I am super excited to announce a new wedding venue in Loudoun, The Maples.  This beautiful historic property in Middleburg Virginia will be open for the 2014 wedding season.  The scenic views are glorious, and the stone barn has my heart.

A team of fabulous vendors came together to create this preview of the Maples. Photography by Jodi and Kurt Miller, catering and property management Matilda of The Red Fox Inn, vintage rentals Rosanna of Bella Villa Antiques and flowers by Holly Heider Chapple Flowers.

The Maples is waiting for you!!!

Because I have an awesome clan of designer friends called the Chapel Designers I thought it would be really fabulous if I did a “best of 2013 bridal bouquet blog post.” I wanted to showcase the incredible designs my friends are producing all over this country and abroad. Much to my surprise over sixty designers contributed to this post. As I entered each post I became more and more impressed with my friends and more and more impressed with what we are building together. Chapel Designers is now well over 120 designers strong and we are gaining new friends everyday. We are making a difference in the wedding industry. We are helping to set trend, we are providing an amazing product, but mostly we are designing with passion and an honest love of flowers. Get ready this is the longest post I have ever seen and because it took me over 12 hours to create I hope you will share this link and I hope you will please leave some comments!!

Designer Holly Chapple of Holly Heider Chapple Flowers – Leesburg Virignia

Image taken by Anne Robert

Designer Francoise Weeks – Portland, Oregon

Image by photographer Jamie Bosworrth

Designer Kristi Landphere of The Posh Posey – Folsom, CA

Image by Allison Lal Photography.

Designer Laura Cogan of Passion Flowers Design.

Image by Marianne Wilson Photography.

Designer Lisa Sommer of Petals and Promises – Silver Spring, Maryland

Image by Photography Du Jour

Designer Amy Santee from Amy’s Wedding and Event Flowers   – Aurora, Colorado

Designer Blair Roberts of Sweet Blossoms – Germantown, Maryland

Image by Liz Hough.

Designer Madeleine Elmer of Fleur de Vie – Houston, Texas

Image by Alyse French

Designer Susan McLeary owner of Passionflower – Ann Arbor, Michigan

Image by First Comes Love Photography

Designer Sylvia Clavier, Dream Weavers Flowers – Covington, Louisiana

Designer Julia Miller of Julia’s Floral – Edgewood, Washington

Image by Family Affair Photography

Designer Donna Sue Roberts, First Dance Floral – Southern Md.

Image by photographer Anne Robert

Designer Lauren Walloch of Garden Gate Florals – Central Florida

Image by KT Crabb

Designer Shelley Bagdasian of B Floral Event Design – Chevy Chase, Maryland

Image by Audra Wrisely

Designer Maria Limon of Maria Limon Atelier – Mexico City, Mexico

Designer Alicia Jayne Florals – Southern Maryland

Image by Birds of a Feather Photography

Designer Faye Zierer Krause of Flora Organica Designs – California

Image by Muir Adams

Designer Carmel Vandale of Mt. Lebanon Floral – Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Image by Veronica Varos

Designer Mary Coombs and Dawn Clark from A Garden Party – Elmer, New Jersey

Image by Amy Rae Photography

Designer Jennifer Ederer of Modern Day Floral – Grand Rapids, MI

Designer Christy Hulsey of Colonial House of Flowers – Statesboro, Georgia

Image by Haley Sheffield Photography

Designer Ellen Snyder of Ellen Snyder Design – Vermont

Image by Paige Hiller Photography

Designer Angie Strange of Posh Floral – Dallas, TX

Image by Nine Photography

Designers Peggy and Hunter Sherwood of Sherwood Events – Lexington, Kentucky

Image by Willie Wilson Photography

Designer Dawn Kelly of Soiree Floral – Nantucket, Massachusettes

Image by Zofia & Co

Designer Janet Martineau of Floral Verde – Cincinnati, Ohio

Designer Jeanette Kleitz of True Florette – Orangeburg, New York

Image by Todd France Photography

Designer Amy Dunlap of Amy Lynn Originals – Winston-Salem NC

Image by Anna Routh Photography

Designer Corinne Sebesta Sisti of Sebesta Design LLC – Narbeth, Pennsylvania

Image by Tyler Boye Photography

Designer Isha Foss of Isha Foss Events – Virginia Beach, Virginia

Image by Sarah Street Photography

Designer Holly Rutt of Sweet Pea Floral – Michigan

Designer Stacy Ercan from Stacy K Florals – Rochester, NY

Image taken by Tom Mike Photography

Designer Heather Potter of Cottage Flowers – Malvern, Pennsylvania

Image by Sweet Water Portraits

Designer Janna Avery of Callista Designs – Linville, NC

Image by Kickstand Studio

Designer Anna Stouffer of Urban Petals – Greenville, South Carolina

Image taken by Catskill Mountain Photography

Designer Katie Pollard of Color My World Flowers – Nashville, Tennessee

Image taken by Alex Bee Photo

Designer Amanda Frankewicz of Alluring Blooms – Wisconsin

Designer Sherry Donnelly from Gertie Mae’s Floral Studio – Atlanta, Georgia

Image by Haley Sheffield

Designer Susan Kelly of Three Sisters Custom Flowers and Events – California

Image by Ginny Silver of Retrospect Images

Designer Karen Lipkin from Blossoms and Branches – Chicago, Illinois

Designer Sue Prutting of White Magnolia Designs – Maryland

Image by the Jo(e)s Photos

Designer Nicole Boshard of The Petal Pusher – California

Image by Sara at OneLove Photography

Stylist Mary Bartolucci of Island Style Weddings– St. John United States Virgin Islands

Image by Sage Hammond Photography

Designer Laura Williams of Loda Floral Design – Virginia

Designer Daevid Reed of Daevids Flowers and Decor – Norfolk, Virginia

Image taken by Hayne Photographers

Designer Lesley Frascogna of Tulip Curated Florals – Jackson, Mississippi

Image by Rylee Hitchner

Designer Jessica Jones of Blooms’n Blossoms – Georgetown, KY

Image by Natasha Moses Photography

Designer Lisa Ruf of Goodness Gracious Florals – Maryland

Image taken by Amy Flashenberg

Designer Eatherley Schultz 0f Floressence Flowers – Brevard, North Carolina

Image taken by Nick Breedlove Photography

Designer Trish Van De Merkt – Chicago, Illinois

Designer Cynthia Manchester of Oleander Florals and Events – New Jersey

Image by Shari DeAngelo Photography

Designer Courtenay Lambert of Courtenay Lambert Florals – Cincinnati, Ohio

Image by Braun Photography

Designer Laurie Garza of Fleurie – Reedley, California

Image taken by Robert Kurtz

 

Designers Carol and Peggy of Celebration Florals – Corvallis, Oregon

Image taken by Chris Becerra Photography

Eric Fredricks of Bee’s Wedding and Event Floral Design – New Orleans, Louisiana

Image taken by Greer G. Photography

Designer Lisa Almeida of Blossoms of Hawaii – Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii

Image taken by Aubrey Hord Photography

Designer Ellen Seagraves – Bethesda, Maryland

Image taken by Lucy Merkley

Designer Katie McConnell of Wild Bunch Studio – Chatham, Massachusetts

Image taken by Click Imagery

Designer Melissa Stewart of Primrose Floral and Event Design – Lexington, Massachusetts

Image by Molly Anne Photography

Designer Kim Kalmbach of Bloomers Floral Design – Sacramento, California

Image taken by Lyndsay Undseth Photography

Designer Meredith Young of Au Courant – Jackson, Mississippi

Designer Alexandra Jusino of Exquisite Designs – Chicago, Illinois

Image by Greenhouse Loft.

Designer Olga Beletskaya of the Flower Bazar – Moscow, Russia

Image taken by Yaroslav & Jenny Fine Art Photography

Designer Sharon Duke of Isn’t She Lovely Florals – Florida

Image taken by Hunter Ryan Photography

Designer Andrea Fitzpatrick of Corona Del Mar Florist – Dana Point, California

Designer Susanne Hatwood of The Blue Carrot – Portscatho, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Image taken by Hayley Savage Photography

Designer Victoria Clausen of Victoria Clausen Floral Events – Reisterstown, Maryland

Image taken by Renee Michele Photography

Designer Robyn Rissman of  Bare Root Flora – Colorado

Image taken by Sarah Box Photography

 

I hope you enjoyed this post, it was most certainly a very impressive line up of bridal bouquets. I am certain 2014 holds many exciting adventures for the Chapel Designers. I look forward to the many things we will accomplish together, our inspiration and growth will have no limits!!!

Sally and Andrew married this past summer in downtown Leesburg Virginia. You know I love Loudoun weddings. This lovely image was taken by Photographer Abby Jiu in historic Leesburg. Abby’s pictures are always so stunning and dreamy.

What a gorgeous line up of pretty ladies and pretty flowers.

Flowers of the day included pale yellow butter cream stock, amsterdam roses, coral charm peony, pale yellow campanella cabbage roses, yellow freesia, and spray roses. This color combination was delightful!!

The grooms boutonniere was enhanced with pieces of astilbe. I love this!!!

The flower girls were the sweetest, they carried tiny simple bouquets.

Centerpieces were created with the same mix of flowers in vintage milk glass.

This wedding was gorgeous!! What an honor to be a part of this special day. This was the second wedding that I designed for Sally’s family. I also did the flowers for Molly, Sally’s sister. Lucky me to be involved with this family twice. Happy married life Andrew and Sally!!

I am not sure how we do, all that we do, in fact I am always surprised, relieved, and blown away when we pull it off. Between the wedding work and the family work, this place is always hopping. I am certain our success is partially due to the fact that we care so much. Watching over my brides, their families, and their personal challenges, is one of the many reasons why we are so successful. Each bride really, really, matters to us and we want each client to know that we care. The personal relationships we develop with our clients certainly carries us to the finish line. I often say this is like giving birth, each wedding, is labor, labor, and more labor, and at the very end we push a bit harder and something beautiful is born. Just like child birth some events have challenges and even loss. This weekend was in particularly hard for many of our families.  One of our brides faced a serious hospital stay the week of her wedding, and her groom was a part of the government furlough. Another of our families had guests and wedding party members unable to make the trip due to health issues, and sadly one of our weddings had family involved in a horrendous car accident. That accident resulted in fatalities just 30 feet before the guests/family members arrived at the wedding rehearsal. Knowing the suffering and loss my families were encountering this week was very heart wrenching. Somehow amongst all of this, we were a part of six amazing and wonderful weddings. In spite of incredibly tragedy, I helped six couples marry. It is a blessing that our studio has the opportunity to be a part of a wedding.

Our morning started bright and early with Eli’s football game. I was only at the game for ten minutes, but I wanted Eli to see me there.

Next I delivered flowers to our Briar Patch wedding and our Salamander wedding. The above bridal bouquet was for Olivia at the Salamander. The bouquet featured vine and unique textures that were given to me several years ago when I designed the flowers for Olivia’s maid of honor.  I wanted the two friends to have that vine in common.

Our centerpieces at the resort featured huge compote bowls full of lush fall flowers. Half of the tables featured elevated designs. I picked the linens and other rentals for this wedding, so it was awesome to see the Salamander ballroom come to life. The ceremony happened on the grand lawn. While at the resort I also delivered flowers for an event at the equestrian barn. With this delivery under control, I left a team of designers behind to finish setting up the wedding. Next I headed to Murray Hill where one of our very special projects was underway. This amazing bride sought out our studio because she was inspired by a very special and unique color combination that I had created for a magazine spread. Bringing this wedding to real life was awesome. Evan was responsible for lighting and drapes and his work was impeccable, but that is his “normal.”

Just a few weeks before the wedding my bride asked to add ceremony decor to the event. Only days before her request, I had dreamed of painting my arbor gold. When I offered up this decor idea my bride happily jumped at this ceremony option. Our old arch was painted gold and now it is one of my favorite rental props. Next I found myself offering to paint our white urns gold. I was in love with this!!!!!

The bride and her mom handled signage and custom linens. Seriously, the mother sourced the fabrics while traveling abroad and she had the linens and runners custom made. LUCKY!!!

Next I headed to Breaux Vineyard to meet up with our other design team. This wedding was designed and planned by Megan of Events In The City. We created a gorgeous ceremony area and used the vintage crocks and crates we acquired for my sons wedding a year ago. Our bridal bouquet was loose and airy and featured Don’s amazing dahlias. In fact all of our bridal bouquet featured dahlias from Don. We  pulled out tons of vintage props and vessels for this wedding.

The bridal bouquet.

The bride and all maids wore flowers in their hair.

Centerpieces featured collections of mercury glass, birch vases, trophy containers, and vintage vessels. We loved the look of these flowers!!

While at Breaux I took the time to go over our designs and help with some final styling. In addition to the above listed events we also provided flowers for a wedding at The Airlie Center. That wedding was the second wedding I designed for that family and we were so honored to be a part of yet another family celebration. Lastly we provided a bridal bouquet to a wedding at the Birkby House.

In spite of all that transpired last week, we did it!! I don’t know how we did it, but we did. I am honestly grateful we got through last week. In addition to the stresses our clients were going through, we as a family also had a very emotional week. I will admit I had a serious crying jag on Friday, it was actually a whopper of a crying jag. On Friday we got the final word that our beloved nanny Nico would be leaving us in December. We will be losing a major part of our family. Our family and this studio is making it day by day, we are enjoying each sweet success, and trying to appreciate the fabulous relationships we are creating, all while realizing life is very precious!!

I have a really fun thing going on with photographer Anne Robert and designer Dawn of Something Vintage Rentals. The three of us get together and style shoots. When we work together it’s like lightening and thunder. Bam, pop, smack, that looks amazing!!! What we create when we are together is ridiculous, almost insane. It works because, we work as a team, we share the responsibility of the final look. They touch my flowers, we look through Annie’s lens, Dawn’s beautiful vintage finds are on the job for us to dig through. I learn when I watch Dawn pick the right fork or the perfect piece of lace. We all three bring our special talents to the shoot and although I am just a florist, and Annie is a photographer, and Dawn has vintage rentals we all use our incredible ability to stage and create a vision of inspiration. Working with these girls and learning with them or from them, is awe inspiring. I see shoes differently, legs of chairs differently, I see how my flowers impact the final vision. We work together in tandem and we create magic. Our time together is always so inspiring and it results in serious beauty. This shoot was in particularly fun because I got my sister Heather to bring us her horse. Heather is a serious horse woman. Fun fact of the day my sister had to give the horse some equine xanex. Yes drugging horses is sometimes a part of a shoot, so is cleaning up horse sh_ _. I hope you enjoy this layout and I hope you hurry out and get the latest issue of Weddings Unveiled.

I am in love with this shoot!!! Many thanks to Riverside On The Potomac for allowing us to invade their barn.

Shiri and Daniel married this past March at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner.  Their wedding day was SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! Photographer Genevieve Leiper  perfectly captured the gorgeousness of this couple and the entire wedding. Shiri and Daniel chose the Ritz in Tysons because they both grew up in the area, and many of their friends live in the area as well. Shiri had been dating Daniel since high school – “so the wedding was truly a labor of love and a milestone worth the wait!”

Shiri requested flowers in champagne and beige tones, which went perfectly with the color of her stunning Monique Lhuillier gown. We added hints of gold and pops of plum to the color palette to create depth, drama, and elegance. Just hours before I made Shiri her bridal bouquet, designer Sue Prutting of White Magnolia showed up to give me a wine colored pieris bush. Because I could not resist its beauty I plucked some of the plum toned pieris and it was what made Shiri’s bouquet magical. The golden pieris was from our garden.

I love this picture of the maids and I adore the different gold gowns that each girl chose. This wedding was also fun because my past bride Catalina was a bridesmaid in this wedding, so seeing her was super special to me.

Beautiful couple!!

I just love this dress!!

We created our fabric chuppah for the ceremony and adorned it will simple clusters of the days flowers.

For the reception in the ballroom we used the same gorgeous blushy toned flowers, and added more pops of plum. We find these rich colors complement each other very well. The ballroom featured lush elevated centerpieces on our gold candelabras and low designs in our gold mercury glass cups which were then set on our vintage gold mirrors.

Happy married life Shiri & Daniel we absolutely loved doing your wedding flowers!

 

The Strings Trio was by Sage String Quartet: http://www.sagestringquartet.com/

The DJ was Brian Trace

Hair was by Christin Michelle, Conceptual Beauty http://conceptualbeauty.com/index.html

Hair was by Becca Lee of Victoria Station Salon  http://www.victoriastationsalon.com/vssalon/index.htm

Jessica and Hunter married last fall at The Historic Rosemont Manor. The images from this day were taken by photographer Vicki Grafton and they are some of my all time favorites. I love the peaceful, happy look, on my couples face, and I love the beauty that surrounded them. This wedding looks like perfection!!!

Jessica carried cafe au lait dahlias, pieris japonica, sahara roses, pink juliet roses, pink majolica spray roses, candy bianca roses and queen annes lace. Jessica’s bouquet also featured an amazing ribbon treatment with my vintage ribbon from my collection.

Maids carried bouquets of white roses, pink majolica spray roses, pods, and berry and antiqued hydrangea.

Centerpieces were elevated on my gold candelabras, blooms and grasses cascaded gently from the designs.

The low centerpieces were created in gold urns. We dusted ornamental grasses with gold tint and this increased the shimmer and richness of the designs.

Happy married life Jessica and Hunter. You are a gorgeous couple!!!

This wedding was also featured on the Washingtonian Weddings Blog and can be seen here.

Kendall and Luke married this past spring in DC. Their wedding reception was held at The National Museum Of Women In The Arts. Kendall requested flowers that were soft, feminine, and romantic and we delivered just that. The beautiful images I am about to share were photographed by Marta Locklear. If you are looking for another pretty place of inspiration pop by her site, WOW!!!

Kendall’s bridal bouquet was created with white cabbage roses, sahara roses, pink rice flower, ranunculus and the first of the peonies.

The bridal bouquet was adorned with a mix of vintage ribbons, in lace, silk, and chiffon.

Maids carried bouquets that featured sahara roses, candy bianca pink roses, pink ranunculus, silver dusty miller and rice flower.

Flower girls carried mini bouquets or kissing balls.

Even our boutonnieres were perfectly “Hollyish.”

The guest tables featured flowers of the day designed in pink compote bowls.

The wedding party was seated at a feasting table also known as a king table. Designs on this table were created in silver mercury glass.

Babies breath wreaths were made to decorate the bride and groom chairs.

Happy married life Kendall and Luke, we LOVED designing your wedding flowers!!! Thanks again to Marta for sharing her beautiful images with us!!

Alex and Mallary’s wedding  was truly emotional and remarkable. Everything you hope a wedding will be!! After the ceremony which was held at the house, guests headed to the barn. An heirloom table was stationed at the front door. This table was adorned with old family heirlooms, grandmothers veil, old letter jackets, baby toys, photos, art projects, all items from the couples history. In the invitation suite (designed by Miss Merkle) guests were asked to send heirlooms to display at the wedding. This table was a beautiful reflection of Alex and Mallary’s life.

Evan draped the center posts of the barn at Silverbrook, this created a focal point for the wedding party table. Brilliant Evan, chose to use drop clothes from home depot for this design. Sewing the drapes was a major undertaking but Evan accomplished this task like a pro.

An old barn board and a crystal chandelier were installed above the king table. This was a design concept I had created for another wedding and I was dying to use it again.

Kim sewed custom runners for each table, and we cut linen napkins for each place setting. The napkins were stamped with a custom logo that was created for Alex and Mallary. The stamp was the Loudoun County symbol with Alex and Mallary’s name and wedding date. This logo was designed by Rachel Merkle and used throughout the wedding.

In fact each table had one of Rachel’s icons on it. Guests were given an amazing book at the wedding that held the program, wine tasting card, and the guests seating assignments. The icons were in a little envelope in the back of the book and then on each centerpiece in the barn.  The icons were chosen because they reflected the interests of the couple or part of their story. We had a history table because Mallary is a teacher, a baking table, a wine table, a farmers market table, an Orrison table, a Chapple Table, a European table, a music table, and the bridal party table was the “In Love In Loudoun Table.” There were several other tables as well. Each table had items that belonged to the couple or reflected their interests. The baking table centerpiece was designed in a bundt cake pan, an old rolling pin went through the center of the design and a vintage measuring cup held additional flowers. On the European table we decoupaged a vase with copies of the train tickets Mallary and Alex used to get to each other for their engagement in Warsaw. The history table, had a mini Lincoln on the table and the icon for this table was the penny. It was truly wonderful to design like this.

This was the farmers market table, Alex spent many years of his life working at Grandpas country store. This design featured eggplants, beans, and berry from the Heider Farm as well as jams and jellies from Heiders farm market.

This was the Orrison table, the design was created in a copper pot that belonged to Mallary’s grandmother and we displayed her first tea set on this table as well.

The Chapple table centerpiece was created in a piece of Mccoy pottery that had belonged to Gram and Pop. Small hippos were also on this table because Alex collected hippos when he was a child.

This was the teaching table, which we adorned with an old chalkboard, a little orange bell, and pencils.

The ceiling of the barn was adorned with ribbons and crystals and edison lights. We wanted the area above the dance floor and the buffet to shimmer and glow. A garland of greens and amaranthus was also cascading from the ceiling.

Even the side walls of the barn were adorned with ribbon and vials of dahlias.

The wedding cake was displayed on an antique piece of furniture that was in Dot’s barn. Kendall’s cake was incredible.

Just beyond the wedding cake was a little tiny room which used to be the corn crib. This room was full of pie and popcorn from Grandpa Heider’s country store, and lots of candy.  Rachel created a sign that said “dessert is sweet, Loudoun love is sweeter.”

Alex and Mallary preformed a fun little duo for us, just like they used to do in high school.

These little clowns spent the better part of the wedding throwing popcorn on their family who was dancing just below them. Can you believe that?

Everything about this wedding was so special and our family enjoyed each precious moment of the day.

Now I want to give a huge shout out to Rachel Merkle, because I truly believe the invitations and the branding she did for our wedding was what made this event so MALEX (we have been calling Alex and Mallary that for years). Each guest received the above invite, the invite included a map of Loudoun, info about the wedding, as well as the request for family heirlooms.

Next when guests arrived they received a little book. The book had a book mark (remember Mallary is a teacher) and the name of the guest was on the  bookmark. The books were chosen because they are Moleskine books. Alex is a writer and I used to give him Moleskine books at Christmas.

The book included a program, a map of the farm, a wine tasting card, and a sticky note. The sticky note was added so that guests could leave Alex and Mallary a message. When Alex was roughly 15 years old he snuck into Mallary’s room and filled it with love notes on sticky paper.  The notes remained in Mallary’s room until the day she married.

This was the map that was included in the invitations. We had it blown up and mounted so that we could display it on the wall of the barn. Alex and Mallary now have this in their home.

Rachel even created the guest book. This is where those little sticky notes came in handy.

The guest book began with the love note that Alex gave to Mallary  just before she walked into her bedroom that Alex had filled with love notes.

Here are a few more pictures of the day that simply make my heart melt!!

The bridesmaids all decked out in flannel.

Hannah and Abby

Grace practicing being a princess.

Grace and Mallary

My little boys Eli and Sam.

Me and my two sets of twin sisters.

A picture of our famous Aunt Carla, with my mom and dad, and all of my sisters.

This beautiful photo is of our new big family.

Once again many thanks to these amazing wedding professional, without them our day would not have been complete. Photographer Genevieve Leiper , Rachel Merkle, of Miss Merkle Design, Dot Shetterley of Silverbrook Farm, Joan Wolford of Savoir Fare Catering, Kendalls Cakes, hair and makeup, Victoria Stiles , seamstress, Kim Trombly,  Don’ Dahlias,  and to the entire HCF Family, for the lighting, drape, rigging, planning, and florals.

Remember this wedding has just been published in the current issue of the DC, MD, VA, Knot magazine.

Over the last few months I have had the pleasure of designing or teaching with roses from Alexandra Farms. I wanted to highlight this company because they are providing incredible product to many of our local wholesalers. Make sure you ask for roses grown at Alexandra Farms and certainly read about the company here. The bouquet above was created by me at the Florabundance Design Days workshop, it features Caramel Antike roses and Mariatheresia garden roses. The bouquet was photographed by photographer Geneveive Leiper.

Here I am teaching in California and you can bet I was mighty happy to be standing in a sea of roses from Alexandra Farms.

I taught the students how I wire roses for headpieces and for my bouquets. I have a secret little trick!!!

Designer Kate Minelian of Kaleco Design

Designer Davida Buggs of Ladybuggs

Designer Tricia Jones

Our gorgeous table scape was designed with vintage props from Tricia Fountaine.

Another bouquet I created featured red piano cabbage roses.