10 September, 2014 Charlena Edge 0 Comment

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. The hot days of summer come to an end and the cooler weather brings visits to the county fair, the pumpkin patch, and the petting farm. Well… at least we used to do all those activities when the kids were younger.

Still, there is nothing better than curling up with a hot cup of tea when the weather is a bit crisp but not quite cold. I love watching the squirrels run along the fence, back and forth, collecting nuts, and my hair always looks a lot better when the humidity levels drop.

When I ran my wedding floral design business, fall weddings were my absolute favorite! The rich colors and perfect sunny days were wonderful, especially since they didn’t entail caring for thousands of stems of flowers in the summer heat or lugging full buckets or vases in 90+ degree temperatures.

One of my favorite fall weddings was a “Lord of the Rings” inspired wedding in September 2008. The bride didn’t necessarily want to re-create the movie, she wanted the fall/woodsy feel of the film. After some discussion, this is what my team (team = husband) and I came up with. It was wonderful!

  • The Altar

These centerpieces took hours to complete. It was fun until around 3am when I was ready to give up. They ended up being my favorite arrangement. We hand glued Dendrobium orchid heads along with Swarovski crystals to each manzanita branch. Mirrors, China berries, and rose petals completed the look. Tip: Use cold floral glue. Hot glue will kill the orchids. This arrangement lasted for more than a week. I love orchids!

  • Each table included a card with something personal written about the couple. Likes, hobbies etc. If I remember correctly, the bride was the gamer!

There is a country store nearby that sells fresh fruit, veggies, and firewood. Every time I drove by the store and looked at these gorgeous tree stumps I wanted a reason to do something with them. When this wedding came up, I had a reason to buy them. I had no idea how I would use them, but I bought them anyway. I left to decorate the church and when I came back, I saw that my creative husband had them in place on both sides of the sweetheart table. Perfect!

  • I wish the caterers would have steamed the tablecloth.

  • Sweetheart table arrangement

Dendrobium orchids, curly willow, and river rocks were used in this arrangement for the placecard table. This picture doesn’t really do it justice. It was very tall. A friend was helping me and she put the rocks in the vase without water. Luckily I had a back-up vase and the staff at the country club were very nice about cleaning up the glass. 🙂

When I arrived at the wholesalers to pick up the flowers, the Chocolate Cosmos I ordered for the bouquets looked horrible. I ended up substituting Black Schwartz miniature Calla Lillies. Black Schwartz are actually a deep purple/eggplant color. The bouquets turned out much better than I envisioned.

The hanging Amaranthus I ordered for the chandeliers was not available. Of course no one called me prior to picking up my order. Luckily, my husband is patient and creative and strung miniature roses and greenery for the chandeliers as a substitute. The Amaranthus would have looked much better, but we made it work.

I accented the cake table with Cymbidium orchids, one of my favorite flowers to work with.

The woods wouldn’t be complete without animals and boy did we have two to deal with. The wedding planner warned me of the eye sores and asked how we could cover it up. I immediately thought draping, but when I arrived on site for the consultation and saw the size of these monsters, we decided to just embrace it. When I arrived to clean up at midnight, guests were still taking pictures of the “bride and groom”! The animals were a huge hit!

And finally…the wedding planner did these clever match-ups AFTER the wedding! We hit a home run…if I do say so myself. : )

Oh, how I miss doing wedding flowers! I don’t miss the late nights, stress, or bridezillas though.

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Charlena Edge

Charlena Edge

Hi, welcome to my humble abode! I’m middle-aged but still learning and discovering. I have a Master’s degree in Therapeutic Herbalism. In between my disjointed, seemingly unrelated posts, I hope to share some of what I’ve learned about plants and about life. Grab a cup of coffee and stay a while. I’m happy to have you.