Our family was cheated several days of our beach vacation due to emails and crashing websites. I ended up working when I promised I would not. I wanted to steal just a little more time with the kids before the summer ended, so we headed to Lansdowne Resort.  Even though Lansdowne is essentially in my back yard, a visit to Lansdowne is a true vacation.  We had an amazing weekend. 
We started out Friday night with dinner at On The Potomac.  Friday night is also the night Lansdowne has its Sounds of Summer music festival.  The music is amazing, and the atmosphere is even more incredible. It was such a relaxing environment. The concert and activities really exemplify a resort lifestyle.  It was hard to pull ourselves away and make our reservation. We could have dined on the terrace and listened to the music all night.  I had, however, promised the four oldest kids fine dinning. Let me assure you that On The Potomac absolutely delivered. Our meal was extraordinary, and it was wonderful to show the kids a little bit of the good life.
We spent most of Saturday by the pool, and the kids loved having strawberry daiquiris delivered pool side. Truly a treat.  Unbeknownst to many of the guests, I was the wedding florist for that nights big wedding. It was so much fun to see my brides family relaxing and gathering at the pool. I loved hearing all of the talk about the big wedding.  I have to admit if I were getting married again this resort style wedding is really a charmer. I knew the bride and maids were enjoying a fun filled day of spa treatments and dining and that the guests were having an equally amazing time down by the pool.
I truly enjoyed working knowing that my family was right on site.  I love this picture of my husband Evan. He decided to stop by and check out my work after he had a little work out of his own.

 My kids got a kick out of seeing me at work and seeing the bride. We all watched the wedding from our room and my four year old kept screaming "when are they going to kiss?"

This next photograph was one of my favorites. I found these two dapper, young gentlemen relaxing on a terrace. I think the music at the party they were attending was not as serene as the incredible views at the resort.

These gentlemen were clearly enjoying their time at Lansdowne.
The whole family was absolutely in love with the magnificent slide. Check out my clan at the top of the slide.

And coming down.

Only Sam resisted the temptation of the slide. He was happy just dancing about.  We had a wonderful time last weekend. I can't believe that summer is going so fast.
I am so grateful I spent this time with my family. I also loved having a insider's view of life at Lansdowne. I also loved being on site and watching my bride and her family. It was so much fun to see them all weekend long and to know that they were having the time of their lives.
Holly

Everything starts with the arrival of the bridal bouquet.  Laura married this past weekend at Lansdowne Resort. The first thing we do when we arrive at the resort is deliver the bridal bouquet. We then move on to decorate the ceremony and reception areas.  
This was an incredibly fun weekend for me; our family was also staying at Lansdowne. This allowed me to get a inside look at all that is going on in a huge resort like Lansdowne. Our family wanted one more special time together before big brother Alex leaves for college. Sports and school activities also officially start this weekend. So on Friday night, I tucked Laura's bouquet in the cooler and headed to the resort. On Saturday morning I went home to check on all of the flowers and later that day Jessie and Albert met me at the resort. I wish I could do this every time I have a Lansdowne wedding.

We created two large arrangements for the ceremony. We also added a mountain of petals down the aisle. 

We dressed the unity candle with greens and filler flowers.

We headed over to the clubhouse to set up the reception.  This piece was designed for the place card table.  The bride gave us small dragonfly's that she wanted placed on the branches of the piece.

The reception was a mix of high and low centerpieces.  Our bride should be commended for all of her hard work. She chose the upgraded linens, chairs and napkins all by herself.  Actually, her wonderful mother helped. The end result was amazing.

The elevated centerpieces were created with white Hydrangea, dark blue Delphinium, purple Larkspur, purple Carnations, blue Thistle, white Lily, and lavender Roses.

The low centerpieces were full of the white Hydrangea, lavender Roses, purple Stock, blue Thistle, blue Delphinium and the purple Carnations.

We had miniature arrangements for the cocktail hour that Designer Debbie created. She floated small delphinium blossoms into the base of the vase with green leaves. These were so pretty. 

To bring an event this beautiful together takes a fully devoted team. I love working at Lansdowne Resort because of the attention to detail. Before each wedding or event there is a huge team meeting with Lansdowne's event planner, head captain and wait staff. This ensures that all of the client's wishes for the night are fufilled.

 

This is Millie. She is one of the Head Captain's at the Resort.  I am afraid I don't have a picture of Lansdowne's superstar catering manager Lindsey. Lindsey is absolutely a dream to have on your team. She is like having your own personal wedding coordinator on site.

The wedding cake was created by Lansdowne's pastry chef. The bride loved butterflies and dragonflys. The cake was a piece of art.

Here is my bride and her maids. There were seven maids total.

The bridal bouquet was created of purple-blue Hydrangea, white Roses, white mini callas with a purple center and a white Cymbidium Orchids.

 

Here were two maids that had no trouble posing for the florist.

Here is the amazing Joylyn Hannahs: photographer extraordinaire. I know photographers hate to have their picture taken, but I love to show them in action.

Since we were staying at the resort, we watched the wedding from our room.  With seven children this was a much safer view.

I will post about the rest of our weekend at Lansdowne in the next post.

Holly

  Here is our "in the cooler" post for this weekend.  We have a wonderful wedding tomorrow and I am looking forward to making my bride Laura very happy. We also delivered one wedding today and we have a corporate event on Sunday.  There is actually a lot going on but I am keeping some of that secret. Here are a few more pictures that show today's designs.

I am calling it a day. I am so very sleepy.

Holly

  Sara and John will be celebrating their one year anniversary this weekend. Happy Anniversary to you both!!
 I loved this couple and I was so happy to being working on their wedding. In addition to my great couple, I got to work with the incredible Regeti's of Regeti Photography, and the famous wedding and event planner Elizabeth Bailey .  One year ago we did not have a blog. I thought it would be fun to share these pictures. I also wanted to tell you a very amazing story about the week of this wedding.  A lot can happen in one year.

  Clearly, working with a bride that was on America's Next Top Model was a big deal. I wanted to give her and John their dream wedding. I was also looking forward to working with these other vendors, I knew that the event had a big chance of being published. I really wanted to use this opportunity while working with the Regeti's to add some great new images to the portfolio.  As I have shared, I have become a photography junky.  Why create designs that are extraordinary when you'll have no proof?  My art is perishable; I need photographs.  

 
  I was referred to Sara by several of the vendors but she actually saw my work while modeling for the Engaged Magazine Bridal Shoot, check out this link and see the photo shoot on video.  You can also see images from the shoot on my website under Engaged Photo Shoot.  I am still incredibly grateful to Doreen Tisone for featuring my work last summer.
 So, I have made it very clear that this was an important wedding for me, but this story is also about my baby Grace.  Just when you need everything to be perfect so you can do the job, life hands you its own little wild cards.
   I was newly pregnant, and due to my advanced maternal age (I hate that term) they wanted me to do a genetic study of the baby.  Believing all was fine with the baby, I was swayed to take the test. The Monday we started Sara's designs my baby was diagnosed as missing a chromosome.  Here it was one of my most important weddings and I was on the floor in tears. I don't know how we got through that week, it was truly a week of shock, fear, and horror.  My employees are not just my employees, they are my girl friends, spiritual advisers, and support in all things not just flowers. The whole shop was in tears the entire week. I remember watching everything continue with the designs for Sara's wedding, as if I was having a out of body experience. I was so distraught that life would continue to move on and my baby would not be okay.  We were told a "one in a million" chance that Grace, would some how turn out normal.

  I am so proud of our flower shop, and family, this was a unbelievable test. I remember almost being grateful for the work, as it allowed me not to be totally consumed with grief and fear.  We arrived at Sara's wedding with everything absolutely perfect, no one had a clue as to the stress we were all under. I remember giving her the bouquet. At that moment the pure delight on Sara's face gave me the only true happiness I had felt that week. I realized how incredibly awesome it was that we were able to still deliver beautiful flowers in spite of our dilemma.  When I look back on Sara's wedding, it is with amazement and pride that I remember how we handled the week.  I will always be grateful to Debbie, Jessie and Leanna who carried me and the work load while my world was spinning out of control.  Evan and I would have never gotten through that week without their help. 

The good news!!!!!!!!! 12 days later it was determined that my baby Grace was that one in a million baby. She is absolutely perfect and celebrates her 6 month old birthday this week. So happy birthday Grace and Happy Anniversary Sara and John.  Now for the photos.

Here is Miss Grace. All of the the photographs in this post were taken by the Regeti's except for the last image.  The Regeti's invited Grace out for a photo shoot when she was just weeks old. 

  First off, I have been meaning to show you the new fresh look for our logo. Some of you have already noticed this on the splash page of the website.  I have had lots of great feedback. We are very excited to have this for our new look.  Many thanks to Laura Hooper Calligraphy for her work on this project. I am very happy with the end results. I also have to thank my dear friend and wedding coordinator, Cara Berger from Celebration By Cara for helping me explain to Laura what I needed.  Cara is always an incredible sounding board, perhaps that is why she is such an amazing planner.

  Here are awesome photos from my field trip to Don's Dahlia's. Remember you can get his Dahlias at the Leesburg Farmers Market on Saturday Mornings.  I love this picture because I can hardly contain myself. I literally have to hold my hands back. I was so excited that my oldest son Alex got a huge laugh out of my behavior.

This picture also cracks me up. It is moments like this, that I realize I am truly addicted to flowers and design.

  I love this picture of Don and here come the pictures of his many, extraordinary, specimens.

Here are two of the designs we created with the Dahlia's.

 I think it is very kind of me to share my sources with you; so please don't buy all of Don's Dahlia's.  I have these marked for some very special brides.  Don't worry Dharma, I already special ordered your's.

  We left the Dahlia patch just in time to chaperon the teenagers pool party.  How would you like to come home to this?  There is absolutely never a dull moment in this house.

Elijah is my four year old. He thinks he is one of the cool kids. I guess that is what happens when you have teenagers for siblings.

Elijah is clueless to the age differences, in fact the teenagers seemed to enjoy him.

Elijah also has a really cool car and he often drives Sam around the yard.

  Riley, our fourth child celebrated his 12th birthday this week. We took the "Original Four" to Hershey Park. I think I rode my last roller coasters. It seems to hurt more than it used to.  I have lots more to share, but I think this post is getting ridiculously long. I will save the rest for later.

Holly

 

This is my bride Dharma and groom Andy.  We will be creating Dharma’s designs in October. This is a wedding I am truly excited about. I also really love her mother.  We are going to have a wonderful wedding. Dharma shared these very incredible photographs from Maria Vicencio Photography. I wanted you to see them because I think they are just plain art.

As you can imagine I am very happy that my creations will be photographed by this team.
I can hardly wait to work on this wedding. I have become such a photography junky.
Holly

  This is my beautiful bride, Alex. Alex held her wedding at The Morningside Inn in Frederick, Maryland.  This venue is honestly a jewel. The inn is secluded on three hundred acres. That is an amazing amount of land.  The venue has a lovely terrace with a gazebo for outdoor weddings. What I found to be its most remarkable feature was the beautiful solarium that brides could use if the weather decided to misbehave.  This indoor wedding location is still amazing with all glass walls that overlook the rolling hills, gazebos and water.  The reception is then held upstairs in a beautiful dinning space that again overlooks the land.

  My brides bouquet was an extraordinary mix of white Hydrangea, champagne Roses, Vendela Roses, Creme De La Creme Roses, and white Freesia.  This was a truly a beautiful combination.

 
  The maids wore butter cream yellow dresses, and the bouquets were so sweet. I used carnations in white and cream. We created a tight clean ball and then added pale yellow spray roses, with the Creme De La Creme Roses. I honestly feel guilty every time I use a carnation now. I have said I hated them for 15 years. I still want to hate them, but I just can't. If designed properly, they are amazing. I wish you could see these bouquets in person, honestly you just want to grab them up.

The next design shows where we added champagne colored carnations into the Maid of Honor's bouquet. The result was just beautiful. It is fun to make Maid of Honor bouquets a little different.

Designer or High-Dollar Debbie created these very full and beautiful centerpieces. I can always count on her to design something truly rich.

The designs included white Hydrangea, yellow Spray Roses, Creme de la Creme Roses, Vendela Roses, the white and pale yellow carnations and peach Spray Roses.

  We alternated glass cylinder vases for half of the tables. I actually am posting this picture because if you look between the columns you can see my husband being obnoxious.  He came along on this delivery; the wedding industry is not his favorite past time, so he gets a little bored. To entertain himself he decided to ruin this picture.  Due to his ridiculous behavior, I ensured him he would be blogged. That will teach him!!!!

  Here is the lovely sun-room. This is the back up location for rainy days. I have to tell you I was sick on my way to this delivery. The rain was just not going to let up, and I knew my bride wanted her outdoor ceremony. I had no idea the Morningside Inn had a back up plan like this. When I saw the room, I was just completely relieved.  

 

The cake was created by my bride's friend and pastry chef Liz who also works for RSVP catering.

 

  This arrangement was created for the entrance and place-card area.  The whole wedding was just so beautiful.  When I make these posts, I am always so very sorry that you can't see the wedding in person. My photography leaves a lot unsaid.

Holly

  This Sunday was the 14th day straight of designing. We have been working diligently for the last two weeks, with Sunday weddings added in to the schedule.  It is hard to believe that you can work, every single day, as a wedding florist. I promise, it is true.
I am going to give you highlights of the weekend, and then hit the hay. I need to get to sleep at a reasonable hour, we are celebrating Riley's 12 birthday tomorrow. It is time for a family day.

  We had another amazing weekend here at Holly Heider Chapple Flowers, we had a huge rush on purple, purple, and more purple. We also played with a whole lot of lavender. The first picture shows our lavender rose bridal bouquet for Nicole. That was the first bouquet to leave on Saturday. We also had small crystals in the bouquet and diamonds down the stems.

Her maids actually carried clean bouquets of pink Roses and white Freesia.

 This bouquet belonged to my bride Julia. We used white Cymbidium Orchids, purple Mokara Orchids, lav Freesia, white Hydrangea, white mini calla's with a purple center and lav Phlox. The bouquet was simply stunning.

  The wedding took place at Lansdowne. I am a preferred vendor at the resort and it is always a pleasure to work at this amazing location. Lansdowne is the perfect venue to hold a Loudoun County destination wedding.

  Her maids carried lovely bouquets of lavender Phlox, Stock, Roses and dark purple Carnations.

I have another purple wedding to show off, plus a very incredible peach, cream and yellow wedding to share.  We will save that for another day and I will go to sleep now.

Holly

  It is 11:50 pm and it is time to hit the hay. We have had a very busy day, but as promised, here are our "in the cooler" pictures.  Debbie, Jessie and Carrie left just about an hour ago, so we had been working almost 14 hours today.  Most people don't realize how many man hours this kind of work takes. I am incredibly grateful that my designers are so devoted, not only to me, but to my brides. Lots of thanks to "City Helen" and "Country Sam" for designing with us this week also.  They have been a huge addition to our team, coming in to help on a regular basis and we are incredibly fortunate to have their help.

Today was Angeline's wedding day.  We created her bouquet with green mini Cymbidium Orchids, green Dendrobium Orchids, hot pink Topaz Roses, pink Attache Roses, and Sophie pink roses.  We added beautiful pearl and diamond beads to the bouquet.  The bouquet also had mini green Hydrangea, green Hypericum berry and pink Phlox.

We created 14 of these very cool centerpieces for her reception at the Lansdowne Resort.

I also wanted to share this photo taken by my daughter, Hannah.  We created some bouquets for a photo shoot yesterday.  My daughter Hannah caught this photo and I think she did an amazing job.

 I had a great day with my brides and with my flower shop girl friends. I think in the last hour, we laughed more than we actually arranged flowers. Jessie may still be crying from laughing so hard. Debbie, Carrie and I can barely move from eating cake, ice cream, and drinking huge glasses of milk.  It is now 12:16 am, Baby Grace is awake, and I need to feed her before I can shut this family, house, and flower shop down. 

Holly

This is my bride Anne, she is now affectionately known as “Triple S.”   I will be doing Ann’s wedding this December.  At our first flower consultation Anne explained to me the look and feel of her wedding, Simple, Sophisticated and Stunning.  I of course was thrilled with this combination and assured her that I was the florist for her. I am so excited to be working with “Triple S” this is a order that I can happily fill. I may just throw in one more “S” . In the flower shop I am constantly saying I want the design, bouquet, or arrangement to look “SEXY”  My flower shop girls are constantly teasing me, because I love Sexy flowers.
Anne Shared with us some of her engagement photographs. I hope you enjoy these images from Freed Photography.  Boxers Ripley and Baxter came along for the fun. Ripley is the dark brown and white boxer and Baxter is the dark brindle.  What a fun photo shoot!!

Thanks, ” Triple S” for sharing these with us.
Here are some teaser photos from last weekends final two weddings. The weddings are just so beautiful, we have decided to wait for the professional shots to come in.  Here is a peek at my other Tiffany and my other Kristin.
Kristin-

–

Kristin’s very gorgeous bridal bouquet of white Football Mums, Calla Lily, Cymbidium Orhchids, and hot pink Roses.

Tiffany-

I am tying great grandmothers antique lace on to the bouquet. We had some truly beautiful vintage elements in this wedding.

I am sure you are dying to see more, I know I certainly am. I hoped making you wait with me would be less painful. I am not very patient when it comes to getting proof of my very beautiful work. Don’t forget today is Friday so we go “in the cooler” tonight.
Holly