Wow!!!! I have so much on my mind, and so many great things I want to share. First off, if you think it is cold here in Virginia today, check out my new flower girl friend Alicia Schwede in Colorado. She is joining us tonight "In The Cooler." Alicia owns Bella Fiore Events. Amazingly enough we are doing some of the same colors tomorrow.  Alicia is one of the many talented designers I have found on Twitter. You can follow us both on twitter. Look for me under "chappleflowers."  Please dive into her blog and see some of her unbelievable creations. I have so enjoyed following her this summer.  Colorado weddings are slowly coming to a chilly halt, and this is a fairly small weekend for her. Please look beyond this post for inspiration. Thank you so much Alicia for joining me tonight "In The Cooler," and good luck tomorrow on your wedding. I will be thinking of you.

 

Here Debbie and I are studying the dimensions on bird cages. Our bride Amy purchased these for her wedding, and we needed to see them before we could order the flowers. We spent hours getting the flowers ordered for next week. We are watching the weather and trying to prepare for the beginning of the change in seasons. So much of what we do depends on mother nature. I have checked with Don from Don's Dahlias and for now all of our precious dahlia's are happy. Everyone do the no frost dance for my bride Dharma. We really want Dahlias.

We also had really exciting news today. Our flowers were on Snippet and Ink; check out this blog post that included our bridal shower centerpieces. We got to help our friend Maria Cooke from Ritzy Bee. The shower was for Maria's sister. 

Here is what is "In the cooler" and some of the happenings in the shop or house today. I am also sharing one really fun shot of my bride Lauren. We delivered her wedding flowers tonight, but I am saving the photographs for Monday. 

 

A basket completely made of flowers for Lauren's wedding today.

 

Maids bouquets.

 

Incredible centerpieces for Lauren.

 

My oldest baby Alex is home for the weekend from Virginia Tech. Here he is loving on our youngest baby, Miss Grace. They are 22 years apart. Even though they are mine I still find it hard to believe. I love having him home.

 

I also love this hydrangea. 

 

Oh, so cute Sam. You just gotta love him.

 

Love my Hannah also.

 

And Miss Lauren loved her bouquet so much she was doing a little happy dance. I will share those pictures on Monday. It is time for bed. We have lots to do tomorrow, and the girls have their homecoming dance also. It will be a busy flower day and a busy mommy day. 

Holly

This bouquet belonged to Adrienne. This bride was just awesome. In spite of the fact that she looks like a girly-girl, or in other words she is gorgeous, her career takes her into some very dangerous places. Adrienne is a game warden for the County of Loudoun.  I hope to have pictures of her very soon, but for now here are her flowers.  Her sweet dad picked up all of the flowers the morning of the wedding. This is a great way to save money on labor and delivery.

The bridal bouquet was created with Don's Dahlia's, red orchids, orange orchids, orange calla lily, bronze football mums, black magic roses and estelle roses; this is the first picture in this post.

 

The maids bouquet started with the same bronze football mums, roses, berry and orchids. This was one of my favorite fall bouquets of the year. The simplicity of the design has an awesome outcome.

 

We created the centerpieces in my favorite stone urn. I love this container for every season. Adrienne allowed us to create each centerpiece different, so we had lots of fun with that. There were 13 pieces in total.

 

My next bride was Amelia; as you can see we had a power packed day last Sunday. Amelia also sent her dad to do the flower pick up. The dads last weekend were so wonderful. To keep Amelia on budget we did several wonderful things. First the family picked up and saved on labor, second we used all carnations. I am so thrilled with the way everything looked. Even though Amelia was on a budget, she had 9 bridesmaids. That can get very costly, so we created tight clean balls of white carnations for each maid. We provided glass vases for each maids bouquet and they doubled as centerpieces. We made the exact same design in pink for the other 11 tables. There is nothing budget looking about this wedding; in fact, it is just to die for.

 

The bridal bouquet was a sweet and elegant design of candy bianca roses and 20 stems of light pink spray roses. Her wedding was simply charming.

As promised my last wedding took me back to Whitehall. We ended the weekend the same way we started, with a blue and orange wedding at Whitehall.

 

This was Faye's wedding. We created her bouquet of green hydrangea that had a slight tint of blue. We used orange dahlias, orange roses, orange orchids, orange freesia, and orange spray roses. I loved Faye's vision and was so happy to bring this fabulous wedding together for her. 

We used lots of blue delphinium in the maids bouquets, and we made mini bouquets for the mothers.

 

The cake was created by Amphora Bakery. Look how cute this is…

 

The centerpieces also showed off all the bright, beautiful colors of the day.

 

The ceremony was on the front lawn of the beautiful Whitehall Manor. The house was the backdrop for the service.

 

This incredible arrangement was made by designer Sam. The piece served as altar piece and then became the buffet piece for dinner.  Once again, I am in awe with Don's incredible Dahlias. We are still doing the no frost dance in hopes that we will have them next weekend.

As you can see last weekend was a very large weekend for us. I am always amazed and impressed with the way that we handle things around here. I often take for granted what we accomplish both as a business and a family.  There are those days though when I realize what we are doing is pretty remarkable. So just as I give the last information about last weekend's wedding, we are preparing for this weekend's brides. We start out with a lovely wedding on Friday for Lauren at none other than Whitehall Mansion.

Happy married life, Adrienne, Amelia and Faye.

Holly

 

It is common place in the flower shop to have the little Chapples visit. This can be a really fun thing and sometimes a very stressful thing. The babies, as we call the three youngest, are allowed to come over to the flower shop and hang out. My flower shop girls are amazingly patient and kind about this and help endlessly with keeping them safe, occupied or out of the flowers. These are duties beyond what would be expected in a normal flower shop. Perhaps you have guessed there is nothing normal or simple about anything that we do here. I am sure being kind and patient with the babies should not be part of the job requirement, but it has become a big part of what we all do to make this work: "It takes a Village" is very true in this family and home-based business. 

Today was one of those unbelievable parent days; we of course have a huge work load ahead of us. Elijah, the four year old, had a mega melt down: a completely out of control, inconsolable, freak out. Dear Mrs. Dill who is one of my upcoming MOB's happened to come by at just the right time to witness the scene. In truth, knowing that she is a great mom and a kid expert, I allowed her to see the situation. I thought seeing someone new would help Elijah come out of his temper tantrum coma. Much to my surprise, Mrs. Dill suggested she could read to Elijah. Now, really, can you believe this? Just so it is very clear, I am no where near Wonder-Mom, and we have some really tough days. Taking help when it is offered is a must. Much to my surprise Elijah wanted very much to go read with Mrs. Dill. I offered to read to Elijah myself, for a good 20 minutes, but he was not interested.

Honestly maybe some super professional would have ran and hid so their customer did not see the melt down. Perhaps I am crazy, but I believe in fate, and if Mrs. Dill was willing to help, it was for a reason. Dear Mrs. Dill sat down in the big red chair and actually read to my child. Is this amazing or what? She is my client's mom, and she is helping me tend to my kids. It worked too; in probably 10 minutes she had him to sleep, and she was on her way. I am always learning every day to take help when it is offered, and I'm not afraid to show the world that every day is not a bed of roses.  You can also bet when her daughter walks down the aisle I won't be holding back on any of my precious petals.  Thank you Mrs. Dill. You loved my baby today, and I am going to love yours right back with my beautiful flowers. Bad day turned great. Love it. Here is a long overdue thank you to all of the people that help me raise this amazing group of kids. 

Holly

Lauren was my bride this past Saturday at Whitehall Manor in Bluemont, VA.  Her wedding delivery took place just one hour after Coryn's wedding at Rivercreek. We had an amazing weekend, and we were allowed to play with many different types, styles and colors this past weekend. Changing from full fall flowers with Coryn to these soft subtle shades within the same day was a lot of fun.

 

The bridal bouquet was created with two full stems of white cymbidium orchids, and 25 mini white callas.  The cymbidium orchid usually has 8 to 12 blossoms per stem, and we normally use 3 to 5 in a bouquet, so this was a very unique bouquet.

 

The maids carried bouquets of all peach calla lilies. This particular calla is just amazing; I love the color and the size. It is a very unique blossom.

 

We created gardenia corsages for the moms to pin on to there purses. This is a really great option instead of wearing the corsage.

 

We decorated the mantels and banisters with greens and blossoms. This is a very simple way to bring color and flowers into a home.

 

The centerpieces were a mix of tall pilsner vases filled with calla lilies and low vases with 5 stems of submerged orchids and floating candles. The look was clean and beautiful.

 

We designed arrangements of white lily, mums, larkspur and snapdragons for the arbor.

 

We decorated the aisle with petals and left with big smiles on our faces. This was another wonderful event in the history of Holly Chapple Flowers. The flower girls and I really had an amazing weekend. We have three more weddings to show you, so we will work to get those up for viewing.  Lauren, thanks for letting us be a part of your wedding. Please have a happy married life.

Holly

We created full, fall designs for Coryn this past Saturday at the Rivercreek Country Club. I love working at this venue; it has amazing views of the Potomac River.

 

The bridal bouquet was created with burgundy red dahlias, burgundy coxcomb, black beauty roses, local antique green hydrangea, green cymbidium orchids, and white phlox.

 

Maids carried the same green hydrangea and black beauty roses.  We added circus roses, hypericum berry in green, and red, with yellow billy balls.

 

We made mini bouquets, for the mothers.

 

The mini bouquet is a personal favorite of mine. I think the mothers look so elegant.

 

We created an extraordinary wreath for the ceremony, which took place inside in front of the fireplace. We added potted mums and ivy to the hearth. I love using potted plants at a ceremony.  I always imagine the flowers blooming years later and a bride remembering them from her wedding day.

 

The centerpieces were a mix of square glass vases and designs that offered candlelight.

 

We used circus roses, red orchids, black magic roses, hydrangea, hypericum berry, and solidago in these designs.

 

The cake was created by Lynn Wheatley of Too Nice To Slice.

This was a beautiful wedding, and we are so glad we got to help. I love the elements we used to create Coryn's flowers.  Have a happy married life Coryn; we loved working with you.

Holly

Notice in this picture that it is dark outside!! Our weekend started bright and early on Saturday with a departure of 7:45 AM. Michelle married at Whitehall Manor at 10:00 AM. We had a power packed weekend, delivering three weddings to Whitehall Manor.  This wedding was all about orange and blue. Actually, you will see, we both started and ended the weekend with an orange and blue wedding at Whitehall.

Michelle chose a cascading style bouquet. We used dark blue delphinium, blue iris, orange dahlia's, orange spray roses, and orange orchids. 

 

The maids carried natural stem bouquets of blue delphinium, blue iris, orange roses, orange tulips and orange spray roses.

 

We hung arrangements of orange lily, orange snapdragons, blue delphinium, and blue iris with Italian ruscus on the arch.

 

We marked the family seating with blue bows and the same green Italian ruscus.

 

We created boutonnieres of orange spray roses and orange wax flower.

 

Half of the centerpieces were created in small bubble bowls with white hydrangea, orange spray roses and blue delphinium.  We used cylinders with submerged flowers for the other guest tables.

 

This is a sweet and affordable design.

I missed seeing Michelle in her gown, but she looked so lovely and calm as I handed over her beautiful bouquet.

Holly

 

Click hereto see our post with Brides.com.   We were asked to create a design with golden accents for Brides.com in New York. This bouquet was featured in their story "15 golden ideas for your wedding".  The Regeti's photographed the image, and I am so grateful to them. I love seeing our work published, and it is only with the help of my fabulous photographer friends that I can make that happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also would like for you to see this post on the circus rose. It is one of my favorite roses. Check out my blog post all about the circus rose here.  Remember you can see more of my flower posts on the Wedding Aces Blog.

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a little peek at Jessica's wedding from last weekend. We have decided to only share a few pictures that were taken at my house until you can see them through the real photographer's eyes.  Maybe you will even see them published.  Jessica went to incredible lengths to make certain every detail of her wedding was perfect. I was blown away by the look and feel of her special day. The wedding took place at a private residence in Loudoun County.  The estate home greeted guests as they arrived and headed to a perfectly decorated tent and ceremony site that overlooked the water.  The bride and groom married on a dock overlooking the water. The site was picture perfect.  Am I teasing you? I hope so. This wedding was amazing, and I look forward to sharing the real images with you in the future.  Here are a few shots that will not give too much away. I just had to let you see these very unique bouquets.

 

 

 

 

 

The bridal bouquet.

 

 

The maids.

 

 

 

 

 

The boutonnieres.

 

 

We will have lots to share with you in the future about this wedding.  We also will have a very large "in the cooler" post for you today.

 

Holly

 

 

 

 

Julia married this past weekend, and we had so much fun working with this incredible young woman. Julia was such a sweet heart, and the groom was pretty awesome as well.

We made Julia's bouquet out of orange mango callas, circus roses, milva roses, antique green hydrangea, hypericum berry, orange mokara orchids and Don's famous Dahlias.  I keep chanting every week, "Please don't let it frost, please don't let it frost, please don't let it frost." I really need two more weeks of Don's Dahlias. I have some very important brides who really want his Dahlias. We are doing the no-frost dance around here every night.

 

We used natural vine and Italian ruscus painted brown to make these bouquets unique. I loved how everything turned out. Beautiful girls and beautiful flowers.

The wedding took place at St. Timothy's in Chantilly with a reception at the Westfields Marriott.

 

Guests were greeted by this very autumnal seating chart. The pictures repeated on the tables to coordinate seating.

 

We did elevated designs on my iron stands. I love these pieces, and it is the first time I got to use them this year. I bought them two years ago for my bride Lacey and every time I use them I think of her.

 

We created matching designs in my low iron bowls. All of the designs were perfect fall pieces.

Connie created an incredible wedding cake. I provided her with lots of blossoms, and she designed the cake while we watched. The cake was just perfect.

  
The super-star design of the night was the display for the candy apple table. We used three full bags of apples to create this piece. I could have packed a lot of lunches with all of those apples. Candy apples were set out as the favors for the guests. This was a super cute idea.

And to top it all off, a picture of the happy couple eating a candy apple of course.

 

We loved this couple and we are so glad we were a part of the big day. Thanks to Jennifer Arezzo and Ashley Gordon of a Simple Wish event planning.

Holly

This fabulous bouquet was created for our bride Ellen. We used orange roses, hot pink roses, pink nerine lily, orange dahlia's from Don and bright green hydrangea. This is such a refreshing color combination because of the the bright happy tones.

 

The boutonnieres and corsages were the same mix of flowers but with baby spray roses instead.

 

We label these pieces to reduce confusion on the big day.

 

We can thank my blog for the table runners. Ellen fell in love with these table runners when she saw them under Colleen's wedding post. They were custom made for Colleen, so I knew she could not find them through regular rental stores. We contacted Colleen to see if she could help. She supplied us with the seamstress' name who offered to either create new ones or rent these to Ellen. We were so happy to have solved the green runner issue.

 

We created two large arrangements for the altar.  They were used inside at the reception after the ceremony.

 

We filled these buckets with flowers to mark the family reserved seating. These buckets were also used at her sister's wedding, so it was great to use them again.

 

The cake was created by Dennis at Chantel's Cakes.  Dennis and I have worked together for years. He also offers cakes for those with food allergies. Once again, thanks to Whitehall for always being so beautiful and wonderful to work with.

We loved working on this wedding. Ellen was a super fabulous bride, and I am so happy we got to be her florist.

Holly

Our reversible bouquet!!!!

 

Our flower orders began last week with bouquets for a photo shoot. I wanted to get two looks out of one bouquet, so I made the front completely different from the back of the bouquet: thus, the reversible bouquet. I think this could really catch on. What bride wouldn't love having two bridal bouquets. Very cool, and super fun.

 

We created this bouquet for the same photo shoot; we loved the color of the dark purple vanda orchids. The shoot took place in a vineyard and the grapes were at perfect, purple, peak. It was a stunning combination with the flowers. We hope to see these designs published.

 

We were elated to create this piece for a former United States Vice President. This was our closest presidential experience. I do have mini dreams of having Holly Chapple Flower designs in the White House. To achieve this goal, I would probably have to abandon a few children while I chased my dream. Since I LOVE having my big family, that is not a goal I will pursue. Right now, I have it all: great family, great brides, and an occasional celebrity.

 

We created these autumnal designs for Suann of Simple Song Design.  Suann is going to help Holly Chapple flowers get a face lift. We are going to have Suann create new business cards, new marketing material, new labels and tags for our retail space at On A Whim Antiques. We are also getting gift cards with our logo, just in case we get another presidential order. Suann is a letterpress designer, and her work is amazing. You can also follow Suann's blog; it is truly inspiring.  Suann also gave us a nice mention in her latest post.

 

These designs were created for a luncheon in DC. We blended terra cotta colored roses, black magic roses, green hydrangea and deep browns together to make these pieces. They were sharp, elegant and sophisticated. LOVE that fiddle head fern.

 

We have three weddings to bring to you as well. I just didn't want you to miss all of the very beautiful non wedding pieces that happened last week.

Oh, one last thing, to further aggravate my son Alex who says I use the word love too much, I have decided to use bold type every time I use the word love.  If all of the other bloggers can say "I heart" this, then I can boldly say I love this. Love you Alex.

Holly