A week ago, I was cleaning my studio from the previous three weeks of prep work for Kristin & Brandon’s incredible cotton wedding. I’ve been referring to this wedding as “the cotton wedding” for months, and I shan’t stop now. While there were many other interesting elements at work to create this wedding decor, raw cotton played the starring role.

I met Brandon at a photography workshop last year. He attended the workshop, I created the floral decor. We hit it off. He was funny and personable and easy to talk to. When he brought his fiance Kristin to meet me a few weeks later, I was thrilled. I sat with the two of them for three hours, conducting the longest “consultation” that I’d ever had. We didn’t just talk about flowers and their wedding, we chatted about our families, how we grew up, and common interests. Kristin & Brandon had serious “couple style,” and their style meshed perfectly with mine. As far as client-designer matches go, we were a match made in heaven. And I was pretty convinced that Kristin & Brandon were a match made in heaven, too.

When Kristin & Brandon said that they wanted to do something really different, they had me hook, line and sinker. I LIVE for clients who want to push the envelope. The suggestion of raw cotton sealed the deal for me. I was 100% onboard. Furthermore, Kristin & Brandon were the ideal couple for me because they knew my style, loved it, and trusted me to implement it at their wedding however I chose. They basically gave me carte blanche. Okay, maybe not a blank check, exactly, but they sure did give me complete freedom to follow my creative whimsey.

The rustic, outdoor ceremony took place at the Oak Canyon Nature Center in Anaheim. If you haven’t noticed, rustic and outdoor are defining words for my design style, and I couldn’t have been more in love with this site. I also just have to give a shout-out to the ladies who were overseeing the site on the day of the wedding— they couldn’t have been more helpful. In this industry, I have had to work with difficult people- particularly at venues. The Nature Center staff members were a breath of fresh air (in fact, I’m finding most wedding industry professionals in Orange County to be a breath of fresh air- Los Angeles venues tend to be waaaay too uptight!).

For Kristin’s bouquet, I wanted something rustic, funky, and still incredibly happy… to suit Kristin’s aesthetic and her personality. I used raw cotton, balsa wood flowers, lily pods, green berzillia berries, silver brunia, eucalyptus pods, astrantia rosea, and lots of dusty miller along with other assorted sticks and pods. I finished the bouquet off with a wrap of burlap and raw cotton puffs adhered with wrapped twine, and lots of trailing twine, as well.

Brandon’s boutonniere featured a single ball of raw cotton, accented with asian willow and silver brunia, bound and tied off with twine.

Kristin’s gorgeous attendants each carried a bouquet of raw cotton, balsa wood flowers, and silver brunia.

Brandon’s attendants wore boutonnieres consisting of a single balsa wood flower and some sprigs of asian willow, tied off with twine. The boutonnieres were simple, but perfect. Totally perfect.

The mothers and flower girls carried tiny nosegays of balsa wood flowers with a collar of dusty miller, while the grandmothers wore corsages of raw cotton, balsa wood flowers and asian willow.

The pièce de résistance of the ceremony were the many, many, many feet of raw cotton, strung on monofiliment wire and suspended high along the aisle way. Kristin & Brandon & I came up with this idea during our initial consultation, and it really defined the aesthetic for the rest of the wedding decor. I won’t tell you how many hours I spent stringing the cotton… but each piece had to be pierced twice in criss-crossing directions (to actually hold the four “puffs” of cotton onto the pod) and tied off with a double knot to hold it in place. I strung several hundred cotton balls and it took me about three weeks of stringing off-and-on in the studio to get it all done. I also hung strung cotton from the wooden arbor that served as the backdrop for the ceremony.

At the reception (held in the tented backyard of a private residence), I “blinged out” the massive head table with an utterly amazing tablescape. I am a fan of tablescapes that are chock-full of details so that every time you look up from your plate, you notice something different and new. This tablescape did not disappoint (this photo just shows a very small portion of the table!).

The other guest tables had burlap runners with alternating bud vases filled with different types of flowers and twigs, and mini mason jars with candles. There was seriously something different to look at everywhere you turned.

Melody from the Sweet and Saucy Shop was onboard to create one of her de-freakin-licious dessert tables. I think everyone knows who Melody is, and rightly so. I ate three cake pops. I think I ate three cake pops the last time I was at an event serving Sweet & Saucy. I probably ate three the time before that. I’ve eaten a lot of cake pops. They are just too good. So good that I’m going to start dancing again tomorrow. For serious.

Anyway… this was my first wedding to work with Melody, and I had such fun designing with her! My husband, Sammy, acted as my assistant for this wedding, and he created the super-fab backdrop of burlap and cotton (over a wooden frame built by Brandon). It was absolutely perfect and I was uber-impressed with his mad skills. Melody placed all the deserts and together we decided where to add pieces of birch wood and little bud vases of flowers and willow.

I made the cake topper in about three minutes when Melody and I realized that we needed something special for the primary cake. Sometimes a time crunch allows creative folk to churn out some pretty fun stuff!

When I become friends with my client couples over the course of designing their weddings, it is the ultimate honor to be asked to stay as a guest for the reception. I was really touched that Kristin & Brandon invited me to participate in the festivities, and although I was tired and the evening was wicked cold, I thoroughly enjoyed all the fun and thoughtful details that made their wedding truly unique and truly THEM.

I hope that “make-your-own-s’mores” bars become the next big thing in the wedding industry. ;-)

Kristin and Brandon, I wish you a lifetime of happiness together.

And to all the amazing people who made this wedding possible… thanks. You rock!

Coordination: Eva of Red Velvet Occasions, assisted by Machiline and Lydia
Cake/Desserts: Melody of Sweet and Saucy Shop
DJ: Atmosphere DJ
Photography: Jasmine Star (all photos used with permission!)
Videography: DO NOT MISS this stunning video from Shade Tree Films!

I’ll be adding a new set of wedding photos to the portfolio tomorrow, but I’ve been going through the images (provided by the fabulous Esther Ramsey!) and have come across a few that just cracked me up. They aren’t exactly “portfolio-worthy,” but they are too damn funny not to share!

This wedding, which took place in September, united my friends Danielle & Ben. Danielle is my “lil” in our college sorority, Chi Omega. Ben is a younger fraternity brother of my husband. So my husband and I go “way back” with this couple, and we had such a blast being involved in the planning and design of their wedding.

But all that aside, let’s look at the “outtakes,” shall we?

In real life, Ben is addicted to his blackberry. The tone of this photo is definitely mocking.

You’ve got to love bridesmaids who don’t take anything too seriously…

And a bride who is thrilled to pieces that she is finally wed!

Ever wonder what I look like after installing an event? Well, this is what I look like after installing an event all day and THEN putting a dress on my sweaty body. Just a tad disheveled. ;-)

We’ve all seen choreographed dances by the bride and groom- but this one was a show stopper! Danielle has danced all her life, while Ben… I honestly don’t know if I’ve EVER seen him dance. He’s not exactly the type of guy to get up in front of people and perform. This is evidence of true love if ever I saw it. Ben & Danielle did the “Dirty Dancing” choreography to “Time of My Life.” It was absolutely phenomenal!

Ben travels a lot for his work, and I heard that he would spend evenings prior to the wedding in his hotel room on the phone with Danielle, practicing his steps so he wouldn’t mess up.

Not only did he perform the dance perfectly, he did it with a smile on his face. I think every person in the room was stunned. There’s a grainy video posted here- not the greatest quality, but worth checking out!

Ah, cake smearing. So typical of this couple.

Last but not least, “you know it’s been a good wedding when _________________.” And the evening was far from finished!

*All photos provided courtesy of Esther Ramsey, Summerville & Co Photography. *

A few weeks ago, I designed the florals for an intimate backyard wedding in the Hollywood Hills. It was the smallest wedding I’d ever designed, with about 50 guests gathered in a backyard not much bigger than my own (and we all know how small LA-city backyards can be!). But I must say, it was one of the most charming weddings I’ve ever worked on. The bride, groom, guests and vendors were all incredibly “chill,” and it was very clear that each guest present was dear to the matrimonial couple.

Now I love my massive weddings with unlimited budgets and unlimited design potential, but I now know that I love the small, personal weddings, too. Not everyone needs or wants a ballroom and a band and $1500 centerpieces. There’s something really beautiful about inviting your closest family and friends over for a delicious catered dinner in your own backyard (which has been turned into a magical fairyland!), to witness you join your lives together for eternity.

I love it. I think what I loved most, was that this wedding was just perfect for this couple. In the wedding industry, we see “trends” that come and go constantly. Trends are all well and good, but a wedding is about two individuals joining their lives. When a bride is planning her wedding, the most important thing for her to remember is who SHE is and who HE is and to find ways to incorporate their personalities into this glorious event. If the trend is puffy princess dresses but you’re not a puffy princess dress gal, then wear something that YOU like! If the trend is a reception in a huge hotel ballroom but you prefer the outdoors and twinkle lights in trees- go for it! Your wedding is about YOU, and this lovely backyard wedding defied convention and revealed the lovely personalities of it’s bride and groom.

Acknowledgements:

Myla Conroy, of Bella Giorno Weddings. Myla’s calm demeanor was a huge contributing factor to how smoothly this wedding went. She’s an exceptional event coordinator, and I look forward to working with her again- hopefully in the very near future.

Victoria Hoke Lane of Calligraphos Ink. Victoria is my mum, and also a truly exquisite calligrapher. She designed my beautiful logo for Flora Organica Design, and she also calligraphed the tags that I use to indicate which personal flowers go to which member of the wedding party. I got some great photos of those tags with this wedding, so enjoy!

Kim Fox of Kim Fox Photography. The photos on this blog entry were taken by me, but Kim was the professional photogapher for this wedding, and you’ll be able to see her photos of the event shortly in our portfolio.