Check in tomorrow and see this fabulous wedding, that was completely designed and managed by Holly Heider Chapple Flowers.   Yet another weekend, where we reached a little higher, and accomplished even more. Enjoy your day off, and I will see you on Tuesday.

 I have to do my "in the cooler post" early this week, one more thing in the cooler and she is going to explode. We have a very wonderful and exciting weekend ahead of us, as you can see we have several different color themes happening and each piece, and each wedding, is simply beautiful. 

Every single nook and cranny is full of flowers. Each of these tables is holding several designs and then under the table we have centerpieces stored on the floor. You literally can't walk inside, the walk in cooler. Each morning we have to pull out buckets and designs so that we can get to things we need. It is unbelievable.

The yellow and blue designs are headed to Maryland and they are stunning.

These bouquets are going to Whitehall!

These pieces are going to the Belmont Country Club. They  are in the sitting room because they simply could not fit in the cooler.

These are the amazing centerpieces for a very special wedding that we will tell you all about on Monday.

Everywhere we turn we have props, plants, antiques, and good stuff.  A big shout out to On A Whim Antiques for supplying endless inspiration for our big events. I literally have two van loads full of furniture and cool items to take to our weddings this weekend. I love you, On A Whim. Thank you to every vendor that helped me pick out the perfect "finishing touches" for my events. A special thanks, to Donna, and Mary Alice, who for some reason put up with my creative bursts through the antique store, and the patience they find for me.

Wish us luck, and safe travels, as we journey out this weekend. I hope you all have a great holiday, all of us at Holly Heider Chapple Flowers will be working.

 

 

 

I really wish I was a professional photographer, because when I walked in the room and saw Tram in her wedding gown I would have given anything just to get one good photo.  I almost fell over when I saw how incredibly beautiful my bride looked, and her dress was completely amazing. Thank goodness photographer Kate Triano was there to capture the day!

 

Here is a picture of Kate at work, she is the pretty lady hiding behind the lens.  I love seeing the maids gather around Tram while they adorn her with the finishing touches.

 

The bridal bouquet was created with yellow calla lily, yellow billy balls, cream stock, white freesia, green cymbidium orchids, and pale yellow roses.  Pretty stunning right?

Maids bouquets were monochromatic yellow, but we inserted a tiny silver thread through the designs. The bouquets would be carried by maids wearing platinum dresses. The bouquets were created with yellow gerber daisies, yellow football mums, yellow roses, yellow billy balls, bupleurum and gardenia leaves.

 

The wedding took place at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia. We used several of the centerpieces to decorate the ceremony site.

 

Clusters of flowers were attached to the first rows indicating these were reserved for family.

 

Our centerpieces were a mix of all of the flowers of the day, but pops of bright green were added into these designs.

 

Tram was absolutely wonderful to work with. She has been a very supportive bride and a true fan of Holly Heider Chapple Flowers. I am proud to say I did the flowers for this wonderful wedding. Happy married life!!



 

 

I have missed a few blog posts, it has been beyond wild in the Chapple house. We are busy getting brides down the aisle, preparing for the weddings of the fall, meeting with 2011 clients, and we are packing up some of the Chaplets and sending them off to college. Our oldest Alex left last week, we have been through this before so it is painful but not gut wrenching. Packing up Abby to go for the first time could definitely be called gut wrenching. In spite of all of this family drama we have continued to produce some amazing designs. 

The bouquet above was created for Lindsay, it was designed with coxcomb, callas, dahlias, orchids, zinnia, roses, hydrangea, stock and scabiosa.  The wedding took place at the famous Whitehall Manor.

 

Here are some great shots of the remarkable Reget's at work. I love taking pictures of photographers on the job.

 

Our centerpieces were rich and vibrant and I loved the silver accents.

 

We added these pink crystals to the designs just before we headed to the wedding. I have had them in my shop for over a year and I have been dying to use them.

 

A huge round of applause needs to go to Jason at Market Salamander, he created this cake to look like the couples dog. His work and attention to detail was outrageous.

 

The real wedding cake was as lovely as the grooms cake was unique. I was amazed by the talent of this young baker. He is top notch and I bet we see him on TV some day.

 

We also provided these happy yellow designs to a wedding on Sunday. We had an event on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday last week, all while we were getting the kids off to school.

 

This bridal bouquet was created with yellow billy balls, white cabbage roses, creme de la creme roses, green hydrangea, green berry, and yellow spray rosees. We also added some white hydrangea from my garden.

 

We used football mums to create mini bouquets for the moms.

 

We have lots of amazing events coming up, I am in awe of what we will accomplish over the next few months; all with a broken heart. We miss you Abby this one hurts big time.

 

This is a photo of Abby ( she is on the left in the stripped shirt) just as we headed off to college.

 

Here she is in her new home away from home, at JMU.

Yesterday one of our photo shoots was featured on Style Me Pretty which you can see here. I will try and list all of the reasons why this was so special. First I got to work with an amazing team of vendors, and I really want to thank Pam of A Trendy Wedding for asking me to join the team. Developing relationships with everyone was so much fun. Second I was destined to do this shoot since birth, what other florist or designer just happens to have a daddy with a farm stand. I can’t tell you how much fun it was to steal all of my fathers produce or better yet try and explain to my country, farmer, dad, that I was doing a photo shoot and sending it to Style Me Pretty. Daddy does not hear very well and he kept saying I don’t know what in the _ _ _ _ you are talking about, but ” yes you can take my produce, my signs and whatever the _ _ _ _ else you want. My father is amazing, I totally ransacked Heiders Country Store right down to the honey. ( Take the time to go to his website, it is super cute and I love the about us page)  ” Next I got to bring my daughter Abby along, it was fun to find out what an amazing eye my girl has. My favorite photos of the day were ones she insisted we set up. Lastly I just love, love, love, photos shoots it is so much fun to bring a vision to life. Thank you Style Me Pretty for featuring our farmers market inspiration.  Oh whoops one last thrill, my gonna be daughter-in-law Mallary has become obsessed with Style Me Pretty. Ever since she got the ring she has been a follower of the SMP blog, it was extra fun for me knowing Mall would appreciate this feature.

I even hit up daddies garden for baby strawberries still on the vine so that I could put them in the grooms boutonniere.

Believe it or not, when I saw this ribbon in the store I completely knew in my heart I would use it for a country farm themed photo shoot. I pulled it off the rack committed to bringing this shoot to life, that was five weeks before Pam asked me to do the shoot. It is amazing to me how one element can absolutely inspire a designer to design.

Pam made heart shaped shortbread biscuits for the shoot. The funniest part of the night was when the horses and the groom, started snacking on the cakes, the strawberries, and the whipped cream.

The beautiful, fabulous, Kendall created our strawberry cake.

Shoots are often done for submission to magazines and wedding blogs. They also help vendors expand their portfolios. This shoot had an additional really fun layer, Terra Dawn lead person/photographer in charge of this shoot had spent the entire day instructing on photography skills. At the end of the class Terra brought up her students for the photo shoot. The photographers were literally squealing when they saw the stage we had set for them. I love the below images when the photographers arrived these pictures are mine so the quality changes significantly.

Here is a fun photo showing all of the little worker bees. Far left Lynn- The Black Horse Inn, Terra Dawn Photography, Pam Barefoot – ATrendy Wedding, Abby Chapple ( my daughter), Holly Chapple and  Joe who provided us with his vintage truck. Joe had the hardest job of all because he had to watch us touch his precious truck for like 5 hours.

Thanks to all of the vendors who helped to make this so special. I loved the couple and because their love was real the pictures were electric, they will marry this January.  Thanks over and over again to photographer Terra Dawn, and Lynn from the Black Horse Inn, your place is stunning and your horses are the sweetest.

Have a great day!!

 

Photography: Terra Dawn Photography / Event Designer and Planner: Pam from ATrendy Wedding / Styling and Flowers: Holly Heider Chapple from Holly Chapple Flowers / Produce and Market Products: Albert Heider of Heider’s Farm Market / Event Location: The Black Horse Inn / Dress: Blush Bridal / Groom’s Outfit: J. Crew / Jewelery: Rachelle from Dominion Jewelers / Hair and Make-Up: Katherine from KPHair and Make-up / Rentals: Capital Decor / Cake: Kendall’s Cakes / Catering: Occasions Caterers / Chair Details: Etsy Vendor Lilmissi / Paper Inspiration: Valerie Metrejean from Southern Fete

I love designs that are rich, full, lush, and loaded with good stuff. I can't do inexpensive designs, I try and I just can't. My heart and my soul wants to help every single young lady that comes to me, but I can't create my look cheaply. I try to do inexpensive designs to help girls get on budget, but the good stuff costs. Lots of the good stuff really costs. Every time I discount my prices to help someone out, I create a design that I am less than happy with. In that instance, what do I do? I buy more flowers and I steal a little from one of my kids college funds. When I create a low price point design, I invariably have to put another flower into the design and then another to make it please me artistically. I can't let a design leave here profitable before wonderful, wonderful always come first. A piece or a design that makes my heart sing is far more important to me than a profitable one, it is simply who I am.

I am bringing this subject up because it is a common issue among true floral designers who are passionate about their work. I think it is important for everyone to know what the artist suffers if they are constricted by budget.  My look the Holly Heider Chapple Flowers look can't be done cheaply, unless Holly takes it right out of Holly's pocket. Holly Chapple Flower  designs are loaded in the yummy and need to be priced accordingly, not to mention the way we go over and over each piece. The time spent on a design in this studio is similar to the birth of a child. I have actually given birth to some of my babies faster than some of my bridal bouquets. Now that is saying something!! Not complaining, just changing, or better yet, just realizing completely who I am.

 

 All images on this page were taken by my mystery photographer.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of providing floral designs for a SESMA luncheon. The event was held at the DAR Constitution Hall in DC.  Design Cuisine sponsored the event and provided the catering. I am always in awe with the look and quality of an event hosted by Design.  The tablescape they chose for this event was so incredibly perfect for this venue and the meal itself was spectacular. In addition to the lunch there was a panel of wedding experts who were asked to speak about marketing to the wedding industry.   The panel included Terri Boyd from The Sunset Room,  Maria Cooke of Ritzy Bee Events, Steve Dunn of Well Dunn Catering, Katie Martin of Elegance and Simplicity, Jodi Moraru of Evoke, and me, yes me Holly Chapple, of Holly Heider Chapple Flowers LTD. It was a complete and total honor to participate in this event and to be asked to speak on marketing and social media. People who knew me years ago might even call it a miracle, I constantly refused to have a website or even email. It is funny how things change.

 

The centerpieces were created with 25 Free Spirit roses, orange coxcomb, hypericum berry, leucadendron, and green jester amaranthus. I felt that the designs needed to be monochromatic so that they did not compete with the extraordinary linen. I wanted the flowers to enhance the table not take away from it.  Believe it or not when you have linens and place settings this awesome you probably don't even need flowers.  The room was stunning.

 

Yesterday was a complete pleasure. Thank you to all who were involved.

  

 

I thought it would be fun to show you the bouquets of the weekend. Yes we made five bridal bouquets. This weekends weddings were just awesome, amazing, delightful, inspired, beautiful, and we rocked it. Thanks to all of the flower shop girls for hanging with me through this. We had an incredible weekend.

Today I start the next phase of Holly Heider Chapple Flowers. I am off to DC to develop relationships with rental companies, this way we will be able to help our brides with the complete look of their wedding. I have several clients on the books already who will be working with me for their "Finishing Touches Packages". More about that soon…

I had the pleasure of  teaming up with some super fabulous vendors for a photo shoot. The shoot was really an Inspiration Challenge Contest that became known as ICcontest. Our shoot was featured this week on The Sweetest Occasion blog and here are some of our great photos. Thanks to all of the fabulous vendors who brought this awesome vision to life and a huge shout out to Vicky from My Simple Details. Vicky worked like crazy on this concept. 

 

This awesome veil became my total inspiration  for the bouquet and boutonniere. I am thrilled with the results, but you should have seen us in the shop trying to dye feathers turquoise. Lets just say that we have not mastered the use of Rit Dye, in fact we failed epically and the feathers were spray painted teal. 

 

Our couple truly were high school sweethearts, so it was fun to pick up that theme.

 

Vicki's attention to detail and her concept development was stellar. 

 

 

I absolutely loved the idea of leaving a message for the bride and groom, and yes Vicky thought of that also.

 

Christina from Paperzest wowed us with her paper products. She is quite the artist.

 

A huge thanks to the very talented Kate Triano for her amazing photography. How could we possibly have so much fun without a fabulous photographer. In my mind the photographer is the most important vendor of the day. Don't tell the florists I said that.

 

 Vendors:

 

My Simple Details
Holly Chapple Flowers
Kate Triano Photography
Paperzest
Unveiled Bridal Designs
Julia Juliette
Vintage Mama
Byrdie Graphics

{Photos by Kate Triano Photography.}




See you tonight for "in the cooler"

 

 We had quite the big week last week. I am shocked, floored, and blown away, by how beautiful everything was. I am totally proud of everyone at Holly Heider Chapple Flowers, we are rocking it.  Jamie was our Sunday wedding at one of my absolute favorite venues Whitehall Manor. I got this picture standing behind photographer Genevieve Leiper as she set up this shot. Look for the real images from this wedding on Gens blog.

 

This wedding was so much fun and so incredibly happy. Although it poured rain all morning on Sunday, the sun came out for my bride. She was able to have her ceremony outside seconds before the rain began again. Lucky bride.

 

Jamie chose a bouquet of all hot pink peonies. Every single precious blossom was from my garden. The flowers I had purchased for her bouquet were no where near as lovely.  We pinned a family locket onto the bouquet and we had perfection.

 

I took this picture!!! I am finally getting better at photography.

 

Maids carried the hot pink peonies, with pink ranunculus, and green viburnum.

 

The beautiful mothers carried mini bouquets, which is my preference for the moms. I think this look is so elegant.
 
  

 

Jamie made this fabulous place card board for seating.

 

Her family is Croatian and it is customary to use rosemary at a wedding. We made this cute little topiary design with the rosemary for the guest book table. I also used rosemary in the bouts, and corsages, as well as in the garland for the chuppah.

 

We filled the big window at Whitehall with floating candles and her centerpieces from the rehearsal dinner.

 

Whoops, I almost forgot rosemary was the party favor. You can see the little bottle of rosemary on the place setting.  I designed two styles of centerpieces, they were placed on these runners that were created by the family. The family could not decide which color to use. I suggested that they use both of them, and I love the way their tables turned out.

 

We used green spider mums, carnations, hydrangea and roses for both designs. This wedding was a great way to close out the weekend. We had 2 other really beautiful events but we will have to rely on the photographers to get us those images.  Happy married life Jamie and thank you for letting us do your flowers.