Styled Shoot: Through the Fog

If you haven't checked out Chloe Photography yet, do it.  Seriously- do it now.  She is amazing!  I had the chance to work on a styled shoot with Chloe back in December.  (Yes, I know, it's taken me a while to post about it!) I decided that today would be a good day to share it with you all.  It has been a goal of mine for a couple of years to get my work published.  Style Me Pretty, one of the top wedding industry blogs, ran this shoot in December and it was such a huge thrill for us!  Today marks the 5-year anniversary of Paisley Petals being a full-time operation, so I thought it was appropriate to re-visit this goal-accomplishing shoot today!

Thanks so much to Chloe who had the vision to pull this off, to Kristal Locke who was our hair stylist, and Brittany Lewis, our MUA.  And our cute models Jonny and Erica!

So, without further ado, let me take you back to a very cold and foggy December morning.  Enjoy!

The bride's bouquet was a mix of hydrangea, spray roses, brunia, anemone, fringed tulips and feather eucalyptus.

Groom's Boutonniere: Spray rose, brunia and feather eucalyptus.

Accent Pieces: hydrangea, anemone, spray roses, brunia, wax flower and feather eucalyptus.

Real Wedding: Julie & Asher

Oh. My. Word.  It's so hard to even describe to you how sweet Julie & Asher are!  It was so fun for us to get to be a part of their big day!  Bonus: they picked one of our favorite color palates!  In fact, as we were working on their wedding, I was also right in the middle of planning my cutie pie Aidan's 2nd birthday party in the same colors.  I had mentioned to Julie at one of our meetings that I wanted to find some red & aqua paper to make some pinwheels.  As it turns out, they were making pinwheels for their wedding and she MAILED THEM ALL TO ME when they returned from their honeymoon so I could use them for the party!  Seriously- has there ever been a sweeter bride?  I think not.

I asked Julie a few questions about her & Asher's experience of planning their wedding.  Enjoy!

All photos courtesy of JFK Studios.

Bride and Groom: Julie Huynh & Asher Yap

Wedding Date: August 20th, 2011

Vendors:

Venue: Harbor Club Seattle

Wedding Coordinator: LC Weddings

Photography: JFK Studios

Videography: KDC Studios

Officiant: Rev. Mary Calhoun

DJ & Master of Ceremony: Seattle Parties

What were some of your favorite moments from your wedding day?

Our favorite moments were of our family and friends having fun at our wedding, especially on the dance floor!   It was also amazing to see all the work towards our day (details, flowers, décor, etc.) come together!

Any advice for engaged couples currently planning their weddings?

The most useful advice we would like to give is to start early on finding your vendors. They book up super quick! We started a year before our wedding and at that time, a lot of vendors were booked up. We started first on finding the vendors that would be with us all day (most likely can only do one wedding that day) – venue, photography, officiant, and DJ.

Also, wedding planning can often be stressful… remember to make time for date nights and enjoy being engaged!

What are you two up to these days?

When the craziness of work and school (Julie is in back in school for dental hygiene) gives us a break for a vacation, we try to travel as much as possible! We recently came back from Australia and it was a wonderful trip!

Your thoughts on working with Paisley Petals?

Paula is wonderful and so easy to work with! We really enjoyed our meetings with her. We had only a few ideas for our flower décor and she helped us come up with a complete design plan that we loved. Our flowers were beautiful and she worked within our budget, which we really appreciate. Thanks, Paula!

Julie's Bouquet: Callas, Roses, and Dahlias

Carnation Pomanders

Handle detail with fabric from Julie's dress!

Aisle Bundles

Real Wedding: Jennifer & Justin

Jennifer & Justin were such a sweet couple- a pleasure to work with!  I asked Jennifer a few questions about their wedding and their wedding and their experience working with Paisley Petals- Enjoy! (all images courtesy of Chloe Photography.)

Bride and Groom: Jennifer and Justin Nelson

Wedding Date: 8.13.11

Vendors: 

Venue: Pickering Barn, Issaquah
Photographer: Chloe Photogaphy
Caterer: Seasoned in Seattle
Dessert: Trophy Cupcakes
Coordinator: Brianne Makanani

What were some of your favorite moment(s) of your wedding day? Overall the wedding was full of wonderful moments. One that comes to my mind is that right before the ceremony started, the heavy clouds broke apart, showing blue sky and a beautiful bright sunshine before I walked down the aisle-- the outside wedding ceremony I've always dreamed of. Oh, and seeing my grandpa dance with the bridesmaids during the reception still brings a smile to my face!

Any advice for engaged couples currently planning their weddings? Savor the moments of being engaged and planning your big celebration, rather than just going through the motions. In the end you will these cherish moments and make wonderful memories, like trying on your wedding gown, spending quality time with your bridal party and family, and learning to work as a team with your partner. Also, I think it is really important to reach out to past brides and ask what they were very happy with in their wedding and also their regrets--their experiences can help you plan your wedding day accordingly. 

What you are you two up to these days? Justin and I are enjoying the newly wed life, and loving the time we have together. Both of us are currently working and planning to purchase a home within the next year, which is really exciting!

Your thoughts on working with Paisley Petals? Amazingly creative! Paula knows just how to translate your vision and goes beyond in showcasing her unique floral masterpieces. She is a talented florist, personable, and exceptionally professional. I would recommend her to anyone who wants to bring their vision to life with her beautiful and flawless floral decor.

Centerpiece: Yellow Roses, orange alstromeria, solidago, craspedia, ruscus, scabiosa pods and variegated ti leaf.

Bridesmaids Bouquets: Coral roses, yellow freesia, craspedia, scabiosa pods and lamb's ear.

Jennifer's Bouqet: Coral roses, yellow roses, ivory lisianthus, solidago, succulents, scabiosa pods, craspedia, yellow freesia and lamb's ear.

Real Wedding: Amy & Kevin

I remember meeting Amy and her sister for the first time at Starbucks, sipping lattes and getting excited about the ideas she was sharing with me & the look she wanted to create.  Amy and Kevin are such a vibrant couple... their wedding suited them perfectly! Such an honor to be a part of their special day!  

I asked Amy a few questions about their wedding & her experience working with Paisley Petals.  Enjoy! (all photos courtesy of FS Photography)

Bride and Groom: Kevin & Amy Ullrich

Wedding Date: 5/7/11

Vendors: 

Venue & Catering - Court in the Square

Photophrapher - FS Photography, Portland

DJ - Marvin Stewart, Lakeside Entertainment

Officiant - Annemarie Juhlian

Cake: Celebrity Cake Studio

Describe the look & feel you were hoping to create for your wedding: We wanted a bright and fun spring wedding, but we still wanted it to have a romantic look and feel.  It's amazing how flowers can transform a table and a room - Paula did an amazing job of bringing in the bright, beautiful colors I wanted while maintaining a soft and romantic look. 

Favorite Wedding Detail(s): I have a couple, but one of my favorites has to be the personalized favors my father-in-law made.  He made a personalized name keychain for each guest; these doubled as placecards and favors.  I loved the fact that we were able to give a personalized favor without spending any money (aside from the cost of making tags wich was minimal).  We made sure to include a note on the tag letting everyone know they were made by Kevin's father. 

 

And... I have to mention the flowers!  When I first walked into my hotel room and saw the bouquets, I made my sister call Paula to tell her that they were more beautiful than I could have imagined.  They had that perfect balance between bold/colorful and romantic.  The bridemaid bouquets popped perfectly with their black dresses and my bouquet couldn't have been more perfect if I picked it out of a magazine. 

Favorite moment(s) of your wedding day:  Oh there are so many - it was so much fun!  First favorite moment: When I arrived in our room to get dressed prior to photos, I got to see my ring for the first time.  Kevin had originally proposed wiith a solataire and we picked out the setting later.  He was insistant that once that diamond was in the new setting I wouldn't get to see it until our wedding day because he wanted me to have something new - I was not thrilled about this at the time, but it was such a wonderful feeling to see my new ring on my finger for the first time on our wedding day.  Second favorite moment: I couldn't believe how beautiful the ceremony space looked when I walked in for the first time prior to the wedding.  The ceremony flower arrangments Paula made were so bright and beautiful, the many many rose petals we used for the aisle added so much to the look and feel, and the bright pink candles we lined the fountain with were perfect.  It was so amazing to see all the little decisions you make come together to create a beautiful day.  I could keep going with so many more favorite moments, but those are my top two.  

 

Your best advice for engaged couples?:TRUST IN PAULA!!   I was probably one of the most indecisive brides Paula has ever worked with; centerpiece and ceremony flowers were by far two of the toughest decisions for me. So, my advice - don't let this stress you out!  You hire a professional florist for a reason and Paula will deliver.  This can obviously be applied across the board - try not to stress about the little decisions, it get's overwhelming.  And that month before the wedding when things are so chaotic and you are wondering why you decided to do this "big wedding" thing - trust that it will all be worth it and it will all come together on the day of!

What are you up to now?: We are just plain enjoying married life post wedding planning!  We love coming home from work every night and being able to just watch TV or a movie when we want - and Kevin loves that I am not always on the laptop :)  We also just got our wedding album a couple weeks ago; it's so fun to relive the wedding through photos and albums. 

Care to share your thoughts on working with Paisley Petals?:  I think you know how I feel based on my comments above, but I highly recommend Paula.  She is easy to work with, professional, responsive (yes, responsive - this is not something you will get with all your wedding vendors!) and just plain good at what she does. 

Wedding Preview Event

On October 2nd, Paisley Petals had the honor of participating in Seattle's first Wedding Preview Event.  This was something completely different from most wedding shows you've heard of.  First, vendors were run through a selection process and put onto 3 complete teams.  So, each team had a coordinator, florist, photographer, caterer, DJ, etc. etc. Our task was to come up with a wedding vignette based on our interpretation of the event theme, "Dream in Color."  

Our coordinator, Megan from A Kurant Event, threw out the idea of a "Day of the Wed" inspiration for our team.  We decided on a vintage, latin-insipiried look with some Dia de los Muertos elements thrown in.  The result was quite stunning, if I do say so myself!  With the help of Beckie from Vintage Ambiance, and my awesome old aqua doors, we were able to pull together a lot of vintage pieces as the backdrop for our crazy bursts of latin-inspired color!  We were not shy about color... red, orange and hot pink were our main colors with accents of yellow, lime green and aqua. 

For the tables, we decided to do an eclectic mix of container shapes, styles, and heights on each table to keep with the vintage vibe, rather than just one large centerpiece.  The result was a happy, colorful mix that also allowed us to show off some really cool vintage glass bottles and silver vessels.

                                 

                                     

May Wyatt from Wyatt ink provided our super-cute escort cards and menu.  One of my favorite elements was the way she displayed the escort cards on my old doors.  Love that!  See those candle holders hanging from the doors?  Those are old glass insulators from the 1930's.  So cool! Again, thanks to Beckie at Vintage Ambiance.

Our "Bride" for the evening was Jackie from the morning show on 106.1 FM.  Hair for Jackie and her "bridesmaids" by Kristal Locke of Lockes on Location, Makeup by Kaarin Boyd of Kaarin Boyd Designs.  Don't the girls look pretty?  Jewelry by Courney of Courtney Rian Designs.  Bridal Gown and Bridesmaid's Dresses by From the Gown Up, Menswear by Wall Street Custom Clothiers.

The Bride's Bouquet was a colorful mix of zinnias, dahlias, craspedia, celosia, bupluerum, roses and queen anne's lace.

A few other details that rounded out our team: Cake by Burning Cupcakes, Catering by Kaspar's Catering, Linens by Creative Coverings, Music by Puget Sound DJ.

One more fun little detail: The Bride & Groom's pedicab getaway by A Greener Cab. So fun!

And last but certainly not least (because you all know how much I LOVE her!) all photographs on this blog are courtesy of the lovely and talented Latasha Haynes of Latasha Haynes Photography.

Oh, and I almost forgot- another special shout-out to Megan and her assistant, Kate from A Kurant Event, and my awesome husband Eric... the 4 of us worked our bootys off ALL day getting this set up!

Such an amazing night!  Thanks again to our entire team- you guys are all so talented!   It was such a pleasure to work with each of you!