Today the floral spotlight is on Courtenay Lambert Florals.  When I saw these images, I could not wait to post them!  I love the casual elegance to this wedding.  Courtenay’s bride, Jasmine, took some time out to share with us about her big day – take it away, Jasmine!

Zach and I met when we were seven years old.  We went to every school dance together, every prom, etc.  We went to college away from each other and after a year, came back to northern Kentucky to be together and finish college at home.  What was most special to us about our wedding was having everyone we loved present.   We were also delighted by the effort and personalization given by family and friends.  From my mom, dad, and uncle to others who really put their heart and soul into much of the wedding concept, we really feel like their efforts brought together an event that was uniquely ours and it personally touched us both. And that we were able to share the day with our friends and family in such a beautiful and intimate setting as the Inn at Oneanta, really made it a unique and special experience for us as well as our guests.

We also could not have pulled it all together without the help of our fabulous vendor team.  Thank you!!!

What we and our guests liked most about our wedding was that it felt very well put together, but it still had a casual vibe.  Everyone loved the retro candy buffet.  They loved that the look and feel of our event kind of felt like going back in time, and captured a sense of nostalgia with an elegant vintage feel.

Date: August 20, 2011
Ceremony & Reception Location: The Inn at Oneanta – Melbourne, KY
Invitations: The Aerialist Press
Floral and Event Design: Courtenay Lambert Florals
Photographer: Tine Hoffman
Bride & Groom: Jasmine Parker & Zachary (Zach) Cotton
Cake: Tres Belle
Makeup: Brideface
Shoes: Nina
Dress: Enzoni, Style: Cincinnati
Jewelery: Meg Jewelry

Don’t forget to snag your tickets to learn from the amazing Tara Guérard and Matthew Robbins in New York!  If you’re up for a little splurge, you can even take a workshop with Ariella Chezar at the Flower School of New York!  See the sidebar to purchase.

Have a great Thursday!
– Megan for HC

Hi, y’all!  My name is Megan – pleased to meet you!  As you’ve probably heard, Holly is taking a well-deserved vacation this week (praise the good Lord!).  In the meantime, I’ll be posting in lieu of her.  This week we will be featuring posts from our Chapel Designers who are coming with us this year to New York.  If you haven’t purchased your ticket – hurry! (Hint: see the sidebar to purchase.) Seats don’t stay vacant for long when you’re in the company of Tara Guérard and Matthew Robbins. First up is Alicia Broehl from Stems by Serendipity – take it away, chica.

Stems by Serendipity designed a fabulous garden-themed photo shoot that was brought to life through the lens of Stacey Windsor Photography.  Our theme was inspired by the minty green color of vintage jadeite dishes, soft pink and peach hues of juliet garden roses and lovely lace linens.  Pearls, soft floral china accents and crystal cupcake holders added to this English garden tablescape.  Centerpiece flowers included queen anne’s lace, juliet garden roses, white hydrangea, pink spray roses, peach stock and white lisianthus.  Our bride carried a simple petite bouquet of juliet garden roses and queen anne’s lace.  The beautiful and delicious cake and cupcakes were provided by Charles Street Bakery.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of designing a black and white wedding for New Years Eve. I am known for my soft and romantic vintage designs. Those arrangements are always crawling with vine and organic matter. In truth I do love that type of design. It’s fun and very rewarding because I often find the finishing touches here in my garden.  However I thankfully enjoy and can master just about any floral challenge. 6 weeks ago I met with a couple who was planning a wedding for New Years Eve. After a very serious discussion about the look of the wedding it was clear that I would be doing contemporary and sexy designs.  The wedding was to be a black and white themed affair and the couple wanted the whole room to be designed. This of course added another fun designer challenge. The words classy, and elegant came up many times in our discussion and the event was also to have a festive vibe.

A large arrangement was created with noise blowers, party hats and tiaras, this design was created for the place card table.

Elevated arrangements for the guest tables were created with white dendrobium orchids, black ostrich feathers, huge open cut callas, white hydrangea, and hanging crystals.

Half of the tables were designed with our crystal stands, votives, and small arrangements that were placed on black and silver mirrored boxes.

We brought in a fabulous bar from a decor company we work with, and lounge furniture as well. The room was completely draped in white fabric and black fabric was installed in panels to give the room a really sexy effect. My business partner/husband Evan did all of the up-lighting and an incredible black and white balloon drop.

Cocktail arrangements were designed in small black vases. Black wire was woven through the designs.

The bride chose black and white cupcakes as the dessert of the evening.

Maids carried bouquets were created with white carnations, silk anemone, black privet berry and white roses.  A silver wire was woven through the bouquets.

Our bridal bouquet was created with 25 to 30 mini white callas, and the bouquet was surrounded with black feathers.

Grandmothers shoe clips were used to adorn the stems of the bouquet.

The wedding was held at Lansdowne Resort. We had so much fun completely redesigning one of the ballrooms at the resort. This wedding was beyond fun and it certainly made for an exciting New Years Eve. Thankfully Evan’s balloon drop happened perfectly on schedule at the stoke of midnight!!!

Mary and John married this past summer in Washington DC, there beautiful wedding has been featured in the current issue of Southern Living Weddings. This issue also features a Holly Heider Chapple Bouquet on the cover of the magazine. Mary and John’s wedding was truly unique and inspired thanks to the work of event planner and designer Allison Jackson from Pineapple Productions. Allison worked with the family to create a warm and inviting theme and a color pallet that made my heart sing. The couple had a church wedding in the city, with a reception to follow at the famous Hay Adams Hotel.  The photography was captured by my friend Kate Headley. Kate is a nationally recognized photographer and her ability to record the day always makes me giddy!!!

Mary’s bridal bouquet was created with antiqued blue hydrangea from my garden, free spirit roses, peach juliet roses, peach cabbage roses, viburnum berry not yet mature, blue thistle, peach dahlias, queen annes lace, and nigella. The color combination was insanely beautiful.

Maids carried similar bouquets but the white blooms were reserved for Mary.

Amazing paper products and vintage DC memorabilia were used to decorate areas throughout the wedding. The beautiful cake was created by Kendalls Cakes. Centerpieces were designed in silver vases, bowls, creamers, and cups provided by the family.  Working with this family and this select group of wedding professionals was one of the highlights of our summer. The couple also had a fabulous rehearsal dinner party that was featured on Style Me Pretty and that can be seen here.

Happy married life Mary and John, working with you and your family was such an honor!!

One of my favorite events of this year happened to be a rehearsal dinner, and I was so in love with these rehearsal dinner flowers. This remarkable event was also just featured on the inspiring Style Me Pretty blog.  Holly Heider Chapple Flowers is a little black book member of Style Me Pretty, which is a huge honor for our studio!! The rehearsal dinner was planned and styled to be outside, and it was to have a very Southern garden party feel. In spite of our excellant plans, record breaking heat caused our garden party to move inside. Our new dinning space was now a very contemporary art studio.  This caused event planner and Designer Allison Jackson from Pineapple Productions and I to have to seriously rethink our well thought out plans.  The lanterns that were slated to line the walkways were instead suspended from the air to soften the space. I also happened to have buckets of baby’s breath in the studio from a past event. I asked if I could hang these from the ceiling and rafters. I wanted the hanging flowers to appear as if they were hanging in the barn to dry. Allison redesigned the space with several long seating tables and several rounds. She even brought her market umbrellas into the studio. The look was amazing!!!

Free spirit roses, were paired with blue hydrangea, blue thistle, spray roses, herbs, dahlias, and nigella.

Potted rosemary and lavender were also used to enhance the tables.

Vintage boxes, tubs, lanterns, and props were brought in from our studio.

This flowering mint was cut straight from my garden.

This party was so truly beautiful. I left this event very proud of our studio and the last minute ideas we came up with. It’s important that we at Holly Chapple Flowers are always willing and ready to help if there is a change in plans. Being a good team member is a huge part of who we are!!!

Many thanks to Allison from Pineapple, for allowing us to be a part of this remarkable event and a big shout out to photographer Kate Headley who captured this event so stunningly. Kate’s pictures always are a true treat!!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with the most remarkable young couple. Photographers Victoria Will, and Lucas Jackson. In addition to that Victoria is also the daughter of George Will. The opportunity to work with this amazing couple and family was one I will always cherish. I have never ever designed for a bride that allowed me so much creative freedom. Victoria explained to me who she was as a person, and a artist. She gave me a list of color options and some potential elements that she liked and the rest was left up to me. She completely deferred to me when it came to the final look and color of the flowers. Her bridal bouquet will make my heart sing for years. This was one fabulous wedding to be involved with and I cant wait to see the real images and I can assure you there will be many. I was told that photographers were everywhere capturing this most important day. For now I have a few images sent to me by my very excited and pleased bride and the pictures I took that day. I can’t wait to see the rest of this weddings album unfold.

Victoria’s bridal bouquet was created with tuber roses, silver brunia, tree peony, astilbe, cabbage roses, peppermint roses, wheat, ornamental grasses, carmel antique roses, privet berry, astrantia, hellebores, dusty miller and sahara roses.

There were 12 maids total, several flowers girls and ring bearers, and 2 sweet french bull dogs.

This is Eleanore.

This young man had Victoria’s frenchy anxiously jumping for leaves right before the big walk down the aisle.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, these images of Victoria with her father just before she goes down the aisle.

Event designer and wedding planner Lisa Schulz of  The Posh Planner had the reception tent attached to the corn crib so guests actually walked through the barn to get into the reception tent. This was one of my favorite design ideas that Lisa came up with. I can always count on Lisa to bring some posh to her events, even if the event is happening on a farm. Everything she designed on this day was perfect.

Inside the tent we had 3 different types of centerpieces, we used my barn board boxes, vintage mirrors I had purchased for this wedding with gold mercury glass, and my new brass candelabras. We brought bling and the barn together.

I am so proud of this wedding, everything is so warm, rich, elegant, and just simply beautiful!!

We even styled the pie station!! There are so many wonderful details from this wedding but we will see those when all of Victoria and Wills photographer friends give us the good stuff.

I am also sharing several some email notes from my happy bride, it’s letters like these that make my life, and my career so remarkable!!

This email subject title was, “I am dying of happiness”

I am absolutely and over the moon. My wedding was perfect and you were a huge part of that. I received more compliments about my flowers  than anything …and from the male guests!!!  I couldn’t believe how many people were blown away by them. I have my bouquets next to my bed and I just keep starring at them. Even the most non-detail oriented people commented on how gorgeous they were. I am literally obsessed. I adore the color palete.

You totally nailed it!!!!! I’m too tired to articulate in a clear way just how magical you are, but you are magic!

I’m off to Argentina, but I will be back in touch when I return and I will send the professional photos when I get them. In the mean time, here are some iphone photos!

lots of hugs,

Victoria

I also received another email from Victoria that went on to say…
also, if you would like feel free to use our full name on your blog.. I know my dad won’t mind. He was as thrilled as I was about everything. Thank you for working so closely with me and trying to figure out the palate I wanted AND pushing me to do something unique. I’m so glad you didn’t want to copy a photo that I sent over but insisted  we try something different. What you came up with literally set the  atmosphere and mode of the day: soft, whimsical and truly romantic. Most importantly, it was very ME! It matched me to a T.    When I walked into the tent, it literally took my breath away! And Lucas too!

I love my job, and I love my brides!!!!

A few weeks ago I created this easy step by step centerpiece for  Washingtonian. They created a fabulous slide show with a DIY tutorial and that can be seen here. Many thanks to Genevieve Leiper for these amazing photos!!

For those that prefer to scroll, here’s the step-by-step tutorial on how I created this Thanksgiving table-scape for Washingtonian.

Step 1: First you will need scissors, greening picks ( you could also use wooden skewers for grilling as well) tape, and oasis.

Step 2: You will need one large pumpkin with or without the stem, and a collection of bud vases or old vintage containers. These bud vases were from Michael’s. The vintage containers were found at On A Whim Antiques. I am obsessed with old copper containers right now!!

Step 3: Gather up a pile of mini pumpkins and gourds in different colors and shapes. You should be able to get pumpkins and gourds at your local farmers markets or garden centers on discount since Halloween has passed.

Step 4: Unique elements like chinese lanterns and the branch bittersweet can be found at craft stores, specialty garden centers, or flower shops. Bittersweet can even be found along the side of the road.

Step 5: Gather simple and basic fall colored flowers from the grocery store or local flower shop. This is yellow fever few but yellow mums would work perfectly.

Step 6: Spray roses are sweet and simple and can be found easily at the grocery store.

Step 7: Gather a collection of fall mums and fillers.

Step 8:  Alstroemeria is sold as well in bulk at the grocery store and comes in many different colors.

Step 9: Look in your yard or your neighborhood for evergreen branches or clippings from bushes trees or shrubs, even fall leaves will work nicely for this project. Also, be on the look out for ornamental grasses or interesting shapes and textures.

Step 10: Fill each bottle or vintage container with a simple mix of flowers. Start the design with the greens so that the piece is full and will require less flowers.

Step 11: Create each vase slightly different, this will add interest and fun to your final design.

Step 12: Put your mini designs aside.

Step 13: Take a small piece of oasis and use that on top of the pumpkin stem. The stem will help to hold the oasis in place but if your pumpkin does not have a little dip or well in the center you can tape the oasis onto the pumpkin. For bigger fuller designs you would carve out the center of the pumpkin and fill it with oasis but that would be a design that would require a considerable amount of flowers and design abilities. It’s best to keep it simple when learning how to design.

Step 14: See how the natural dip in the pumpkin created a little well. Start placing your greens at the bottom of the oasis and lay them cascading down the side of the pumpkin.

Step 15: Once the greens have been placed you can start adding the flowers. Pierce the mini pumpkins and gourds on one end with the stick or skewer and use the other end of the stick to insert the mini pumpkin or gourd into your design. Literally pierce the big pumpkin as well with the stick, this will keep the little fruits in place. You could actually use apples, pomegranates and pears as well.

Step 16: Continue inserting greens and flowers into the design until no oasis is showing, covering the oasis is the hardest part which is another reason why I started with a very small piece of floral foam.

Step 17: Finish up all of your designs and head to the dining room!

Step 18:. Place the large pumpkin design in the center of your table. This tablecloth came from Pottery Barn and its one of my favorites to use. Starting adding the bud vases. Perhaps the single pumpkin design is all you will need. You can place as many smaller designs along the table as you like. Then garnish the table with the bittersweet vine and small pieces of the chinese lantern.

For an even simpler version of this design you could use just the bud vases and the mini pumpkins and gourds. Good luck with your centerpiece and if you have any questions leave us a comment and we will respond as quickly as we can!!

Lauren and Leck married over the summer at Oatlands Plantation. This historic home is one of Loudoun Counties most beautiful estates. The gardens here are an incredible place for portraits, cocktail parties, and wedding ceremonies. Many thanks to event planner Aimee Hardenbergh of True Wedding Events who is an absolute delight to work with, and the super talented Kristi Odom for these incredible photos. I simply love the picture of this couple dancing in the garden.

Maids wore J.Crew gowns. The rich green tone was outrageously beautiful with the blue and green wedding flowers. Maids carried white stock blue and green hydrangea, white phlox, white spray roses, blue delphinium, green seeded euc, and green hypericum.

 

Lauren carried white cabbage roses, mini green hydrangea, white phlox, and green hypericum berry. The bouquet was bound satin ribbon and vintage brooches provided by the family.

Half of the tables had a burlap runner and a full compote bowl of flowers.

The other half of the tables featured a vase that was wrapped in burlap and small mini designs that were either wrapped in burlap or twine. The burlap was an addition the bride loved but due to the elegant and formal environment of Oatlands the MOB wanted it to be used tastefully and simply.

In an effort to use the 9 bridesmaids bouquets I came up with this centerpiece design because it featured one vase in the center of the table. The vase was wrapped in burlap to hide the stems of the maids bouquets and it also reflected back on the tables with the burlap runners.  The maids slipped their bouquets into the vase during the cocktail hour. Because the family wanted the tables to look full and lush we also added 3 smaller designs. The burlap and the mini designs completely covered up the fact that we were using the maids bouquets as a centerpieces.

Maids bouquets were wrapped in burlap and bound with pearl pins.

This wedding was a beauty. Happy married life Lauren and Leck, thank you for choosing Holly Heider Chapple Flowers.

The week started out really awesome with a free day for me and Evan. We made it to Ikea for our very first buying trip in search of some new finds. We were in hot pursuit of some lanterns for some upcoming events. Wow, talk about sensory overload. We also popped by a car dealer ship to check on a new cargo van for our business. Much to my delight the day ended with us buying the new cargo van for our studio. Things have been going really well here since Evan started helping manage the business so this new van was quite a surprise and a reward. I would have never dreamed 3 months ago that things would be going this well. Here is a fun photo of me and the flower shop girls in the new van. 15 minutes later it went on its first job to daddies farm to get….

hay. As you can see we are breaking the new van in fast and furious.

We made lots of lovely and inspired designs this week. We arranged in vintage wooden boxes, silver tea pots, moss containers, iron candlesticks, and I finally got to design in my antique copper pots.

We used peacock feathers in one wedding and another wedding featured pheasant feathers. We had lots of designer thrill going on around here.

Midday today I delivered this beautiful wedding to Whitehall. The wedding featured 3 different types of centerpieces. Once this was set up I headed out to the Plains Va., where Evan also known in my eyes as Mr. Wonderful was hanging lanterns. Yes, the lanterns we bought at Ikea. When I arrived I truly cried. What Evan had created was so beautiful I could hardly believe my eyes. Of course the table that Lisa of The Posh Planner designed also was a beauty. I got to do the flowers or should I say wheat, thistle, and potted herbs.

The rehearsal dinner was held at a pavilion at a private residence. Evan had strung over 60 lanterns for this dinner. The table went on for 44 feet. Guests dined while watching a polo match and they enjoyed fresh rolled cigars.

After we finished setting up the rehearsal dinner we went to check out the ceremony site.

To create this ceremony space, I hit up daddies horse farm and farmers market. We moved in 30 bales of straw and boxes of pumpkins and gourds to create this beautiful space.

Evan and I completely designed this space together and it was truly so much fun. I absolutely love this picture of Evan, you can clearly see that he is enjoying his creation. Designer buzz!!! He is so getting hooked into this.

In addition to the lanterns and the ceremony site. Evan completely covered the garage of this estate with white twinkle lights, and fabric. He is so talented, I can barely stand it!!

Tomorrow we will be setting this wedding up and then heading to Whitehall for our pheasant feather wedding. I should actually do an In The Cooler post on Sat. night as well because we have two more really wonderful and fabulous events on Sunday. So as you can see we had another calm and relaxing week around here. Nighty night!!!

Several months ago I participated in this photo shoot, designed by Megan and Laura from Events In The City. I adore working with these girls so this was a lot of fun. The shoot was called Our Maidens Voyage. I call it the Titanic shoot. What I loved about this shoot was the fashion and the photography. Many thanks to Laura Ashbrook Photography for capturing the Titanic shoot, and Carines Bridal Atelier for providing the fashion. My Holly Heider Chapple bouquet was also pretty darn rocking as well. The bouquet was added this week to the featured bouquet gallery at Grace Ormonde. We are mighty proud of that.

The bouquet was created with plum ranunculus, viburnum berry, white anemone, plum tulips, white majolica spray roses, and a fabulous rose called silver finesse. I bought the silver finesse roses at the NYC flower market the day before the shoot and I brought them home with me on the bus, now that’s devotion. That fabulous little brooch was also found on my buying trip in NYC.

Love these images!!

Accessories are so important on a wedding day!!

Gorgeous!!

The shoot took place at Trummers On Main, and they provided all of the catering for this session.

You have to love these dresses from Carines.

Vintage gold candlesticks were gathered from my friends at On A Whim Antiques. They were perfect for this shoot.

Yes, give me the key, this is definitely a world I would want to enter.

Credits:
Photographer: Laura Ashbrook Photography
Event Design: Events in the City, Floral Design: Holly Heider Chapple, Venue: Trummers on Main
Hair: Hair by Giselle, Makeup: Blend, Caterer: Trummers on Main, Stationery: Paper Moss, Custom Hair Piece: Gracylu Originals, Dress/Accessories: Carines Bridal Atelier, Model: Ryan Krasney, Calligraphy: Larry Orlando Calligrapher, Rentals: DC Rental