Category: Rustic

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Choosing your Wedding Colors

Barn wedding at Rivercrest Farm, flowers by Garden by the Gate Floral Design, Photos: Loren Jackson Photography

Your wedding color scheme will have a huge effect on the mood and vibe of your wedding. Color can read hot or cool, exciting or calm, trendy or traditional, and more. At Garden by the Gate, color is one of the most important aspects of your floral designs. We are happy to help you refine your color scheme to communicate exactly the right ambiance for your celebration. To get started with planning your perfect wedding, tell us a little about your dream wedding day using our Wedding Inquiry Form.

For more help, head on over to the Perfect Palette, the number one resource for wedding planning. More than just color, you’ll find carefully curated content and heartfelt advice for planning any kind of wedding. Garden by the Gate Foral Design is thrilled to be featured in their post, Vibrant Pink Dream Wedding which took place at Rivercrest Farm in Dover, Ohio.

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3 Tips for Choosing your Wedding Color Scheme

Urn filled with Eremurus, Protea, celosia, snapdragons, hydrangeas, roses, dahlias, eucalyptus, by the Garden by the Gate florists

How to choose the right colors for your wedding

Bouquet of hydrangeas, pink roses, peach hypericum berries, and lavender daisies.One of the first questions that we often ask in a consultation is “what are your wedding colors?” We’re sorry. We can’t  help it. We just want to start dreaming up gorgeous florals for your wedding.

You may have had ideas about your dream wedding since you were a little girl, or you may have found the perfect wedding color scheme on Pinterest. But there are some important things to consider before you order those bridesmaid’s dresses.

Tip Number One

  • Consider the season

One of the most important things that should help determine your color scheme is the season of the year, probably the biggest factor.  Colors make people feel a certain way, they can bring out emotions, or even change the perceived temperature of your venue! That’s why you should consider the season of the year when you choose your wedding day color scheme. Say you’re getting married in the winter, you might want to make your guests feel warm and cozy, in a way that reminds them of snuggling up in front of a roaring fire in a cozy cabin in the woods. For that feeling, you may choose warm colors like Burgundy or Cranberry, and some soft greens that remind you of the forest. But you can also take the opposite track, you may want to emphasize everything you love about winter, the fresh clean snow, the frosty air, the bright clear night sky twinkling with stars. Then your color scheme may be ivory, ice blue, and navy.

Dahlias, roses, and wildflowers for a summer barn wedding at Rivercrest Farm. Flowers by the Garden by the Gate
Loren Jackson Photography

You can apply the same ideas to whichever season of the year you have planned your wedding. A summer wedding color scheme might mimic an old-fashioned garden filled with fuschia peonies, pink roses, and tangerine zinnias. Or you might choose colors that remind you of a summer day at the beach: sea-blue, palm-tree green, and driftwood gray.

Just think about how you would like to feel on that day, and what the weather and surrounding scenery will look like and you’ll make the right choice.

That being said, don’t let the season rule out a color you had your heart set on. Take  Blush for example-a very popular color in 2017 that industry experts see continuing into 2018. Blush and white is perfect for a Spring  wedding. How about a Summer wedding? Brighten up your blush by adding raspberry or watermelon pinks and lots of bright greenery. Blush can be lovely in autumn as well. Try a color scheme of blush and burgundy  or blush, apricot, and gold. Add some branches foraged from fall trees or bushes. For a wintry vibe, adding dried material like Pampas grass works great or you could add sparkle and glitz with rose gold or silvery touches. 

Tip Number Two

  • Consider your venue

Especially consider your reception venue when choosing your color scheme. A bland plain-vanilla ballroom calls for color, lots of it, while the dim interior of a dark wood-walled barn will sparkle with  lots of white flowers and linens. Keep in mind the walls, carpet, lighting, and other big areas of your venue when considering colors. The important thing to remember when choosing all of your decor is the general impression people get when they first enter. That is when your flowers, linens, and other decor will really communicate the mood and theme of your celebration. That’s where we as florists and event designers can really help you make decisions that will have the most impact for your money.
We’ll be able to tell you that perhaps a lovely jewel-like detail seen in a close-up photo may have almost no impact on the overall effect. It may even become lost as the tables become cluttered with handbags, drink glasses, food items, etc. We’ll help you design decor that will really pop, and make a big impression on your guests.

Fall wedding bouquet of burgundy dahlias, white roses, and sunflowers for a wedding at Firestone County Club
Too Much Awesomeness photography

When it comes to the ceremony, the color of the carpeting where the ceremony will be held is often a sticking point. Red and other bright colors seem to be common and that doesn’t always work with your color scheme. You can try to work with it, but often you have to just choose to ignore it. And remember, only those in the first couple of rows will actually see the bridesmaids’ dresses right against the carpeting. Everyone else will only see the bridesmaids’ upper body and faces and only see the brides’ gown against the carpet. It’s something most people won’t even notice or think about so don’t stress out about it. 

Tip Number Three

  • Consider the flowers

Winter bouquet including navy blue eryngium, white roses and hydrangeas, and brooches for a December 26 winter wedding.
It may surprise you to hear that Mother Nature did not have the advantage of a Pantone color deck when choosing how to paint each blossom in the garden! There are certain colors that just do not occur naturally in flowers. We at the Garden by the Gate love using our own flowers from the garden and other locally grown flowers for your wedding day. They naturally come in hundreds of gorgeous colors and we’re just not into artificially painting or dyeing them an unnatural color. But you can still have that special shade in your wedding if you use it in creative ways. Maybe order the bridesmaid dresses that color, and then the flowers can pop in white or a contrasting color. Gorgeous silk ribbons trailing from bouquets is a trendy way to bring in a color that isn’t flower friendly.

When you have your consultation with us at the Garden by the Gate, we’ll ask you what kinds of flowers you like, what you’d like the general mood or feel of your wedding to be, and what’s more, we’ll also ask you what kinds of things you don’t like! That way we can be sure to give you the very best guidance as we work together to make your wedding day everything you always dreamed it would be!

Get started now by filling out the Wedding Inquiry Form or just email us directly at [email protected]. We’re looking forward to working with you!

 

 

 

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Putting the Country in Country Club

When Jennie and Paul first became engaged, they planned to be married on the family farm with tons of rustic touches. As it became apparent that preparing the farm for a wedding was too daunting a task, the couple chose to move the festivities to Firestone Country Club, where they are members. The world renowned club has been home to many high profile events like the Bridgestone Invitational, part of the World Golf Championships. Portraits of the many celebrities who have visited the club hang in the halls. The couple knew that the elegantly appointed club with its world-class cuisine and impeccable customer service would be perfect for their wedding, but they wanted to keep some of the rustic, country decor elements that they had planned on.

As a professional graphic designer, Jennie had a meticulously planned vision for the decor and the Garden by the Gate was up to the task of making her vision a reality. Champagne-colored sequined table runners were the perfect way to bridge the elegance of the club with the mason jar arrangements brimming with white roses, sunflowers, burgundy dahlias, eucalyptus, and dried wheat.

View all of the awesomeness captured by Too Much Awesomeness photography HERE

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Color of the Year-Greenery!

Green and White Wedding Flowers

We are totally smitten

with Pantone’s color of the year, Greenery, and with this lovely barn wedding featuring  . . . Greenery! Bride Jenna added some white to her greenery and the result sparkled in the rustic interior of the barn at Rivercrest Farm, in Dover, Ohio. We adore the subtle khaki green of the bridesmaids’ casual dresses, which made their greenery bouquets shine. A painterly gray sky threatened thunderstorms all day but the sun made its appearance just as the ceremony was about to begin.

After the hilltop ceremony, guests made their way down to the barn where the cocktail hour took place under a white canopy. Guests found their seats in a display overflowing with seeded eucalyptus greenery (designed by the bride’s mom). Inside, the greenery continued at the head table draped in moss and garlanded with more eucalyptus and ferns.

See all the gorgeousness captured by Lyssa Ann Portraits HERE   
*Photos on this page by the Garden by the Gate[df_divider el_width=”100″ style=”solid” accent_color=”” border_t_width=”” padding=”20px 0″ position=”align_center” el_class=””]


How to do a Greenery color scheme for your wedding

With the popularity of the Pantone color of the year, Greenery, I would like to offer a few tips and suggestions, and maybe correct some misconceptions about foliage decor.

If you’re a bride who would like to try to DIY your wedding flowers, Greenery is a good choice. Most foliages are pretty un-fussy about their treatment and last quite a long time in or out of water. We suggest that you choose a few items to DIY and hire a professional to do the rest. Perhaps you could put together centerpieces ahead of time and have your bouquets done by a florist. You really have to think about how much time you will have to create your bouquets and decorations on top of all the special events such as bachelorette parties, mani-pedis, fittings, salon visits, bridesmaid brunches, etc. You want to concentrate on getting yourself ready for your big day, staying fresh and relaxed, and not feeling harried or distracted by extra duties. As a wedding florist, I know how long and hard our team works the days leading up to a wedding so it’s hard to envision non-professionals adding this to their schedule.

When you decide that you want to make some of your own wedding decorations, you will need a source for the greenery materials. Your choices include online vendors, big box stores, or your local florist. The main drawback to using most online vendors or big box stores is the quantity of each item that you are required to buy. Flowers and greenery are mostly sold in box lots which generally consist of around ten bunches. Bunches vary in size having from 5-10 stems, sometimes more. As a florist who does many weddings, I can tell you that we seldom purchase a box lot of any one item or color. It is also a misconception that so-called “bulk” outlets are giving you wholesale prices. Generally, they are much higher than what your florist would pay. This is where the Garden by the Gate can help you out by not only providing reasonably priced greenery in just the quantities that you need, but we can also offer a lot of advice about what you’ll need and how to put together your arrangements. Just call us or fill out the wedding inquiry form on our website.

One misconception is that greenery and foliage is always cheaper than flowers. Some foliages are inexpensive and some are not. Here is a quick list of some foliages you might use.

Good Value

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  • Leatherleaf fern
  • Plumosa
  • Variegated or green pittosporum
  • Salal (Lemon leaf)
  • Sprengeri

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  • Huck
  • Nagi
  • Smilax
  • Ming Fern

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Premium Foliage

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  • Dusty miller
  • Italian ruscus
  • Leucadendron (Safari sunset, Jester, etc.)
  • Magnolia

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  • Fiddlehead fern
  • Sword or flat fern
  • Monstera leaves
  • Hosta leaves

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  • Maidenhair fern
  • Bay leaves
  • Olive branches
  • Explosion grass

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Eucalyptus and more eucalyptus!

There are now so many kinds of eucalyptus greenery to choose from! Most are a little more expensive than your value-priced foliage, but they make a big impression. Here are some varities to try.
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  • Seeded
  • Parvifolia
  • Silver dollar

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  • Willow
  • Gunni
  • Baby blue or silver

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  • Naked seeded
  • Feather
  • Tinted

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Garland

Greenery garland can be made out of any of the above foliages or any combination. A word of caution: garland is EXPENSIVE! Whether your florist makes it in their studio or buys it pre-made, it’s going to be expensive because there is a lot of labor involved. This is the biggest misconception that we see, brides thinking that some greenery down the center of each table is going to be cheap. This is also not recommended as a DIY project because it takes practice, and even then, it is VERY time consuming to do.

One alternative is to just lay pieces of greenery down the center of the table and this may work if no one disturbs it. It won’t look as lush and full as a real garland and here again, it is a lot more time consuming than just placing a vase on the table. This will need to be done the day of the event so it’s not a good project for the wedding party. If you have helpers who are not in the wedding, they may be able to do this for you.

Flowers can be tucked in at intervals using flower glue, wire, or water picks.

A word about foraging

Foraged foliage is a very popular look now and many professionals will forage greenery for their work. Branches and leaves from trees, shrubs, or vines can add great color and texture. The caveat is that you must test your foraged greens ahead of time to see if they will hold up. Cut the foliage and place it in water and flower food overnight or for several hours. If it is going to be used in centerpieces where it will have a water supply, this is all you have to do. Observe it for as long as you think you will want to hold your arrangements. If it is going to be used in something that will not have a water supply such as garlands, bouquets, or boutonnieres, condition it as above then take it out of the water and observe how it holds up out of the water for as long as it will be without water.

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A Rivercrest Farm Wedding for Flower Lovers

Loren Jackson Photography

It’s truly a pleasure for us to work with a bride and her family who LOVE flowers! It is particularly poignant that their love of flowers was fostered and shared by a loving husband and father. In his memory, the bride carried a single tiny sunflower, his favorite,  in her bouquet. Carissa chose an awesome ombré color scheme that ran from palest blush to coral to rich cherry pink. Getting the colors right might have been a challenge but Karen, our representative at Mayesh Cleveland supplied us with gorgeous flowers that included peach ranunculus, coral dahlias, café au lait dahlias, blush garden roses, hot pink cockscomb (celosia), and giant peach eremerus.

Carissa and her mom Anais spent the months before the wedding scouring flea markets, antique shops, and tag sales for the antique porcelain and crystal vases grouped on each table in addition to the main centerpiece.

Another fun touch was the floral pocket square that Carissa requested for her groom, Gabe. It was so fun to do and and really made a statement on his tuxedo.

But the most fun (and challenge) was the giant “go big or go home” arrangements that flanked the barn entrance. After rejecting our first choice of urns as way too small, mom Anais was thrilled with the final arrangements of hydrangeas, snapdragons, roses, cockscomb, Queen Pink protea, and eremerus in tall, faux cement urns. The protea was another touch of nostalgia, reminiscent of a family trip to New Zealand. Carissa’s bouquet and her mom’s corsage also included Blushing Bride protea. View the entire gallery at Loren Jackson Photography.