Photo Shoot : "falling in love" where formal garden meets woodlands
Today it's time for the September Wedding Vendor Challenge submission and I have a spectacular shoot for you that I helped create the paper goodies for. I had so much fun working on this one with Kim from Something Floral. She's definitely an amazingly talented lady to team up with. I will now turn the blog over to Kim as she explains the shoot . . .
This early autumn, brunch bridal shower was set in Slayton Arboretum, a botanical garden located in the northeast corner of the Hillsdale College campus in Hillsdale, Michigan. Tree-themed invitations from Festive Fetti set the tone for this shower's outdoor "formal garden meets woodlands" setting and provided a visual cue to guests that the event's color palette would be yellow, black, and grey.
Rustic benches from the entrance of the arboretum through the path to the shower setting were decorated with fallen tree branches that were collected after a strong thunderstorm and spray painted black. The branches were accented with white dendrobium orchids and yellow satin sashes, tied into bows. The yellow bows served two purposes: to add a splash of color to bench décor and to pay homage to the bride-to-be's sister, a member of the military who was deployed and unable to attend the shower.
For the primary tablescape, I selected black as the dominant color, yellow as the secondary color, and grey and silver as the accent. The field stones in the gazebo added a variety of grey shades to the setting so I focused primarily on black and yellow for the linens and décor. Since the topper was most visible to shower guests, I splurged on a sheer black, embroidered and sequined linen while choosing a more economical, lemon yellow, duchess satin tablecloth as the base linen. The yellow napkins, accented with grey and black satin ribbon and yellow, sequin leaf trim, coordinated with the base linen and were folded to hold and display menus.
Black satin chair covers were used to coordinate with the topper's black satin border and were finished with lemon yellow satin sashes tied into bows. The bride-to-be's chair back was also accented with a small tree branch that had been spray painted grey and decorated with yellow, sequin leaves to coordinate with the leaf napkin trim.
Table numbers were displayed in black, scalloped picture frames that had been decorated with grey-painted twigs and yellow sequin leaves. Miniature black frames accessorized with yellow, leaf-shaped crystals held tree branch print place cards and marked each guest's reserved seat.
Each place setting on the primary tablescape featured a silver grey charger, black plates and coffee cups, silver flatware, clear stemware, and the perfect "green" guest favor for nature lovers - a live tree seedling from The Green World Project.
Table centerpieces featured a wrought iron tree-shaped base, painted black, and "branches" were covered with delicate white dendrobium orchids. Guests were invited to take yellow paper leaves, displayed at their table on a tree-shaped jewelry holder, write "leaves of advice" for the bride-to-be, and then hang their leaf of advice on a branch of the centerpiece.
A brunch refreshment table took the place of a sweets table and an assortment of breakfast pastries, muffins, croissants, bagels, and cookies were offered. I wanted the refreshment table to coordinate with the dining tables but not replicate them exactly so while I used a table of the same size and shape, I chose lemon yellow as the dominant color, grey as the secondary color, and white and black as accents. The table linen was yellow duchess satin, draped with swags of grey shimmery fabric that was accented by a fresh, white dendrobium orchid at each swag peak. Two tree shaped candleholders were used to hold and display muffins, and a tall, dendrobium "tree" centerpiece, identical to the dining table centerpieces, was featured.
DIY GOODIE :
A tree shaped candleholder is converted to be a cupcake holder. This is such a brilliant idea.
Vendor Credits:
Styling, Coordination, Floral Designs, & Linen Rentals: Something Floral / Something Spectacular
Stationery, Paper Goods, and Styling: Festive Fetti
Photography: Urban Fire Studio
Location: Slayton Arboretum, Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, MI
Live Tree Favors: The Green World Project
Petite Butter Cookies: Jonesville Bakery
Muffins, Cakes, Croissants, Bagels, and Doughnuts: Meijer
All Frames, Tree Candleholders (used to display muffins on refreshment table), and Napkin Accent Ribbon: JoAnn Fabrics
Yellow Leaf Beaded Trim: Fabric Warehouse
Silver Chargers, Tree Jewelry Holder (used to hold advice leaves), and Yellow Leaf Crystals (used on placecard frames): Michaels