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Woodland Wedding at Alderbrook Resort

This wedding was such a treat to design but the install day shall be forever burned into my memory because I was suffering from horrendous morning sickness (at only 8 weeks pregnant), couldn’t keep a thing down and had to rely on my amazing team to do the heavy lifting (literally – we had wood stumps to haul around!) All that aside, I always love going back to Alderbrook because that is where Grant and I got married almost 9 years ago. It is a beautiful, sophisticated, quintessential Pacific Northwest hotel and spa with all the charm of a 1950’s summer camp. Guests relax on their balconies or around the firepits and look out over the Hood Canal and the Olympic mountains beyond. Seals have even been known to swim with you along the boat dock.

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Kristin and Marty wanted a woodland feel to their beautiful day with lots of ferns and woodgrain details. For the ceremony, we lined the aisle with wood stumps and potted ferns in distressed garden pots. For the tented reception, we created three huge chandeliers of greenery and white flowers and then added color to the tables with floral arrangements in coral, orange and pink. It was a beautiful, festive, joyful day photographed beautifully by Angela and Evan Photography and expertly coordinated by Chesney of All the Flutter.

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I am so thrilled to have a shoot I designed and styled featured on my favorite wedding blog, Style Me Pretty, today! Huge thanks are due to Angela and Evan Photography for stunning images, Iwona Konarski for the lovely ombre stationery, Teryl Hawk for gorgeous hair and makeup, Melanie Backschies of Plum Cushion for the beautiful coordinating pillows, Baked for the cute and delicious wedding cake, our models Caleb and Chelsea for braving the cold, and Wine and Roses for allowing us to shoot in their barn.

Finch & Thistle on Style Me PrettyCheck it out here and tell us what you think!

 

 

I think Tess would agree with me that she and Ryan chose the perfect time of year to get married – peony season! We share a love of the fluffy, fragrant beauties and I was keeping my fingers crossed for a lull in the rain and some sunny weather so I could use them in their wedding flowers. No such luck on the rain, or the sun, but fortunately Eastern Washington has a different climate altogether from the Puget Sound and a few stems started making their way westward so I was able to use them sparingly in the bouquets and centerpieces. I’ve already shared one of the church arrangements here but here are a few more images courtesy of the fabulous Angela and Evan Photography

Tess’ bouquet was mainly comprised of white peonies. I wrapped the stems in lace and tied Tess’ parents wedding rings onto it as a sweet reminder of her late father. It looked so pretty against her simple, strapless wedding dress!

The bridesmaids bouquets were pink and green with tones ranging from blush to magenta. The groomsmen’s bouts had pink dogwood and scabiosa pods with the groom’s made up of two white and pink cymbidium orchids to match the bride’s hair piece.

The Rainforest Pavilion at Woodland Park Zoo was hung with pink and green lanterns and lengths of ivory fabric to mark the dance floor. The tables were covered in navy blue satin tablecloths, blush pink napkins and gold chargers. I wanted to keep the centerpieces  loose and romantic so I filled footed silver bowls with peonies, scabiosa, queen anne’s lace, freesia and roses. They smelled amazing and the silver bowls reflected the light from the pink Glassybaby votives.

Tess and I had our first meeting at Top Pot donuts and when she confessed that she had a weakness for the sweet treats and was looking for something fun to serve later in the evening, donuts seemed an obvious choice. I love the mini cartons of milk she added. So cute!

milk and donuts wedding favors

And so where does the peacock come in? Well, just as we finished setting up the reception space, it started to rain. No light NW misting either, think absolute torrential downpour. As I was running to my car, encumbered by boxes and buckets, I noticed this flash of green and blue to my right and low and behold the zoo’s resident peacock was racing along beside me, apparently also seeking shelter in my open car trunk. I don’t know which of us was more surprised! Fortunately, I out-ran him and slammed the door shut before he could jump in and after some angry squawking he swooped around and headed back towards the zoo.  Imagine if I had driven home with a peacock in the back of my car? I’m not sure how I would have explained that one to the zookeepers…!

I worked with Laura and Majid for a full year on the design of their wedding, so as you can imagine the style and palette changed a bit here and there but the final result was well worth the extra work. I loved the unusual plum and marigold color palette from the start – such a fun and vibrant look – but Laura wanted a vintage twist so we settled for blush pink and grey accents to tone things down.

Plum and Marigold weddingThe Edgewater is a great venue – stunning location with gorgeous crystal chandeliers contrasting with a modern wood paneled ceiling – and their staff is super helpful. As I was setting up, the room was so warm that the tulips and dogwood was starting to wilt – a florist’s nightmare! The banquet manager kindly turned on the AC for me and everything perked back up. Phew!

These pictures are all by the talented Angela and Evan Carlyle.

jewel toned peony bouquetplum bridesmaid dresses boutonniere with calla, dogwood and lisianthusbride and bridesmaids at Golden Gardensbride and groom in Golden Gardensbride bouquet at Golden Gardensbill ballpurple and yellow tall centerpiecegreen orchids wedding cake Edgewater Seattlebride and groom at Edgwater hotel, Seattlebride and groom at Edgewater Seattle

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