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Villa Marco Polo Inn - Italian Inspiration Shoot

One of the most beautiful locations in Victoria for a small wedding with European flair has got to be the Villa Marco Polo Inn. The boxwood lined gardens are elegant and private and depending what month it is, filled with roses, clematis or rhododendrons. It would even be great for rehearsal dinners or small family functions.

The following are photos from an Italian inspired wedding shoot featured on FAB YOU BLISS a wedding and lifestyle blog. Every photo shoot you learn something new and it's always such a pleasure working with other local talented vendors.

Enjoy!

(Bouquet - peonies, parrot tulips, camellia, red current, anemones,ranunculus)

 

Kim Kalyn Photography - photography

Villa Marco Polo Inn - location

Tuktu Paper Co. - invitations and stationary

Erin Bradley & Conscious Hair - make up and hair

The White Peony - Anna Campbell dress

Outlooks Menswear - suit

Toque Catering - food

Summer Wedding Flowers

With such beautiful weather and very little chance of rain, summer is the most popular time of year to get married.  If you are considering getting married in the months of June, July or August the following are some of my favorite local flowers available. All these flowers can be grown here in Victoria in your garden if you have a green thumb. But for us florists when larger quantities are needed for weddings many of these flowers can be ordered from the main land where there are some fabulous greenhouse growers.

JUNE -  delphiniums, peonies and lady's mantle

JULY - sweet peas, peony, dusty miller

AUGUST - dahlias and roses

Alstroemeria - available 12 months of the year in a variety of colors


How important is "supporting local growers" in your wedding planning?

 

Fresh From the Field Wedding Flowers - blog give away

So it's no secret that I have been a long time fan of Erin Benzakein of Floret Flower Farm. Last summer I even had the chance to attend her first floral workshop co-hosted with Amy Merrick and see her farm first hand. That was an incredible experience in itself and you can read more about it here. So when the opportunity arose to do a give away of her new book "Fresh From the Field Wedding Flowers" I jumped on it! The book was co-authored with Lynn Byczynski a longtime flower farmer, and founding editor and publisher of Growing for Market.

This book is jammed packed with great information. The benefits of using local flowers, floral design basics, growing and handling advice for more than 100 plants, and so much more!! Not only is there lots of eye candy in this 112 page book but it also comes with a disc with four video tutorials totaling more than 75 minutes. I totally recommend this book to any flower lover. Have you ever wanted to learn how to make a hand tied bridal bouquet or boutonnieres? Or are you just curious about the local flower movement and learning to grow?

Well now is the chance to have your questions answered. All you have to do to WIN your FREE copy of "Fresh From the Field Wedding Flowers" is share something with me in the comments below.

 I would love to know why you would like this book (eg. you want to grow your own wedding flowers, or learn some basic floral design)

OR 

if you grow some flowers already please share with us one of the easiest flowers to grow (so that we can all try them too!) My recommendation is Zinnias!

I will announce the the winner on my Facebook page May 30th!!

https://www.facebook.com/TaraMcHughFlora

Empress Hotel Photo Shoot

I recently received some gorgeous photos from the girls over at Two Tiny Elephants. They had asked me to do up a bridal bouquet for a photo shoot they were doing at the Empress Hotel. It's always very exciting to see my flowers in a beautiful shoot! I just can't get over the blue chair, red lips, and that dress, I love it all!! What do you think?

The bouquet was filled with local speckled hellebores, tulips, viburnum, freesia and fern.

To view this whole shoot please visit the Two Tiny Elephants blog.

Photography - Two Tiny Elephants

Invitation and stationary - Two Tiny Elephants

Dress and accessories - Blush Bridal

Hair and make-up -  Rika Kirihara

Flowers - Tara McHugh Flora

Location - Fairmont Empress Hotel

Still loving flower crowns?

Still loving flower crowns? I hope so, because I still am! I  love them big and full for the bride who wants a statement piece. Or, small and delicate for a more understated natural look. 

Here are a few pics from a recent spring photo shoot. It was a fun collaboration with the girls over at

 TWO TINY ELEPHANTS.

 (wax flower, seeded eucalyptus, rhododendron)

 

 (hellebore and pieris japonica hair piece)

Flowers: Tara McHugh Flora

Location: Ma-Luxe Studio 

Dress: White Peony 

Photography:  Two Tiny Elephants

Hair: Colin Bear

Make-Up: Ma-Luxe Studio

To see more beautiful pictures by Two Tiny Elephants head on over to their blog at http://www.twotinyelephants.com/blog/

 

Sea Cider Wedding - Victoria, BC

I'm happy to share some beautiful photos taken by Kim Kalyn Photography from a wedding last September. This beautiful couple was married at the Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse.

It was recently featured on Weddingbells and you can read and view more on the wedding here.

What I loved about this wedding was that 90% of the flowers were local and organic. The only flowers we special ordered were the white hydrangeas and the blush "Juliet" garden roses. I particularly loved the chartreuse green zinnias in the bridesmaids bouquets!

 

Flowers in Vintage Tea Cups

I recently had a customer bring me a bunch of vintage tea cups. She was going to give them as gifts and wanted them filled with flowers. I have always wanted to try this as I think it would be a lovely Mother's day gift or beautiful for a bridal shower tea party.

(orange spray roses, skimmia, witch hazel)

Garden Wedding - Victoria, BC

My first post for the new year highlights a special wedding from this past summer. On a warm and sunny July day, my best friend Kendi married an incredible guy named Ken in a beautiful garden here in Victoria, BC. The venue was a private residence. The property was full of winding garden pathways that toured you through a mix of fruit trees, lavender and poppies. With no sit down dinner, guests were free to explore the property while drinking, grazing from food stations and playing games on the lawn.

My daughter was the flower girl so I was very excited to make her a beautiful flower crown. The ring bearer carried the sweetest old book (Kendi is a big reader) tied up with twine along with the rings.

The great room of the house was used for the bar, speeches, eating and dancing!

All the wedding signage was painted by a girlfriend on old cedar fence panels. All the chalkboard signs we made from thrift store paintings. We sprayed them gold and used chalkboard paint over the existing painting.

Kendi and I punched out beautiful paper tags and then they were tied to beer and wine glasses in hopes people would use the same glass all night.

Instead of the traditional guest book we thought it would be fun to have guests write down "words of advice" for the couple.

I just had to share this fun shot of the groom and his best man shortly before everyone started arriving! Nothing like a refreshing swim before you get married.

So I have to say that this was a first for me. I have never before been a maid of honour, or a bridesmaid for that matter. But I most certainly have not been the maid of honour AND the florist before. It was actually lots of hard work and had moments of stress but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Who needs to spend time on hair and make up when there are flowers to be done? Priorities of a florist! I will say though, all the hard work aside, it is very special to be able to create and share my talents with the people closest to me. Especially my best friend who has always been one of the biggest supports for my business!

(for more bouquet photos check out my blog post here)

(spanish for "with you")