Thank you Mt. Newton for all that you do for me, and thank you for all your hard work this past summer. You are a pleasure to work with week in and week out. We love you….all of you.

Laura Taylor is a very talented wedding photographer here in Victoria, so given her exposure to some of many talented floral designers here in Victoria, I was so flattered when she came to me for her bridal party flowers. What a treat it was working with her, and her bouquet was by far one of the most beautiful we have made this season. Many shades of pinks, creams, and peaches. So lovely just like her. There was a collection of some the best photographers around, both attending and shooting the wedding. Eunice Montenegro even flew out from Nova Scotia and teamed up with Christina Craft to capture this beautiful wedding. Can’t wait to see the many photos…..

We finished the stems off the bouquets off with a beautiful dusty pink satin ribbon and added beautiful braided details in grosgrain and chiffon.

Wendy &  John were married at the beautiful Sooke Harbour House on a sunny September afternoon. Wendy and I corresponded entirely through email. The bouquets were designed and blooms chosen over a few exchanges, and we finally met on her wedding day when I dropped her bouquet off to her at the hair salon. I dont have a picture of her in her dress with her bridesmaids, but I know that the lovely Karen McNeil captured her and more, so keep checking her blog for photos. In the mean time more details of Wendy’s day.

Some more “overall look shots” before we show you the beautiful bride and her groom…..

The brides bouquet was a gorgeous, hand-tied filled with amazing blooms of whites and greens. Roses, ranunculus, lisianthus, mini calla’s little buds of echevarria, lady slippers, and the best part little fronds of boston and maidenhair ferns.

Sarah was a vision! What a stunning bride she made. She has an elegance about her that is breathtaking. Mel Baird and Elena from Concious Hair did a fantastic job with hair and make up for Sarah and all her family. Just look at how beautiful she is!

Ashton wasn’t too bad either. He looked very dapper in his suit. and we pinned him with a lady slipper to match Sarah. What a pair these two are. Can you see why we all fell in love with them?

Some beautiful shots of Sarah and her soon to be mother in law watching the guests arrive for the ceremony. Even Piper the couples sweet dog got some flowers for her collar.

The ceremony was bathed in the gorgeous light from the setting sun. So incredibly beautiful. We were thrilled to be there and thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful day filled with so much love, laughter and joy.

Do you ever “cruise” the wedding blogs these days and wonder…”How exactly do they do that? How big a space does one need to pull a wedding like that off? What does it look like behind the scenes? Or hydrangeas in our case” The truth is that there is a whole bunch of beautiful that happens in a small garage and subsequent driveway. Some may say not that glamerous. I completely disagree. The creative space we occupy is quite simply perfect!

The beauty that comes out of this space and the incredible individuals that work in it on a weekly basis is mind blowing.

The truth is, that as long as there is this collection of souls around me, there will be “bell’occhio” everywhere. “Bell’occhio” is an Italian word for beautiful eye, and that is what I find myself surrounded by every time we get together to create. Look at Margaret’s smile, it really say’s it all when you get right down to it. There is joy here, a lot of it.

Kelli is a ball of sunshine and energy, she has an infectious laugh that makes us all smile as we work. The tables will be turned on her in a few months as we create beauty for her wedding. Ahhhh Dominique, je t’aime beaucoup. Dominique comes from France, her appreciation of flowers is in her DNA, we all get a little bit wiser after spending the afternoon with her.

Sarah get’s us laughing, I mean laughing to the point of not being able to breathe, clutching your stomachs cause it hurts and tears rolling down the cheeks. What I realize more and more all the time is that, there is some kind of magic that happens.

It’s not easy work, this. It engages many facets of a person, and it can get tiring, and the hours are long. Sometimes it get’s a little silly, which gives us more the laugh and smile about.

The work continues sometimes well into the night. No one complains, no one questions it, we just go until we are finished. Watching over us is a pair of magnificent Poplar Trees, they stand tall and proud and in the evening light of summer they glow. They glow with love, light and copious amounts of joy. So it is no wonder to me why such incredible talent and beauty get’s created week in and week out here in this little garage we call Verbena Floral Design.

Best bunch of people ever!

The fresh comes with the use of freesia, maiden hair ferns, lilies and sedum.

The magic happens when we incorporate these little beauties….some stunning white phanlenopsis orchids and some rare lady slipped orchids.

It didn’t just rain a little bit, it poured, and poured and poured some more. Here in Victoria, you can usually count on at least one weekend of the summer wedding season getting rained on, and this was the weekend. The upside to this was that Lindsey was a great sport about it. The wedding took place in the beautiful, lush gardens of The Villa Marco Polo. The beautiful green foliage was a perfect backdrop to the rich colours of deep velvety reds, sandy shades of cream and hits of silver.

Lindsey and Sina were a dream to work with, and we were able to follow the palette of black, white, pewter and rich reds with and amazing combination of textural blooms like, berzillia, scabiosa and poppy pods, dusty miller and a combination of red and black roses and cream tan roses.

We finished Lindsey’s bouquet off with a fantastic wide Italian taffeta ribbon and a large structured bow.

The bridesmaids carried an equally textural and rich hued bouquet which was set off perfectly by their floor length black gowns.

The tables were set with square glass vases wrapped in black a cream stripped fabric and a beautiful pewter satin ribbon and topped with a fantastic mix of colour and texture. The centrepieces were surrounded by mercury glass votives and each table had a carved black number mounted on a black and white pattern and surrounded in black frame.

Each guest recieved a set of 4 handmade ceramic coasters. Made by the bride and her mother. Every single set was different.

The ceremony took place in the shelter of the wrought iron gazebo, which we finished with a crystal chandelier, some glass orb votive holders, a rich red carpet of rose petals and some swags finished with a fantastic black and white stripped bow.

The cake by Patisserie Daniel was finished with strips of black and white ribbon, and a cluster of of blooms.

The bouts were a sophisticated cluster of dusty miller, poppy pods and a few black and white blooms. Lindsey’s Dad wore a sand coloured rose finished with the same hint of silver dusty miller.

See Lindsey and her bridesmaids in Part 2…..

Lindsey was absolutely STUNNING! We knew it would be so, with her dark hair and vibrant blue eyes. Sharon Rai, accented her beauty and created her beautiful bridal look and Lindsey was an absolute vision.

Lindsey’s bridesmaids were equally as beautiful in their long black chiffon dresses, Sharon did the make up and hair for all 5 of them. Each one carried an umbrella to shelter them from the rain.

The rain could not dampen the love and beauty surrounding this wedding, it was so special to be a part of and we were thrilled with the finished product. The incredibly talented Michael Norwood was the photographer, and we will share his images as soon as we get them. Lindsey and her family were some of the most lovely people I have ever met ,I was touched by how much love and joy there was. You can see it very clearly on her Dad’s face as he sees her for the first time.

Lindsey’s face said it all, her smile was electric.

Congratulations Lindsey & Sina, you both get an “A” in my books and it was a pleasure working with you both.

There were two styles of tables under the tent, rounds and rectangle harvest tables. Rustic, wooden lanterns adorned each table, and were surrounded by arrangements of beautiful, white, green and blue hydrangeas. Mason jars were used to hold candles and were placed on rustic wooden platforms. Each table had a wooden number painted in white.

The cake was incredible! The large ceremony arrangements were created in antique cans, that looked perfect sitting on top of the wine barrels. A beautiful mixture of hydrangeas, delphiniums, snap dragons, and sedum.

Congratulations Nicole & Drew, it was a pleasure!

This wedding was a match made in heaven, in floral heaven for me and the Verbena team. There is no better way to say “summer wedding”, then with hydrangeas, and lots of them in shades of vibrant blue, white and green. Just look at these fantastic blooms….

Nicole and Drew were married under the summer sun washed sky of a quintessential British Columbia summer evening. Nights like these and there is no where else on earth more beautiful. Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse, was the perfect place for this fabulous wedding of two fabulous individuals.

Beautiful Nicole in her stunning gown surrounded by her beautiful bridesmaids in their floor length navy blue dresses, were quite simply perfection.

Nicole’s bouquet was a lush hand-tied filled with whites, greens and hints of blue. Her girls carried bountiful posies filled with hydrangeas in all the shades of blues, greens and whites.

See more details and the team of talent that makes it all happen in post #2