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?

 

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!

 

Autumn dahlia bouquet

This colourful and bold bouquet full of maple leaves and dahlias is earthy and rustic, and is sure to satisfy all those flower people who love orange, red and fall! Enjoy the autumn inspiration........

Sophisticated Summer Wedding

This past summer I finally had the "dream clients" that everyone wishes for. What makes dream clients you ask? People who are open to ideas, appreciate the art of flowers and design, are trusting, genuine, and are thankful. 

This wedding was a dream come true for me in many ways. One being, with my background in interior design, my favourite environment for flowers is the home. And I was very excited to have clients who wanted flowers to play a major role in their home for their daughter's wedding.

(Tunde and Tamara)

We decided to clear the dining room and living room shelves of all books etc. and flood them with various flowers and a few photos of the bride and groom. We kept to a crisp white color scheme, and mostly clear glass vessels throughout. The bride's parents had the black and white print hanging on the wall of St. Paul's Cathedral made just for the wedding. Such a cool touch.

(Tunde and Tamara)

(Tunde and Tamara)

The couple was married under an old hydrangea vine climbing up an oak tree. The vine wasn't actually in bloom at the time of the wedding, so I covered it with white hydrangea and dahlias in water picks and it turned out to be a beautiful natural arbour.

(Tunde and Tamara)

The bride's lovely dress was from White Peony a local shop here in Victoria. The bride let the bridesmaids choose there own dress colors. Either grey, soft pink or soft yellow.

(Tunde and Tamara)

After the ceremony while the couple was getting photographed the guests had the opportunity to hop on a local "tourist" bus and explore a couple spots in Victoria. I loved this idea! What a treat for the out of town guests.

(Tunde and Tamara)

The reception dinner and dancing took place in the back yard under a white tent softened with draping by En Vied Events. 

(Tunde and Tamara)

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Tunde and Tamara)

 Look at these lovely desserts by Delish Catering who catered the whole evening. I am so in love with this gorgeous wedding cake!! 

(Tunde and Tamara)

(Tunde and Tamara)

I am a big fan of floating flowers. We floated dahlias in various pots outside the the entry of the home and also in the back yard pond. I was super excited to have the opportunity to make a floating wreath and also use floating tea light holders!

(Tunde and Tamara)

(Tara McHugh Flora)

According to the bride and groom the day went off without a hitch, which I'm always happy to hear. All the best to L&G and your new adventures in New York City! And thanks to everyone who helped out on this wedding, you know who you are.

Amy Merrick and Floret Farm Workshop 2013

A short while ago I went on a small adventure down to Washington to spend the weekend with a bunch of flower loving women! Two of my favorite bloggers Amy Merrick and Erin Benzakein were co-hosting a weekend floral workshop and it turns out I was just one beautiful ferry ride away.

Seeing Erin's farm in real life was really cool! I have been drooling over all her flower farming photos for years and just to actually see the whole operation and how it runs was fantastic. She is amazing with what she pumps out on 2 acres!

The coveted Cafe au Lait dahlia....

We spent the first morning cutting buckets and buckets of flowers which we then later turned into beautiful hand tied bouquets. A friend of Erin's was generous enough to let us use her beautiful 1906 barn for the workshop. The setting was idyllic. 

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Amy Merrick)

(Student work)

I absolutely love Amy's loose style of flower arranging. It is much harder than it looks and it was a real treat to be able to just watch her in action! She really wanted us to be thoughtful with flower placement and to give each flower enough space.  

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Tara McHugh Flora)

(Student work)

(Student work)

It was truly a memorable weekend. The food, wine, location, company were perfect. For our final night we spent the afternoon dressing the barn for the most magnificent salmon dinner. Linen runners, tree branches, hop vines, the table flooded in candle light and fruit. And of course lets not forget all the beautiful guests adorned in our flower crown creations. I will post a link to some professional photos once I receive them. My photos would not do it justice!!