ceremony arrangement - Garden by the Gate Floral Design

February 26, 2018February 26, 2018

The Barn on Enchanted Acres June Wedding

June Wedding. Wedding bouquets by the Garden by the Gate florist, North Canton Ohio

What would be better on a freezing February day than to look back at one of my favorite summer weddings from 2017? Let’s go back to a warm June day at the Barn on Enchanted Acres through the photos by Liza Kirk Photography. The Barn on Enchanted Acres is such an awesome wedding venue and we loved bringing it to life with abundant blush and white wedding flowers. Beautiful bride Brooke and her family were fantastic to work with and had tons of ideas for the flowers and other decorations. Everything couldn’t have been lovelier.

Guests were welcomed to the wedding by a barn wood sign the read “Happily Ever After Starts Here” above an abundant arrangement of peonies, roses, delphinium, snapdragons, and hydrangeas. For a barn wedding or outdoor wedding, you’ll need something to set off the ceremony area. At the Barn on Enchanted Acres they have a fab arbor that we covered in white hydrangeas, blush roses, and vines along with sheer draping. We added some lanterns and ferns to draw the eye to the focal point of the wedding, where the couple would say their vows.

We agree with brides that the most important item of the wedding flowers is the bridal bouquet. We advise brides that this is not where you want to try to save money on your wedding flowers. The bride’s bouquet should fulfill every one of her wedding day dreams. It was Brooke’s dream to have lots and lots of Peonies in her wedding flowers and we didn’t disappoint. We used peonies grown here in our own garden along with other locally sourced peonies. The scent was divine! The ceremony took place right in a beautiful meadow behind the barn so the addition of Queen Ann’s Lace to the bouquets and centerpieces was just the right touch.

We loved the long, rectangular tables and gold Chiavari chairs provided by the Barn on Enchanted Acres. The centerpieces were arrangements of peonies, hydrangeas, and roses in tall mercury glass vases alternating with low arrangements. In addition, small cups containing a single peony dotted the tables. Don’t underestimate the power of flowers to set the mood and tone of your wedding. As the guests entered you could hear hushed exclamations of how lovely and romantic everything looked.

If you would like to chat with us about your wedding flowers, we would love to hear your ideas. The first step is to fill out our Wedding Inquiry Form and we’ll be glad to make an appointment to talk about your wedding flower ideas.

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the Garden by the Gate wedding florist located in North Canton and Hartville

January 15, 2018February 1, 2018

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

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

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!

December 31, 2017February 1, 2018

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

October 20, 2017October 21, 2017

Jewel Tones for Fall

As fall brings a nip in the air

nature puts on some of her most vibrant colors. Nicole and Issac’s wedding was on a perfect September day and they chose a perfect fall color palette that included harvest colors of eggplant, wine, maize, apple green, and all the oranges of a maple tree at peak fall color. Nicole carried her grandmother’s rosary down the aisle along with her bouquet of black magic roses, dahlias, mums, hypericum berries, scabiosa pods, and seeded eucalyptus. Since the Garden by the Gate uses locally grown flowers as much as possible, I had told Nicole that I wasn’t sure if the scabiosa pods would be ready in time for her wedding. Luckily my crop of scabiosa pods matured at just the right moment to be included in Nicole’s wedding flowers. Homegrown dahlias used included Hollyhill Black Beauty, Voodoo, Diva, and Summers End. Most of those are new varieties that were chosen with Nicole’s color scheme in mind. See all the gorgeousness captured by EllieJay Photography HERE

When you choose the Garden by the Gate for your wedding flowers, we get right to work making sure that we will have your flowers ready for your wedding. We’ll order dahlia bulbs, seed packets, or plants that coordinate with your color scheme. We also work with local growers like Bloom Hill Farm, a family flower farm in Uniontown, Ohio (just 5 minutes away from the Garden by the Gate).

For Nicole’s wedding, we planted dahlias in shades of eggplant, wine, and orangy-peach. Scabiosa pods were new for me this year, and I have to say they are pretty easy to grow and they are perfect for adding soft texture and unique color to bouquets. For the centerpieces, we planted Benary’s Giants zinnias in purple, wine, gold, and orange.

The most unique thing we grew this year is seen in the ceremony arrangments. Balloon plant milkweed is grown for the balloon-like inflated seed pods that appear in the fall. It is also the food of Monarch Butterflies, an endangered species. I think they added great interest to the arrangements.