Month: February 2020

Around this time last year, I was honored to be a part of an incredible styled shoot at Heisen House Vineyards, a winery, vineyard, and wedding venue in Battle Ground, Washington, less than an hour drive from Portland, Oregon.  I love styled shoots because you really get the bigger picture of what it takes to put on a wedding and how it really is the collective work of a team.  I also love observing the love and passion each unique wedding professional brings to their business, and a chance to get to know one another personally.  This shoot was especially fun and memorable, because we got to sample delicious Heisen House wine made right at the venue and eat delicious pie from Pacific Pie Co!

Coordinated and styled by wedding planner, Shannon Huffman of Periwinkle Events NW, this styled shoot will forever be in my memories as one of the most fun and unique styled shoots I’ve ever been a part of.  Shannon brings a high level of enthusiasm, warmth, genuine care, and acute attention to detail to her work as a wedding planner that any couple would be so lucky to have her coordinate their wedding day!  What Shannon brought to this styled shoot was nothing short of extraordinary!  She coordinated this styled shoot with many unique details, put together an incredible team of wedding vendors, and styled several looks throughout the shoot that cohesively created an amazing visual experience at Heisen House Vineyards.  The styled shoot was beautifully photographed by the incredibly talented Alyssa McConaughey, a wedding, portrait, and fine art photographer based in Newberg, Oregon.  She beautifully captured the richness of color and all the other incredible details of this winery and vineyard styled shoot.

The colors in the wedding palette were rich in color and tone, and was the perfect palette for a winery and vineyard setting: marigold yellow and a softer, butter yellow, deep burgundy, and sage green.  Incorporating many different textures throughout the greenery and flowers, the floral style was a blend of romantic, elegant rustic, and boho or bohemian.  Specific flowers that achieved the color palette were burgundy ranunculus, pink ice protea, “Brighton” yellow eco-roses, “High and Yellow Magic” yellow roses, “Buttercup” garden roses, yellow calla lilies, eucalyptus in baby blue, silver dollar, seeded, and gunni, dusty miller and blue cypress.

The bride (model and actress Kelly Sina) wore a simple and classic gown by Anna’s Bridal. The groom (actor Adam Elliot Davis) wore a suit from Nordstrom Rack.  Hair and Makeup was done by Lash & Lox Special Event Hair and Makeup.  Stationery and signage was done by Everglow Handmade.  Portable luxury restrooms were set up on site by Royal Restrooms.   A delicious dessert bar featuring pies in both full size and mini tartlets was provided by Pacific Pie Co.  For the dessert bar, I installed a floral installation on a backdrop created by ladders.  Designing on-site floral installations are one of my favorite parts to styled shoots and many weddings. 

The rental items used in the styled shoot came from the coordinator Periwinkle Events NW and The Party Place.  We used a gorgeous custom built wooden table for the tablescape and charcuterie that came from Country Garden Tables, where you can rent your own gorgeous wooden farm-style tables for your wedding!

Little Photo Bus was a fun addition to the styled shoot!  This red, pristine Volkswagon bus lends itself to unique photo opportunities outside the bus, but also has a photobooth inside the bus!  Guests of your wedding can have fun dressing up with props and receiving photo souvenirs to take home and remember your special event!

I’ll leave you with this wedding video, beautifully created by wedding videographers, Justin and Emily of RoamArrow Wedding Films, who did an excellent job capturing the joyfulness and fun energy of this styled shoot! Thank you to everyone who was involved and a big thank you to Shannon Huffman of Periwinkle Events who invited me to be a part of the vendor team and provide florals for this winery and vineyard styled wedding shoot!

Its no question that weddings signify love and commitment, but weddings can also be the perfect opportunity for a couple to weave together their native, cultural or religious traditions to create a blended, customized experience, and this wedding did just that.  This wedding beautifully incorporated traditional customs and cultural rituals from both the bride’s Indian culture with the groom’s western roots.

This summer wedding took place at the Redland Family Farm in Oregon City, a family run Christmas tree farm and a wedding and event venue just outside of Portland, Oregon.  The wedding venue can accommodate up to 450 guests and offers several serene settings to stage an outdoor wedding ceremony, plus beautiful indoor options for getting ready, cocktail hour, bar, and reception areas.  One of my favorite details of this great wedding venue is a majestic and enormous oak tree (my name Alana means oak tree and I just love them!)  Under the big oak tree was the perfect choice for this couple’s first look in my opinion!

In Indian weddings, the vibrancy and decadence is not reserved only for the bride.  James donned a silk sherwani, a traditional Indian shirt for a groom, in bright, vibrant blue.   In Indian weddings, grooms traditionally wear bright colors over the black or white formal attire of western wedding grooms. For an Indian wedding, brides traditionally wear red, a color that symbolizes the rising sun, fertility, and prosperity.  Aru wore an exquisitely embroidered, two piece, red Indian bridal gown that consisted of a crop top, a long skirt, and a sari.   Another Indian bridal custom is to intricately draw on the the bride’s hands and feet with henna in a Mehndi ceremony the day before the wedding, gifting the bride with blessings of health, luck, and joy on her wedding and marriage journey.  Besides henna, Aru also wore several bangles on her wrists, a bridal decorative bindi on her forehead, and other traditional and elaborate bridal jewelry on her ears and neck. She looked absolutely stunning and exquisite, like a royal Indian princess!

This wedding did bring in some of the American traditional wedding aspects, such as having bridesmaids, groomsmen, and a flower girl, which are not traditionally a part of an Indian wedding.  The bride’s bouquet was a colorful and classic, cluster bouquet made with pale blue hydrangea, pale blue delphinium, soft peach-toned “juliet” garden roses by David Austin, red roses, blush pink ranunculus and a small amount of seeded eucalyptus.  The bridesmaids carried a similar cluster style bouquet in very pale, neutral palette of hydrangea, garden roses, ranunculus, and astilbe.  In developing the floral palettes, the couple asked me to bring in all the colors of the bridal party gowns and suits, which included red, pink, peach, and pale blue.  The couple and I chose flowers together that had many petals and various textures to complement the intricate and extravagant embroidery on the bridal party dresses and suits.

The wedding ceremony itself took place under a Mandap, a large structure traditionally used in Indian weddings.  This Mandap was adorned with white fabric across the top, and I installed floral clusters to the top and sides of the structure, choosing flowers that match the bridal party florals. Being the florist, I did not attend the wedding and cannot explain the traditional rituals that took place during the actual ceremony, but seeing the photos, I can definitely see that Indian ceremonial customs were woven into the ceremony.

The reception was held in the wooden, barn-like structure at the venue. Guest tables were a mix of round tables covered in pale blue linen and a long, wooden banquet style head table.  The reception table centerpieces were made with different pastel shades of garden roses, spray roses, pale blue delphinium, and Italian ruscus in beautiful, glass, compote urns, which gave the reception event the feel of luxury and elegance without being too over the top.

The wedding vendor team of this gorgeous, cross cultural wedding at Redland Family Farm included photos by Photography by Ajay, planning and coordinating by Krystle Clear Events, hair and makeup by Coreene Collins, catering by Pearl Catering, rentals by Bridgewood Events, and florals by yours truly, Flowers by Alana! 

I’m so honored and grateful to get to be a part of such a special and unique wedding!  I wish Aru and James a lifetime of love and blessings on their marriage! Thank you for hiring me to be your wedding florist!  Its a pleasure to be a part of your love story by providing gorgeous flowers at your wedding!