Branching Out Event Florist

“Old Hollywood” Winter Wedding at The Standard

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:40:27 +0000

What fun this wedding was to design! The bride, Dee Wingo, told me she liked bling, feathers and Old Hollywood…and left the rest up to me. Dee’s bouquet consisted of white mini callas with white feathers, and each bloom had a “diamond” added to the center. Love the bling! The wedding and reception were held at The Standard in downtown Nashville, a wonderful old home that has a ballroom attached. The wedding ceremony was held in the ballroom in front of the old mantle, the guests were then treated to a fabulous seated dinner inside the house. While the guests were enjoying their meal, the staff of The Standard and my crew went to work to turn the ballroom into a “winter” Old Hollywood look with white ostrich feathers as centerpieces and added to the mantle, battery operated lamps and many candles. Yes, we added “snow” to each table…well, OK, maybe Hollywood doesn’t have snow…but this is Nashville, and it was a cold night! These photos show the mantle as it was for the ceremony, with fresh garland, white roses, white dendrobium orchid stems, gold ornaments. The trees on each side of the mantle belong to The Standard, so we added white roses to them as well. The other photos show the room all dressed up for the reception waiting for the party to begin. Marino Music provided the live music and guests truly enjoyed themselves (we came to break down a little early and peaked in the ballroom..PAR-TAY would be an understatement!) See you at the bridal show this Saturday…come by our booth and give us a shout!

Christmas Winter Wedding in Nashville

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:27:58 +0000

I love decorating for a winter wedding. The possibilities are endless..whether you want to use the traditional colors of Christmas or all white. There is just something about the excitement of the season, all the lights in the city and a wedding that reflects that, a bride that loves the season….all a good mix for good times. This bride chose the traditional red and white with a touch of winter white branches and snow. We also used her family’s silver containers for the sentimental factor (we have lots of silver containers, but I’m all for it if you want to use yours).

Nashville wedding bouquets

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:09:41 +0000

Since it is Thanksgiving weekend, and we have a little “breather” here for a week, I thought I might try to catch up with a post showing some of my fabulous brides and the bouquets they chose. Laura’s bouquets mirrored her vibrant personality using hot pink roses and green hydrangea. Andrea, whose personality is more formal chose a very elegant bouquet of cream roses and Lilly of the Valley. We love ALL of our brides, and by working with each, we do get a good “feel” of their style and personality.

Fall wedding reception at The Governor’s Club

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:43:13 +0000

The weather in Nashville in the fall is unpredictable to say the least, and when your client wants an outdoor “party” feel….and they love love love black magic roses….well you just make them a tree of roses! As much as I hated to see summer go, I do love the fall colors. This event was warm during the day, but as you can see heaters were placed in the tent for the chill in the evening.

This was a celebration with friends in Nashville, as the bride and groom had previously married in a private ceremony. The buffet piece consists of massed

roses attached to one of our iron votive “trees”, which was in keeping with the fall decor.

Late summer wedding Hermitage Hotel Nashville

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:06:26 +0000

WOW! Just look at these fabulous photos from Divine Images

of Janna Konze’s wedding. I posted my pathetic shots in an earlier post, but this storyboard is fantastic! Thanks to Leslie & Bill for allowing me

to show these here.

blue hydrangea bouquetswedding cake with blue hydrangea

A South Georgia romantic wedding

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:56:35 +0000

Its been a while since my last post…we’ve been SO busy, which is a good thing! Just had to show you some photos from my niece’s wedding in south Georgia. Isn’t she a beautiful bride? I’m a little partial of course!

Elegant wedding reception at Loew’s Vanderbilt Nashville

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:38:40 +0000

This weekend was a complete change in style from the recent wedding receptions we have designed. Our bride, Sarah Batten, wanted a traditional, elegant feel to her wedding,an in so doing, chose the ballroom at Nashville’s Loew’s Vanderbilt Hotel. Sarah chose pink as her main color and added chocolate brown to bring in the season. We used some of our many silver containers to add to the elegant flair. Blake Chaffin, Nashville Event Lighting, worked his usual magic by spotlighting each centerpiece, which really makes a huge difference in the look. Sarah’s coordinator, Gail Vandygriff and staff were a delight to work with, along with the staff from Connie Duglin Linens (love the chocolate overlays), and music provided by Spangler Entertainment. These photos were taken by me, a florist/event designer, NOT a photographer. Can not wait to see the fabulous photos I know will be coming from Gray Photography! I am so fortunate(and so are my brides) to have Christine Boulton on my crew for setup, who is a retired couture cake designer (now a wedding marketing guru). Look at the fabulous job Christine did with hydrangea on the cake! Of course kudos to the rest of my staff, Jodi and Sims, another great job guys!

Wedding reception at new rooftop venue in Nashville

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:08:55 +0000

This past weekend, we designed a wedding reception at our newest rooftop venue in Nashville, called One Eleven. Cool place, hot day! We used hot colors of orange, hot pink, lime green to give a pop to the glass and concrete structure. The bride wanted to bring in some element from her home state of Georgia, so we used peaches in some of the stemmed glassware, with battery operated lampshades. A fun element was in the entryway, using one of our iron trees, hanging floral balls…each guest wrote a card with suggestions for a happy marriage and hung them on the tree. Traditional flowers of hydrangea and roses were used, along with the contemporary use of green and orange orchids. SoBro Catering created the menu, with rentals from Liberty Party Rental. Love their new highboy cocktail tables, which require no linens, for a contemporary look.

Summer Blues (and yellows!)wedding reception at the Hermitage Hotel

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:56:36 +0000

Janna Konze was our third bride for the weekend of Labor Day, and what a delightful bride she was! Janna chose the color scheme of blue and yellow. SInce we are at the cusp of fall, she chose to use the fall colors of blue, rather than the light blues of summer. Above is a shot of the head table, which was in the ballroom of the Hermitage Hotel. using antique fall blue hydrangea, yellow and cream roses and blue delphinium. A mix of centerpiece glass containers were used throughout the ballroom, all using the same color scheme. Glass gives such a romantic glow with mulitudes of votive candles! Pictured below are our traditional style glass pedestals and our glass “cake plate” containers, which give a nice show for not so much money, as not many flowers are needed for that look, with so many candles on the table. We submerged hydrangea in one of our 28″ glass pilsner vases for the escort card table, which was a look the Janna liked to incorporate her contemporary side. The cake, by Nashville’s French Confection was a show stopper….a cake this size takes MANY hydrangea…but don’t you think its worth it? The ceremony was held at Belmont Methodist Church, and all was executed with flawless perfection by her wedding planner, Alice Hendry. Can’t wait to receive the really professional photos from our friends, the Emmitts of Divine Images!

Country Chic Wedding at Cheekwood

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:26:20 +0000

The second wedding we designed on Labor Day weekend was a casual, country look for our bride Virginia Lee Wallace. Virginia chose Cheekwood for her ceremony in the garden, with the reception in the courtyard of the Frist Learning Center on the grounds of Cheekwood. The bride wanted very causual, colorful and country designs. We used red, yellow, orange and white gladiolas in French flower buckets on a farm table for her “altar”. Love the look. The bridesmaids carried clutches of gerber daisies,with the centerpieces designed in glass “mason jars”, usually used for home food canning….a real country touch!