Real Wedding - Brad & Laura

Laura is a young woman of style and her notebook stuffed with design ideas for her wedding showed me what a great sense of style and taste she has.
I met with Laura several times before Brad came in with her for a view of a sample centerpiece - when I saw them together it was easy to see they just belong together.

Their Downtown Chicago Wedding allowed them many beautiful photo opportunities as a trolley took them around downtown, to Holy Name Cathedral to take their vows and then on to The Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel for a lavish reception.

We had fun with Laura's bridal bouquet and her bridesmaids bouquets. Laura's was a beautiful mix all in white including peony, ranunculus, freesia, calla and phalaenopsis orchids. Each of her bridesmaids carried a bouquet of one of the flowers. It was beautifully symbolic of each of the girls playing an important and unique part in Laura's life.


The Millennium Knickerbocker looked stunning that evening. We filled the cocktail rooms, restrooms and balconies with flowers, transitioning from all white to the striking yellow ballroom. Laura loves a monochromatic style (which I love too). We designed all yellow luxurious arrangements on tall square vases with hanging candles on delicate gold wire.

We chose black satin linens which created a rich backdrop for all the beauty and detail at the Knickerbocker. With pin-spot lighting and the dramatic lighted danced floor a wonderful romantic atmosphere welcomed the bride and groom to their celebration.

Laura called me, much to my surprise, the morning after her wedding to thank me for everything, she had the most wonderful wedding and I love that Gardeenia was a big part in making that happen. Laura recently wrote this wonderful review on The Knot:

"I had an upscale wedding downtown Chicago and used Gardeenia Floral Designs. Laura and the rest of her team from Gardeenia did a fantastic job. I looked into Kehoe Designs and Heffernan Morgan, but chose Gardeenia because of their hands on approach and unique designs. Laura took the time to understand the look I was going for and came up with a lot of phenominal ideas that were completely my style. I would recommend Gardeenia to anyone. They are wonderful to work with!"

BIG NEWS!
Gardeenia Floral Design Studio has opened a second location!

We are now meeting clients in our new Lombard office conveniently located just off of 355 and 88. I'm so excited to be more accessible to our downtown and west and north suburban brides and grooms.

Real Wedding - Stephanie & Jeff

Stephanie planned a beautiful purple wedding, a deep, rich purple. Purple bridesmaid bouquets, purple bridal bouquet, purple centerpieces - and all these gorgeous purple flowers looked stunning against the rich purple dresses and table linens.

When we arrived with the bouquets it was wonderful to see Stephanie's excitement - the bridesmaids loved them too and had a lot of fun with their bouquets.

Stephanie's purple bridal bouquet incorporated some ivory to create a unique bouquet for her without sacrificing her purple.


Gardeenia created this sweet little flower girl hairclip in plum orchids. Adorable!

Since this was a Morten Arboretum Wedding we kept the centerpieces low so that guests could enjoy the view of the beautiful property through the large window. A mix of flowers created a wonderful texture in this purple centerpiece and the different purples felt rich and vibrant.

This gift table bird cage we decorated to compliment the rest of the reception decor. a beautiful place for guests to place their gifts.

20 Weddings

Since May, Gardeenia has executed over 20 weddings - beautifully I might add.

"But, where are all the blog posts showing your excellent work, giving us ideas and inspiration?" you might ask.

Well, here's how it goes -
first of all, I'd like to hire a blogger to do this for me while I'm crazy busy doing weddings. (Anyone interested in the job?)

second, I need the wonderful, professional photos that simply take time to obtain from the equally busy photographers who photograph our weddings.

We're not holding out on you - really. (And you don't really want to see my own photos - I'm definitely not a photographer - thank God for the professionals.)

But we have done some wonderful weddings at places like:

The Patrick Haley Mansion
The Millenium Knickerbocker
Chicago Cultural Center
Hyatt Lodge, Oak Brook
The Palmer House
Harry Carey's
DiNolfos
Ashton Place
Silver Lake Country Club
CD & ME
and more...

We've done small weddings of bouquets and boutonnieres as well as over the top lavish weddings and everything in between - modern and sleek, traditional, romantic - and lots of different color schemes.

So stay tuned - the posts are coming. Please be patient while I get the best pictures gathered to show you what we've been up to.

Here is something to hold you over - a great idea by one of our beautiful brides Kimberly.

Kimberly made little notes about love and we attached them to 12 roses.

Then I made an unsuspecting toss bouquet of these twelve roses with the notes.


Little did these girls know that when Kim would toss her toss bouquet there would actually be twelve roses flying in different directions through the air with sweet messages about love for each girl who caught one.
A great surprise!

Real Wedding - Lisa & Charlie

Lisa & Charlie planned their beautiful fall wedding at Narnia Estate in Lemont. The day was beautiful!! We created a romantic outdoor setting with curly willow, white orchids and thick white petals to line the aisle.

Lisa's bouquet was full of luscious white blooms including calls, orchids, hydrangea and ranunculus. Her bridesmaids carried plum & green bouquets of roses, orchids, succulents and callas to compliment their plum dresses.
The reception incorporated plum and green throughout creating a striking image.

A trio of cube vases with sunken orchids and floating candles.

The other tables included dramatic trees with orchids on the branches and submerged in the vase. These filled the space beautifully!

This head table piece was a beautiful focal point in front of the bride & groom during the reception bringing in the plum and green with orchids and roses.

OCTOBER SPECIAL
Brides who book their 2010 wedding during the month of October will receive a complimentary toss bouquet.

Call us or e-mail today to schedule your consultation!
708-921-1463

Tears of Joy

I cry every time. You would think that seeing many weddings I would not, but I do. As I watch one of my brides take her father's arm and I give her dress one last fluff I get a lump in my throat and my eyes tear up.

I guess it's because of my own emotional investment in her wedding. Being instrumental in making her most important day beautiful is not just a job for me, it's my art and my heart is poured out into each wedding. Seeing it all come together, the joy in their faces and the beauty of a marriage begun never gets dull. It's invigorating every time.

Here are a couple of my own pics from this weekend, professional pics to come and will be added to our gallery.

Look at this beautiful head table. I love the shape. The bride & groom at the top with their attendants seated down either side. This design included two luxurious arrangement on top of glass cylinders with candles of various heights (you can't really see in the pic) and petals placed down the length of the table.


This low centerpiece to coordinate with the high added some variation and interest to the space. Again a luxurious arrangement with candles of various heights. Romantic! I placed these in the middle of the room with the talls around the outside.



We placed two of these gorgeous wreaths on the church doors, a wonderful greeting for wedding guests.

SUMMER PROMOTIONAL
Gardeenia is offering a summer promotional of a free boutonniere for every bouquet ordered.
This promotional is good for weddings booked by July 31st.

We have a few 2009 dates available and we are currently booking through Sept. 2010.

Let the Wedding Season Begin

It is finally here! As we push toward May many excited brides are counting down the days. We have finalized plans for Jennifer- 5/9, Sarah-5/23, Colleen-5/30 and Rebecca-5/31. What a full and beautiful month to celebrate new life together.

Flowers we are using for these weddings include some classic spring flowers such as peonies and tulips as well as unique varieties of roses and orchids. Pink is the favorite color this month and with so many beautiful flowers in a variety of pinks, creativity is blooming. The style of each bride is unique and each wedding will reflect that. I'm excited to begin the season!

This past month has been filled with Bridal Expo Chicago. We exhibited at The Double Tree in Oak Brook on April 19th and at Georgio's on April 26th.We brought our unique iron arch to showcase at the Georgio's show. This piece creates a stunning focal point for a ceremony and photographs. It's a wonderful piece to work with that can take on many different styles and look unique each time.

We've had a great response to our 'tree'. At one show we displayed it with tulips in the hanging vases and at the other we used floating candles in the vases. For brides who want to have something different this may be it. It works great at a focal piece on the place card table, it can add beauty to a ceremony setting or variations work dramatically as centerpieces.

Here are some of the bouquets we brought to the show. They were highlighted in the fashion show which gave brides a chance to see them in action.




This is one of our bouquets that created quite a stir. An unexpected mix of amnesia roses and black feathers creating a dramatic vintage look for the bride who loves the unusual.

We are busy meeting with brides and designing stylish weddings for our discerning clients looking for unmatched beauty. Dates are filling up going into May 2010. Plan on a consultation 8-12 months before your wedding and possibly earlier for those prime dates.
We would love to meet with you!

Fall Is In The Air

What?  How can fall be in the air when we are hoping for spring?  But fall seems to be a new favorite for weddings.  The rich colors and the beautiful weather are attracting many brides to consider September and October weddings.  There are many beautiful flower choices for a fall wedding such as hydrangea, dahlia and sunflowers.  If your dreaming of a fall wedding consider some of these combinations for your bouquet - 

Of course the classic sunflower is always a favorite in the fall.  This simple sunflower bouquet has a collar of greenery and is uniquely wrapped with a ti leaf instead of ribbon.  This bright bouquet looks great with deep, fall color bridesmaid dresses.   

This vibrant bouquet has a play on textures.  Orange celosia, tiramisu roses, orange callas each bring their own unique texture with seeded eucalyptus as a unique accent.  Peach callas are also incorporated to make the bold colors really stand out.

This gorgeous, round bouquet includes peach dahlias, orange roses, tiramisu roses, antique hydrangea and peach berries creating a soft autumn palate with a romantic feel.

Brides-to-be are excitedly looking to fall.  Of course there are many delights for spring, summer and winter too!  

*Gardeenia is offering a Spring Special.  Brides who book by April 15th will receive flowers for their parents complimentary.  This is a great way to honor your parents with beautiful flowers on your wedding day.  Special includes bride's and groom's parents up to a $200 value.  

Call or e-mail today to schedule your complimentary consultation.

708-921-1463

What's the dress got to do with it?

EVERYTHING!

When designing your bridal bouquet one of the most important questions your floral designer should ask is "What is your dress style?" or better yet, "Show me your dress."

A great bridal bouquet should be designed with the dress in mind. Of course the brides choice of colors and flowers are just as important but when considering the shape and size of the bouquet the dress is key.

The bridal bouquet should complement the dress and create a beautiful, harmonious picture. The bouquet should not overpower the dress or the bride but flow naturally from both.

When I see the dress the ideas start to flow, I look at the dress style, size and shape. I look at the detailing. I consider the size and shape of the bride also. With this picture in mind I can start designing.
This bouquet from the home page of our web site is a great example. This bride's dress was slim through the bodice with a full, flowing skirt. This full bouquet of peonies balanced this out beautifully without overwhelming the bride. The bouquet was kept simple in flower choices and color so the beading and detail work on the bodice would not be lost or the total picture be too confusing.
This bride benefited from a tear drop shaped bouquet. Her dress was an a line with a lot of detail. She had a fuller figure and not a lot of height. A short stocky bouquet would have only emphasized this so instead a teardrop bouquet elongated the overall picture. The bouquet was not too large keeping a visually proportionate picture. Again, the bouquet was designed with classic, simple flowers and colors so that the detail work of her dress could shine.

So the dress is so important when designing your bridal bouquet. This is also true for designing bridesmaids bouquets but we will get to that at another time.

Everything's New

This new year has brought a lot of 'new' with it, a new name, a new web site and very shortly a new studio (drywall goes up this week!). All of this NEW is very exciting!

On our 'new' blog we will be sharing 'new' ideas, 'new' brides and of course news.
This year started off with The Bridal Expo at The Rialto Square Theater, one of my favorite venues. We met so many excited brides dreaming of their big day. These adorable girls were part of the fashion show which included Gardeenia's floral designs. One carried a traditional, romantic basket of green and pink flowers, the middle darling is carrying a pink pomander or ball of flowers which looks so sweet with this pink dress. The third little one has a flower wand of spider gerbera daisies, so cute. Which do you think your flower girls would love?