I have talked so much about Lisa and Lucien’s flowers from their wedding, (see entry from February 25th) that my floral designer friends are clamoring for pictures. So I decided to blog about how good floral design can take your wedding from wow to WOW. Here are the elements that worked with this particular wedding’s decor by Zinnia Design Florals.

Let your vendor do their thing – you took the time to research your vendor and made sure they were the perfect one for you, now trust them. Lisa and Lucien told Karolee that they love moss, wanted this wedding to be a “post modern chinese new year”, and gave her their colors and some fun ideas (like the wheat grass around the food stations). After their initial communications they were on the same page and let Karolee work her magic. The result? Elated surprise as they saw all the little details and creative arrangements on their wedding day. When you pick the right vendor and trust them, you will be happy with what they deliver.

Stick with a theme – having a theme helped Lisa and Lucien get their ideas across to their vendors. Whether it is a color, texture, or overall design element (vintage, steampunk, Sex in the City) you can help your vendors make key design decisions because they have a bit of a guideline. There are a million options out there and narrowing it down with a theme helps streamline the look of your event as well as inspire your vendors.

Go with the flow – this works in two ways. One is to keep your stress down. Deal with things in an easy going manner. It is how your vendors want to be treated and how you want to remember your day. I also mean this in another way…creating a visual flow to the event. Lisa and Lucien’s tea ceremony started out clean and simple…two small green leaves on a bamboo bowl held the cards describing their tea ceremony to guests. In the room, the tea ceremony was decorated with low lying moss and orange rose arrangements, all tightly packed and clustered artistically. It had a beautiful impact and dressed up the room, but stayed simple. Then at the ceremony, the orange was carried through to parasols hanging from the ceiling and the drama factor was upped with tall sculptural arrangements that used orange and reds and greens to anchor the ceremony space. The design was very bold, using some geometric shapes and unusual design elements. The aisle was lined with a few tall vases of submersed orchids. THEN we go into the reception hall, which combined all of these elements and took the drama factor up even higher. A variety of tall and medium centerpieces using candles, submersed orchids, asian inspired arrangements, moss and a ton of color brought the entire design scheme together. Takeout boxes filled with greenery and succulents in wheat grass added some whimsy to the food station dedicated to dim sum and sushi. It was a fantastic visual experience from start to finish.

Quality over quantity – one thing that photographers see that most others don’t notice is the quality of the flowers. We see a bouquet from the start of the day to the end, and notice if petals start drooping or bouts start to fall apart. Having a floral designer that picks quality blooms and knows how to treat and transport them makes a difference and gives you more bang for your buck. Having a mix of high and low arrangements, some more complicated and others modern and simple, not only looks great and adds interest, but also can save some money. It takes a talented vendor to know how to balance all of those elements.

Innovation – from the modern sculptural designs of the ceremony arrangements to the flower rings the bride and bridesmaids were given at the reception, Zinnia Design Florals incorporated some great new trends to Lucien and Lisa’s wedding. The result was elements that impressed guests and were things that hadn’t been seen before, yet still fit in the formal setting of The Depot.

So enough talk, show the work right? Here are a few images to accompany this Inner Workings blog! John got out the macro lens and had some fun with the moss, it is one of my favorite images from the night. Enjoy!