Laguna Gloria

 

We headed over to Laguna Gloria a few Fridays ago-- it is a spectacular setting for a wedding!

 

Barbara from Barbarasbrides.com was coordinating , thats Vanessa from Photographybyvanessa.com getting into my photo--for some absolutely gorgeous images go over to her blog.  This long tent was put into place  for dining-the guests were seated on chivari chairs and dined off of beautiful crystal and gold dinnerware.  It was a beautiful setting.

 

We provided hundreds,and I do mean hundreds of square and cylindrical vases- some featured submerged flowers , some had single stunning blooms and some had floating candles. Thanks Melissa and Stu for letting us  participate.

The Allan House

 

Do you remember those blurry images I posted last week of these gorgeous yellow flowers-thanks to lunaphotography for sharing these images!

They are a SanDiego, CA based photographer who travelled to Austin to capture these moments.

Take a look at their blog to see even more awesome shots, I just took the floral ones (of course.)

 

 

 

If you remember from the earlier post, the bride provided us with all the vintage glassware-- she also added in the little herb garden-- The bridesmaids featured all white tulips with a combination of herbs and foliages.

Birch containers

 

These centerpieces were featured a few weekends ago in the Victorian Room at The historic Driskill Hotel-- 

The bride requested an elegant hill country look-- she provided us with these birch receptacles.  They are hollow tubes that were purchased from Pottery Barn from their winter collection. The groom cut them down to size to fit over a glass container (who says grooms do not participate?)

 

The linens were a beautiful natural weave in a sand color accented with the dark wood chargers.  We completed the look with votive candles wrapped with a big green leaf and raffia.

 

The flowers were a mix of seasonal blooms and herbs-colorful for this dark room. Check out the pro pics over at Pam's blog, it is the Smith/Shanley event.

Hultsphotography.com/blog

Holiday weekends

 

Holiday weekends tend to be busy wedding weekends in the Austin area--do you see that gorgeous lake?

Who doesn't want to come to Austin when they get the chance-- when I mention this to brides who are planning their event on a holiday weekend, they sometimes seem surprised.  Memorial Day,Labor Day and the Thanksgiving weekends can be some of our busiest times-- what does this mean? Plan in advance to get  the  vendors of your choice, don't be surprised if there are holiday fees (which staff members get to work while the rest of the world is barbecueing?) and limited availabilties for venues, it is popular for lots of events, not just weddings- graduation parties, company picnics, bachelor and bachelorette parties. Austin presents itself with some unique busy weekends in addition to the  normal holidays- any home Longhorn gameday, the countless festivals-ACL,SXSW just to name a few-- once again, plan accordingly, you can have some great extra entertainment for your out of town guests, just a few reasons why we all love Austin!

 

 

Vintage Bottles

 

A bride provided us with a wide variety of vintage bottles, mostly glass milk bottles,  a few mason jars and some smaller glass containers.  The linens are a silver/gray satin that featured this ecletic mix of yellow flowers and foliages with a lot of herbs. The next picture is of course blurry, I was the  photographer, I should really stick with floral design, but I'm trying to get better, so bear with me!

 

These tables are staged in the wings at The Allan House, a popular downtown location for outdoor events- as the weather heats up, this presents a few challenges on our part!

Lily of the valley

 

Lily of the valley-- words really do not do this exquisite flower justice.  It is not a flower that lands in our shop very often, primarily because of the cost.  This is a bouquet featuring 30 stems and would run anywhere between $300 and $400.  This was a special request that we were able to fulfill.

 

The groom sported a small bouttoniere  - 3 stems.  The same bouttoniere my husband donned a mere 19 years ago.  There was a lot of hoopla surrounding the lily of the valley,  he questioned if he had ever seen it in person before? When I answered your bouttoniere at your own wedding, he responded , really?  Guess it didn't make an impression for him!!

 

Sorry for the blurriness, I must learn how to manage this fancy contraption of a camera that I own. Although, this is not Lindsey's bouquet, go over to Dave's blog, to see some photos from Lindsey and James wedding. (Lindsey is our Becky's daughter, the wedding was a few weeks ago) That would be Dave Mclaughlin-dcmphotography.com , check out his work (and his cutie pie daughter)

Lindsey's bouquet was a combo of lily of the valley and sweet peas, absolutely lovely!

Green Pastures gazebo

 

Garlands of fresh flowers and foliages created a perfect frame for this sweet wedding we designed at Green Pastures a few weeks ago- this is an early Sunday morning with about 20 to 30 guests that would enjoy the Sunday brunch at Green Pastures following a very simple ceremony.  I think that is one of the cleverest ideas ever and have you had the milk punch on the brunch?

 

All of the flowers were vintage roses in ivory and soft pin with hydrangeas and magnolia foliage-- doesn't that feel perfect for the setting?

 

The chairs were accented with a touch of open roses, ivy and rich satin ribbons.

For some pro pics from the event check out the blog of Pam Hults

It is under the Hicks/Sheeley wedding.  

Whoop! Class of 2009

 

This was a super busy packed weekend for us-- not only did we have weddings to get out the door, but we made time to celebrate our niece Brittneys graduation from Texas A and M-- she's on the left, our other niece Jennifer is on the right, she's the Fightin' Aggie class of '12! Can you tell I'm one proud aunt-- these girls are very often seen on wedding setups, tying chair sashes or helping their  computer challenged aunt get up and running! Congrats Brittney-- your double major will pay off soon!

 

This was our entire gang for a group photo-- it is very rare that we are all together in one place-- mom,dad, brothers, sisters in law, nieces and nephews-- I think the last time we all were on the same piece of real estate was at least 3 years ago--take time to enjoy your family.  That is the great thing about weddings, it brings alot of families together--take that photo, these moments in time get fewer and fewer as the years pass.

Most popular centerpieces

 

The flowers submerged under water have been one of our most popular centerpieces over the past year and I do not see the trend slowing down--

 

There are many varieties of flowers that can work in these centerpieces--some tables feature 2 vases, some feature on ly 1 vase.  The possibilities are really endless.

 

I love the dendrobium orchids --the purple ones really look awesome.

Candelabra

Candelabras at theVilla Antonia Chapel--

Kids in weddings

 

These adorable kids are from the wedding I posted about yesterday-- the wagon was adorned with greenery, flowers and ribbons.

 

This cute little girl carried the pomander ( most of the time) and wore a halo of small blooms.

 

These young ladies were the junior bridesmaids.

All of todays photos were provided by Tyler Schmitt of Schmitt photography.

Favorite Fall wedding

 

This was one of my personal favorites last fall-- even though it is not fall colors!

Soft shades of green accented with a pop of pink ( remember those pink shoes last week) and accented with the fern curls to bring in the dark brown.

 

The groom and groomsmen wore  a light colored suit with the colored ties and a very simple bouttoniere.

 

Here is the table-- mostly green, remember just a pop of pink-- those fabric squares on the tables were signed by the guests and then made into a quilt--  another great idea-- notice the tall glass votive candles-- this was outdoors, so any hope that the candles will burn, they must be protected from the wind!

Cool centerpieces

 

Looking at all white centerpieces bring a sense of cool and calm?

We need cool, Austin is headed to a hot summer, just ask any one of our design staff that worked on the setups over this past weekend-- HOT!

I love this collection of birch containers- one of the receptions this past weekend featured glass containers that had been wrapped in birch-- they had a very natural, casual feel- queen annes lace, rananucla, bupleurum, scabiosa pods, delphinium and miniature green hydrangea-- can't wait to see some pro images from the awesome Pam Hults-- Alavie photography.

 

These lanterns also appeared at one of our receptions-- they were used at a brides home on a large lawn ( they put 22 tables and still had room for the ceremony!) I think these lanterns have a lot of possibilities, lining a walkway, hanging from shepherds hook, suspended from a gazebo--so many ideas!

 

Perfect for a summer anything-- mason jars filled with any blooms, foliages, even the dreaded baby's breath make a cute shabby chic-ish table setting-

 

All white and green--classic and clean, dahlias, ranunucla, tulips, eucalyptus berries and stock fill an unassumeing white enamel bucket-- this would be perfect for any spring or summer reception-indoors or out!