Tagged Kelowna Wedding Flowers

Childhood Dreams

Assorted Flowers

It’s been so long since I last blogged (gulp… Feb 2016) and three full wedding seasons have come and gone with another about to begin. Our family has also added a third little boy into the mix in the spring of 2018 – so to say we are busy is an understatement. It’s hard to know where to start after all this time, but I’m going to use the extended time off of blogging as a fresh slate and start off from the beginning.

I often get asked why and how did I decide to become a floral designer? The truth is the seed was planted when I was a little girl. When I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer would have been veterinarian, but secretly I also dreamt of being a florist and owning my own little flower shop. The vision of this flower shop was very clear – a white brick building with a cute white & yellow awning over the front window. I used to love visiting the flower shops, picking and choosing from the selection of stems in their coolers, and taking the time to smell each flower.

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Every spring I was so excited by the flowers that appeared in our garden; from the beautiful tulips, the forsythia, the purple clematis vine, the yellow day-lilies, our neighbours pink magnolia tree, the garden roses, the poppies and the pink peonies to name just a few. I remember grabbing the kitchen scissors and a small basket, and snipping off blooms from the plants and bringing my colourful haul inside. I’d carefully trim the stems and remove the leaves, followed by stuffing them in every crystal vase my mom owned. I’d also carefully press fresh blooms in-between sheets of paper towel, computer paper (the type with the perforated tear-off sides) and my dads old engineering textbooks. I would later use these flowers to create small pressed flower frames for gifts – I think my mom still has a few in her home to this day. I loved flowers, I loved being creative with them, but most importantly I loved sharing them with others.

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We lived in walking distance to the Rose Garden at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario (RBG) and during our summers I recall many after dinner walks with ice cream in hand from Easterbrook’s and a stroll through their roses and pergola. I’d stop and smell almost every variety of rose, one of my favorites was a soft pink climbing variety planted on the end of one of the Pergolas – it smelled just like Pink Lemonade. I appreciated the beauty in every bloom and individual petal, which is where my deep love of roses came from – it’s hard to find an arrangement I have created without roses.

After graduating highschool – I was determined with my first choice of profession to become a Veterinarian – and I headed off to the University of Guelph to study Animal Biology with hopes to apply to the Ontario Vet College upon graduation. Halfway through my first year I got a part-time job at an animal clinic, to get some much needed job experience in the field. Two weeks into the job and I absolutely HATED it, I started questioning my why and I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore! I had a sit down with one of my professors and he gently nudged me towards a general science degree. At the time it felt awful like I was failing/giving up on my dream, but in reality it was opening new doors.

From that point on I took courses that truly interested me in Plant Biology, learning so much about the Genetics, Nutrition and Pathology of plants. In my summers off from University I ended up working as a student gardener in the Rose Garden at The RBG – the very garden I used to walk through with my family when I was a little girl. Working alongside the horticulturalist’s in the garden – I happily soaked up every ounce of information, knowledge and care about all the different plant species. Most importantly I’d help tend to the roses, learning how to plant, grow and prune them properly to maximize their blooming potential.

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Going into my final year of university, my hairdresser let me know of a cute little floral shop nearby that was looking to hire. I updated my resume and dropped it off to the shop – thinking that it would be a lot of fun to work at a floral shop. A few days later I was offered the job and little did I know that it would shape my entire future. Glenys; the owner, lovingly taught me everything I needed to know from the basics of floral design, to cleaning & maintenance within the shop, to the unpacking and processing of flowers, wiring and taping of flowers, repotting of plants, wrapping bouquets, and her favourite – creating the perfect bow. She tested me weekly on my round and triangle designs, boutonnieres & corsages and hand-tied bouquets using the previous weeks left over flowers. I will forever be grateful for the time in that shop and all the knowledge she passed onto me during the time I spent there.

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In a few short weeks I will be starting my tenth wedding season since starting Classic Creations in 2009. In this time my amazing team has completed over 300 events and weddings, and I am just as excited to share my love and passion for flowers with others now as I did when my business started and when I was a little girl playing in the garden.

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Now that I’m back into blogging I will be looking forward to sharing more of my journey, some floral tips and tricks, and of course some beautiful weddings I have been so honoured to have been a part of.

– Christina

Photography by Karla Rosalin Photography

Megan & Mike’s Summerhill Winery Wedding

Megan & Mike’s Summerhill Pyramid Winery Wedding was a beautiful & elegant affair.  The flowers were very romantic in shades of light lavender, soft pink & white and were the perfect compliment to their winery wedding.   We loved creating their lush bouquets & centrepieces (arranged in octagonal boxes made by the bride’s father).  Thank you to Pixel Story for the beautiful images!

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Beautiful Megan & her Father.

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Megan and her bridesmaids, whom carried smaller versions of her bouquet.

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Mike’s Lavender Rose boutonniere, with just a little bit of greenery.

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Closeup of Megan’s bridal bouquet!  It consisted of Roses, Football Mums, Freesia, Lisianthus, Spray Roses, Queen Anne’s Lace & Seeded Eucalyptus.   Lush & full of texture.

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The centrepieces were beautiful lush arrangements of Hydrangea, Roses, Football Mums, Lisianthus, Queen Anne’s Lace, Seeded Eucalyptus & Assorted Greenery.

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Congratulations to Megan & Mike and Thank you for entrusting in us to create the flowers for your special day!

Venue – Summerhill Pyramid Winery

Photography – Pixel Story

Meredith & Ryan’s La Punta Norte Wedding

Meredith & Ryan’s La Punta Norte Wedding was daydreamy from beginning to end.   When I met with Meredith on a rainy spring day she had such a beautiful vision for her day; Rustic Elegance (my favourite!) using shades of coral, peach, pink and soft green. She had brought along paint chips for me to have so that I could find the best flowers to match with their colour scheme & theme.  She had some great ideas for what she wanted for flowers but allowed me to be completely creative & come up with something unique for her – floral designers thrive on this!    Succulents were the main aspect in all of the décor, so  I included them in every piece I created for them. Thanks to Kevin Trowbridge Photography for sharing all of these beautiful images from their special day.

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Mother’s Corsages of Blush Spray Roses, Seeded Eucalyptus & Succulents with a pretty 3 strand pearl wristlet.

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Simple boutonnieres of Succulents, Seeded Eucalyptus, Rosemary & Ruscus Greenery.

Kevin Trowbridge Photography Image 7Meredith was stunning and her dress was perfection!   Her side swept hair was elegant and loved how the succulent & spray rose comb turned out.

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Groom’s boutonniere of Blush Spray Rose,  Succulent, Seeded Eucalyptus, Rosemary & Ruscus.

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Her lovely maid of honour & her bouquet.  She had a smaller matching hair comb  as well.

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The bouquets consisted of Hydrangea, Locally Picked Dahlias, Spray Roses, Garden Roses, Hand-grown Succulents & Seeded Eucalyptus.

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The beautiful bride and her bouquet.

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Beautiful Bride & her Maid of Honour.

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My favourite part of a wedding.

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Congratulations Meredith & Ryan!

Photographer – Kevin Trowbridge Photography

Floral Designer – Classic Creations Floral Design

Venue – La Punta Norte, Summerland, BC

Industrial Glamour – Okanagan Bridal Expo Booth 2014

   Well it’s that time of year again –  wedding show season!   I’ve done at least one show every year since I started Classic Creations in the Fall of 2009, and love looking back on how I’ve grown in my business and designs since my very first show October 2009 (and over 130 weddings later).    These shows are all about showcasing yourself and what you love, and finding a way to stand out against everyone else out there.   What I love most about these shows is being able to create something unique that hasn’t been seen before & that inspires me and makes me happy.  It’s also a perfect time to feature some new rental products, see what other Okanagan wedding vendors are up to,  and of course most importantly meet some lovely brides excited about planning their day!

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In November I moved into a brand new industrial studio space, which is what ended up inspiring my “Industrial Glamour” booth.  The furniture pieces I have purchased for my studio space were perfect for my booth design – bringing in hints of the industrial theme,  while I made sure the flowers were bold & glamorous.   I set everything up the night before in my studio, to make sure  it was exactly how I wanted it, and I didn’t want to take it down!

In choosing my flowers I decided I wanted to do something brighter & a bit more bold than what I have been doing lately.  The 2013 wedding season was the year of muted pastels flowers – specifically blush, white & peach, so I wanted to feature something a bit different.   Don’t be afraid of colour, you can still create an elegant and glamorous look when paired with rustic pieces & gold accents!   I used Hydrangeas, Peonies, Garden Roses, Standard Roses, Ranunculus, Tulips & Orchids in shades of Orange, Peach, Coral, Pink, Purple & White with a hint of Grey Dusty Millar & Seeded Eucalyptus (I have an obsession with Dusty Millar).    I love how the colours pop off the gold vases, gold dinnerware, ornate lanterns & reclaimed grey wood.

Thank you to the talented Jon & Jenny Adrian of Adrian Photographers, who took  these beautiful photos of my booth.  I so appreciate their talent & continued support,  and I am really looking forward to working with them more this wedding season!

I hope you enjoy looking at these photos as much as I enjoyed creating my booth design, and I hope it can inspire you to create your own perfect wedding or event.

Christina xo

AdrianPhotographers.com

Overview of my entire booth.  Tablescape created on my reclaimed wood table custom designed by Mountain Woodworks Ltd (We have a few available for rental for your weddings & events),  Gunmetal Armchairs, Cream Linen French Louis Bench.  White Draping from Perspective Event Designs.

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Gold Ornate Lanterns, Gold Votive Holders & Gold Mercury Glass Vases are all available for rental through Classic Creations.

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Classic Creations Bridal Fair 2014

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This gorgeous place setting was provided by Delores of Modern Accents, my favorite décor store in Kelowna.     Gold Beaded Placemats by Kim Seybert,   Beautiful Gold Leaf Flatware Set by Vietri,   Clear/Gold  Glass Charger & Bowl by Vietri,  Pewter Rimmed Glass Dinner Plate by Arte Italica (I would have this entire set of dishes if I could- breathtaking!), Gold side plate by Roost,  Flax Linen Napkin.   This setting accented the table perfectly!

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Love this ombre bridal bouquet!

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Bridal bouquet of Hydrangea, Garden Roses, Standard Roses, Spray Roses, Stocks & Seeded Eucalyptus.

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Bridal bouquet of Garden Roses, Peonies, Standard Roses, Spray Roses, Ranunculus, Mokara Orchids & Dusty Millar Greenery.

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An elegant and simple mother’s wrist corsage.

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Mokara Orchid, Succulent & Spray Rose Boutonniere.

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Annette & Kevin – Cedar Creek Winery & Hotel Eldorado

Annette & Kevin were married at Cedar Creek Winery this past September, on a beautiful Autumn Okanagan day.  Annette wanted an elegant & romantic feel for their day, with touches of peach, pink, white and  hints of powder blue.   With the help of Wedding Planner Laura Lebbon of English Rose Weddings  and Yuriko Larson of  Vintage Origami – I think we captured her vision perfectly.  Reception was held at The Hotel Eldorado, and the room was transformed beautifully with rectangular tables, gold chivari chairs, gold chargers and lush pastel flowers.

Keeping with the romantic theme,  I used lush & ruffled flowers for their floral arrangements, consisting of Hydrangeas, Garden & Standard Roses,  Spray Roses, Lisianthus, Brunia Berries & beautiful Dahlias (which I hand picked locally the day before the wedding).    Thank you to Jamie Willey of Studio 78 for sharing these beautiful images with us, and congratulations to Annette & Kevin!

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Close up of the beautiful bridal bouquet!

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Close up of a bridesmaids bouquet.

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Ceremony entrance table.

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Blue hydrangea in mason jars hanging along the aisle.

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Beautiful bridal party.   The bouquets complimented their dresses perfectly.

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Centerpiece arrangement

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Bridgette & Dana’s Cedar Creek Winery & Hotel Eldorado Wedding

Bridgette & Dana’s wedding was gorgeous from beginning to end, and it was an absolute pleasure to create the garden inspired floral details for their day.   Bridgette had chosen a classic colour palette of pink, peach, blush & white which was carried out throughout the entire wedding from the bridesmaids dresses – to the stationary – to the linens in the reception.  The floral arrangements I created consisted of Garden Roses, Dahlias, Spider Mums, Spray Roses, Lisianthus, Standard Roses, Queen Anne’s Lace, Wax Flower, Seeded Eucalyptus and Fern.

Thank you to Jon & Jenny of Adrian Photography for sharing these beautiful images of the floral details!

 

The stunning Bride Bridgette!

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The bridal bouquet & beautiful floral comb hairpiece.

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Bridgette + Dana Hanson

The bridesmaids bouquets were smaller versions of the brides bouquet.

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The groom’s boutonniere of Blush coloured Spray Roses & hints of greenery.

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The beautiful couple!

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These LOVE mug arrangements were such a cute detail on the ceremony welcome table.

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The view at Cedar Creek Winery is breathtaking and was accented with two large urn arrangements on top of the wine barrels.  A smaller arrangement in a rustic watering can was placed in front of the signing table.

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Single blush roses were wrapped with ribbon & the table numbers to create a unique seating chart.  Love how it turned out, but took a fair amount of time to tie and pin each rose perfectly in line!

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The reception room at the Hotel Eldorado.

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The looser garden-style centerpieces were arranged in our rustic ceramic vases.   Two smaller arrangements hung from the curtains on either side of the head table.

Bridgette + Dana Hanson

 Wedding Planner & Day of Coordination – English Rose Weddings

Stationary – Dandelion Willows

Vintage Décor – Vintage Origami

Juliya & Darryl’s Wedding – Cedar Creek Winery & The Harvest Golf Course

From the moment I met Juliya in our first consultation I knew this was going to be in my top 10 weddings for the year.     She had requested some pops of colour in her flowers and wanted to make them a little fun but still keep with an elegant theme.  I paired a softer orange rose with coral roses, tons of white hydrangea, light pink peonies (my favorite!), and this years popular greenery – dusty millar.   We had such a great team of wedding vendors working on this one – love how all of the details came together.     Thank you to Jessica Zais Photography for providing me with these beautiful images to share with you all!

 

The beautiful ceremony at Cedar Creek Winery.

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White Hydrangea in vintage turquoise mason jars.

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The lovely ceremony welcome table!

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One of the two large ceremony arrangements on top of the wine barrels at Cedar Creek.

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More white hydrangea decorates an outdoor lounge area.

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The beautiful couple!

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The lovely bridal bouquet.

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Juliya and her bridesmaids with their bouquets.  Love how they all wore different styles of coral coloured dresses.

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The centerpieces were arranged in our white ceramic planters – one of the many styles of containers we have available for weddings or events.

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The cute little toss bouquet, waiting patiently on the signing table!

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Photography:  Jessica Zais Photography

Wedding Planner & Day of Coordination:  English Rose Weddings

Vintage Décor & Stylization: Vintage Origami

Stationary: Dandelion Willows

Hair & Makeup:  Melissa Craven

Spring Boathouse Wedding Styled Shoot

This boathouse styled shoot was lovely to be a part of and was beautifully captured by Janelle at Janelle Photography. It was the perfect start to my busy wedding season, in a beautiful palette of blush, pink, cream, peach & white.  I used Blush Standard Roses, Peach Garden Roses, Pink Ranunculus, White Anemone’s, Cream Spray Roses & Dusty Millar Greens to create the beautiful soft bouquet, groom’s boutonniere & table centerpieces.

Here are some of my favorites from the shoot which was recently featured here on the Pretty Blog!

Enjoy!

– Christina

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Décor & Stylization :  Vintage Origami

Boathouse :  The Lake Lounge

Make-up:  Jenny McKinney

Macaroons:  Sandrine French Pastry & Chocolate