February 26, 2020

A Snowy Winter Wedding Adventure: Nessie and Adam’s Wedding at Novelty Hill

Here at Flora Nova, we love our job! Being a wedding and event florist is just fantastic; not only do we get to design fabulous floral arrangements and create one-of-a-kind jaw-dropping events, we get to work with the sweetest, most wonderful clients! Our winter wedding couple Nessie and Adam were no exception. From their very first consultation, this couple was so easy to work with, so gracious and willing to collaborate on every detail, just lovely. The planning process moved along slowly, the time ticking away until their wedding day — and then the Seattle forecast dropped a big snowy wrench in all our plans! The whole week leading up to this Nessie and Adam’s wedding at Novelty Hill Winery in Woodinville wine country called for snow, snow, and more snow. What were we going to do???

Well, like the true wedding professionals we are, our team rose to the occasion and made sure that Nessie and Adam had the wedding of their dreams, even if we did have to get a little creative. And the team’s hard work paid off! A big thank you to our bride Nessie for the Google review she wrote below:

We hired Flora Nova for our wedding day flowers and decor – the results were gorgeous blooms and working with an incredible team of people who went above and beyond every step of the way.

The team set up our flowers at our Church, tore down, and went straight to our venue to put together a beautiful display that helped turn our wedding into a real-life Pinterest board. Even with the snow storm, they put in time in the days leading up to our wedding day to make sure that all of the decorations could make it to the venue on time.

From meeting with Christiane to designing a wonderfully elegant theme, to working with Becky to set up special candle requests, to the team bracing the snow that hit Seattle out of the blue – our experience was great and our guests had nothing but compliments on the design!

Nessie, December 2019

Do we have chains for this cargo van??

Becky here, Operations Manager for the Flora Nova team. That’s a picture of me above, snow boots and all, carrying one of Nessie and Adam’s huge altar arrangements into the church. The forecast called for snow, and it sure did come true! Seattle was socked in and our steep hills made travel around the city quite tricky. But our team was prepared: a few days before the wedding, between snowstorms, I drove all of Nessie and Adam’s hard goods (all the vases, stemmed votives, mercury glass, tall centerpiece stands, hurricane candles, urns, ladders, tool kits – you name it!), buckets of flowers, and some of the low arrangements (filled with extra water!) out to the hills of wine country just in case! Since we didn’t know just how big a snow storm was coming next, or just how well our team was going to be able to navigate the icy roads, we wanted to make sure that this sweet couple got as close to their dream wedding as they possibly could. Even if our team couldn’t make it to the venue on the wedding day, at least there would still be a beautiful party.

The morning of the wedding dawned and the promised snow covered the city: there was absolutely no way our cargo van was going to make it up those steep snowy hills to deliver this wedding. Well, where there’s a will, there’s a way! I installed chains (well, my husband installed chains) on my four-wheel drive SUV, I picked up Jenny, our Lead Designer, and we headed to the studio in our snow gear to collect the rest of the flowers. With some careful packing, Jenny and I loaded up my SUV with all of the remaining ceremony and reception flowers and we headed to the church. Good thing we had chains! The steep (and unplowed) neighborhood streets were clogged with almost a foot of fresh snow.

After a beautiful ceremony, Jenny and I hurried to collect all of the ceremony arrangements, load them back into the SUV, and drive them out to Novelty Hill Winery, just outside the city. At the winery, Jenny and I once again hurried to finish setting up all of the previously delivered flowers, candles, and decor, adding in the extra arrangements we had packed into the SUV. Inside the reception space, Jenny and I changed out of our snow boots (whew!) and quickly got to work bringing Nessie and Adam’s lovely vision to life.

I’m proud of the way our team worked together to ensure that our clients got the wedding of their dreams — whatever the weather decided to throw their way. And a big thank you, too, to all of the other vendors who worked together on this event and showed great flexibility, generosity, and a great can-do attitude! What’s a little snow compared to hard work, determination, and a whole lot of love?!

If you liked this winter wedding, check out Sarah and Tobey’s Elegant Winter Wedding

Vendor Team

Reception Venue: Novelty Hill

Floral and Decor: Flora Nova Design

Planning: Prive Events

Photographer: Genelyn Jaye

Rentals: Cort Party Rentals

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February 25, 2020

Margot and Justin’s Romantic Pacific Northwest Wedding

We loved Margot and Justin’s beautiful Pacific Northwest wedding! Everything from the sweet bride and groom, the location of their ceremony and dinner reception, the color palette, all the many details, the bride’s flawless style … Swoon-worthy all around!

Margot’s bouquet of peach David Austin roses, Cafe au Lait dahlias, ranunculus, chocolate cosmos, lovely blue forget-me-not, mini green hydrangea, and ferns set the tone for this elegant affair at a private residence in Medina. Her lovely bouquet was a perfect translation of their French Country and Modern Northwest Garden inspired theme.

A True Pacific Northwest Wedding with Ferns and Moss

For the backyard ceremony under a clear tent we custom-built a moss covered arbor adorned with colorful garden blooms and Northwest ferns. We lined the aisle with large moss orbs featuring small, a-symmetrical floral clusters.

A Tent Reception with A Large Floral Chandelier

But our favorite part of the day was the reception: all the amazing details made for a memorable evening. Even an early fall freak storm couldn’t stop guests from dancing the night away. Long tables were lined with taper candles and elegant flowers in white ceramic vessels, a large floral chandelier adorned the area above the dance floor, pool floats and hurricanes lined the surrounding ponds, a nearby willow tree was dripping in light chains … It sure was a favorite of our 2016 weddings.
We were so thrilled to see this wedding featured on Style Me Pretty.

I hope you liked this wedding. If you did, you might also like these recent tent weddings we designed:

The Great Vendor Team:

Venue: Private Residence

Planner: Jacky with Event Success

Photography: Katie Parra Photography

Rentals: Cort & La Tavola

Catering: City Catering

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February 21, 2020

A Grand Seattle Wedding Featured on Style Me Pretty

The grand Seattle wedding of Brita & Richie had it all: a wonderful couple, a tremendously generous family offering their most amazing property for this wedding, a bride with impeccable style, a stellar vendor team, farm animals, a huge custom designed tent, over 3000 white garden flowers specifically planted on-site for the wedding, uncountable pretty little details to make a most memorable wedding day! The list is long.

Garden Flowers in Blush and Whites

For Brita and her bride’s maids we used locally sourced, seasonal garden flowers in blush and creams with lots of garden greenery. We especially love the fairy roses, and English style garden roses in their bouquets. Definitely a favorite!

The Flower Filled Church Ceremony

This was such a fun project for us: we covered the church aisle in 1000s of white rose petals, and decorated the pews with greenery, flowers, and hurricane candles. Then we designed huge altar flowers featuring peegee hydrangea, delphinium, eremurus, roses, and other locally sourced white and blush blooms, and placed the flowers in tall white garden urns for height and drama.

A Romantic Tent Reception

For this Seattle wedding reception we created the most gorgeous floral backdrop for the head table. Then we hung several large greenery wreaths in the tent ceiling. We designed elevated and low centerpieces featuring garden roses, dahlias, and peonies, and made little herb bundles for each place setting. And or the cocktail reception we created fun pool floats, and decorated so many fun areas throughout the property – too many to count. The outcome was so pretty!!

This large Seattle wedding for 260 guests was planned, designed, and coordinated by the fabulous team of Vows Wedding and Event Planning – their amazing vision brought it all together. And the pictures by the fun duo of O’Malley Photographers are to die for.

If you liked this wedding, we hope you also like these other large tent weddings we recently designed:

The Fabulous Vendor Team:

Photography: O’Malleys Photographers

Coordination: Vows Wedding and Event Planning

Florals and Decorations: Flora Nova Design

Tent and Rentals: Cort Party Rentals

Cake: The Sweet Side

Lighting: Light.Smiths Seattle

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February 21, 2020

A Style Shoot at Kloster Eberbach in Germany

A couple years ago Christiane – the boss lady here at Flora Nova Design – and industry colleague Dorothee from Belathée Photography travelled “back home” to Germany for a very special treat: a wedding style shoot at one of the most beautiful wedding destination locations near their home towns – Kloster Eberbach. You see, Dorothee and Christiane ​both grew up in Germany near this beautiful 800 year old monastery, which nowadays ​has turned into ​a popular wedding location for ​sophisticated couples​ from all over the world.

”Kloster Eberbach ​” ​is located in ​a ​well known German wine growing region ​called ” ​Rheingau​”​ – it’s main function today evolves around wine: the history of wine making, the selling and tasting of regional wines​ and ​​therefore we chose ​a gold wine goblet as ​a ​repeating element throughout ​the settings. The goblet was used throughout this wedding style shoot: not only as part of each place setting but it was also featured on the lucite stationery: invitation, menu cards, and place cards.

Lucite, Goblets, Sequin – Modern Meets Vintage

For the style​d​ shoot I wanted to combine the old with the new ​by using elements like modern ​ghost chairs next to antique wooden tables, lucite menu cards and place cards next to antique candle holders, bold gold sequin linens next to vintage flatware. All in the grand setting of the old monks’ dormitories featuring tall stone curved ceilings. ​The florals were based around the color of the year ​ ​“Marsala” as we felt that ​the colors fit perfectly with the deep red painted arches of the grand dormitory.

Our style​d​ shoot at Kloster Eberbach was a dream come true for ​both of us and we had thought about it since we first found out we were from the same region in Germany.​ Working at this gorgeous location and show off its unique beauty combined ​our childhood with ​our current careers in the wedding industry. And.., the shoot was recently published on Style me Pretty!!

Oh, and we were so happy to see this shoot featured on Style Me Pretty! So exciting!!

And please check out our other styled shoot in Germany at historic castle Schloss Vollrads:

Vendor Team:

Floral, Design, and Styling by Flora Nova Design

Stationary by izzy girl

Linens by Choice Linens

Rentals by Party Rent Germany

Dresses by Carousello

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February 12, 2020

A Cozy Winter Wedding: Lily and Josh

Lily and Josh’s cozy winter wedding at Axis Pioneer Square was a romantic affair filled with soft candlelight, warm rustic brick, and lush, elegant floral. There might have been Seattle rain falling outside, but inside everyone was cozy and warm – and having a wonderful time!

This was a special wedding for the Flora Nova team because Lily is one of our own: she actually assisted us during the 2014 and 2015 wedding seasons. We are honored to have been asked to be part of her special day! And since Lily knew her way around wedding flowers, we made sure to incorporate some of her favorite unique blooms in her designs: empress and mink protea, sweet anemones, showy anthurium, parrot tulips, and lots of roses.

A Cozy Candlelit Ceremony

Lily and Josh loved the huge brick archways at Axis and knew that they just had to celebrate their ceremony under the arch. Our team decorated that 18 foot high arch with a lush bower of greenery that curled upward and inward, accented by armfuls of blush and burgundy roses. At the base, glass hurricane candles flickered, casting their glow on the wood and brick surfaces.

A Romantic Reception

After the ceremony, guests adjourned next door for cocktails while the team transformed the main event space for dinner. The round dining tables, dressed in blush and peach linens, were decorated with a mix of lush gold compote arrangements and soaring tall greenery arrangements in tapered crystal vases. Ceremony hurricanes moved to windowsills, and mercury glass votives of all shapes and sizes lit the tables. The long head table was dressed with more candles, greenery, and roses.

If you liked this cozy winter wedding, why not look at a few more!

Maya and Scott — Winter Elegance at Canvas

Amanda and Matthew — Luxurious Winter Wedding at the Edgewater Hotel

And for another wedding at Axis Pioneer Square, check out Sarah and Nick Organic Summer Wedding

Vendor Team

Venue: Axis Pioneer Square

Floral and Decor: Flora Nova Design

Planning: Jocelyn with The Invisible Hostess

Photographer: Nick Plus Danée

Rentals: BBJ Linens

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January 3, 2020

A Spring Wedding in the Garden Room: Brittany and Justin’s Elegant Fairytale Wedding

Brittany and Justin’s spring wedding in the Garden Room of Seattle’s Fairmont Olympic Hotel was a spring flower lover’s dream.  For their April wedding, this couple chose to incorporate all the best the season has to offer: fragrant hyacinth, hellebores, tulips, flowering dogwood and magnolia, callas, butterfly ranunculus, delicious peonies, foxglove, and more!  

A Sweet Spring Wedding Ceremony for Garden Lovers

For their ceremony in the hotel’s Metropole Room, Brittany and Justin wanted to bring the outdoors in. A large lucite ceremony arch positively bloomed with lush vines, magnolia branches, and spring flowers, creating a dramatic and romantic focal point. At the aisle entrance, two large spring floral arrangements greeted guests as they entered the fully draped room. Glass hurricane candles and twinkling suspended votives added their soft glow to the dazzling crystal chandeliers suspended above the crisp white aisle.

And Now for the Garden Party!

After the romantic ceremony, the guests eagerly made their way across the hotel to the Garden Room for a fabulous reception. Towering white urns of spring flowers filled the conservatory space, once again bringing the outdoors in. Tall centerpieces dripped rose-tinted tulips atop elegant crystal vases. On the dining tables, dusty blue napkins and votive candles complimented the blush and peach tones in the flowers beautifully, while the repetition of gold in the chivari chairs, charger plates, compotes, and silverware added a rich warmth to the palette.

What do you think? Would you have liked to be a guest at this fabulous spring wedding? I sure know I would!

If you liked this spring wedding, check out more:

Vendor Team

Venue: Fairmont Olympic Hotel

Event Planner and Design: New Creations Weddings

Floral Design: Flora Nova Design

Photographer: Angela and Evan

Lighting: Crimson Haze Event Lighting

Draping: Prop Gallery Events

Rentals: Cort Party Rentals, BBJ Linens

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