I’m a big fan of simple flowers used in abundance (babies breath anyone?).  Don’t get me wrong, I love mountains of fluffy pink peonies as much as the next girl, but sadly those lovelies can leave quite a dent in your wallet.   But a flower like astible is abundant, in season almost all summer long, available in a variety of colors (red, pink, purple & white) and much more budget friendly.

Like babies breath, it has often been relegated to filler status, but when used in isolation, I think their feathery quality is dreamy and gorgeous.  They dry beautifully too with the colors fading to a more muted version of their fresh, vibrant selves.  If you’re having a summer wedding, don’t overlook these beautifully simple flowers!

{Photo credits:  Top row: Belathée Photography via The Bride’s Guide ; Middle row:  Country Living, Angelica Glass via Green Wedding Shoes; Bottom row:  Green Wedding Shoes}

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?

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}