Today’s wedding Wednesday post celebrates one of my favorite types of wedding to design and plan- a wedding in the client’s home. There is nothing more special for a bride to get married at the home where grew up, or where the parents have created a home.  And, how fantastic for a bride to get ready for the day in a place where she is comfortable! We look forward to heading back to our client’s home in October, when we will be doing another wedding at their home for this bride’s younger sister!   Liz Banfield provides this lovely imagery.

This bride wanted a formal and classic feel for the day. Guys wore white dinner jackets, which was the perfect compliment for the blue and white color palette accented with green. All white flowers were still lush and full of texture.

The aisle began at the front door making for a grand entrance for all of the wedding party attendants.

Flooring was laid over the front yard and covered with seagrass making for a natural extension of the surroundings. Wrought iron chandeliers full of greenery and flowers blanketed the ceremony “alter”.

I always encourage clients who are hosting the wedding at their home, to open it up. Invite the party in! Use your silver and serving pieces, there is no more perfect occasion to do so!

Since, this wedding had hundreds of guests in attendance, we needed to be strategic in the layout and serving of food. With an overall garden theme, cocktail shrimp served in a garden fountain just seemed like the perfect fit!

Large food stations with individual composed dishes were arranged throughout the grounds. For me, seated dinners provide such a template for design and decor that you sometimes can’t achieve as well with stations or buffet style parties. So, we really work to dress up and design our stations and bars. Umbrellas were filled with greenery, flowers, and candle lanterns. Custom fabric and toppers finish off the tailored feel we were going for…

The mother of the bride is an avid and accomplished gardner in her own right. A couple of weeks after the wedding, the local Garden Tour was set to make it’s final stop at her property… so, we already had surroundings that most people would only hope to have.

We decided to house the cake in it’s own “greenhouse”. The home had a Cistern type building on the grounds that made a beyond elegant backdrop for the cake. We designed a flower installation to accent the amazing detail of the cake florals made by Jim Smeal.

To keep guests sustained and entertained well into the evening, late night food stations with mini donuts and hot pretzels were set up and servers passed root beer floats around the dance floor (which also provided a refreshing treat on the dance floor).

Sparklers and fireworks provided a photo worthy send off of the couple…