December 21, 2017

Real Weddings

Jennifer and Grant - 06/17/17

December 21, 2017

Real Weddings

Jennifer and Grant were another one of my couples during my 4 wedding weekend this summer. Julie from J. Blu Design out of the Peoria area helped me out for that weekend to make sure everything ran smoothly. Thank you to Seneca Epley Photography for these gorgeous images! If there was ever a wedding that looked like a perfectly curated Pinterest board, it is this one. Every single detail was absolutely on point.

Everything was very heavy on greenery, which is definitely the current trend! The ladies carried bouquets of white peonies, white garden roses and white ranunculus with silver dollar eucalyptus and laurel greens.

This is a seriously stunning group of ladies! We are going to be seeing a lot of purples in 2018 so I hope to see this look more often.

The paper products such as invites and programs all had touches of greenery on them to pull the look altogether. The men wore boutonnieres of white roses, white waxflower and laurel greenery.

Here is an indoor view of her bouquet :) This was the first wedding that made me fall in love with a new bouquet technique that makes it easier for me to hold when I'm working on and lighter for the brides to hold. Often with this garden type bouquet, you can do minimal flowers on the back side of the bouquet, which also allows it to be less expensive than full flowers front and back.

The reception was at the Stern Center in Rock Island. It featured several different styles of centerpieces. This is the head table, but we did a garland of greens down the center of some long tables as well. On the long guest tables, we included some flowers tucked into the greenery as well. These were garlands of silver dollar eucalyptus, Italian ruscus, and laurel greens. The cake featured laurel greens between the layers.

On other tables there were a variety of different gold terrariums - one with a candle inside and one with flowers inside and greens around the base. All of the tables had gold mercury glass votives around the centerpieces - remember when I said total Pinterest wedding?!

The third centerpiece was a gold compote vase with greenery, white hydrangea, white garden roses, white spray roses, white snapdragons and white waxflower.

Congratulations again to Jennifer and Grant! If your wedding is half as picture perfect as your wedding, you're in for a great future together! I hope I get to do more weddings that are this stunning because I'm still obsessed with this one! Thanks again to Julie for her help :)

Live Love Flowers - Michele Signature (1).png

October 4, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Lexi and Brian - 06/10/17

October 4, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Where do I begin with Lexi and Brian? I remember the first time I met Lexi - I was interviewing her for my assistant at Claires. It was Halloween and I was dressed up as an angel. Despite that, she decided to not only work for me at Claires, but to become one of my best friends and now she works for me doing wedding setups!

I don't remember the first time I met Brian, but he treated me like we have known each other for years. I was blessed enough to be the Maid of Honor AND the florist for their wedding! I'm not even sorry for how many pictures I'm going to share!

Brian wore a boutonniere of a wine colored mini calla, blush astilbe, white waxflower and a paper flower made from book pages.

I would just like it to be known that I am a regular sized person and I wasn't even wearing heels yet. All dresses were from Storybook Ending in DeWitt

Lexi carried a bouquet of blush peonies, wine mini calla lilies, burgundy garden roses, wine dahlias, white anemone, blush astilbe, white waxflower, book page paper flowers and silver dollar eucalyptus. A total pinterest worthy bouquet!

Their ceremony featured my new lighted backdrop with Italian ruscus draped from the top. I love how it softened up the dark room and made it look so romantic. Ceremony and Reception at River Center Davenport.

As bridesmaids, we carried smaller versions of the bridal bouquet but with white peonies. Lexi's were SO blush they almost looked white so it's hard to tell the difference.

At the end of the aisle, were 2 arrangements of white hydrangea, wine snapdragons, blush stock, blush peonies, wine calla lilies, wine dahlias, burgundy garden roses, white waxflower and assorted greens.

The front of her bouquet included an Origami Owl brooch with special charms inside.

In between these 2 photos, the bottom of my dress got stuck on the bottom step and I took a tumble while throwing my bouquet across the room. I now have a pretty sweet scar on my elbow from the rug burn. I'm honestly disappointed that it wasn't caught on video or in photos because it was hilarious.

My elbow rug burn became a conversation piece for the rest of the day and made it into my MOH speech. Bridal Party pictures at Hotel Blackhawk

I tried to do classic "Brian Duck Face and Point" but I turned my hand and now I look like I'm doing finger guns.

Thank you both for letting me be a part of your special day in such a big way, and be a part of your life! You're stuck with me now!

January 30, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Florist Life, Wedding Inspiration

Bridal Expo 2017

January 30, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Florist Life, Wedding Inspiration

Almost a year ago, I decided that I would participate in the Jaycee's Bridal Expo the following January. I spent the next year scrolling through Pinterest and coming up with ideas and plans for what I wanted to do. I'm sure some of my friends and family are tired of listening to me talk about those plans, but this past weekend, I got to put those plans in to action!

Image by Cadenza Photo Imaging Whiskey barrels rented from Gracefully Vintage Events — Image by Cadenza Photo Imaging
Whiskey barrels rented from Gracefully Vintage Events

With ombre color schemes and greenery everywhere, and my love of bling/glitter, I came up with a garden glam theme for the booth. I had a vision for what I wanted. I wanted greens and pink everywhere. I wanted a big statement piece to draw people in and I wanted to do social media promos to get my name out a little more.

I attached brochures and business card magnets to flowers that we passed out. Brides could take a photo with their ring and promote it on social media to win a discount on their wedding.

Image by Cadenza Photo ImagingBrochures designed by Leesa Dykstra Designs — Image by Cadenza Photo Imaging
Brochures designed by Leesa Dykstra Designs

The other thing I knew I wanted to do was to build a flower wall. You may have seen flower walls in celebrity weddings and all over Pinterest, and I knew I wanted it. I had a family friend build the structure for me and recruited my brother for help on the math on how many flowers to order. This wall is full of about 1500 carnations and took 3 people 5.5 hours hours to construct on site. It was the perfect showstopper piece I had been dreaming of! Flower walls are definitely an investment, but would be great for a photobooth or behind the head table at your wedding. This wall is a little over 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide. It is in 2 panels so you can use it to frame something or only use half if you want the drama it brings, without as big of an expense. The wood frame can be painted or stained any color to match your decor.

We used this flower wall as another social media promotion, encouraging girls to take a picture with the wall and our sign to win a discount on their flowers. Our promotion side had a garland of greens around it with floral details on top.

2 lucky girls won $300 off their wedding, and 2 lucky girls won $100 off their wedding! Check out the winners!

I had a custom Snapchat filter designed for extra fun! I had it available Friday and Saturday throughout the entire River Center.

Snapchat filter by Leesa Dykstra Designs

We displayed a cube system with centerpiece examples in all the spaces, and a variety of bouquets on top. I wanted to showcase a number of different styles to try to appeal to brides with all different styles.

The other side of the booth had a table set up like a dinner table with a large centerpiece, 2 box arrangements, 2 spray rose mound arrangements and a lush garland down the length of the table. It had chairs with custom Mr. and Mrs. wood signs with floral details

Image by Cadenza Photo ImagingChairs from Laladoodles BoutiqueWood signs by Craft Savy — Image by Cadenza Photo Imaging
Chairs from Laladoodles Boutique
Wood signs by Craft Savy

I was on vacation from Claire's last week, but logged about 60 hours of labor prepping for this show and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I literally couldn't have done it without the help from family and friends with setup, tear down and running my booth.

This booth was everything that I have ever dreamed of and more! I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up when I stepped back and saw it all finished. We were absolutely slammed all day! There was a line to get in my booth almost the entire day.

SO many people texted me to wish me luck and have been supportive of me during this time. I am thankful for everyone's kind words and well wishes. 2016 was a great year and 2017 is looking like its going to be even better! I have 24 weddings booked for 2017 so far. Here's to many more!

We ran out of flyers with our promos on them so I wanted to make sure I listed them here as well!

Any wedding booked before Valentine's Day is eligible for savings!

- Weddings under $1000 receive $50 off

- Weddings under $2000 receive $100 off

- Weddings under $3000 receive $150 off

- Weddings over $3000 receive $200 off

I have 24 weddings booked for 2017 so far. Here's to many more!

October 4, 2016

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Hailey and Nate - 06/11/16

October 4, 2016

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

I have known Hailey since middle school and I was lucky enough to meet Nate at their appointment last fall. I could definitely feel the love between the two of them, even in just an hour long appointment.

Their wedding was very garden inspired and all the girls wore flower crowns that matched their dresses (pink, green, blue and purple) and Hailey's had all the colors as well as a few succulents. The flower girls also had all the colors as well as long streamers down the back. I'm kind of obsessed with the picture of the flower girl twirling.

Hailey and Nate got married outside on one of the hottest and most humid days of the year! Thankfully, there was a good cloud cover because I almost melted setting up their arch. They got married at the Botanical Center with the reception at Renwick Mansion. They were very traditional and chose to not see each other before the ceremony.

Each of the bridesmaids carried a bouquet of different flowers and then Hailey carried a collection of all of them. The girls carried light pink spray roses, dried green hydrangea, light blue delphinium, and light purple stock. All the bouquets also contained baby's breath and white waxflower. Hailey's bouquet had succulents.

I didn't attend their ceremony but it looks like it was pretty emotional. Can we agree that Nate's reaction to seeing Hailey walk down their aisle is major relationship goals?

I can't imagine how hot Nate was in that suit, but they looked great! And they are so cute together!

I went to middle school and high school with all of the bridesmaids as well. They are a great group of girls that have stuck together for life. The personal attendant in grey also joined in on a lot of pictures :)

That's one good looking bridal party! I loved the pastel color scheme!

I made all the bud vases and teacups for their centerpieces and they placed them on tables.

Since their wedding this summer, Hailey and Nate have announced they are expecting a baby boy! I can't wait to watch their little one grow up! I was hoping for a girl because I wanted to make little baby flower crowns, but I know this little boy is going to be adorable!

Congratulations again! I wish them all the best on their future :) Thank you for including me as a part of your special day!