Woodinville Wedding Flowers

This wedding was one of my highlights from 2017.  April, the bride, had a beautiful and clear vision of what she wanted for her day.  Her gorgeous plum, lavender and white color palette was ahead of the trend!  From the wedding flowers through the beautiful calligraphy on all the paper goods, this lovely bride did a fantastic job scheming beautiful details.  It was an honor to work with her, and the wonderful team of vendors that made this wedding a standout event.  Kudos to Lloyd Photographers,  EVENTful Moments, and so many others who contributed (scroll down for a full list).

A lavish looking wedding that is still economical!

This wedding was truly gorgeous and lavish looking.  But you might be surprised to learn that we value engineered a lot of cost savings into the floral budget.  That is one of my strengths!  I always do my best to help my couples make the most of their budget, regardless of how large or small it may be.  Read on to see some of my tricks in action.

Locally-grown wedding flowers

I’m always thrilled to work with couples who are excited about my business mission to source local & seasonal blooms.  For this Woodinville wedding, the only flowers that came from outside of western Washington were a few of the Roses and the Eucalypus (which are from California).  The stars of April’s flower palette are Dahlias, Roses, and ‘Black Knight’ Scabiosa.  I’m really proud to say that my own garden generously contributed many of the ‘Koko Loco’ and ‘Distant Drums’ Roses, the Scabiosa and the trailing red Amaranth.  I love seeing things I’ve grown myself in my work – I feel like a proud mother!   And I love working with flowers from farmers that I know.  It is a pleasure to give people flowers that are grown without nasty chemicals, that  know are safe to touch and smell.

The boutonnieres feature dainty Rose buds with silvery foliage and lavender ribbon trim.  For the groom’s I used a sweet little button Dahlia called ‘Glenplace’, also from my gardens.

Save money by using ceremony flowers in your reception

A great way to save a little money on your wedding flowers is to try to “stack the uses” for certain pieces.  Here, we created the head table decor almost entirely from flowers that had been used elsewhere.  The elevated centerpieces started the day at the entrance to the ceremony aisle.  The low centerpieces are the bridesmaid bouquets.  Using a lovely container (rented for even greater savings), such as these gold mercury glass vases, the bouquets get a second life!  The ribbons from the bouquets wove through sprigs of Eucalyptus, creating a romantic and beautiful runner.  All this drama and impact for only the cost of some Eucalyptus stems, a super cute sign, and the sequin runner that held it all together.  That’s pretty good!  I’ll give myself a gold star for value engineering.

Greet guests with beauty to set the tone of your event

One way to set the tone for your event is to start with a beautiful welcome table.  Since April had so many lovely details planned, we didn’t go overly nuts on flowers here.  I created a medium sized centerpiece to compliment, but not compete with, the rest of the elements on this table.   Instead of a guest book, they had a map for guests to sign that they will be able to display in their home as a momento of their wedding – that’s a pretty cool idea!  They also displayed a sweet book of their engagement photos.

Combine different price point centerpieces to save money and entertain guests

For the guest dining tables, I created two “looks”.  This makes it more interesting for guests who are milling about and soaking up the pretty, and it helps to spread the budget out.  For half of the tables we created a low floral centerpiece in a mercury glass compote dish.  These make a bigger impact.  Each of these pieces is meticulously crafted and loaded with botanical details to engage the viewer and create a very lush, romantic, garden feel.  For the rest of the tables, we employ a collage-style collection of lovely bud vases and candles.  The mercury glass and brass add a rich feeling and keep it from feeling casual, but since there are only a few stems per table, it is affordable.

Rent containers to save money

Renting vases and candles is another way to save money, time, hassle, and to keep your carbon footprint low.  For the retail price of one or two of these lovely bud vases, my bride was able to rent a whole centerpiece worth.  I have loads of vases & candle holders for rent to help you save money on your wedding flower budget!

Brass candles are a really hot look, but many venues won’t allow the open flame of taper candles.  How do you like our charming solution?  We topped our brass candlesticks with mercury glass votives or with a Dahlia.  I think it’s a very cute look!

There were so many lovely parts to this Woodinville wedding.  Enjoy perusing the image gallery below.  I’d love to help you get the most out of your wedding flowers budget.  Drop a line if you’d like to chat!

Last, here’s the review this bride left for me on Wedding Wire:

“I cannot put into words how much I recommend Tobey Nelson Events & Design! I hired Tobey to do all the florals for my wedding at the Hollywood Schoolhouse in Woodinville, WA. Working with Tobey was beyond easy and more than I could have hoped for. When planning my wedding I did a ton of research on vendors and asked many of my friends as well for their recommendations. Tobey was recommended to me by a friend. After looking at her website and emailing with her, I knew her style would totally capture what I was dreaming of.
Tobey was very responsive throughout the entire process. She was so easy to work with and super talented! She clearly knows her flowers and is very passionate about her business. I sent her a collection of photos of the style of floral design I wanted early on and she basically took it from there. It was almost too easy! As an Interior Designer, I had a detailed and particular design style in my mind for what I wanted. She delivered a design that was beyond what I was dreaming of! I met with her just once and knew right away that I was in good hands and that she “got” the look I wanted. She worked with me to come up with a design that fit my budget. She had some great ideas on how to reuse florals between the ceremony and reception that allowed me to get all the florals I wanted and stay within my budget.
Tobey has a great eye for design aesthetics and literally I have her to thank for how beautiful my ceremony and reception turned out. Everyone was raving about the flowers. She took care of all the wedding party flowers and all the flowers used to decorate the venue (ceremony, reception tables, cake flowers, cocktail tables, welcome table, head table, etc.) I was so blown away the day of my wedding to walk around and see it all come together. Beyond the amazing flowers she sourced, she sourced all the various elements I wanted for the design and décor (pedestals, vases, arbor, candle holders, etc.) Above all, her personality is so delightful!”

Full credits to all the businesses that played a part on this lovely event:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Hollywood Schoolhouse

Day-of Wedding Planner: Eventful Moments

Photography:  Lloyd Photographers

Officiant: Canyon Hills Community Church – Jim Kress

Wedding Dress Designer: Allure Bridals (from La Belle Elaine’s)

Bridesmaid Dress Designer: David’s Bridal

Tux: Men’s Wearhouse

Veil: La Belle Elaine’s

Shoes: Badgley Mischka

Hair/Makeup: Off White Makeup & Beauty – Megan Bingham

Florist: Tobey Nelson Events & Design

DJ: Seattle Wedding DJ – Sean Antonius

Harp Player for Ceremony:  Bronn Journey

Bakery: New Renaissance Cakes – Bonnie Lyons

Catering: Hollywood Schoolhouse

Decorations:

Wood Signs: Paper and Pine Co. (Etsy)

Cake Plates & Set of Mrs. & Mrs. Cake Forks: BHLDN

Champagne Flutes for Bride & Groom & Cake Cutting/Server: Kate Spade

Here Comes the Bride Flag: TheRitzyRose (Etsy)

Map Guest Book: Blush Design Co (Etsy – Owner Cassie Upton)

Linens & Rentals: Eventful Moments,  CORT Party Rentals, and Tobey Nelson Events

Party Favors: Fran’s Chocolates

Invitations, Programs & Menu: Minted

Photobooth: The SnapBar

Escort/Name Cards & Table Numbers: Krisanna Elizabeth – Calligraphy Design

Getting Ready Robes for Bridesmaids: ROSIFYCo (Etsy)

Embroidered Handkerchiefs (with Wedding Dress Lace): BroiderieStitch (Etsy – Owner Jackie Soar)