September 2023
Take two for Blakely and Kristian! If you’ve heard this couple’s amazing story, you know it’s a miracle that they got to have their well deserved, big garden party wedding celebration. After a traumatic medical emergency for the bride, the couple opted for an intimate church ceremony and backyard reception on their original wedding date back in June and postponed the larger celebration to September at the Champaign Country Club once Blakely had fully recovered. To have both events compliment each other, we focused on the same light and airy garden party atmosphere with the first having a more traditional and subtle white color palette with a light blue accent and the second bringing in bigger, bolder, and more colorful arrangements in the same style. Check out more details from Blakely and Kristian’s June celebration in our earlier blog linked at the bottom of the page.
For Blakely, we designed a small, colorful bridal bouquet filled with pink and peach dahlias, white roses, pink scabiosa, yellow centered and delicate feverfew, blue delphinium, purple allium, and white veronica with minimal greenery to keep the design light and airy. To compliment their light blue dresses and contrast from the bride, maids held petite all white bouquets with touches of yellow in the centers of the feverfew and cosmos blooms. Matching his bride, Kristian adorned an equally colorful pocket boutonniere while his groomsmen pinned on classic style boutonnieres of peach and pink ranunculus with light blue and purple accents and greens to pop off deep navy tuxedo suits. Our goal was to keep personal flowers more subtly colorful so the florals in the ceremony and reception could really shine.
Designing the ceremony on the Champaign Country Club’s golf course was a test of our preparation and time management as we only had a short time to set up and design on the live course. Four pre-designed four foot long (and 20 lb each) arrangements were set in place with two at the back of the aisle and two on each side of the altar framing large gold screens from A. Hunt Design that served as the couples backdrop as they exchanged vows in front of friends and family. Quick as they went up, they just as quickly had to be taken down and moved off the course to be repurposed for the reception space. During the short 30 minute ceremony, our team got to setting up the poolside cocktail hour at the club. We designed various medium and mini elegant concrete urns to adorn the guestbook table and on each custom cocktail bar to hold calligraphy bar menus in place paired with gold framed photos of the couple throughout the years.
Guests easily found their dinner seats on large seating chart scrolls hanging from the same gold screens from the ceremony paired with two large arrangements at the base. The entrance into the clear-top reception tent was lined with faux trees, live hydrangea and fern plants and two more large floral pieces leading the way into the flower-packed space. Eyes were immediately drawn upward to gaze at three large hanging pieces over the entire reception space with draping greens and hanging lanterns that brought a garden atmosphere to the inside and accentuated the beauty through the clear-top. A large bar at one end of the tent was adorned with a single large concrete urn floral arrangement in the center complimented by bud vase florals and candles at either end to highlight the couples signature drink menus. Instead of a cutting cake, Blakely and Kristian opted for a unique champaign tower surrounded by a growing garden arrangement encircling the base of the tower to bring in the garden element.
Guest tables under the tent were a combination of long farmhouse style tables with light blue table runners and round tables with patterned tablecloths. We styled each table with one of four centerpiece styles to bring variety and interest to the space. Style one featured a large weathered concrete urn arrangement overflowing with bright and colorful blooms on half of the round tables. The rest of the rounds were topped with tall gold stand arrangements to bring the guests eyes up and compliment the ceiling pieces. Stands were paired with simple white taper candles in clear chimneys around a base of moss. The third style was a J.Blu staff favorite of the year. We created a long arrangement featuring delphinium, larkspur, veronica, allium, dahlias, and ranunculus blooms on a bed of moss and doubled them up on farmhouse tables as a runner that made it feel as if there was a garden growing right up out of the table. The final guest table style was the classic minimal bud vase arrangements that ran the length of the remaining long tables. Lastly, for the head table we placed a runner of alternating gold lanterns with pillar candles and small growing island pieces down the center with the main focus being a large floor arrangement in front of the bride and groom. Each table had additional votive candles in a variety of holders to keep that romantic glow going all evening.
We could go on and on about this couple and their unforgettable wedding design. It will definitely be one that we continuously look back to in hopes of having the opportunity to design more arrangements as fun as these were to create. Thanks for choosing the J.Blu team to be a part of both of your special days. Cheers to the Gallivan’s!! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness you so greatly deserve!
June Wedding Blog Link: https://jbludesign.com/blakely-kristian-white-and-blue-garden-party-inspired-backyard-summer-wedding/
Florist: J.Blu Design Wedding and Event Florist
Local Flowers: Delight Flower Farm
Venue: Champaign Country Club
Photography: Rebekah Albaugh Photography
Videographer: Maloch Media
Planner: Inspire Your
Tent and Rentals: Palace Events
Additional Rentals: Create a Scene Events and A. Hunt Design
Signage and Calligraphy: Apricity Ink
Linens: BBJ LATAVOLA Specialty Linen
Hair and Makeup: Thrive Salon and Spa