Do you ever think to yourself it's winter and nothing is blooming or growing locally? I had the same thought and it sent me on a mission to discover what I could procure at a local Maryland flower farm to design a winter wedding themed styled shoot. With the help of an amazing creative team we created a beautiful and colorful Christmas inspired shoot at Plantmasters plant and flower farm in Gaithersburg, MD. Audra Wrisley Photography captured it all perfectly, highlighting all the details and texture at every turn on this family farm!
What does an all locally grown bouquet in December in Maryland look like? Maryland doesn't have roses and the amazing dahlias that I use in the summer and fall and long gone - so what could become a focal flower and give us the color and the texture my bouquets are designed with? Poinsettias and amaryllis! Yes, blush pink and peppermint poinsettias cut off big beautiful plants became my focal flowers along with red amaryllis - all grown in Plantmasters greenhouse. I accented and added texture in with succulents, ilex berry, paper whites, early blooming cherry blossoms, nandina, magnolia leaves, cedar, juniper, scented geranium and blue atlas - finishing it off with beautiful ribbon streamers from Silk & Willow.
We wanted to display all aspects of the farm so we shot in the ilex berry field and in the back row of barren lilac and snowball viburnum bushes that are so lush and fragrant in the spring.
How gorgeous is our model with her textured floral and winter greenery crown and how about the bouquet - how it pops amongst the sleeping spring blooms.
To tell the whole holiday story of a wedding on a farm we added a dessert bar styled by Rose Gold Events & Styling and Faccia Fresca, who provided the vintage furniture. The delicious baked goods were created by Stone Soup Catering. And they were amazing - flavors of peppermint, gingerbread and chocolate - it was heavenly!
The private table for 4 was nestled amongst the ilex berries and dried limelight hydrangea. We styled the table with a faux fur throw and a Silk & Willow runner with a lush garden style arrangement. Stone Soup Catering provided gorgeous winter breads and a tomato based soup. Our escort cards were mini succulents in fur trimmed pots with beautiful wood name cards created by C & V .
I really wanted to highlight every nook and cranny of this flower farm and I fell in love with an arch that had overgrown barren vines from the summer. I used winter greenery from around the property to green it up and then used spray painted their dried limelight hydrangea gold to tuck in with ilex berries. I think this would make a perfect outdoor ceremony arch - completely locally authentic with fresh nods to winter.
Every winter Plantmasters forages from their property different winter greenery to make beautiful Christmas wreaths to sell at their weekly farmers markets. I wanted to showcase all that this farm produces in the winter so Katie, of Rose Gold Events, and I styled all their wreaths and poinsettia plants with props from Faccia Fresca and beautiful signage from C & V.
C & V designed the beautiful invitation suite to perfectly complement a winter wedding on a flower farm. I loved all the hand-drawn details she added on wood invitations!!
Winter in Maryland is beautiful and there is plenty to make a winter themed wedding beautiful and abundant!! Visit your local farm and see what they have growing in their greenhouses that you could design with. You will probably be pleasantly surprised!!
A huge thank you to the amazing team of creatives that helped bring a long thought about vision to life!
Design Concept & Florals: Petals by the Shore
Coordination and Styling: Rose Gold Events & Styling
Photography: Audra Wrisley
Hair & Make-up: Lori Nansi
Invitation: C & V
Rentals: Faccia Fresca
Catering: Stone Soup Catering
Dress: TLC Bridal
Ribbon: Silk & Willow
Jewelry: The Jewels Nest
Model: Alex Penn