end of season update: where we’ve been {photo recap}

jess’ bouquet by lovely little details

well the 2013 wedding season has just come to a close and i realized i haven’t posted any recap photos since july. between planning and pulling final preparations together for the final weddings of the year, i hadn’t gotten around to it but i decided i’d pull together a little “mini” recap (aka photo overload!) for you today!

golf cart o’ blooms by lovely little details

in july, tiana and glen came over to wine country from london and celebrated with their friends and family who traveled everywhere from new zealand and beyond to enjoy their special day. i planned with t g from across the ocean and we only met once before the big day, so it was so amazing to have them see it all come together just as they’d hoped. and their families were the sweetest people ever.

tiana’s bouquet by lovely little details

the setting for their dinner took place in a field surrounded by lavender, mountains, and a lake. talk about dreamy! add those long wooden tables that i happen to love so much and string lights and lots of candles – you’ve got yourself one magical dinner party.

t g’s wedding dinner by lovely little details

we also spent a bit of time back east this summer for family time in new england new jersey, house hunting in georgia, and site visits all across the southeast for 2014 and 2015 clients. while in charleston i stopped by to pay a visit to one of the most gorgeous venues i’ve ever seen, river oaks charleston.

view from the docks at river oaks charleston

some of you may know marianne from instagram as she is so good about commenting and sharing the love, but when you meet her in person, it’s a whole other experience. marianne caldwell is one half of the husband and wife team who own and operate river oaks charleston, their private residence, along with their daughter, jennigray hewitt, and lauren heuber. of course their sons play a role as well, as it is a family affair. marianne and ken (her husband) are the kind of people you wish you could adopt as family as they are possibly the sweetest, most loving, caring people you might ever have the pleasure to meet. they truly care about their friends and family, and just as importantly, their clients. they instill the value of marriage in to every couple who marries at their home and they offer a refreshing view on married life. i could have sat and talked with marianne for hours! as it is, we stayed up late in to the night chatting away, after my 2-hour site visit and dinner that marianne so kindly arranged for me, after having a crazy hectic day of her own. she didn’t want to let me drive 6-hours back to atlanta that night and offered up a room in their home for me to stay. and when i woke up the next morning to tiptoe out for my early morning drive back to atlanta, she had a little care package waiting for me outside my door with fresh eggs from their chicken coop, cookies, and beautiful garden roses i had been admiring the day before. if i learned nothing else this summer, it was that true kindness still exists, and it is live and well at river oaks charleston. i cannot wait to get back there and pay a visit again soon!

my room at river oaks charleston

during my southern travels i also paid a visit to a private plantation where ba w will be saying “i do” next may. the plantation is owned by the groom’s family and when i drove down the long, dirt road to find the home waiting for me behind a wrought-iron fence, i couldn’t believe my eyes. to say that i was excited was an understatement and i can’t wait to share more on our planning progress soon!

oh – i also hosted my first canning class while i was back east at my family’s hardware store in CT. it was a rainy, dreary summer day but we still had a good showing and it was so much fun sharing my canning love with others. i will definitely try to do that again!

a few surprise shoots took place as well. here are a few sneaks!

floral arrangements for a secret magazine shoot

rhody did a lot of this…

jess andrew were married on a quintessentially foggy san francisco afternoon.

mockups were pulled together for brenna dave’s st. helena wedding. as about 95% of my clients don’t live where i do, my mockups are mostly virtual and i end up sending about 50 photos to the client for their approval! this was just one of the many mockups that took place this summer.

florals by lovely little details

wasn’t she just the loveliest bride? i was smitten with her monique lhuillier gown.

bouquet by lovely little details

this wedding season also reminded me of the value of teamwork. last year i attempted to do everything on my own until i finally brought on a team towards the middle of the season. this year i started off the bat with a full floral team and day-of assistants and i will never look back. there is no way i could physically do everything myself with the crazy locations, number of florals, intricate tablescapes, etc. and i am thankful beyond words for my team. they complete LLD and i couldn’t wouldn’t do it without them! i can’t wait to bring them with me on some amazing road trips for next year’s season. thank you girls – i love you!!

amanda and michelle, 2 of my 6 beloved LLD team members

brenna and dave wanted a clean palette of greens and whites, with no pink in sight. it was a fun change to the amount of pink i had been working with all summer. brenna also loves magnolias so we incorporated those as well.

florals by lovely little details

oh those long wooden tables. you’ll never get old to me, my friends.

i busted my tulle skirt out of hibernation for date night. rhody made his usual photobomb appearance.

our good friends jess jimmy were married. this was the first time i was both a guest and a vendor at a wedding (but i only did the flowers, not the planning). i loved working on their wedding because it was extra sentimental, and there were tears from both of us when i handed over her bouquet that morning.

bouquet by lovely little details

florals by lovely little details

long tables and string lights! :)

next up we had jess dave’s 200-person wedding in st. helena. j d originally estimated 300 guests for their big day and we were looking to get very creative with the space layout at the venue. as it is, we had to flip the entire ceremony space (and get all of the guests out of the area) for dinner in less than an hour, and their tablescapes were very detailed to say the least. but again, ode to my team, we managed to do it and it all came out just as we (and the couple!) had hoped. it was so much fun!

custom 40′ garland by lovely little details

j d’s wedding had the most flowers we’ve ever pulled together – over 90 arrangements!

floral design by lovely little details

one of my favorite shots from their wedding.

planning, styling florals by lovely little details

more mockups were designed,

bouquet by lovely little details

rosemary sea salt favors were assembled.

and then rainfest 2013 arrived. i have never had an issue with rain – ever – in wine country. rain in napa valley is so rare in the summer that it is really never an issue to even consider. until sandra alex’s wedding that is. their mountaintop ceremony reception was taking place in the middle of sonoma at a gorgeous venue and the details we were pulling together were so intricate and relied on no wind, and definitely no rain. but alas, the clouds rolled in and at the 25th hour, the night before the wedding, we called in a tent crew and changed up the game plan. of course by the time the ceremony was set to start, the clouds cleared and gave way to a gorgeous blue sky, but the tent was there and ready regardless. in the end it worked out perfectly because it was a bit chilly, and the tent provided warmth and a beautiful glow with the lanterns we hung from the poles and millions of candles we had scattered throughout.

prepping florals with team LLD

i LOVED s a’s wedding flowers – they were so bright and cheery, and we incorporated fruit and even tomatoes in to the arrangements.

floral design by lovely little details

cindy cris were married on the same day that jaclyn peter were married, so team LLD split up and manned both in separate location. i never, ever have 2 weddings on the same day, but extenuating circumstances come up once in a while, so we made it work. i was so proud of my team that day (you should see the detailed layout plans i sent them with, down to the placement of the very last fork and knife – too bad my handwriting is not so pretty, otherwise i might share that too haha).

paper goods by paper moss

we crafted custom garlands for j p’s st. helena wedding, and had been envisioning placement on the getaway car all along. i love how amanda placed it perfectly on j’s father’s antique car.

garland by lovely little details

my sunday rituals were driving to the nursing home with leftover blooms (with the couples’ consent, of course!)

and amanda gary were married just this past weekend, with olive branches, pears, pomegranates, and autumnal beauty galore.

this was the only tablescape photo i took! and not gonna lie, i might have gotten a little teary saying goodbye to my team that night. it was a perfect wedding to end the season, with the happiest mother-of-the-bride you’ve ever seen, and a smiling couple as they made their way through their surprise sparkler exit.

planning, styling florals by lovely little details

and that’s a wrap! some have asked “so, what do you do now?” well, i continue planning for my 2014 and 2015 seasons, and start planning holiday dinner parties, of course :)

happy thursday, everyone!

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