A sweet pea bouquet and foliage chandeliers for Kristen & Paul

Garden-Style Wedding Flowers at Château de la Bourdaisière

The hydrangea and snapdragon came right up over the stone arch at Château de la Bourdaisière, so when Kristen and Paul had their first kiss as a married couple, they were standing half inside the flowers. That image is the one I built the whole day toward.

I chose not to spread the design across many small touches through the venue. Instead, I put my energy into three moments: the ceremony arch, a wall of foliage above the reception tables, and a bouquet that would move with Kristen rather than sit still in her hands. Everything else in the day supported those three.

For the ceremony, I worked in white and green and let the arrangement grow past what I had first planned, because once the hydrangea and the roses were in place, holding back would have left empty stone showing through. The day was very hot, so I built the ceremony pieces indoors that morning, kept them out of the sun, and only carried them out once we were close to the vows. The ceremony spot sat in the shade of the trees, so the flowers were still fresh when Kristen walked down.

For the reception, I hung long chandeliers of foliage over the dining tables, so guests would be eating and dancing under greenery instead of looking up at a bare ceiling. That single gesture is what I wanted people to remember about the room the next morning.

Kristen wanted a bouquet that moved with her, not one that held a fixed shape. I built it stem by stem with long branches of sweet peas and ramified foliage, so it would trail and shift as she walked down the aisle instead of staying still like a held object.

Château de la Bourdaisière gave us the stone, the light, and the shade. What I wanted to give back was a day where three choices, made properly, carried more than a dozen smaller ones would have.