Tiffany and Danny married this past summer. It was absolutely one of my favorite weddings of the year. Every little detail was perfect as a result of Tiffany and Danny's excellent planning and creative eye. . Many thanks to Chris and Adrienne Scott who were the photographers. Their work is truly amazing, and I am so glad they captured Danny and Tiffany's wedding for us all to enjoy.

 

The wedding and reception took place at the Thomas Birkby House in Leesburg Va.

 

I love this picture of my groom Danny, he is busy directing people where to go. 

Ready and waiting.

 

Here is my beautiful bride Tiffany.

 

The bridal bouquet was created with pink and yellow cabbage roses, green hydrangea, and antique green hydrangea, pink snow berry from my garden and spray roses. We wrapped antique lace around the stems of the bouquet. This bouquet was so rich, elegant and classic.

 

Every guest was given a brown stone, and they were asked to leave a message for the bride and groom.

 

The couple wanted chandeliers hanging from trees at the ceremony area. This was a beautiful touch.

 

The ceremony took place under an arbor adorned with all the flowers of the day.

 

We lined the aisle with shepherds hooks and lanterns. The finishing touch was a very thick line of rose petals.

 

We used larger lanterns at the altar. This looked fabulous with the mini lanterns that were hung down the aisle.

Wait until you see the rest of this wedding. We will post the rest tomorrow.

Holly

This is my bride Kathy. I have just a few images to share, but  I will put up a full post when her photographs come in from my friend Stephanie at Cleverly Candid.

Kathy wanted an all orange bridal bouquet, so we used orange roses in three different shades. Freesia, tulips, crocosmia, and dahlias were the other  ingredients in this bouquet. Kathy was thrilled with her bouquet and assured me all the flowers of the day were exactly what she was hoping for.  The maids had a combination of red spray roses, yellow gerbers, green hydrangea, orange roses, and solidago. We added blue delphinium to the bouquets to complement the maids' navy blue dresses. 

  I loved the reaction I got from this bridesmaid. 

 

Here is the halo we created for the flower girl and the boutonnieres for the men.

 

Our centerpieces were created with the same wonderful mix of flowers that were used in the maids bouquets. The wedding and reception took place at the Belmont Country Club.

 

Our next wedding delivery took us to The Regency at Dominion Valley. This particular wedding was very special to me because I simply loved the groom. My couple has been married for 3 years. They even have an adorable little girl named Abby.  They have it all, but they had never had a wedding. The groom decided he wanted his wife Deidra to have her big wedding day, so he gave her this wedding. Here are a few photographs that I have of this event.

 

The bridal bouquet was created of black magic roses, black beauty roses and accents of gold.

 

Daughter Abby was the perfect flower girl. We made her a mini bouquet that matched her mothers bridal.

 

The ceremony took place in the ballroom at the country club.

 

Our centerpieces were a full mix of fall flowers. We used the black magic roses, burgundy hypericum berry, circus roses, yellow solidago and seeded eucalyptus.

 

The cake was also done in fall flowers and leaves.

 

Happy married life girls. We loved helping you with your weddings.

Holly

 If you have tried to reach me before, you may have realized I am a little hard to get on the phone. I am always on the go or designing for a wedding. Kristin and her mom were very persistent and patient. Luckily for me we finally connected, and I got to  help design the wedding flowers. I am really fortunate that they hung in there because this was an awesome mother and daughter and I loved working with them. I wish I had a better picture of Kristin's dress it was totally amazing.

 

I created the bouquet with combo roses, estelle roses, circus roses, mambo spray roses and hypericum. I also painted green sweet william a deep burgundy to give the bouquet  texture. I used my camilla tree leaves to collar the bouquet. Kristin told me she wanted a Holly Heider Chapple bouquet, which meant she was giving me a little creative license. It also meant I wanted her to have something from my garden. This time of year, that gets a little tricky, so the camillia leaves worked perfectly.

Here sister was the maid of honor. The maids carried smaller versions of the bridal, but they did not get the circus roses. Again, I loved these dresses. Super cute, with a fabulous olive green color. The hem of the skirt is tucked up under the gown, which makes this cocktail length gown really fun. 

The wedding took place in downtown Leesburg at the Presbyterian church. The reception followed at the Briar Patch Bed and Breakfast in Middleburg.

 

We made this fun piece for the place card table. I was also given flowers that were made out of pods to add to this piece.

 

We have been drying flowers for weeks for this wedding. My family wanted a combination of fresh and dried. There are lovely lanterns that are provided at the Briar Patch Inn, and the family wanted to use those with a wreath around the base. We hoped if we used some dried elements that the wreaths would be enjoyed and used for a long time.

 

We used pods, berries, grasses, hydrangea, butterfly bush dried, seeded euc, roses and many others to design the wreaths.

 

We created beautiful elevated designs for 6 of the tables. My iron stands were amazing in this space.

 

The bride really wanted a cornucopia, but we just did not know where to put one. We surprised her by creating this piece for the cake table. The bride's mother brought the basket to me the week before the wedding.

 

This was such a gorgeous fall wedding. Thanks to the Posh Planner for making everything so easy. I can't wait to see the real images from Saskia Photography.

Happy married life Kristin; we loved your wedding.

Holly

 

Kathy is getting married tomorrow. She confessed to me that she has been blog stalking and waiting for her night " In The Cooler".  I started "In The Cooler" by accident. I thought is would be fun for brides to see what this place looks like on a Friday night. Somehow it became a weekly thing; little did I know, brides would catch on and start… sneaking. Knowing that my brides will peek tonight makes me really nervous. The flowers are actually sleeping, and they have not gotten there finishing touches. I mean, how do you look when you're sleeping? Honestly, you can never tell how beautiful the flowers are when they are "In The Cooler." It is really dark in the cooler, and really cold, and in general not a great place to try and take pictures.  So remember when you are peeking, your flowers will be beyond beautiful on your wedding day. Every flower has been touched, loved, and designed to perfection. We are going to have a great day tomorrow. I have some really great brides and some awesome stories to tell. I also want to say we are in love with one of our grooms. He is giving his wife, yes wife, her dream wedding. My couple married 3 years ago and never had their wedding. Tomorrow is their big day. I am also head over heels for one very persistent mom and bride, and I am so grateful that they did not give up on me. I promise all the flowers this weekend will be worth the wait.

 

As usual there was laughter: lots and lots of laughter. 

 

We created wreaths with dried elements and fresh flowers. Carrie got a little Carried away. Get it?

 

This is our new favorite rose and we love, love, love,  this rose.  This was the first time we used her in bouquets, and we are thrilled with her performance. We  spent a lot of time smelling the roses tonight. 

 

Helen made the maids' bouquets while I worked on the bridal bouquets. "Made the maids," that sounds a little odd.

 

Friday night dinner at restaurant Fleur Chapple is becoming legendary. We have had so many late Friday nights that Evan has been very kindly making us fabulous dinners. I am starting to wonder if we are having late nights on Fridays just because the flower shop girls are hoping for a meal from Evan. I think they really want to have his big unbelievable dinners.  Tonight he made us red snapper and beef. We could either roll up the meat and rice in the lettuce or put it on tostadas.  Evan made fresh salsa for us to use with the tostadas and we used hoisin sauce for the lettuce wraps. 

 

Whoops, I forgot the fresh squash.

 

Next time we will take the pictures before we start digging in. After dinner we worked on boutonnieres and corsages.

 

We are leaving the mess for the morning and  heading up to bed; we start loading up the flower van at 9:00 am. We will be out for delivery all day long.

Night, night.

Holly

This is Margaret's wedding story. A picture is worth a thousand words …. 

 

Many thanks to  Paul Morse Photography for sending these images. Please check out his website and see his very extensive resume that includes his time at the White House. I also want to thank Liz Denny for her magnificent event planning skills. Liz was the social director for the Cheney's for 8 years, in addition to her event planning she owns Peridot Paper.


I loved this wedding.

Holly

Last weekend was the best. We did 3 weddings, one bridal shower, and  all of our weekly flowers. Just as we finished the last of our work on saturday night, my son Alex popped by for a little family time. Evan my husband and super dad, made a huge fried chicken dinner to celebrate. Although Alex was with us for less than 24 hours we had a great time.  It was one of those weekends, where everything just worked out perfectly. 
Hannah suggested that, before Alex left, we should do a family photo on Sunday. This sounded like a great idea to me and the girls. Of course the boys including by husband, immediately started moaning. Hannah is a budding photographer, so we were going to let her have a try at setting the timer and running into the photo. Actually Hannah, has started her on photography blog and you can visit that here. Lucky for us fate intervened. My friend Kate Headley the photographer called literally as I was wishing I could get a real family photo. She said she was going to be in Lucketts and wanted to pop by for a visit. Now really; what are the odds of that, like I said it was just one of those really lucky weekends. Kate lives in DC, so I knew this was a really fortunate moment.  With no preparation, or even warning, Kate snapped these very impromptu shots of our clan. I believe this was probably the most active group of people Kate has ever tried to photograph and yet she did an amazing job. Kate always brings a little something extra to her photographs and I am always moved beyond belief when I see her images. These are also the unedited images that were quickly emailed to me. I probably should have waited to see all of the images before I posted, but I simply could not resist. 
 This next photo of Grace absolutely melts my heart. She totally preserved the baby Grace I want to remember. I love Grace's impish little grin and although I have taken hundreds of pictures of her, I have never caught the true picture of Grace. Thank you Kate for giving me the gift of Grace.

 
We all loved the first image because it shows our family in action. We are always in action, motion or commotion.

 
My oldest son Alex requested this picture. He thought it would be funny to hold Grace in a chair, to show the very different ages and sizes of my children.  This is my oldest and my youngest baby.

 
She actually did catch us all looking at the camera and behaving ourselves. This was no small task, because our Sam who is in the navy and burgundy striped shirt, was far more interested in flirting with Kate.

 
Thank you Kate for capturing the clan, and now the Chapple family has been photographed by a real superstar. Kate Headley was featured in the Spring 2009 Martha Stewart Weddings. I am of course very honored to have these photographs.
I am also sharing a sneak peek photo from a shoot  Kate and I did in the city. A few of theses images have also been added  to my website. We are working on giving the site an end of the year makeover.

 
I thought this picture was stunning, I had a blast on this project and I can't wait to show you more of our work.
I love my family, I love my flowers and I really love Kate Headley.
Holly

This is one amazing setting for a wedding; we love Morven Park. A huge restoration project has been under way for the last several years.  With restorations complete they are ready for weddings. If you would like to have a wedding in this historic venue, you better move fast. Only a few girls a year will be lucky enough to have a wedding at Morven Park. The grounds are truly remarkable, and the photo opportunities are out of this world.

Here is my bride Allie:

 

Here bouquet was amazing; we used fiddle head ferns, deep blue hydrangea, purple dendrobium orchids, purple carnations, blue delphinium, purple stock, purple calla lily and wax flower. I love this blue, purple and plum combination for the fall.

 

I am so glad I got this photograph of the happy couple.

 

The reception was tented and in front of the mansion. The cocktail hour took place in the gardens.

 

They had almost 30 guest tables, so we used the maids bouquets for some of the centerpieces. Here is a photograph of the bouquets all boxed up and leaving for the wedding. The girls wore navy dresses, so we used more lavender shades in their bouquets. Lighter toned flowers gave the girls more contrast against their dresses. The girls carried lavender roses, lavender stock, purple, orchids, purple carnations, blue delphinium, and wax flower.

 

Here you can see the maids bouquets being used as a centerpiece; we also created two other styles of centerpieces. 

 

We displayed 20 vials of flowers on the head table.

 

This was a beautiful wedding, and I was so happy to be back on the grounds of historic Morven Park. This estate is one of Loudoun's great treasures and a perfect place for a wedding.

Happy married life Allie; we loved your wedding.

Holly

This past Saturday we had 3 weddings. Each wedding is just beautiful, and I am so glad to report that we had another amazing weekend at Holly Heider Chapple Flowers. Our first wedding was Erin's wedding; she married at The Briar Patch Bed and Breakfast Inn.

 

I absolutely adore the bouquet I created for Erin. We used black magic roses, brown cymbidium orchids, cirucs roses, orange freesia, yellow billy balls, hypericum berry, green brasilia, yellow solidago, and fiddle head ferns. The final fun element was ornamental grass from my garden. I thought the overall effect was stunning.  I loved this bouquet.

 

I was able to get these fabulous shots thanks to L.H. Lindberg who happened to be setting up these pictures.

 

The Lindbergs are a husband and wife team. It is always fun to see them on the job. I love watching other vendors work. It is amazing to me how many professionals it takes to have a really great wedding.

We also had the pleasure of working with Six Star Catering on this event. When we arrived for set up, we found everything ready for the florals. Clearly this staff was very prepared, and every little detail was just perfect.

 

We did a combination of high and low centerpieces, and I got to use my favorite gold stands for the elevated pieces. Each low design had lots of candlelight.

 

We used yellow oncidium orchids and fiddle head ferns flying out of the design to give it height. We used a mass of lily, snapdragons, mums and roses to complete the design.

 

I love the formal chandeliers that are mixed with the rustic stone hearth.

 

The wedding cake was simply art; I loved the use of the broach on the cake. This incredible confection was created by the legendary Carolyn Buschmeier of Cakes by Carolyn.

I also love this photo of my MOB. You know I love the mini bouquets for the mothers. 

 

In addition to the centerpieces, we created these cute little designs for the cocktail hour.

 

This second mantel was in the room where the cocktail hour was held.

 

The ceremony takes place overlooking the mountains.

Here the staff from Harmon's Carriages is getting the team ready. You know, I actually drove teams like this when I was a child. My father used to show his teams at the state fair. I have a huge adoration for Harmon's Carriages; they are truly the best in the area. They have five teams available for hire, plus the white mares for the Indian weddings.

 

The carriage will deliver my bride and her maids up the hill to the ceremony. My bride is clearly happy and ready to go.

Happy married life Erin; we loved your wedding.

Holly

As we move into November we are enjoying a full schedule, but a much calmer pace. This week I have had extra time for the kids and time to enjoy my flower ladies. We created designs for 3 weddings, and we also got to do bridal shower flowers for one of my favorite past customers. We also celebrated Jessie's birthday today. Designer Debbie is home in North Carolina; we miss her, but we were so glad she could be with her family. Here are some photos that show our shop, cooler, family and flower shop ladies.

 

Here is the birthday girl Jessie helping me get the flowers ordered for next week. After lunch, we had a mini birthday party.

When baby Grace woke me up at 5 AM this morning, I decided to bake Jessie a red velvet birthday cake.

Jessie is on the left, Carrie is next, then Sam, and then city designer Helen. 

 

This piece was created for Tuskies Restaurant in Leesburg, Virginia. We do their weekly flowers.

 

We have a beautiful purple and lavender wedding at Morven Park;these pieces are for Allie.

 

Of course, we always have our little visitors in the shop. Honestly, some days I don't know how the flower shop ladies put up with what goes on around here. When kids are yours, their behavior is so much easier to deal with; when they belong to someone else, they can be very annoying. My ladies are always good to our little visitors. Grace is just plain cute, so having her around is fun. Sam, however, creates an unbelievable amount of mischief.

 

Sam hiding in the flower delivery boxes.

 

This all just works for me; this is how I want to run my business. I wanted it all: a big family and a big business. Home base makes that possible.

 

We have two fall weddings this weekend and the blossoms are just amazing.

 

Milva orange roses.

 

Bronze button mums.

 

Antique green hydrangea–a local product.

 

Garland for our Lightfoot Restaurant wedding. We will twirl this up the stem of an elevated vase.

 

We have had a great week. We were featured this Friday on The Brides Cafe, and those images are simply to die for. Please take time to check out our post at the cafe. We also received a phone call from The Knot, and we have made the 2010 best-of list. This is a huge deal for us. What this means is that not only are we doing a great job here, but our brides are taking the time to nominate us for this award. We are really excited about the many good things that seem to be coming our way. We are also enjoying the new relationships with other designers and florists across this country. Yes, I Twitter, Facebook and blog.  I am just simply happy. My big baby Alex is coming home on Saturday, so when I finish up my weddings, I will have some full Chapple family, family time. What a treat.

Holly

Opening Kiley's email and receiving these photographs was such a huge treat. I almost fell off of the chair when I got a look at my bride. Kiley's mom Jo did all of the planning, so I did not really get to know Kiley. When I saw how beautiful she was, how bright and sunny she looks, I was really glad we had chosen sunflowers for this bride. The photography is by Andy Pigsley Photography.

 

Jo, the brides mother, came to me requesting flowers for a simple outdoor wedding. She had seen my work before at the Leesburg Flower and Garden Show, and she really wanted me to take on Kiley's wedding. The wedding was held several hours away in a town I had never heard of, but they still wanted me to be the florist. Jo was willing to pick up all of the flowers and get them to the wedding.  I did all of the personal flowers and small centerpieces for the reception. They wanted bright happy flowers, and we certainly achieved the look. 

 

We used sunflowers, blue delphinium, red roses, solidago, and orange lily in the designs. We added white queen anne's lace to the bridal bouquet and white roses.  

 

The groom had a white rose, and the rest of the men had mini viking mums. I love to use viking mums when I am doing a sunflower wedding. They look just like a miniature sunflower.

 

The men wore navy suits that matched the maids' navy dresses.

 

I am so honored that Jo allowed me to do the flowers for her daughter's wedding.  I love the simplicity of this wedding. The outdoor reception, the men's attire, the maids' dresses and the happy flowers were a great combination.  Happy married life Kiley; we loved your wedding.

Holly