Fire and Ice Winter Wedding

It is about time to update my blog, since I have not done an entry since last summer! Life is wonderful but busy. Susanna (my new baby granddaughter) occupies my Tuesdays and while she is napping, I plan to post to my blog. We will see if that lasts more than a month or two!

January 21st was the coldest day so far this winter. "Chilly" even for Minnesotans at 20 below windchill. My bride was one of the most organized planners I've encountered and she couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate a winter wedding! Jill and Scott were married at St. Elizabeth Seaton in Hastings and celebrated at Hasting Country Club.

Our theme was "fire and ice" and the colors Jill chose were elegant and classic: pewter grey and white with light blue and sparkling silvery accents.

Her gown was a fitted A-line white silk with a long train and rhinestone embroidered embellishments at the waist. I fashioned her bouquet to compliment the sparkle of her dress and bring in the color of her bridesmaids' gowns and the ties of the groomsmen:

Jill's flowers were light blue hydrangeas (for color), white double freesia (for fragrance), white roses and tulips, white miniature calla lilies--all accented with a liberal "dusting" of dusty miller, a velvety grey foliage. You can see a bit of sparkle from the rhinestone sprays and silvery skeleton leaves I added. Her bouquet was finished with braided double faced satin and a vintage bow-shaped rhinestone pin.

The bridesmaids loved their bouquets, which were much like Jill's, but with more blue and a wonderful springtime flower that reminds me of snow on a branch: genestra.


The groom's boutonierre traditionally is a flower from the bridal bouquet, and I like that tradition. Scott wore a miniature calla lily to match Jill and a miniature dendrobium orchid to match his guys. I curled wire to mimic fiddleheads so that he would have a masculine version of the "bling" in Jill's bouquet.

One of my favorite things about this wedding (besides the sweet couple I was working with) was the wonderful contemporary setting of St. Elizabeth Church. It inspired something new I had not done before--aisle markers made from bare white branches underlit with pin-lights. They were dramatic!

Bonus: they could be safely moved to the reception (no flowers to freeze!) and used again as centerpieces. Other centerpieces were equally fun: big bowls of ice with floating candles and flowers, "ice cube" vases and votives with white flowers and silver leaves, silver orbs and rented "ice trees" from Linen Effects (lineneffects.com) with hanging candles. With the black linens on the tables, the lighting effect of the decor was simply magical!

I will have to wait until I get pictures from my favorite photographer, Noelle at Fishtale Photography because she has the expertise (unlike me) to show off a the effect in a dark room.

Last, I engaged Trevor at Metro Ice Sculptures to create a grand entrance for the guests arriving at the club. He created 8 10x10 pillars of ice, underlit with blue and arranged on either side of the entryway. I sprinkled some fresh snow around the base of these simple shapes and voila! guests were so impressed, they came out into the sub-zero cold to take pictures.

Love, love, love my job!!

Liane

Hyacinth Events