The talented sister team behind Serendipity Designs sent over this gorgeous series of images from a recent shoot with Warren McCormack Photography.  Their boutique studio focuses exclusively on personal events such as weddings.

From Serendipity:

“We love to work with seasonal flowers, supporting local NC farms whenever possible.  Our style is very lush, romantic, and organic, letting the integrity of the flowers shine through…but with a little bit of a whimsical and vintage flair!”

In a nutshell, their style is right up my alley.  My absolute favorite kinds of floral designs have a European, monochromatic aesthetic and feature only a few gorgeous flowers who’s shapes and textures complement each other perfectly.

What do you think?  Gorgeous?

I fear I am a wee bit late to the proverbial blog party with this post, but I couldn’t help sharing my ever growing collection of balsa wood flower images. 

I’ve been totally intrigued with these little beauties since I first saw them on JL Designs blog last summer and have been desperately looking for more information on them ever since.  Like, for example, where you can buy them!  My hunt turned up exactly zero wholesalers or florists on the east coast though you can order them online from SaveOnCrafts.com (they’re even on sale now…but I’m about to buy all of them for no good reason other than I want them)

They are remarkably affordable considering they are handmade from tapioca wood peel, also called sola wood, a naturally derived paper product.  And because they aren’t technically a live flower, they never die making them the perfect eco-friendly alternative to a floral bouquet.  Love that! 

But I think my favorite thing about these little beauties is their very chameleon-like ability to look equally at home in vastly different settings.  Case in point – when set alongside birch and cotton in a very organic setting, their tactile, “please touch me” quality is highlighted (see the genius designs below from Lauryl Lane.  Aside:  Is that not the best name?).  Yet they look equally gorgeous when that that same softness is juxtaposed against the hard lines of seashells and coral.  They even start to look a bit shell-like themselves in that setting I think.

In short, I’m in love and hope to see them popping up everywhere.

What do you think?  Great alternative to fresh flowers?  Or you’re not digging funky paper flowers for your wedding?

{Photo credits: 1st, 2nd & 4th row: JL Designs, 3rd row: Krislyn Custom Florals}

{Photo credits:  Jasmine Star with Lauryl Lane florals}

Last week I pulled together a few images of dreamy, ethereal baby’s breath to prove that this flower, while low in cost, can be high in style when celebrated for its simple beauty (ie, not as cheap filler).

Then as if on cue, I see a tweet from @prettychicky about this gorgeous Stephanie Williams winter wedding that features…what else…BABY’S BREATH! As if you needed any more convincing on baby’s breath’s prettifying power.

Check out the full wedding here including a seriously gorgeous gardenia and ostrich feather bouquet.  Loving everything about this wedding.

Baby’s breath.  The mere mention of those two words is enough to send you running with images of sad little grocery store bouquets in mind.  But I will never see these unassuming little flowers in quite the same way after pulling this post together. 

The trick:  use them in mass and solo.  Adding other flowers to the mix immediately downgrades them to “filler” status.  Using them alone keeps them the unabashed star of the show.  I love the idea of using mounds and mounds of them in a Winter wedding, all billowy and ethereal.  But these images prove they are equally gorgeous at a Spring affair. 

Look for it under its more “official” flower name of gypsophia (and bonus, it comes in other colors, though white is still my favorite).  Best of all, you can achieve a really lush, over the top look without killing your budget.  20 bunches are less than $200 and each bunch consists of 6-9 stems, more than enough for a beautiful, full bouquet. 

{Photo credits: Top row: Leigh Miller Photography, Second row: Christine Chang Photography via Style Unveiled, Third row: Stephen Karlisch Photography, Cinderella Project, Fourth row: Justine Ungaro, Fifth & Sixth rows: Leigh Miller Photography}

You might recall a few weeks ago I posted about an event I was taking part in called Bubbles & Bling.  It turned out to be a super fun, intimate evening with some great area vendors, brides-to-be,  yummy champagne at Solas and to die for bridal fashion from TreBella Bridal.  I was flattered to be asked to style the private dining room at Solas into a chic, modern rehearsal dinner space.  Thanks to the fab Martha Manning, the whole thing was captured to share with you today.

The evening started out on Solas’ new, retractable roof covered deck (so awesome…now you can have cocktails up there all winter long!)  Some of TreBella’s new dresses were on full display as the models weaved their way in and out of the roof top cabanas.  I loved this set up.  It let you get right up close to the dresses and even touch them if you wanted.  So much better than looking longingly from afar like at most fashion shows.

After some yummy champagne cocktails and dress gawking, the party moved downstairs where Bailey’s Jewelry had a gorgeous display of bling for everyone to “oooo” and “aaaah” over.  Cinda’s Creative Cakes provided an equally bejeweled and delicious cake.  A few more models floated through the party, even stopping for a minute to pose in the rehearsal dinner space your’s truly pulled together for the event.

In keeping with the very modern aesthetic of the space, I really wanted the room be pretty, not overly “done” and utilizing as much of Solas’ existing inventory as possible.  Anyone can design an over the top space using all rented pieces but since the goal of the event was to display the space to brides-to-be as a chic alternative for your private dining events, I wanted to use as much of what they already had on hand as possible.  Two long 12′ tables provided seating for 24 guests with plenty of room left over for a loungey seating area.  You could easily nix this area in exchange for more tables if your party required more seating. To work with the existing black, white and red colors in the room, I decided to make jewel toned purple my main inspiration.  Simple white satin linens, crystal beaded chargers and purple napkins were all provided by CE Rentals.  I love the pop of color that the purple napkins give the table. Everything else was provided by Solas and available for use at any event you host there.

I collaborated with TreBella Flowers on the floral elements of the table design.  Simple white and purple orbs of the ever budget friendly carnation look modern and chic in this setting, adding just the right amount of texture.  I added a bit more “bling” with some crystal-encrusted tea light and candle holders throughout.

This was such a fun event!  A huge thank you to the folks at Solas for letting me get involved and to the lovely ladies at TreBella for pulling me into the mix.  I loved meeting so many brides-to-be and hearing first hand what they’re looking for, what challenges they’re running into, etc.  Writing the blog is great but actually talking to you ladies is 100x better!

And of course, this whole post wouldn’t exist without the phenomenal work of Martha Manning.  Not only is she super talented but she’s honestly so stinkin’ nice, it hurts.  If you are still on the hunt for a photographer or have just recently gotten engaged, do yourself a favor and call Martha.  I promise you will not be disappointed.