Onteora Mountain House & Round Hill House -June Weddings

I am finally posting some new and fabulous June weddings. It is hard to keep up as we have weddings every weekend.

All of them are different and wonderful.

The first wedding I am posting was from Onteora mountain house. We loved this family they were all so nice and interesting. These first photos are of the bouquets. They were all really elegant. The brides maid’s bouquets were a mix of peach, ivory and white. The flowers that look like lace and stars are nice and are called Stars of Bethlehem. Mostly I have seen them with black centers and tighter but these are really light and airy. We also used peach Stock, Dusty Miller and white Peony.

The Bride and Maid of Honor bouquets were purple and had an organic feel. We used purple Kale, Scabiosa Pods and flowers, purple Lisianthus that happened to have double heads that I have never seen before, dusted lavender rose, Stars of Bethlehem, Scabiosa Pods and flowers, Muscari, purple Sweet pea, and Dusty Miller.

I did not get photos of the Mom’s bouquets or flower girls. I will post more shots when the photographer gives me some.


I also really loved the centerpieces. We alternated Urns, bubble Bowls and Manzanita branch. If you look back at older posts you will see a sample arrangement that Steve just through together when we met the couple for a walk through.


In the sample, we used white glass squares, as that was something we had all discussed. As it turned out, we did not use them. The couple had old maps printed and laminated that were used at the center of each table.


As the design process continued, the bride thought our Bubble Bowls would look a lot nicer because of the round shapes on the maps. She was completely right.


Our belief, when working with a client that it is collaboration between all of us.


For the Bubble Bowls we used the gorgeous peach Peonies we used before, white Stock, burgundy Calla Lily, seeded eucalyptus…. and rocks at the bottom. We also had small Bubble Bowls with Succulents and Ivy in them. There was a discussion on what color linens would work best. Lately we have felt drawn to a light grey that is a nice and elegant color.

For this, we thought that an ivory napkin would work best to compliment the ivory/ cream colors in the map.


The Urns had an organic garden look to them. The bride did not want round or flat but rather asymmetrical which is what Steve likes to do anyway. Here we used a peach/pink Peony, purple Kale, white to pale yellow Dahlia, Buplerum, Nigella Pods, white Stock, Dusty Miller, burgundy Calla Lily, orange Chinese lanterns, Seeded Eucalyptus and Ivy.

On the last table, we used our Manzanita branch but since we have done it before I am not going to post it at this time. I will be posting it from another June wedding (see below) only because we used “Air Plants”.

Cocktail

For the registration, we used our old wooden door and used floral sprays. This seems to be a popular prop we have. I love the old wood and detail of this door.

I am also posting a photo of their cake, which was very different and interesting. The groom went to school for Forestry or something related. The bride gave everyone a sketch of what kind of cake she wanted.”Bistro to go” made the cake and we decorated it with a faux tree, faux ferns, mushroom and various foliage. There was even rock candy

Obviously, this photo had been taken in the fridge after decorating it. Sometimes the photos I have to take are in funny places. Hey, what can you do? I am sure the photographer got some better shots.

This wedding was also at Onteora and was very different style from the first one.

This bride really did her homework and even knew all the flower and foliage names and terms. She had said that she actually wanted more “greens” than flowers.

The centerpieces had been built on rocks with several layers and types of Moss. We actually had to do most of the construction at Onteora. We started with sheet Moss, and then added flat rocks, mood moss, and more sheet moss. We used Monstera leaves, several types of Ferns and other foliage leaves. We used Orchids such as Cymbidium & Oncidium, and Mokara. There was also Allium, Ivy, Stars of Bethlehem, some pods and Succulents.

The bride wanted her bouquet built on branch and wanted more foliage then flowers.

For her bridal party we used all flowers and a more traditional look. They were a mix of white Stock, Scabiosa flowers and pods, Buplerum, Nigella Pods, Veronica, Mokara Orchids, Freesia and Allium.

Brides Maid

The cocktail tables were really nice. We used wooden square boxes with Allium, Pincushion Protea, yellow Freesia and Scabiosa Pods …

For the ceremony, we used a large Urn, garland and a low arrangement at the base of a tree. Something different then we had designed there before. In the Urn, we used Belles of Ireland, Delphinium, and Orchids.

Here is a very unique wedding.

To explain some of the “unusual and unique” arrangements at this wedding we must preface that the bride works as a Mammal trainer at The Bronx Zoo. You will notice some unconventual items in some of the centerpieces. Don’t get scared, they were different and cool.


We alternated black ceramic Squares, Manzanita Branch with Lilies and Air Plants, Cylinders and English style Cloches.

This bouquet was the Maid of Honors. We used purple Stock, Scabiosa Pods, purple Sweet pea, purple phlox, Veronica, purple Lisianthus, purple Kale, Allium, Muscari and painted skeletal leaves purple.

The bride also wanted her bouquet built on branch. The photo I took on a flat surface does not do it justice as it looks like a pretty centerpiece. When it is held it has a nice flow and cascades gently down. I cannot wait to post the professional photos. In the bouquet, we used feathers, a succulent, a Bromeliad, purple Lisianthus, Scabiosa Pods and flowers, Stars of Bethlehem, Allium, Sumatra Lily and Ivy.

I have to explain the idea of the Cloche centerpiece. I wanted it to convey the feeling of the enlightenment period in history when people went out to explore the world and would bring back “specimens”. After visiting the bride at the zoo with our almost two-year-old daughter, Scarlett, I thought it would be great to add the look of the “Congo” to the design. The bride was so fun; she sent us packages of goodies from her collection. I love bones but little did I know what I would see when I opened a container and a HUGE preserved bug was looking at me.

We built a mound and then layered Moss over it. We had Fern and small lichen branch hanging off the little mountain of moss. We used her bones of…. I don’t know what and that HUGE bug. We added Air Plants, banana leaf flower, Cobra Lilies, Allium, Succulents, Ivy, Hypericum berries and clustered flower sprays. Every angle had something to look at. I hope that no Grandmothers were sitting at those tables.


We had three sizes of Cylinders each with different flowers in them. We tied rope vine to all the flowers. We used Orchids, Roses, Allium, Campanula, Kale and Lilies. Steve put an air plant under water and I freaked. I thought it would kill the plant. It made it look more interesting, we pulled it out and then patted it dry, and now it is happy again. Underneath the arrangements, we had LED lights. I bet it looked great at night.

The look of the Sweetheart table may not be for everyone or the faint of heart but it was perfect for this couple. We used Sumatra Lilies that are really a dark purple, Succulents, Orchids, Sculls, little shrunken heads, Ivy, twig vines, Air Plants, and Bison fur because the bride sent it to us from the zoo.

Groom