Sarah and Alex

Check out this awesome wedding! Sarah and Alex are two of my favorite people ever, and this bouquet goes down in history as one of my favorites of all time! 

Such a unique and beautiful bouquet! Sarah gave me a list of really crazy things that she wanted in her bouquet. I knew it would be awesome, and it really did 'create' itself. I had every funky, non floral, produce type pretty in front of me and I just put to together by trial and error. What will hold up? What looks good together? Some of what you can see in this angle are prickly pear, jalapeno peppers, pine cones, scabiosa pods, succulents, dusty miller, alder cones, blue roses, chestnut pods and just the slightest touch of baby's breath.

Here you can see the millet and pittesporum. You can't see them from either of the above angles, but I also used brussel sprouts, which were really pretty when grouped together.

The gorgeous couple!

The wedding was at the beautiful Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon. Sarah and Alex rented pipe and drape and covered the walls of the banquet room with luxurious white linens. They also rented these amazing thrones, which served as a great place for photos all evening. I rented the topiaries from Garden World, which I would recommend to anyone. With a delivery fee, they dropped off and picked up the trees, saving my back! I simply fashioned some beautiful, flowy fabric around the buckets that the trees were planted in and finished it with some sheer brown ribbon that I simply tied and cut to flow.

I took lots of pictures of the beautiful bride!

Another use for the topiaries. Stunning, if I do say so myself.

Planted succulent pieces for the bar.

All the table centerpieces were living succulent plantings as well.

Thank you Sarah and Alex! I'll treasure your wedding, and both of you forever!

Smelling the roses!

I've recently been named 'caretaker' of a rose garden with well over 500 rose bushes. I lose track every time I try to count, so I gave up and resorted to estimating. Its a beautiful English style rose garden and is literally just minutes from our little farm. I stumbled upon it over 5 years ago when I was preparing for my own wedding. Since I was marrying a man with the last name Rose, my flower decision was easy. I just wanted beautiful, fragrant, garden roses. I worked up the courage to stop by and ask the owners of the garden if I could buy some roses for my bouquet. They happily let me, and a love affair with antique roses was born. I've popped in a few times a year since for a bucket of roses here and there and nurtured a budding friendship with the owners. A few years ago the husband passed away, and his aging wife has since been trying to keep up with the garden herself. This season when I popped by for a visit, she expressed her need for help, and told me that if I wanted to take over caring for the roses, they were mine. What's a girl to do in this situation? You guessed it, prune about 20 rose bushes a day. ;) Here are just a few shots of some pretties I have the pleasure and the honor of caring for...

P.S. Confession time... Although I know how to prune with the best of 'em, I'm really no expert otherwise. Advice, tips, tricks up your sleeve? I dove in head first and now I'm making some wings. Any wisdom from readers would be very well received and incredibly helpful!

My little bro gets hitched!

This wedding was so much fun, so incredibly beautiful and absolutely 'Paul and Montana.' Being involved with a wedding on a personal level reminded me about what's truly important, what isn't, and that having a great time and enjoying the moment really is the goal. The wedding was at Montana's parents house just outside of Joseph, Oregon. It couldn't have been in a more picturesque setting. Mt. Joseph and the Eagle Cap wilderness framed the gorgeous ceremony and following reception. I couldn't be happier that my brother found his true love. Even from the beginning, there was never a question in my mind that Montana was my little bro's match made in heaven. I love you both! Congrats and cheers to a lifetime of love and happiness!

Seriously, isn't she gorgeous!? Her dress was a true vintage find, purchased from an antique shop and we're thinking is circa 1930.

The colors of the wedding were shades of orange with deep purple.

Pretty Momma!

Bridal bouquet

Bridesmaid bouquet

Boutonniere of scabiosa seed pod with accents and grass wrap.

A new use for a heart shaped basket.

Mother's corsage

Gotta love the moose antler and flowers!

Montana's super talented father made this antler shed arbor just hours before the ceremony. I think it is definitely worthy of being shown off.

Sara and Andrew

From the minute I received the first email from Sara, I knew it was meant to be that we work together. I love the style of this wedding! Sara wanted deep jewel tones with eggplant and teal making a spotlight appearance. She's also a fragrance specialist, so I was sure to include some antique garden roses and Spanish lavender. There were also a few wild irises, fern shoots, peonies, poppy pods, billy balls, sea holly, coral bells, horse tail fern, sedum, peacock feathers and even some pops of purple kale. One of the direct quotes from Sara that I drew inspiration from was, "If people show up and see things looking too 'traditional,' they'll think they're at the wrong wedding." I love it! The wedding was at the McMinnamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse Octagonal Barn in Hillsboro, Oregon. I always look forward to my McMinnamins weddings! Enjoy a few photos I snapped. More to come! Their photographer was amazing, and very quick to get me gorgeous photos. I just need to spend some time downloading them now so I can show you all. To be continued... ;)

Bridal bouquet with a glimpse at bridesmaid pretties.

Pretty bouquets all in a row!

Corsage

Corsages ;)

Grooms boutonniere! Garlic top, fern shoot, sea holly, green blueberries and a peacock feather hiding in the background. Fit the tall, handsome groom well, if I do say so myself.

Boutonniere. Sedum leaf, fern shoot, sea holly, wrapped in purple kale.

Yet another boutonniere

All of the different boutonniere styles represented.

Pretty bridesmaid bouquets in the shop.

My wedding!

Yesterday was my fifth wedding anniversary. First of all, I can't tell you how blessed I am to be married to such an amazing man. My mom always told me to make a list and check it twice. Well, I did, and he's it. :) Our wedding was so much fun. We had our ceremony in the Methodist Church in Canby, OR. We wanted to get married in a sanctuary, but also in our neck of the woods. So I set out to look for beautiful churches and this is what I found. We both fell in love with the huge stain glass windows, the amazing multi-dimensional ceiling, and the vintage pipe organ. Oh, it was so beautiful! Our reception was a few miles away at St. Josef's winery. Getting to have our reception at St. Josef's was a dream come true! I drove by it everyday and thought that there was no way it would be available or affordable. Well, it was both! Thanks entirely to my dad, whom just heard rumor of us wanting to have the reception at St. Josef's and offered before I even asked. Thank you mom and dad! Dream come true! I could go on and on about how beautiful our reception was. Here is a little peek at the book our photographers put together for us. Jaysun Speith from The Photographer's, is probably one of the most amazingly talented people I know. Thank you for visiting my blog. Follow the link below...

http://www.thephotographers.us/albums/gina_mitchv2/

Crystal and Mike

I was honored to be recommended to Crystal and Mike by Ashley of Stargazer Weddings. I would recommend Ashley and Melissa over and over and over again for anyone looking to hire a wedding coordinator. Which, I absolutely recommend. I wish I would have had at the very least, a day of coordinator myself. Thank you ladies for the referral to such a wonderful couple!

The main color of this wedding was 'spring' orange with pops of white and green. The ceremony was held at the Brooks Hill Historic Church off NW Skyline. I think the most perfect little wedding church I've ever been to! It is beautifully quaint and intimate. Gorgeous! The reception was at Wilfs Restaurant. This place is amazing. First of all, its attached to the Union Station. So classy and maybe even a little old school. I had a blast taking pictures, so I'll let those do the talking...

Congrats Crystal and Mike!!!

April and Alex

I met April and Alex through the gorgeous Pacific Crest Grand Ballroom. What a beautiful couple! April wanted to bring their accent watermelon color in with flowers. One of the things that stuck with me after meeting with April was 'simple elegance.' Here are a few shots of the 'spring watermelon' collection April and I designed and I had the pleasure of making. I'm on pins and needles to see pro photos of this wedding! I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the doors to the ballroom. I'm never surprised that the space looks incredible, it just takes on a totally new 'persona' with every event. I feel honored every time I get to do an event there! Breathtaking space! I promise to post pictures when I get them!