One Sweet Bride- Michelle

Welcome back! I'm so happy to introduce to you One Sweet Bride Michelle! Michelle and her now husband got married this past Saturday at the Berkeley Plantation just outside of Richmond. With all the busyness preparing for Michelle's big day, I didn't get a chance to write her One Sweet Bride post! Better late than never I suppose! Michelle is a simple girl who loves vintage touches and wanted a overall rustic look. Think tons of bud vases with pops of peaches and corals with classic details tied in through her bouquets. Gorgeous. 

Michelle and I have a kind of different story with how we met. Usually a bride will be referred to me via another wedding vendor or will find throughs google searches. Well Michelle and I met because of my pup Levi. I went into PetSmart to pick up a few last minute items before Levi's big arrival day an Michelle was working there as an associate. She helped me create Levi's name tag because the machine was acting up. I noticed that she had an engagement ring her hand and I asked her when the big day was. She said next September. As you know, I was a September bride (1 year this week!) and have a special place for other late Summer brides. I told Michelle that I was a wedding floral designer and the rest is history. So fun to meet brides that way!

It's been so fun planning her florals with Michelle for the past 10 months and I will miss our Starbucks dates. Here is a look into the inspiration for her wedding flowers and as always, I asked Michelle to answer a few questions. Congratulations, Michelle! 

This wedding was right up my alley with tons of corals, peaches, and navy. Classic, but with rustic touches made the day simply lovely. 

What is your Fiances name? 

 John Ochtyun

What's the story? How did you two meet? 

    Well it's actually kind of funny. John and I both worked at Petsmart at the time. He worked at a different store than me and I was only working part time and going to school full time. He was doing district manager duties at my store and I was on a ladder cleaning fish tanks. He started to walk out the door and decided to come back in because "he was too hard on one of my managers," and wanted to apologize to him. That's what he said at least. He then saw me and approached me and introduced himself. We went on a few dates and it was history from there. 

Tell us all the proposal details? 

    The proposal was perfect. Well other than one slight detail. We went to Virginia Beach for a few nights.  The first day we were there headed out to the beach all day. We were going to go back to the hotel room, take showers, and head to a fancy restaurant. Low and behold we got back to the hotel and they said they hot water heater had damage and it was being replaced at that time and could take anywhere from 2-4 hours. I was absolutely not taking a cold shower, so needless to say we did not go to a fancy restaurant but instead a local one. After dinner, we took a sunset stroll on the beach. John knows I prefer not to be in the spotlight so we walked for a while on the beach until there weren't many big crowds around the residential houses. He got down on one knee and I truly thought he was kidding. I was a happy girl!

Where is your big day happening?

    Berkeley Plantation, in Charles City

What is the inspiration for your wedding? 

     I've always loved anything rustic and antique, and chose the color scheme of navy, coral, and peach!

What has been most important to you while planning?

     The most important thing has been to include my family, and Johns family in decision making for the wedding. I really wanted them to feel and know their opinion matters to me.

 

 What about the wedding are you most excited about?

     Of course the most exciting part is marrying John and becoming his wife. But I absolutely love my dress and can't wait to put it on and wear it all day. I'll never want to take it off!

What are you most looking forward to about getting married?

     Once I get married, I look forward to building more memories with John and my family, joined with his. We hope to have kids in the future as well!

Any advice for fellow brides in the planning process?

    Absolutely. Leave it to the professionals! Just remember, they have done plenty of weddings, more than you I am sure. They know what they are doing and you need to put your trust in them. It is more expensive but doing everything yourself is very stressful, especially the couple of days leading up to the wedding. If you are a perfectionist it is hard to sit back and let others take care of everything, but just know it is worth it!

Best Wishes Michelle and John! Enjoy Mexico! 

Later on the blog this week, I'm talking styled shoots and how to do Fall wedding flowers right! 

Love,

Michelle 

Meet a One Sweet Bride- Lindsay

You know when you meet a client and you just click? That is Lindsay for me. Lindsay is as classic as they come, but with a little pop of spunk. I'm so excited for her wedding this coming weekend on September 6th here in Richmond! Lindsay and her fiancé James are sure to be a couple I will miss working with and I wish them all the happiness in the world. 

All photos of Lindsay and James by the amazingly talented Alisandra Photo

How cute is this bride to be?! Gahh! 

Here is a little sneak of what you'll see this Sunday! Classic greens and whites are ruling the day friends and you know I'm all about that!

   I can't wait to see it all come together!

Lindsay was so sweet to answer some questions earlier this week about her big day! 

What is your Fiance’s name?

James! Which is also my dad’s name…so there’s that.

What’s the story? How did you two meet?

A mutual friend introduced us at a Mad Men themed party. 

Tell us all the proposal details?

I hate surprises so I had a sneaky suspicion something was awry when James told me one Friday night back in April that we were going out on a date, but he wouldn’t tell me where! He told me to meet him at the Georgetown waterfront at 7p so I did and there he was, picnic blanket in tow, saying he just wanted to sit down and chat. After a while I got really into the chatting to which he finally interrupted saying, “will you just kiss me?!” He then got out the ring and said some great things (which my brain seems to no longer remember) and then we headed to Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown to celebrate. Martin’s was the first place we ever met before the Mad Men party years ago. 

Where is your big day happening?

The ceremony is taking place at the Bon Air Christian Church and the reception at The Bolling Haxall House in downtown Richmond. 

What is the inspiration for your wedding?

I’m a pretty simple girl. I have a classic, more elegant style whereas James has a more modern style. Between the two of us, I think we have found some ways to incorporate both of our preferences into our wedding. 

What has been most important to you while planning?

Our ceremony has been a very important part of our planning. James and I are very rooted in our Christian faith and we wanted to share our joy and God’s goodness and blessing with all of those who are coming to celebrate with us.  

What has made you the most nervous?

I’m pretty nervous about walking down the aisle! I tore my ACL back in March and am waiting until after we are married to have surgery. Thankfully I have a trusty brace, lots of tulle to cover it up, and a dad I can lean on when I’m walking down on the big day. 

What about your wedding are you the most excited about?

It’s so rare to have all of the people we love in the same place – we can’t wait to celebrate with the people who have supported and strengthened us to get to this day. 

What are you most looking forward to about being married?

We have focused a lot recently on planning a wedding in just five months. As a result, some of our relationship building has taken a backseat and we are both ready to build the foundation for our family and our new lives together. 

 Any advice for fellow brides in the planning process?

While yes, your wedding day is likely the most important day in your life thus far, remember that it is just one single day. Make time to build up your relationship with your fiancé, because while linens, china, and of course florals are top of your mind right now, after your wedding day you’re starting the rest of your life with this person and you want to get off on the right foot. 

Stay tuned for more from Lindsay and James' big day! Be sure to follow along over on Instagram!

Love,

Michelle

My top 10 tips for your wedding flowers

 I was honored to give some advice on working with a wedding florist on two of my sweet friend's blogs earlier this year which you can read here and here and today I want to share my ultimate top 10 flower tips for your wedding. The wedding flower world is a tricky one and doing your homework is a must. Flowers not only make your event space pretty, but they can completely transform it. These tips will help get you off on the right foot so you can ultimately get the look you are after. 

Photo by Natalie Jayne Photography

1. Take advantage of your venue

This is broken down into 2 sections. The first being that you should let your ceremony space significantly influence your florals. Let's say you're getting married in a park, winery, or another outdoor venue with its own natural beauty, take advantage! You don't need a lot flower wise in a setting where there's already greenery or flowers, or both! I have a 2016 bride who is a smarty pants and knew because her ceremony was in a garden (Hi Rachel!) she could keep her floral decor to a minimum and that's exactly what we are doing. We're adding some greenery and a few pops of white to give it just a little boom. 

Pay attention to your reception venue too. Let it work for you. Glamorous ballroom? Wildflowers would probably look out of place and you wouldn't to bunch modern flowers such as orchids in a barn setting. Your venue will absolutely work to your advantage if you let it. A great example of this (although it wasn't a wedding) was a luncheon I was part of with Tart Event Co. for Creative at Heart back in March. We had this beautiful space, but with a not so pretty wall to wall carpet. The carpet was navy with giant peach and green swirls. Instead of trying to work against this color scheme and create around it, Amelia and Kelsey of Tart worked with it. They created a space around that carpet and created a citrus theme. We did 125 ft of green garland with ton of Juliet peach roses, yellow and white ranunculus, and mini oranges. Working with what we had we were able to create utter gorgeousness...and those balloons still get me.

Images by Hope Taylor Photography and V.A. Photography

2. Know the difference between a florist and a floral designer

I get asked this all the time. People want to know what to call me. Florist or floral designer? I am a floral designer, but I want to tell you the difference as depending on your needs either can help you achieve what you desire. So here we go...A floral designer prides themselves on doing complete custom work. To them every event is a blank canvas and they work to create an overall look and feel for your wedding. On the other hand, a florist will create various floral pieces and deliver them to your venue. They are usually pre-designed creations where you can change colors and such. The amount of weddings each take on varies too. A floral designer most likely won't take on more than 1-2 events per day because of the level of creativity and amount of set up time needed whereas a florist takes on multiple weddings per day usually because a florist works with multiple employees where they have different teams go out. A designer typically works for herself with maybe 1 or 2 assistants. Both will give you a professional experience, it's just depends on what exactly you want floral wise. Basically, a designer will create a whole streamlined look whereas a florist will make pieces to go with a look you've already dreamed up. Keep your budget in mind too. Because of the time they spend designing and their custom work, designers are going to cost you more.

3. Flowers take up a big piece of your budget.

This is just the cold hard truth. Yes, there are ways to save money here and there and a good floral designer will show you how you can, but leave 10% of your total wedding cost for flowers.

4. Think outside of bouquets and centerpieces.

Bouquets and centerpieces are the most important, of course! Your bridal bouquet is the most photographed detail of the day, but there are other pieces to consider too! Think about your ceremony! This is most likely the one time of the entire day where the eyes of all your guests will be in one place...your altar. Why not use flowers there? You can have your designer place flowers on an arbor to create the prettiest frame around you and your (new!) husband. The photos of the two of you standing up there are some of the ones you'll want to frame, why not make them even more beautiful. Don't forget about your aisle either! This is often the very first thing your guests will see and you can really set the tone for the whole day using gorgeous arrangements. Another place flower arrangements can go are your escort table...seating cards sitting in a bed of fluffy white hydrangea? Ummm yes please, your cocktails tables, bar, and gift table are all great options to place a little flower love making it a complete and streamlined event. 

5. Your dress and your bouquet....Do what you want! 

The type, colors, and flowers used in your bouquet should reflect your overall style and personality. I feel like many florists say that your bouquet should go along with your dress and while I feel that it's something to consider, I personally believe times have changed drastically and your bouquet can be whatever you want it to be. So this may be quite different than what you've heard, but I'm changing it up! What I do think should stay the same is what we talked about in #1 with keeping your venue in mind...but if you're a petite bride and dreaming of a large and obnoxiously full bouquet...DO IT. There I said it. It's your day, do what you want. 

I love creating a streamlined event-it's one of the reasons I only book full service weddings. That aside though-sometimes I just love when a bridal bouquet is different from everything else. it's refreshing! Your bridesmaids don't have to match you!

6. Speaking of bouquets...

Hold yours at your waist. It lengthens your torso and creates and elegant silhouette. If you do opt for a large bouquet, holding it at your waistline won't obscure your dress. You're welcome! 

7. Be open minded to flower types.

Similar to how a bridal salon says to be open to trying on different types of dresses, you need to be open about flower types. This is mainly based on your budget, but also the season your wedding falls on. Nothing is more heartbreaking than having a September bride who wants coral peonies. They are just not in season then. Trust me, I was a September bride who wanted coral peonies...Boo! Doesn't mean you won't have a beautiful event, it just means you need to be open to perhaps garden roses. Many flowers have lookalikes and your floral designer will walk you through finding the perfect ingredients to make your vision come to life.

8. Add sentiment with your flowers.

It's widely known that I am a sentimental person. Always have been and the same was true for my own wedding. I had custom patches made for Chris and I.  One for my dress and one for inside of his vest that had our song lyrics on them. Loved them! Flowers are another place to add meaningful details. I've had a bride ask me to attach a small photo of her grandmother to the stems of her bouquet with some lace. Another fun idea is incorporating where you and your fiancé met on your bouquet...like if you met in a library you could attach a little book charm. The ideas of endless and I love that your bouquet can mean more than just being a pretty accessory, 

9. Pinterest

What did we do before Pinterest? How did weddings ever get planned??

It's such an amazing tool for us vendors and brides, but beware. I know you fall in love with all of the images of floral installations and gorgeous bouquets. What they don't show you is how expensive they are. It's heartbreaking when a bride comes to me with dozens of Pinterest images and says "I want this exact thing" when it's sadly not in their budget. Some of those pinned floral walls and arbors cost into the thousands. Pinterest is priceless when planning, but it can get overwhelming and before you know it you have 2,000 pins on your wedding board. It happens to the best of us.                                                                                                                                When you're on a floral budget the key is to achieve the overall look you're after not exact replicas. Go into your consultation with your floral designer knowing that those pretty pics you've brought for inspiration might not be doable within your budget. Be open to changes and suggestions that will get you the overall feel you are going for while sticking to your budget. Knowing this will prevent you from being let down. 

10. Trust your designer

I've touched on this one before, but it's a biggie and I want to bring it up again. You've met with a few floral designers and you've booked your perfect match. She gets you, she's excited for your day, and you feel at ease with her. Trust her. She's a artist and artists work best when they aren't being told exactly what to do. It's much easier to make your wedding amazing when your designer has been given creative range. Of course reach out to her throughout planning with any questions you have, but let her do her thing. 

Happy Planning!

Love,

Michelle