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As June is traditionally considered the wedding month, I thought I would share some images from our son and daughter-in-laws December 2012 wedding. I have published posts on the build up HERE and HERE. Unfortunately, the photographer had to be coerced into finally delivering on the photographs. We received the full set of pictures in August of 2013.
Rather than share with you a host of pictures, like the overzealous traveler who shows you slides (did I just age myself? I meant digital images) of their latest vacation, I will show you a few of the pictures and zero in on the topic of wedding bouquets. Like most brides, my DIL is a talented designer and had a specific vision of how she wanted her wedding to be. For the reception, the 100 guests were all at one long table, candlelight was used over traditional lighting. [This is why getting the pictures from the photographer was essential, most photographs taken by friends were taken with a phone and were too dark]
DIL’s vision was extraordinary by it’s unique blend of ‘winter wedding meets English castle’ feel to the setting, and thereby all components of the evening. The wedding was staged at the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art. Dinosaurs were abundant. The wedding ceremony took place in the African Mammal room and the reception took place across the hall in the American Mammal room. Her attention to detail transported guests and the feel of the rooms was magical.
Sarah’s bouquet complimented the theme, as did her maid of honor and bridesmaid’s bouquets.
{Sarah’s bouquet, held by her mom, during the ceremony. Note: The bouquet probably weighed in at 10 lbs or so}
{Bridesmaid bouquet}
After seeing the first picture of the wedding (top of post) my bff blog friend, Victoria, suggested I do a post about wedding bouquets {thank you, Victoria}. I’m always eager to have a suggestion for a post since I’ve been known to have dry spells, creatively speaking. So here are some beautiful examples of wedding bouquets I found online.
In my day the trend in wedding bouquets was all white flowers. I love the variety of unique plant material that is added to bouquets today,and the color variations of the flowers.
Ranunculas and Roses, with petite daisies and the sage green leaves of a eucalyptus branch makes for a beautiful bouquet.
The beauty of planning a wedding in today’s world is that there are literally thousands, if not millions of ideas floating out there. Between Pinterest and dozens of blogs dedicated to weddings, you can be inspired and possibly confused by the abundance of ideas.
I can imagine using Sunflowers for a late summer / early fall wedding. I love this bouquet.
This bouquet is right up my alley, peonies, roses and ranunculas, all in soft ballet slipper pinks and whites…sigh. Aren’t they beautiful?!
The lavish use of gardenias, such a delightful choice. I once heard of a wedding where on all of the windows at the reception hall, there were fresh gardenia wreathes hung. The fragrance would be fabulous. Hopefully, none of your guests would have allergies.
{enchanted forest wedding photo by Emily Steffen // flowers by Johnny and Dottie via Pinterest}
The tree ferns in the bouquet above give it a magical fairy-like feel.
I really like the bright orange flowers with dusty miller and the purple thistle in this bouquet. I also like the diminutive size of the bouquet.
If you were planning your wedding today, what would your wedding bouquet look like?
Garden, Home & Party 
Phyllis said:
What a beautiful family photograph! And I love the single long table and dramatic setting. Must have been a magical night!
Karen B. said:
Thank you, Phyllis. Seeing our son happily wed is almost as emotional as giving birth. We feel lucky to have gained a second daughter-in-law to complete the clan. 🙂 It’s very fun. Enjoy the rest of your week. xo, Karen
On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 4:24 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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debra @ 5th and state said:
i am going to request a post with scads of photo’s of your sons wedding, please!!
am really intrigued karen, have never seen a bouquet such as hers, the bridesmaids, table……ORIGINALITY galore.
betting i am not the only one…….
debra
Karen B. said:
Debra, I’ll try. There’s a side to me that doesn’t want to hear the groans of boredom at seeing even more of the wedding. =) Sarah really carried out her vision and the event was incredibly original. My friends all said it was the most interesting wedding they had attended. I was very disappointed that the photographer didn’t get as many photographs as I would have liked but the wedding will stand in our memories forever. I’ll see if I can come up with an additional post and I appreciate your kind compliments…I admire your style. xo, Karen
On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 5:58 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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taylor greenwalt said:
OH MY GOSH…her bouquet is gorgeous! I’m with Debra…I would love to see more…everything is so unique..
Sorry I haven’t stopped by…my parents haven’t been well…
Karen B. said:
Julie, First, I hope your parents are getting better. I send my warm wishes for a recovery. I will have to pour through the images and see if I can come up with another post filled with some of the noteworthy details. Thank you for your compliments. =) Karen
On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 6:25 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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trouverlesoleil said:
Karen, Such a beautiful family and wedding.. I like the winter wedding/English Castle feel and the bouquet is unlike anything I have ever seen. It is truly stunning as is the bridesmaid bouquet. It’s no wonder it took SO long to get the photos from your photographer! I will pin a few of these!
xxleslie
Karen B. said:
Thank you, Leslie. I admire Sarah’s vision, and her ability to pull it off. It was so much fun. xo, Karen
On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 7:46 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Victoria • Restoring our Victorian said:
It kills me that I missed the opportunity to have THE MOST DRAMATIC BOUQUET EVER. (You know I mean it.) Her whole wedding is stunning– so creative and unusual (and not pinterest-y.)
p.s.– your necklace gets my seal of extreme-approval.
Karen B. said:
You know me well, that was a huge leap for me to buy such a bright and dramatic necklace…I’m so much of a follower where fashion is concerned. Sarah is more you than me…not afraid to express herself and hates to be like everyone else, ie Pinterest! xo
On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 8:34 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Vicki said:
What a beautiful family photo! Sarah is very creative and I’m sure the wedding was very memorable for everyone. I’ll be picturing it now, next time I go to that museum! 🙂
I like this post- I’ve thought before how I’d change my bouquet. My mom & I were influenced by Princess Diana, even though I got married in ’95. I had an enormous all white bouquet. These days I’d go much simpler, like that sweet ranunculus and roses bouquet.
Sarah’s dress is gorgeous, too. Now you’ll have to do a post on your family’s wedding dresses! 🙂
Karen B. said:
Vicki,
Thanks for this…it’s so nice to hear good things about a post and especially a family wedding. 🙂 I agree, my bouquet was not what I would do today. My wedding was simple but I got married in (don’t tell anyone) ’73! Weddings were pretty cookie cutter and I kept mine smallish due to finances. I didn’t mind though, I was eager to marry my sweetie and it’s lasted 41 years so I guess the size of the wedding and the particulars don’t have to matter.
I may do another post on the wedding and tie it to dresses…that could be fun.
xo
On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 10:34 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Gretchen said:
I loved seeing the beautiful wedding photos again. It reminded me of the truly magical evening that all of us lucky guests experienced. I am a huge fan of Sarah’s creative and unique sense of style.
I have to admit that I don’t remember anything about my own wedding bouquet. I think it was small and had roses in it. I would like to think (if I could do it all over again) that I would chose something as romantic and unusual as the one with the tree fern. Even though I don’t think of myself as a “pink person” I absolutely loved that gorgeous oversized bouquet in the slipper pinks.
Karen B. said:
Gretchen, I think I would have a hard time choosing…there are so many beautiful options. It makes my head swim. I can remember my bouquet only because it was so unusual…never to be mentioned again! 🙂 Karen
On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 10:31 PM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Jermaine said:
Hi Karen,
You could never show too many images of this stunning event…love everything about Sarah’s creative and original vision of the wedding and reception from her non traditional blue toile dress to all the details that no doubt transported all of you to that imaginary English castle she envisioned for this special evening. And having had the opportunity to meet her in person, I got a small glimpse of just how fortunate you are to welcome her to the family. All the best to you and your beautiful family.
Jermaine
Karen B. said:
Hi Jermaine,
I’m so happy you stopped by for a quick peek at some of the wedding pictures. You were so encouraging with your offer of support and understanding of Sarah’s vision. I appreciated that at the time, more than you know!
Thank you so much, we’re very lucky to have such a sweet and talented young woman in our family. Our son thinks so too!
xo,
Karen
Linda Coble said:
Karen,
What a lovely post! Thanks to Victoria for a wonderful idea. If I had it to do all over again, I think I’d go with a bouquet of sunflowers (much like the one in your post). I also loved the bouquet with peonies and roses.
It was also great to see the pics of Kevin and Sarah’s wedding. What a darling couple they are.
Karen B. said:
Thanks, Linda. I did love the peonies and roses bouquet as well. It could be difficult to choose with all of the inspiration out there today. xo, Karen
On Thu, Jun 12, 2014 at 11:35 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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kristywharvey said:
What a beautiful wedding! Wow! Those bouquets are out of this world! I know you are a wonderful mother-in-law 🙂
I’m SO GLAD that someone is on my pecan side today. I had people texting me and stopping me on my errands all day today to tell me that they were converting me to their pronunciation. So hilarious! But you and I know we’re right!
I just love these photos. I’ve only been married seven years, so my flowers wouldn’t look much different. I had a winter wedding too, and we had big white hydrangeas, orchids, roses, lamb’s ear… I know there were more flowers, but I can’t remember what! We added in fun things like artichokes and broccolini too! And the floral designer made these massive moss arrangements to hang from the tent ceiling. It was all white and green and (hopefully) classic enough that I’ll always love those photos. What a fun thing to remember today! Thanks for sharing your pretty photos. Your family is gorgeous!
Karen B. said:
Kristy, I love that people are using fresh berries and mosses and such for weddings, or even centerpieces for entertaining. Your wedding, I’m sure was beautiful…you have such a great style. The whole pecan pronunciation debate makes me smile. I really didn’t know why some southerners pronounced it one way and others the* right* way. 🙂 I’m really having fun visiting your blog and will always be faithful to the wonderful Design Chic as well. More, when it comes to good design, is always better! Thanks so much for stopping by and for the kind compliments about the wedding. Karen
On Thu, Jun 12, 2014 at 4:22 PM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Andrea376 said:
They are simply beautiful! I just loved the one in slipper pinks and whites. I am sure they will enhance the bridal grace in the best possible way. Mesmerizing beauty 🙂
Karen B. said:
I think the slipper pink and white bouquet was my favorite too. Although the one with the tree fern was intriguing.
Thanks so stopping by.
Enjoy your weekend.
Karen
Anita Rivera said:
WOW. I have never seen a wedding with this fabulous theme, ever! First of all, your daughter-in-law’s bouquet is stunning and abundant, and then the taxidermy touch to the table, now THAT is thinking outside of the box and adding an element of wonder to the wedding. The guests will never forget this celebration! Karen, if I had to do it all over, I think I’d keep ROSES in my bouquet, but I’d have it much bigger and with only white roses. I had a small bouquet (we couldn’t afford much back then!) and pink roses were part of the picture. But for me, white roses are the way to go!
Thank you so much for coming to visit me. May you have a creative and fun Friday! Anita
Karen B. said:
Anita, thanks so much for your kind compliments and for your visit, always a pleasure. I think I would be inclined to select the bouquet with the tree fern. Our wedding was a winter wedding and I love the idea of some kind to natural element. Roses and peonies are unbeatable where flower arrangements are concerned. Have a wonderful weekend. xo, Karen
On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 3:34 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Teresa @ Splendid Sass said:
Karen-
I love your choices here! So many beautiful choices!
We have come a long way in bouquets!
Teresa
xoxo
Karen B. said:
Yes, I was drawn to more than one bouquet in this post…I’m leaning towards the peonies with roses. Karen
Sent from my iPad
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Tone on Tone Loi Thai said:
Oh my gosh – beautiful!!! Such an original and unusual theme. I love the inclusion of the antler in the bouquet – brilliant! Karen, please show us more photos from the wedding. Thanks for sharing. Loi
Karen B. said:
Hi Loi, I am working on a post with additional images from the wedding. It was unique and fun! Thanks for your compliments, my daughter-in-law was so flattered and excited to read some of the nice comments about her wedding. xo, Karen
On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 4:32 AM, Garden, Home & Party wrote:
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Kelly - Talk of the House said:
What an imaginative and gorgeous wedding! James Farmer would love it. I’m with Debra and would love to see more. Her bouquet was beautiful. I was of the Princess Diana age, and along with “the dress”, had all white flowers in my bouquet. If I were to do it all over today, the dress would be a slim satin one from J Crew, and the flowers wouldl probably be a simple bouquet of red gerbera daisies with ribbon wrapped stems. Quite a change! But I would keep the same guy 🙂
Karen B. said:
Kelly, Ha,ha, yes, I would keep my same guy too. I would change my flowers and probably be overwhelmed with the options for all other details. Thanks for your sweet compliment about the wedding. I’m working on a follow up post later this year. Thank you for stopping by, I always enjoy our visits. xo, Karen
Sent from my iPad
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Karen B. said:
Thanks for the link to my post. The taxidermy was as a result of the wedding being held at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. The museum allowed our daughter-in-law to choose the animals, birds, etc she wanted on the table. lol.
It was an unique but beautiful wedding.
Karen