Isn’t Emily’s dress fantastic? It’s SO her. When I met these two way back when (for beers at Cornucopia, naturally) I pretty much fell in love. They’re just super fun and key off one another so well. Their early July winery wedding was filled with lavender and other blooms–lilies, larkspur, scabiosa, sweet peas and herbs. Anne Nunn captured these shots and you can see the rest of the loveliness on her blog.

Other details worth mentioning: darn near every flower used was Oregon-grown, the chuppah is one of the items I have handy to rent, and I love love love the hand-dyed silk ribbon decorating Emily’s bouquet.

See you again soon. I’m playing catch-up around here and have oodles to share!

hello friends! i’m excited to announce i’m partnering with verily bride, a blog just for all the gorgeous weddings in oregon, to bring readers a new series. it’s called “in season,” and each month i’ll be giving verily bride’s readers step-by-step instructions on how to create beautiful arrangements for their homes and events using flowers that are currently blooming in out great state…at least west of the cascades. sorry, bend!

for the first installment, i’m showing you how to arrange with blooming branches and ranunculus. some of these flowers are almost done for the season, but there are lots of good tips on how to use whatever you have on hand. go check it out, and while you’re there spend some time browsing the rest of verily bride. i’m really excited that we have such a great local resource!

read how to re-create this arrangement on verily bride.

you guys! i was just going through and trying to make sense of my completely disorganized folders of photos and i came across a wedding that i never shared here. forgive me! without further ado, here are some beautiful shots by Amy Rollo, who is currently gallivanting around southeast asia, but would probably love to snap photos of you when she gets back.

kellen, one of the sweetest brides ever, chose lavender, blush, ivory, and silver for her palette. i played with that by mixing and matching the colors for the bridesmaids’ hydrangea poufs as well as the centerpieces. the whole celebration was crafted with lots of really beautiful layers, like gorgeous handmade place cards and plenty of candles, so we went all out on trimming the bouquets with lace, ribbon, and fabric.

flower-wise, there’s a whole bunch of delightful goodies here. the hydrangeas really take on a starring role, but i think my favorites are the blushing bride protea and flowering oregano in the bridal bouquet. if i could get that protea year-round i would put it in everything. you’ll also spy amnesia and sahara roses, cafe au lait dahlias,  scabiosa, larkspur, dusty miller, and more. the centerpieces also pick up some veronica, wax flower, and lavender, and a whole bunch of farm-fresh things that i can’t actually name, believe it or not. about half of the flowers were sourced locally around here.

serena and shaun did it right over labor day weekend last summer. here are a few snaps by cassy berry. i’ve blogged a bit about another part of their decor, oranges arranged with foliage, and here’s more that i did for them. their whole wedding concept was just…beyond. walking into their reception site was like entering a whole little fantasy world. it was great to do my little part of it!

the bouquet had dahlias, freesia, lavender veronica, lisianthus, and gold-tinted eucalyptus. i left a matching hanky with it when i delivered it, which turned out to be a good thing since serena had one for all her bridesmaids but forgot her own.

the accent there has hydrangea, scabiosa, larkspur, stock, veronica, scented geranium, eucalytpus, and more. serena found that great cut glass container on one of her many thrifting excursions.

every now and then, i get an itchy trigger finger and have to spray paint some leaves. this is controversial among my colleagues, and many will turn their noses up at this and lump painted leaves in with unnatural blue orchids. worth it.

cafe au lait dahlias, hydrangeas, roses, stock, and (of course) gilded leaves for a july wedding last year. with a matching boutonniere for the mister.

photos by erika nicole.

P.S. now you can hover over the pics here on my blog to pin them. try it, you’ll like it.~

can we please fast forward to june so i can have buckets full of bearded iris again? the scent just slays me, and i love the pure seasonality of the blooms–they are only available for a few weeks, and really, one should only procure them locally. these were from one of my favorite farms in springfield and i’m proud to say i picked ‘em myself.

the rest of the ingredients were also fantastic fun–poppy pods, cobra lilies (those’d be the pitcher plants…not quite the same as the darlingtonia found on the wayside, but i love the connection), passion vine, muscari, and hydrangeas. better still, but not in this (rather sorry) set of photos, were the fuchsia peonies, picasso calla lilies, and delicate clematis in the bride’s bouquet. resolution for 2013: take more and better pictures, damn it.

i hate flash in photos, but that ruffly iris persuaded me to post this anyway.

Heidi’s beautiful purple bouquet is featured on Wedding Chicks today as part of their popular bouquet recipe series. Check it out here!

“it stays really cool in the cellar and i set up a couple of tables for some things. you could stash the flowers in there until the bridal party is ready for them,” offered the gal working at silvan ridge winery on saturday.

i don’t know what i was expecting, but i was almost startled by the giant steel wine drums. at least i didn’t drop my crate of bouquets.

congratulations to kim and richie!

clockwise from top right: sweetapolita, ann taylor, elements in bloom, sylviahelen, the knot, the disaster that is tumblr. inset: succulent favors/escort cards by kelly via the knotty bride

it’s been a little while since i shared an inspiration board, hasn’t it? i actually put this board and another one together for an upcoming wedding. the other board won out, but miss bride said something along the lines lines of “anastasia, you jerk, now i have to drop everything and go on a quest for lemon bars!” (forgive my paraphrasing if you’re reading this, jenn).

if this inspires you to make a batch of lemon bars, i know two women who would certainly help you eat them. if it inspires you to design a wedding, that’s cool too.