August 3, 2017

Real Weddings

Lindsey and Nick - 11/26/16

August 3, 2017

Real Weddings

Lindsey and Nick got married Thanksgiving weekend. Most of you know that I work retail as well but I decided to take on this wedding anyway. I'm so glad I did because it was gorgeous!

The wedding was at Olde St. Anne's Church and Lindsey was walked down the aisle by her children. Is there anything cuter?

The Wednesday before the wedding, I participated in a Friends trivia night with some friends. I went over to the table that was our biggest competition and one of the girls recognized me and asked if I was a florist. She exclaimed that I was doing her brother's wedding that weekend. It was fun to get a chance to meet a lot of the people from the wedding in a casual setting beforehand. (BTW my team totally won trivia but they gave us a good run for our money!)

Lindsey carried a bouquet of baby's breath, white roses and white mini calla lilies. The bridesmaids wore mismatched champagne dresses and carried bouquets of baby's breath. The bride's daughter carries a smaller version of the bridal bouquet.

The groomsman on the left is a good friend of mine and I provided flowers for his wedding this June!

I wish Lindsey and Nick (and the kids) such a long and wonderful life together! They were an absolute delight to work with! Congratulations on your marriage and new family!

July 23, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Elly and Nathan - 11/04/16

July 23, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Elly is one of my brides that I didn't meet before her wedding due to them living out of town. I actually didn't meet her until the day after the wedding but we clicked from the very first phone call. Elly worked in the hotel industry so she's been around a ton of weddings and has a great eye for design!

Even though they got married in November, the weather was absolutely perfect! The wedding and reception were at Isle of Capri in Bettendorf but I'm glad they got a chance to go outside for pictures.

The bouquets were white peonies, white roses, blush spray roses, baby's breath and silver dollar eucalyptus. Peonies are really rare in November and they did not want to open for me, but they turned out so lovely and perfectly on trend.

The reception featured greenery, gold terrariums and tons of candlelight. It was a really romantic and trendy vibe.

On half of the tables, there were triangle terrariums with ruscus and baby's breath around the base. On the other half, there were hexagon terarriums with roses, spray roses and eucalyptus around the base.

The real showstopper was the ceremony backdrop that Elly and I spent months deciding what to do. It was truly stunning and one of my favorite pieces I've created.

The design featured a variety of sizes of cylinder vases with flowers and candles. From the top down, the flowers were dendrobium orchids, white hydrangea, white carnations, blush spray roses and the small gold vased arrangements double purposed as the centerpieces for the parents' tables.

Top images - Giraffe Photography , Bottom images - pinterest photos from bride — Top images - Giraffe Photography , Bottom images - pinterest photos from bride

After many discussions and email threads, Elly sent me the photos on the bottom and asked to do something similar. I'm obsessed with what we came up with. Our biggest issue is what we were going to sit all the vases on. We wanted the candles to really dance and sparkle so we didn't want to just use a table. We considered huge mirrors, but one this size would have run hundreds of dollars and that was out of the budget. We landed on using the glass top from my entertainment center! Never underestimate the use of random objects around the house.

Since the wedding, Elly has started a business of her own. Lattz Travel Group focuses on romantic vacations such as honeymoons and anniversary trips. Elly is a delight so if you need help planning a honeymoon, you should check her out!

I loved working with Elly and Nathan for their special day and have been lucky enough to keep in touch via FB. I hope they continue to live a blessed and happy life together!

April 13, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Florist Life, Real Weddings

Katie and Michael - 10/22/16

April 13, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Florist Life, Real Weddings

This wedding is extra special to me. You may be wondering why. The groom is one of my brothers and I FINALLY have a sister now! I'm also sharing this on my FOURTH business anniversary, so it is definitely going to be a ton of pictures :)

I can't remember the first time I met Katie many years ago. If I was going to give it a guess, it would probably have been on our family boat. She fit into our family from the very beginning so our first meeting doesn't stand out in my memory.

Katie's family has always been welcoming to me. They live about 2 blocks away from me so I see them when I'm out walking the dogs. I've texted Katie the morning of the Turkey Trot and ask to run with her family, they've invited me to family dinners - all around great people that I'm glad to be connected to forever.

I DO remember the day I found out they were engaged! I got a text early in the morning with a picture of the two of them showing off a gorgeous new ring. Michael's caption told me he "finally locked it down," After 5 years together, I'm sure they were getting nagged a lot about when they would finally tie the knot. A few weeks later, Katie texted me late on Thursday night asking if I wanted to run the Bix with her on Saturday morning because her partner backed out.

We were running along the course and we were talking about various wedding related things. I remember asking if she had thought about how many bridesmaids and who they would be. There was a long pause before she said, "well, you, hopefully." I was so thrilled, suddenly the last half of the race was a little easier.

I was lucky enough to be included in the planning process, even getting to visit their venue before they booked it. Because I was doing the flowers as well as being a bridesmaid, they wanted me to be able to ask any questions I may have about being able to use the space. The Iowa Events Center is a huge room that we added lounge furniture in part of the space.

On Thanksgiving, Michael and Katie asked all of us to be a part of their wedding. Brothers Nick (middle) and David (left) got fun "socks to help me tie the knot" and were asked to be Best Man and Groomsman. I got a little bottle of champagne and a Michelle koozie officially asking me to be a bridesmaid. We were all so excited to be asked to join their special day.

Katie carried a bouquet of white roses, free spirit orange roses, orange asiatic lilies, mango calla lilies, and orange ranunculus. I'm kind of obsessed with the free spirit roses so I hope more brides choose to use them!

The week of the wedding, my mom and I loaded up a fully packed SUV to head to Des Moines to work on the flowers. When I say fully packed, I mean my passenger seat was fully forward and there was a box in my lap.

The venue was gracious enough to give us a studio room right across from the reception hall to be able to work in. Having my mom there to help made everything run smoothly and quickly. We were both surprised that we didn't bicker or anything the whole weekend! Having an "assistant" who used to run her own floral shop was a HUGE blessing. Even though I was in the wedding and doing the flowers, I don't think I have ever felt so relaxed about a wedding weekend.

When David flew in, we put him to work too. He even made the toss bouquet! The boys loved their duties of filling vases with water beads. If you've ever run your hands through a bucket of water beads, you know it is a weird feeling (and definitely something boys would love messing with). David even mad the toss bouquet - it took him almost an hour because he is such a perfectionist, but he did a great job! If the whole doctor thing doesn't work out for him, he has a job waiting for him at LLF.

After the rehearsal dinner, we recruited the cousins to help us put all the centerpieces out. This is when the male cousins learned that holding a vase of lilies (that has bloomed after arranging) close to their bodies leads to pollen on their shirts. They weren't super happy to learn that info, but recruiting a big group of people saved us a ton of time setting up centerpieces on Saturday.

Friday night, after helping me set up centerpieces, we decided to go out for a couple drinks with all the cousins and my parents. It was a lot of fun to let loose with family for a little bit before the big day!

Saturday morning, we had to be at the salon bright and early. Mom and I were first to get our hair and makeup done. From there, we left to put the finishing touches on the reception and then meet the rest of the bridal party at the church.

When Michael and Katie asked the groomsmen, with fun socks, to be in the wedding, their intent was for the guys to wear them on their wedding day. Everyone understood that, except Adam. So Adam proudly rocked his Nike socks, while everyone else was wearing fun socks.

After the ceremony, the bridal party had a blast frolicking around downtown Des Moines for group pictures.

The bridesmaids had bouquets of free spirit roses, orange asiatic lilies and mango calla lilies. Who looks better with the bouquets? I think the boys rocked the bouquet shot!

Of course, we had to recreate the classic Bridesmaids pose. It was harder than you might think to put your knee up and bend over awkwardly like that. The photographer, Alex, from The Bearded Studio had the movie cover out on his phone and made sure we were exactly right. That is some serious dedication!

We were late for our Grand Entrance into the reception because we spent a ridiculous amount on time on these escalators. But it made for some pretty cool pictures!

Our Grand Entrances were worth the wait. I wish I had seen my mom's face while I walked in with a grown man on my back, because I'm pretty sure it was a heart attack face. I didn't drop him and I didn't throw out my back!

The whole weekend was a blast and I'm so happy to finally call Katie a member of our family! I feel extra blessed that I could be such a big part of their day on so many levels.

Michael trying to dip was one of the funniest things I've ever seen! I hope they spend the rest of their life laughing as much as we all did on their wedding day.

A little LLF update because it is my business anniversary! I gave up sweets for Lent so I'll be celebrating tonight with some wine and Texas Roadhouse takeout and wait to buy myself a cake until Sunday.

My goal for the year was to book 30 weddings and I am proud to say that I have 32 on the books for the year! 3 of them I am a bridesmaid (or MOH) and a florist! It's going to be a wild year! I do still have some available dates for July - December if you're still looking for a florist.

Many of your have met my assistant, Kelsey, over the years. LLF is both overjoyed and sad that she is going to be welcoming a new baby in June so that means she won't be around for the majority of wedding season. With that, I am training some newbies to help me out this year!!

Lexi helped me out at the Bridal Expo this year so some of you may have met her already. Jordan and Megan are former brides of mine that are also going to join the LLF team. All 3 new minions will not only be training to help with day of wedding set ups, but also will be learning how to make corsages and boutonnieres so they can help with some design work. They are the reason I am able to take on so many weddings this year!

Year 4 is going to be full of new challenges, some really cool designs and a ton of amazing weddings! I've had one wedding in January of this year, but wedding season really kicks off the last week of April! If you don't have me on Snapchat, add me to see behind the scenes footage of weddings (and usually some cute dog pictures). I'll of course continue to post bouquet pics on wedding weekends and blog posts after I get images, but Snapchat is a great way to see the whole messy process. Snapchat name is liveloveflower (no S on the end because that was too many characters).

I've been so blessed on this journey so far and I can't wait to see where the next year takes me!

March 15, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Jordan and Kendal - 09/24/16

March 15, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Jordan and Kendal were referred to me by a friend and past client of mine. I've always had a rule about not working on my birthday, but I broke it for them. I am so glad I did! They turned out to be perfect clients and Jordan has grown into a friend. I've even recruited her to help with weddings. Their pictures are to die for, so I'm not even sorry for how many I'm going to post. There were too many good ones to narrow down for this post, I don't know how they decided which ones to print/order!

Jordan carried a bouquet of baby's breath, white roses, blush garden roses, white mini gerberas and silver dollar eucalyptus and a last minute addition of white snapdragons. I usually have a vision when it comes to making bouquets. With this one, I started out hating what I was doing but then I started falling in love with it

I just love special moments - like a father walking his daughter down the aisle, when a groom sees his bride coming down the aisle, and a mother helping her son get ready.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of baby's breath, white roses, white gerberas, and silver dollar eucalyptus

Her toss bouquet was baby's breath and silver dollar eucalyptus with blush streamers.

Her flower girl had a baby's breath flower crown with blush streamers. I love this picture where she is in the middle of all the girls. You can definitely tell she was in heaven being the center of attention.

This bridal party seems like a lot of fun! The girls wore dresses with convertible tops so they could wear whatever was comfortable for them. With a color scheme of blush and navy, they were perfectly on trend for 2016.

I'm not sure if it was the photographer or these girls have natural bouquet holding talent, but with a group so large, it is refreshing that none of them were holding them awkwardly or at a weird height.

I always love a shot with a groom holding the bouquet. I love the juxtaposition of the classiness of Kendal with the bouquet and the girls chugging a beer.

I'm truly thankful I broke my "no work on my birthday rule" for this couple. I love following their married life on Facebook and Snapchat. Their dogs remind me SO much of my own. You'll find Jordan helping me with weddings in 2017 and I'm very excited to have her on my setup team! I'm so thankful they let me be a small part of their happily ever after :)

March 5, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Jessica and Jeremy - 09/04/16

March 5, 2017

Michelle Mampre

Real Weddings

Jessica and Jeremy got married at Lavender Crest Winery on a perfect Labor Day Weekend. With colors of red, orange and brown, it was the perfect mix of summer and fall, just like the weather was that day.

In 2016, I didn't do many double wedding weekends, but the Suits wedding was the 2nd of a double wedding weekend. I couldn't have asked for a better couple on a weekend like that. Jessica was so laid back during the whole planning process, So, when it was 11pm the night before the wedding, and I got a call from her, I was panicked about what it could be. They were using water beads in all their centerpieces and one of the tubs of water beads tipped over in the front yard. She was calling me to see if I had any or if I had any idea of where you could get some that late. They ended up staying up late to pick up water beads out of the grass and off the driveway. Even though they were up super late, Jessica still looked fantastic! I loved her burgundy hair with her color scheme!

Jessica carried a bouquet of red roses, orange roses, and sunset colored roses with sunset calla lilies. The bridesmaids carried bouquets of sunset calla lilies. She came to visit me at Claire's and I helped her pick out all of her wedding jewelry. Thank you so much for supporting me in all avenues of life.

With corn fields and a winery for a backdrop, Jessica and Jeremy's wedding was picture perfect. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to work with them. I wish them the best of luck on their future together!