Weddings 2011: Blue thistle and a Greek Orthodox wedding

January is anniversary month for Alex Petelos Vakakes. Alex married on a beautiful sunny January day at the Holy Trinity - Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral in downtown Birmingham. Thank you Amber Ford for sharing images of the day. 

Alex carried a hand tied garden bouquet of Amelia roses and thistle with touches of seeded eucalyptus and fragrant freesia.

Alex requested slate blue thistle with Akito roses for her bridesmaids.

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a girl and her daddy . . .

~ father daughter dance ~

If you look closely at the boutonnieres the men are wearing you will notice a tie of tartan plaid in honor of Alex's Mother and Grandparents from Scotland. Of course the blue thistle was also a nod to her European heritage.

Anita of AK Brides and her team kept the wedding day running on schedule and we were happy to be on the wedding team.

~ happy anniversary Alex Petelos Vakakes ~

Lillie's on the cover of Alabama Weddings

 

I hardly thought there could be a bigger thrill than seeing our Lillie's wedding shot by  Fotowerks on the cover of Alabama Weddings Magazine in 2011...

 

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but then, my mailman brings a delivery of the 2012 edition to my doorstep, and hooray, there is Lillie's again! 

 

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This was such an honor for us because the 2012 issue is the Ten Year Anniversary issue of the publication.

Many thanks to Michelle at Alabama Weddings Mag and to the oh-so talented Frank Carnaggio who shot this cover, which hit the newsstands in January.

I have to say, I'm partial to a blue cover, and apparently I'm not alone. My dear friend and publishing guru, Phyllis Hoffman of Hoffman Media told me once that blue covers are among the most popular. Certainly, we folks in the flower business know just how much blue flowers are in high demand. 

Who knows, maybe someday blue delphinium bouquets will overtake red rose bouquets at Valentine's.........Nah. 

Behind The Scenes: A Tuscan Wedding Dinner for Southern Bride Magazine

 I was kicking back after a busy holiday season with my latest guilty pleasure -- Pinterest 

(Lillie's has its very own board here) -- just searching around, and what should pop up but this photo shoot of a Tuscan themed wedding dinner...a photo shoot that I had done with Southern Bride Magazine! So, I thought I should share more of it here. 

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Oh how I wish we'd been in Tuscany, but alas, we were not. Instead I set up the shoot at an old Spanish Colonial home tucked away in an unlikely part of Birmingham. Gabrella Manor, as it is now called, had the right bone structure to give us our night in Tuscany. 

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Each element on the table shares a common theme of elegant rusticity synonymous with the Tuscan countryside. Textured linens, raffia, hand-thrown pottery, dark wood and hand-painted tiles form a backdrop for an abundance of fruits, herbs and late summer blossoms. 

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These wonderful baskets tied to black chivari chairs are filled with rosemary, tomato red rosehips, antique hydrangea, garden roses, fushcia beautyberry (or pokeberry as we call it down south) and tiny sunflower-looking mums called vyking.

 

 Here (above) is wedding planner Anita Kanellis of AK Brides who worked with me to pull the look together with wonderfully rustic place settings from Peter’s Pottery,  linens and chairs from Aztec, and beautiful invitations by The Invitation Place. 

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Diane Olexa of Olexa's Cakes baked this stunning gold wedding cake - almost too pretty to eat....almost. Bridesmaids dresses by Dalia McPhee, and of course, to set the mood, Andy Tolar of Design Productions hung strings of cafe lighting.

Natural light was provided by the Alabama sun, which refused to dim for most of the very balmy evening. I suppose this should have helped me get into character, but in my dreams Tuscany has less humidity.

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The folks at Southen Bride Magazine brought in The Foto Altelier  to shoot stills and these shots are straight from the video made by the always fun, John and Angela Deaver of Main Street Productions who documented the event on video here on Vimeo.  Enjoy - Ciao!

Weddings 2011: Fall leaves and wood slices

Fearless color isn't the only fearless thing about Ryan and Whitney's wedding. After all, this is the groom who chose to pop the question in one of  the most daring ways I've heard (And I've heard a bunch!) He sent his beloved, Whitney, high into the air aboard a skydiving plane and then stood at the target landing sight with a giant sign:

"I Love You Whit. Will You Marry Me?" 

Come to think of it, Whitney is the real firecracker! How many girls would jump from a plane into the arms of her man? 

And so it was appropriate that Whitney's wedding at The Sonnet House was a riot of fall's brightest colors: firecracker red, tangerine, and fearless yellows. 

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I love how photographer Frank Carnaggio captured the intensity of Whitney's bouquet of tulips, freesia, rosehips, and billy balls.

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 The rustic mantle at the Sonnet House was the ideal foil for a swath of fall foliage and vines.

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To round out the rustic theme,Whitney's precious parents brought in these wonderfully aromatic slabs of cedar from a fallen tree.

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Weddings 2011: Fall Dahlias and a Charm Bouquet

From the first few minutes into meeting Betsy I knew it was a match make in heaven...sure, Jonathan and Betsy make a great pair too, but I'm talking about me and Betsy. All the things she wanted to bring to her special day were second nature for me. A love for soft, natural elements and a romantic, garden aesthetic.

Looking at these wonderful images shot by Amanda Pair and her equally talented friend, Wynter Pate, it's easy to see how Betsy's vision was perfectly matched for the venue she chose, The Sonnet House.in Leeds, Alabama. The historic home and grounds are a balanced blend of pristine and patina. Just look how russet dahlias and delphinium sing against that blue gate and rusted roof!  And, oh, that kiss!

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Love for family was the golden thread that ran throughout Betsy and Jonathan's wedding day. Betsy's charm bouquet wrap suited her charmed wedding

We were happy to get to work with some of our favorite friends on Betsy's wedding day. Jerrod and Corey do such a great job at the Sonnet House and John and Angela Deaver at Main Street Productions are always fun to have around on wedding day!

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I wanted to share my favorite shot last. Betsy and her mother, no flowers necessary. Just an honest and lovely depiction of the wonderful bond between mother and daughter. 

I want to call my mom....

fern and wedding flowers: a perfect combination

~ apple green fronds of Southern Shield fern and tiny buds of freesia add wonderful, natural architecture and texture to a Lillie's bouquet ~

I love fashioning boutonnieres with fern for Lillie's grooms! So artful and masculine. This wonderful close-up by Amanda Pair captures how the tips have begun to bronze in the cool autumn weather. Here I've added in bits of lamb's ear and seed heads. Yum! See Jonathan & and Betsy's wedding here.

 

For a pop of color I worked in bright red rosehips to tiny stems of resurrection fern. For more of Whitney and Ryan's wedding, photographed by talented Birmingham photographer Frank Carnaggio, check the full blog post here.

Weddings: tulip bouquets and Historic Rucker Place

I know what you're thinking...that picture of the blonde bride with the perfect smile and perfect yellow tulips is an ad for Lillie's, right? Could be, but no. Victoria is a real-life bride who married lucky fella Chris at the beautiful Rucker Place overlooking Birmingham, Alabama.

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The afternoon of our first meeting together Victoria told me about her groom Chris and his landscape design business. Loving the outdoors as I do, this completely intrigued me. Chris joined us at our next meeting and and the three of us worked together on a plan to give the wedding a natural outdoorsy feel using Alabama greenery and honeysuckle vine.

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The sunny yellow of tulips and freesia, everything about this wedding makes me want to smile.The tulips were a happy surprise for a HOT August wedding. Tulips are cool season, spring flowers. We honestly just "Hoped" for tulips. I ordered the tulips and "Begged" my suppliers to search. We were all excited to see Victoria carry a bouquet of her favorite blossom. 

Thanks to Daniel Taylor for capturing the essence of spring in a glass (even in August).

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 Bird's nest centerpieces on pintucked linens and a pair of kissing canaries atop a scrumptious cake by Dreamcakes gave the reception a decidedly aviary theme. 

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I guess I will forever think of Victoria and her yellow bouquet when a newly engaged girl asks me for tulips in a hot Alabama Summer.