Beautiful Scenery, Beautiful Day

Today was such a great day. I delivered the flowers for the wedding I've been working on (see previous blog). I was accompanied by my lovely assistant (my husband) who offered to come along and help with the set up. We made a morning of it getting specialty coffees to accompany us on our 45 minute drive. The wedding was being held in the garden of this 150 year old historical house. I had never been to the "Robert Newell House" before, but it is a beautiful place for a wedding.

My husband and I made good time getting there and were the first to arrive. Since I had to wait until the caterer and cake arrived to place any flowers, and none of the wedding party had arrived, we spent time talking with the care takers of the grounds. This sweet couple is probably just a wee bit older than we are and lives on the grounds year round. We hit it off quite well as they have a background in crafts making furniture and replicas of antique dolls. They are "artsy/craftsy" types. We connected right away!

Since we were in waiting mode, we were treated to a private tour of the old house and the one room school house that also occupies the grounds. We got a mini-history lesson and had the luxury of asking lots of questions. It was so fun!

Soon, family members arrived and I went to work placing the flowers on the cake, centerpieces on the reception tables, aisle decor on the chairs and handing off the bride's bouquet and various boutonnieres and corsages. We left prior to the ceremony, but it looked like it was going to be a great celebration.

In parting, we said farewell to our hosts, the caretakers. As I thanked Mrs. Caretaker for her hospitality we hugged one another as if we had been friends for a long time. She urged us to come back and visit them again, and to send business cards to her so she could promote my wedding floral work. I reciprocated and am eager to let people know about this little jewel of a place for wedding ceremonies.

On the car ride home we vowed to go back and visit another day and felt as if we had made some new friends. It was a great morning!

I've posted a few pictures of the wedding flowers just for fun. The bride had chosen a bright mix of summer flowers, wanting it to "feel" like she picked all the flowers from her garden and put them together for her celebration. She also wanted a touch of elegance and so she chose all white lilies for her bouquet and the cake. Very pretty and fun to do! I'm terrible at remembering to take photos of my work, and as it is, I forgot to take a picture of the bride's bouquet and the groom's bout! Anyway, here's a sample. Not great photo quality. Sorry 'bout that!

White stargazer lilies with ivy cascading on cake.

Corsage and Boutonniere (Ugh! Out of focus! Sorry!)

Small flower bouquets lined

the center aisle, attached

to chairs draped with tulle.

It's a little difficult to tell from the pictures, but this gives you an idea of the centerpieces--an eclectic grouping of seasonal, bright flowers on each table.