got married at the chapel at St. Ambrose University, which was my most popular church of 2017 (I think I was there 4 or 5 time). Their reception was at University Club in Moline, which was my most popular reception venue of 2017 (I was there 7 times).

Becca carries a bouquet of lavender stock, lavender roses, white freesia and purple lisianthus. I LOVE doing a whole color palate instead of trying to match the exact shade of every flower.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of lavender stock and white roses 

The groomsmen wore boutonnieres of a white rose and lavender freesia. Tommy wore a boutonniere of a white rose, lavender freesia and purple lisianthus. 

Flower crowns continue to be super popular for flower girls and thank goodness I have gotten faster at making them! This little one also carried her very own bouquet of baby's breath and purple statice. 

I created a large arrangement for the ceremony with white hydrangea, purple hydrangea, lavender stock, white roses, lavender roses and purple lisianthus. This was transported to the reception for their place card table. 

Image from my phone 

Image from my phone 

Becca provided the wood boxes for these centerpieces. I have them in grey but they preferred the whitewashed versions. This centerpiece has white hydrangea, white roses, purple alstroemeria and purple statice. The alternate version had purple hydrangea and lavender roses. Becca also provided the silver mercury glass votives around the outside. 

Image from my phone

Image from my phone

The other centerpieces were these very tall grey lanterns with eucalyptus, purple alstroemeria, purple lisianthus and white spray roses around the base. Becca provided the candle and gems inside as well as the purple mercury glass votives around the outside. 

Image from my phone

Image from my phone

Their head table was lined with a combination of eucalyptus and ruscus with the bridesmaids bouquets scattered for a pop of color. 

Thank you so much for being such a great couple to work with and having a great eye for what your wedding vision was! I wish you the best of luck on your future together, and a huge good luck to Tommy in med school! Thank you for including me in your special day!

 
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Amber and Kevin - 06/17/17

I feel like I met with Amber to book her wedding a lifetime ago. They were originally supposed to get married a week later but when they switched, it made for a quadruple wedding weekend for me! I called in to Julie from J. Blu Design in the Peoria area for help. She designed Amber's bouquets and I did the corsages, boutonnieres and aisle decor. 

I knew I had promised to use hydrangea in Amber's bouquet and I KNEW there was a way I could make it stay alive for more than a few hours. I did a bunch of experiments and found a way to combine a few different chemicals to ensure it doesn't wilt for almost 24 hours! I'm so excited by this because I have been adamantly opposed to hydrangea in bouquets until this year!

The bouquets were white hydrangea, white freesia, white lisianthus and blush spray roses. It smelled divine and was gorgeous! Great design, Julie!

This was a wedding with all of my favorite people! After meeting with me very early in her planning process, I gave Amber a list of recommended vendors and she booked with almost all of them! The wedding was at Duck Creek Park and Pavillion. 

Kevin's boutonniere was blush spray roses, white freesia and white lisianthus. The groomsmen's boutonnieres were blush spray roses and white freesia. 

Amber quickly became not only a part of the LLF family but also made herself at home with my Claire's girls. Many of my brides find it convenient to drop things off to me there so they don't have to schedule a time to meet up with me. When I wasn't there, Amber got to know my staff very well and drops by whenever she's in the area to say hello. 

Thanks for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

 
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