After a year of very few weddings due to the pandemic, we’ve really missed having our hands on flowers and bringing designs to life beyond the computer screen. The February 2021 Bridal Showcase at the Merrimon Wynne House presented the perfect opportunity for us to get our creativity flowing again.
A couple times a year for their showcases, Merrimon Wynne opens their doors to engaged couples to meet vendors and see the house decked out in beautiful flowers, linens, table settings, gowns, and the like, to help them envision what their wedding day could look like. It’s a great opportunity for couples to kick start their wedding planning, and a fun way for vendors to demonstrate their unique aesthetic and offerings to potential clients.
For the February showcase, we were tasked with donning the Carriage House and Pergola in florals, and collaborating with wedding planner Cheryl-Anne Kast of Kast Events Co. on the overall design of the space. We were all feeling the winter blues at the time of our first Zoom meeting, and agreed that a sunny, fresh, spring-beckoning design would enliven our spirits and help guests feel uplifted too. We also hoped to create a look that would inspire people to think outside the box of traditional wedding style, opting for a more seasonal and modern approach.
To beckon the sunlight through the lingering chill, we chose a seasonal palette of early spring bulb flowers and branches in a palette of juicy yellow, buttercream, bronze, white, and icy blue. Floral materials included hyacinth, dutch iris, garden rose, lilac, delphinium, sweet pea, carnation, tulip, spirea, muscari, forsythia, and yellow acacia. We crafted an array of minimalist, airy designs, striving to mimic the graceful way that branches and blooms open up in early spring, basking in the glow. We love how the palette came together against the lovely table settings selected by Cheryl-Anne!
We had fun creating several large installations on-site, each totally free of floral foam. The first was a more minimalist composition of yellow acacia, forsythia and eucalyptus to welcome guests into the pergola space and create an aesthetically cohesive transition into the Carriage House. The second was a composition of yellow acacia streamers hanging from the center of the Carriage House ceiling, amidst a cluster of elegant pendant lights from Get Lit Special Event Lighting (thank you Get Lit for helping us get these hung!). Finally, we constructed a freestanding half-arch in the lounge space as a focal point for the back of the room. This was a heavily floral piece with a rich layering of textures and hues. Installations are a fantastic way to create focal points, lending whimsical warmth and interest to large open spaces.
The best part of these showcase events is connecting with vendors who we haven’t a chance to know well (beyond Instagram!). We really enjoyed spending the day in the Carriage House space, chatting with other talented vendors. We also loved seeing our florist friends Hathaway Floral and Bowerbird Flowers bring the tented lawn and main house to life through their incredible work. We’re thankful to be part of such a collaborative, supporting and positive wedding vendor community. Enjoy browsing these stunning photos by Jordan Maunder, and make sure to check out the other vendors involved, who are all linked at the bottom of the page. If you’re starting to plan a wedding, we hope this shoot inspires you to think beyond traditional wedding color palettes and styles, and to trust us to bring your love story to life through seasonal flora and thoughtful details. Whatever brought you to this page, we hope it nudges you to get outside this spring and enjoy the sun’s return!
