Ali and Chase were another of my long distance planning couples. I met them a few weeks before their wedding to go over final details and enjoy a bottle of wine. I am SO obsessed with the vision we came up with, and I think you definitely will be too!

Ali carried a bouquet of white peonies, white roses, white anemone, blush roses, blush lisianthus, and succulents.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of white peonies, white roses, white spray roses and blush roses. It was a scorcher out but this bridal party totally rocked it!

The real star of the bridal party was their dog, Boomer. When I saw they were bringing Boomer up for pictures, I knew I needed to make sure he fit in with his parents. I sent Ali a picture of a dog collar of greens and asked if I could make that for him. Turns out, he loved it! And isn't he the cutest?!

We chose great pew ends of white roses, blush roses, blush lisianthus, white spray roses, white waxflower, dusty miller and silver dollar eucalyptus. The pew ends were later used as centerpieces at the reception.

The other tables had tall centerpieces of white hydrangea, white roses, blush roses, blush lisianthus, white spray roses, and silver dollar eucalyptus. Huge shoutout to my mom, who came over and helped me make the tall centerpieces!

Their cake was covered in a collection of roses. I got to eat some of it as I was tearing down the reception late at night and it was as delicious as it was beautiful!

Ali found some really amazing lanterns that we used around the reception. The place card/guest book table had a large lantern and 4 small vases in the center. Ali has a great eye for design and we came up with so many cool pieces for the reception.

A few months before the wedding, Ali sent me this incredible photo from Pinterest for something she wanted to do for the head table.

I quickly became obsessed with coming up with something totally awesome for their 38ft head table. There were a lot of (terrible) sketches and flower math. I seriously LOVE what we came up with! The table was covered in a wild garland with a variety of candles down the entire length. In the center, there was a large statement piece. There were a total of 7 arrangements down the table, getting smaller as it got further from the center. We used 2 sets of lanterns at the base of the table as well. I feel so blessed that she let me create something this magnificent.

Are you as obsessed as I am? I love being able to keep up to date with Ali and Chase via snapchat. One of my favorite weekend activities is now watching snaps of Boomer beg for pancakes. I would be a sucker for that face too!

Thank you SO much to Ali and Chase for trusting me with their gorgeous wedding! They were so wonderful to work with. I wish them all the best for their future!

Chloe emailed me in early February when she was frustrated with her selection of florists near her. Her wedding was fast approaching and she lives in the Waterloo area. We did all of our communication via email but I knew she was an awesome girl from our first few emails. She was completely prepared with everything she wanted (including flower names, quantities, and photos).

Due to Chloe living over an hour away, she wanted to come pick up her flowers a few days before. That provided me with a challenge for how to keep flowers fresh for several days without water. I learned about tupperware being able to keep boutonnieres and corsages fresh for quite some time. That has greatly made my life easier because now I can get started on all my weddings sooner (you're my hero Chloe)!

Left - centerpieces of milk glass and baby's breath, Right - Daisy bouquets for grandparent memorialsImages by Alaytra Photography — Left - centerpieces of milk glass and baby's breath, Right - Daisy bouquets for grandparent memorials
Images by Alaytra Photography

Unfortunately, like a lot of brides, Chloe learned she had selected expensive flowers that didn't quite fit in her planned budget. I drew up another estimate for her substituting some of the flowers for less expensive ones. Chloe decided to splurge for the bouquet of her dreams and save some costs by choosing the less expensive corsages and boutonnieres. They opted to not have a bridal party to be able to invite more people to their celebration (50 tables worth!)

Ringshots - Images by Alaytra Photography

Chloe carried a bouquet of blush garden roses, blush ranunculus, coral hypericum berry, coral carnations (mounded together for a peony look), white spray roses, baby's breath, succulents and dusty miller. It's one you would definitely want to "pin" on Pinterest.

This wedding was amazing. Perfect weather, fabulous details (that dress and ring!!) and a couple (probably mostly bride) that knew what she wanted and where she was willing to splurge and save. I love the following picture, because weddings and the photos are so often all about the bride, but this is all about Blake.

Since the wedding, Chloe has helped me on a project I'm working on about what people think flowers cost vs. what they actually cost. So many couples (again probably mostly brides) get swept up in Pinterest and have no idea the cost of what they desire. Stay tuned for that blogpost coming in the next few weeks!

I hope their future together is as perfect as their wedding day was! It brought so much joy to me, knowing that Chloe and her mom drove over an hour to come pick up her flowers, especially when she had never met me. Sometimes, you just click and those are my favorite weddings to be a part of. Thank you again for choosing to work with me!

Ali and Chase - 06/03/17

Chloe and Blake - 05/06/16