Real Wedding - Brinda & Mike

From the first time I sat down with Brinda and Mike I loved them. We had so much fun planning their two ceremonies and reception with lots of great ideas of how to use our designs to decorate everything.

First was a Hindu ceremony with flowers lining the aisle and arrangements on the stage in deep pink, ivory and green flowers, full and beautiful.

These arrangements placed on gold pedestals served as the ceremony aisle and then were moved to the top of these tall glass vases to become centerpieces at the reception.


Here is Brinda & Mike at the end of their Hindu ceremony, we then moved these arrangements, everyone changed and prepared for the Greek ceremony.

The men wore wine and green boutonniers to compliment the girls bouquets.


And here they are after their Greek ceremony. Brinda carried a beautiful cascading bouquet of roses and orchids.

I loved this cake topper, so cute. It was a long day for Gardeenia but so fun. We carefully transferred flowers from ceremony to ceremony to reception and the results were fantastic. Brinda & Mike were able to get the most out of their flowers and their budget which was wonderful.

Our 2011 Special is still going on - the first 20 brides to book 2011 receive 11% off and we're almost to 20 so give us a call today to set-up your complimentary consultation. 708-921-1463

Winter Brides - we have specials for you too. If you are planning a wedding Dec. - March receive special savings. Dates still available.

Real Wedding - Nicole & Mark

Nicole & Mark enjoyed a beautiful day for their downtown wedding this spring.

Nicole's bouquet was filled with rich flowers and colors including roses, dahlias, callas and orchids in plum, ivory and green.

Personal flowers included callas, orchids and roses as pin-on boutonniers and corsages and on pearl bracelets.A great day for some awesome outdoor pics.
Although Mark & Nicole included color in their personal flowers they chose all white arrangements which looked bright and sophisticated in the Empire Room at the Palmer House.

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 - Allie & Tommy

I know that we are just stepping into summertime fun and beautiful summer weddings but I had to take a minute and show you Allie & Tommie's beautiful winter wedding.

It was a cold, blustery day but it was warm and cozy in Koten Chapel, Naperville. Silvery blue & white flowers and lots of candlelight invited guests to join the celebration.

Allie's full bouquet of blue hydrangea, white calla, white anemone, dusty miller and blue thistle was a beautiful, wintery mix.

Allie & Tommy took advantage of Naperville's lights to capture some very romantic shots.

Maggiano's Naperville glowed with these wintery white trees with hanging candles. A warm & cozy romantic evening and a very memorable wedding.

What's Happening at Gardeenia

Wedding season is underway and Gardeenia is filled with beautiful flowers waiting to be masterfully designed into spectacular weddings...

(Jackie, one of our awesome designers, busy doing what she does best.)

(The cooler, with recently installed shelving, filled with some of our work in progress.)

(some personal flowers being labeled and boxed for delivery.)

...and delivered in our awesome newly designed van! I love this van with it's splash of pink peonies and beautiful lettering.

It's wonderful to see Gardeenia grow. Gardeenia's team of commited people are always working hard to ensure that the quality, beauty and excellent service Gardeenia is famous for is never compromised. I'm so proud of them all - Jackie, Trish, Keenan, Steve, Naomi and Laura M.!

Gardeenia is excited to announce
THE GREAT 2011 WEDDING SPECIAL

Don't wait on this one.
The first 20 brides to book their 2011 wedding with Gardeenia
will received 11% OFF their floral order.
This is a huge savings.

Call or e-mail us today to schedule your complimentary consultation.
708-921-1463
laura@gardeenia.com

If you are a 2010 bride
there are still some dates available,
we would love to here from you.
Call us and see what specials we may have for you.

Real Wedding - Kassie & Jason

Kassie & Jay had a gorgeous day for their wedding. The warm colors of their bouquets matched the warm sunshine.



Red ginger, orange spray roses, red roses and gloriosa lilies were smashing against the Kassie's bridal gown and against the midnight blue bridesmaids dresses.

The groom looked great with his pop of color to tie it all together.

Touches of bridal flowers highlighted their cake topper for a beautiful picture.

Congratulations Kassie & Jason!

Real Wedding - Aaron & Tara

Tara & Aaron had a beautiful, blue skyed fall day to celebrate their wedding. Tara & I planned on softer hues to compliment the deep tones of the bridesmaids dresses and chocolate and apricot linens. We created a 'tree' to hang the placecards with copper baby clothespins.

This sweet couple carried matching apricot pomander and ring bearer pillow.

Beautiful apricot pomanders lined the aisle at St. Joseph.

Apricot callas, peach roses and soft green lisianthus created this romantic round boquet.

The bridesmaids carried bouquets that complimented Tara's.

Aaron wore an apricot calla boutonniere to match Tara's bridal bouquet.


The room at The Oak Brook Lodge looked warm and inviting with the chocolate linens, apricot chair ties and lots of candlelight surrounding the high and low centerpieces.

The tall centerpieces of roses, stock and fall foliage sat atop clear vases with crystals.

The low centerpieces complimented the talls with a candle trio. The room glowed almost as much as the bride and groom.
Congratulations Tara & Aaron!