Let’s celebrate the 4th with a photo shoot to inspire brides and groom’s tying the knot on our country’s favorite holiday!  Themed around a Sacramento backyard wedding, this shoot has details galore to pull some inspiration from!  Featured on a blog I follow on a regular basis and draw inspiration from myself, Style Me Pretty,  we were so thrilled to have been able to share this with all of their wonderful followers!  Caroline and Daniel with Tinywater Photography took these amazing shots for the feature and Amber with Platinum Planning pulled together the details and stylizing for the shoot!  Along with some of California’s finest wedding vendors listed below, this shoot was a true ode to Vintage Americana!  Awesome work team, it was a pleasure to do this one with you all!

A short wedding dress for a warm Summer evening, red high heels, deep red lipstick and a red dahlia bouquet, what girl could ask for more?

Festive red, white and blue paper adornments hang from a vine covered arbor.  The table scape: simple, garden feeling and American at heart!

We created the centerpiece out of a wooden rectangular box which I covered in antique produce labels I found at an antique faire.  I think the red and blue on the labels bring together our theme and colors very nicely.  And, with local labels, a nod to the past.  For the flowers, we were going for a wild-garden look.  I used passion vine, red dahlias, burgundy dianthus and a mixture of green foliages in varying textures.

Guest favors included locally grown cherries and strawberries each in their own personalized baskets with flag name tags to double as place cards.  Glasses embellished with cut strawberries are the perfect elixir to quench your thirst on a hot day!

The groom wore a simple boutonniere which is an antique piece we found at the antique faire.  It symbolizes George Washington chopping down the cherry tree.

Fresh cherries and whoopie pies, yum!

A milk and cookie bar was finished off with fresh fruit and cool whip for guests to enjoy!

Annie is wearing a 40’s feeling blusher-feather hearpiece we just love!  Her bouquet was created to mimic the feel of the centerpiece with poppy pods, freeform passionvine and little stem treatment to give the feel of a “picked from the garden” look.

Special thanks to:

Tinywater Photography for taking the amazing photos you see here!  Caroline and Daniel ROCK, they are super sweet and uber talented.

Amber Novey with Platinum Planning who organized and brought together the details.  You couldn’t believe all of the goodies it takes to bring together a shoot like this!

Tina Chan with The Cookie Drop who made all of the cookies you see in our cookie bar… which were later scavenged by ants!

Herdah Warner who created all of the custom labels, soda pop flags and invitations!  So festive, so 4th!

Rona Basa with Luxe Image for the hair and make-up which looks amazing!  Rona is located in the Sacramento area and is available for travel!

Wish Bridal for the awesomely cute short wedding dress!  Isn’t it lovely!

Hair accessories by Pegasus Maiden, super cute, stylish and all customizable to you!

And of course, Callie the super cute golden retriever!

Our 101th post on our new blog, and do we have some eye candy to feature today!

When Carmen of Carmen Salazar Photography decided to put together a photo shoot that was Spring-Inspired, we were more then excited to participate!  Today, you can view the creative ideas Carmen Salazar Photography, Kristina Smith of Wish Bridal, Shelley Larkin of Pizzazz! Event Planning and yours truly came up with!

We’ll be featuring more of the detail shots later on down the road, but can’t resist to share the feature linked in the photo below!  Thanks SMP!

Special thanks to all of the vendors who made this come together:

Sweet Cakes By Rebecca

Ryan Douglas Custom Clothier

The Flower Farm Inn

Those delectable treats, oh my!

Here’s a fun idea for a centerpiece or a lovely accent to your guest book table.

This vintage feeling metal bird cage is accented with two love birds inside and is adorned with a peach gerbera daisy, leucadendron and kumquats!

Serving the Sacramento area as well as all of Northern California “Couture Le Fleur” is like no other…

Conceived by the desire to blend their craft of fresh flowers with cutting edge trends and fashion inspiration. Audrey Gardemeyer and Kristina Smith have created this exclusive collection of couture botanical bridal accessories. In a world looking for the personal and authentic, Couture Le Fleur allows their clients to tell their own personal stories and capture their most precious, memories hand crafted specifically for their special day.  Call today for a private showing and see first hand for yourself the design and crafsmanship that make Couture Le Fleur the hautest thing in floral design.

Definition of A Vessel

What is a vessel?  A vessel is a container or receptacle to hold and display your floral centerpiece.  It can be as simple as a box, crate, pot, vase, bowl, basin, or urn.  And, it can be made of any sort of material from ceramic to lucite, cement to wood, mercury glass to bark….any finish to suit your style.

So, What Can A Vessel Do for Me?

Depending on the theme and feel of your venue, as well as the atmosphere you would like to achieve, your vessel choice will help accomplish the overall ambience.  For example, an outdoor rustic setting may lend to a ceramic mossed urn, while  a modern indoor reception with simple and clean lines may opt for a white, sleek, boxed rectangular vessel to play off the clean and modern edge.

Mixing Up The Look

Mixing and matching of vessel types such as vintage blown glass with different shapes and sizes as well as colors can give off an eclectic feel.  A more modern tablescape with kings tables may have a variety of rectangular and square vases to mimic the look and feel of the long tables.  Whatever your decor already has going on can be accentuated with the look of your vessel choices.

In Use

As a designer, I too often see brides settle for a less than fitting vessel due to budget constraints.  What most brides don’t know is that Botanica Floral Designs as well as most floral design firms carriy a wide variety of different vessel “looks” to suit your taste and wedding day style.  If we don’t have it, we’ll source it out and find the perfect fit!

The other  truth of the matter is that it can be the simplest of items which can bring out the most in your reception decor.  I had one bride who acquired wooden wine crates we used as vessels for her winery themed wedding.  Each of the wooden boxes had a different winery logo and name wood-burned into the side.  They  made a huge impact, and guests loved them!  One of my newfound hobbies is glass collecting.  I am drawn to different bottle and glass styles of beautiful colors.  For an outdoor backyard wedding, these would be absolutely gorgeous…. and quite a conversation piece for guests.  And, they don’t all have to match!

Below is a collection of different styles and shapes of vessels that can be used for your centerpieces, sign in table arrangements and other floral feature pieces.

For a More Rustic Wedding Look…

How about a vintage wedding…

And lastly, a modern wedding…

Just a taste of Fall…

Top row features (From left to right): Flame miniature calla lilies, ‘Black Bacara’ Roses, Burnt orange Mokara orchids and burgundy dahlias.

Middle Row:  Luscious orange ribbon, a vintage looking orange broach to incorporate onto the bridal bouquet, and brown velvet ribbon to add texture.

Bottom Row:  Fiddle head fern scrolls, begonia leaf foliage for an interesting look, and green berzelia.

These colors are warm and cozy.  The combination with the bright green foliage really makes these colors “pop,” while adding an interesting look.

I will admit, I used to not be the biggest fan of “blue” weddings, but I have to say that they have become quite intriguing to me lately.  Whether it be a deep dark blue or a lighter aqua tone, blue can be used creatively throughout your wedding color scheme.

Some ways to incorporate blue into your wedding would be through your linens, paper products, vases and vessels, and other hardscape elements.  While I will never be a fan of blue dyed flowers, I have been exploring new ways to tying this calming color into a wedding color palette in relating to florals.  There are some natural blue flowers such as hydrangeas, tweedia, cornflower, delphinium, hyacinth, iris, nigella, and scabiosa which are all nice choices for a blue scheme. As for centerpieces, a blue vessel or a clear one with blue ribbon accents make a nice touch to infuse some blue into your reception.

Stay tuned, we’ll be posting some inspiration boards in the future relating to complimentary colors to use with blue.