Creating A Wedding With Two Types Of Flowers

I recently got to do a wedding for a client's (whose home I recently pulled together with a few upgrades) son. My clients had been married in the venue twenty-one years ago. So it was so sweet that their son's wedding was held there too. It is a superb space, with "community" rooms located in a posh condominium located right on the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans. The bride had two favorite flowers, white orchids and white hydrangea, so I devised a plan just using those two flowers.

The space is simple and modern, and I kept the flowers that way too. There were three zones: The outdoor space where the ceremony took place riverside with a patio for guests who wanted to be outside during the party; a room with a grand piano that would be used for dancing and buffet style dining; a third room with the bar and space for the wedding cake. No rental tables were set up. The rooms are well appointed with designer furniture, a collection of couches and chairs, and coffee tables, and I opted not to overdecorate it or turn it into a catering hall or restaurant. It was a modern lounge for a modern couple and their guests.

Single blooms of Phalaenopsis orchids were arranged on a mercury glass tray

One restriction involved a very long dining table that could not be moved. It sits in front of a wall of distressed mirror. It would be the buffet table, but the extra long length needed to be visually tamed.

The long table had to remain - I used six large mercury glasses vases to echo the distressed mirror behind the table - I arranged white hydrangea and white orchids in each vase

A detail of one of the six bouquets on the buffet table

The  long table was staged later with food

I made use of rentals for the decor (I use the excellent Event Rentals located in Gretna servicing every and any party and convention in New Orleans). I used mercury glass vases to play off the mirror behind the long table, and mercury glass trays to create modern and simple and elegant  arrangements for the coffee table. Dozens of mercury glass votive candle holders were scattered around.

A larger coffee table got two mercury glass trays of orchids

Smaller coffee tables got one tray of orchids - Each bloom was placed in a mercury glass votive holder, and battery operated tea lights were place between the blooms

The ceremony took place at sunset, and as the indoor and outdoor spaces went to nightfall, magical flickering candlelight echoed the glittering surrounding city skyline.

The ceremony area on the Mississippi River - The Crescent City Connection (bridge) is in the background - Victoria Ghost Chairs are from Event Rentals, and the two tall metal sculptures are by Luis Colmenares

The grand visual scale and lush landscaping of the outdoor space called for something more than a pair of rented ficus trees for the ceremony area. Victoria Ghost Chairs became part of the water's edge. I brought sculptor Luis Colmenares (504) 491-4854 on board to create five oversize "trees". They were made of metal, and were a combination of a candelabra and a tree. As darkness fell, they provided another layer of candle light. Outdoor patio tables were staged with huge lanterns. Anything smaller would have been visually insignificant.

The patio - I used three more sculptures by Luis Colmenares, and oversize lanterns on the tables - When night fell all became magical with candlelight

What a beautiful city venue!

The community room is well appointed - The chairs were taken away from the long table and used as pull up seating

A framed photo of the couple would be signed by the guests as a keepsake

The wedding cake table - The cake was made by Bittersweet Confections - I decorated it with the bride's favorite flowers

The room where the bar is located - Some friends of the couple were watching the LSU game while I was setting up - The console table behind the couch features a bouquet of white Dendrobium orchids, and is the place designated for the groom's cake to be served - A display of individually boxed truffles made by Bittersweet Confections are the favors

The favors - Little boxes of truffles

A close up of the wedding cake

The back of the wedding cake had the pulls for the bridesmaids

The back of the wedding cake

Baskets for the two flower girls and a box of boutonnieres for the gentlemen

For the five bridesmaids  - I made all white hydrangea hand tied bouquets

The brides bouquet - I used ten stems of Phalaenopsis orchids and several stems of white hydrangea for this large bouquet - Small crystals were nestled in between the blooms - It's resting in an ice bucket in the hotel room where the bridal party was getting dressed

I asked one of the young girls in the wedding party to hold the bouquet for me so I could get a picture - The bride was still dressing, and I am sure I will soon get to see pictures of her holding it

I so enjoyed doing this wedding. The family was fun to work with. Designer Mitchell Settoon was my excellent right arm aiding with the installation.

After so many years of planning and executing hundreds of elaborate over-the-top weddings, this simple, tailored, and elegant look was a breath of fresh air for me. I think weddings have become so overproduced lately. What say you?

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