Showcase: Our Princess Bride!

My good high school friend Mercy-Faith is getting married to her prince charming, Brian, next month, and myself and EIGHT other girls will have the honor of standing beside her on her big day in our girly pink satin dresses. Angel Swanson will be coordinating this chic & pink garden party wedding.

Mercy is, in a nut-shell: a spunky, Disney-watching, pink-wearing, shoe-designing, cheerleading, fashionista with a knack for Britney Spears impersonations.  She is also super intelligent with 4 college degrees in fashion and business. Wedding planning can reveal a girl’s true colors, and this bride is as un-bridezilla as it gets. It’s refreshing to see her so excited about the actual MARRIAGE; the wedding day is just the (fluffy pink with sugar sprinkles) icing on the cake!

We wanted to give Mercy the Disney Princess bridal shower of her dreams that was homemade, sparkly, and just a little bit cheesy. Ok, a LOT cheesy just like all of us!

(Thank you to Marysia and Rachel for the pics! I have come to rely on the hubby to take pics so much that I don’t even have a camera of my own.)

The entry table with bedazzled name tags and hand baked tiara and glass slipper sugar cookie favors.

The best tasting water I’ve ever had, and it’s sooo simple: Ice water with crisp cucumber slices and cool mint leaves. Unbelievably refreshing. Rachel could bottle it and make a million dollars.

The dessert spread baked from scratch by Stacie and Rachel. Notice the giant cupcake that looks like Strawberry Shortcake’s house!

Some of the sweet details!

Even the pups got their pink on!

A closeup of the centerpieces with esperance, ravel, and silverstone roses, ruffly lisianthus, asiatic lilies and white dendrobium orchids (and a peekaboo mini snow white).

I won the bride quiz, hence the prideful grin on my face. What really gave me the edge was my answer to the question, “What is Mercy’s dream pet?” My answer was “A FUR COAT”, and I was correct. Mercy’s not much of an animal person :/

Mercy in the center with her eight wicked stepsisters- I mean doting bridesmaids.

Showcase: Veronica and Paul Jae’s Bookworm Wedding!

Way back in February, I met with lovely bride-to-be Veronica, and Angel from Events of Love and Splendor, at my favorite coffee shop, Nordstrom E-Bar, to brainstorm this phenomenal wedding which would take place at Villa Del Sol D’Oro.

As Veronica pulled out her tidy binder filled with magazine cutouts, swatches, ink samples, and other inspirations, I nearly choked on my Almond Roca latte. This wedding- the colors, the florals, the vintage books, the indigo bridesmaid dresses- is the wedding that I would have if I had a chance to redo my own 2007 wedding! Don’t get me wrong, I treasure every detail and moment from my fuschia and avocado wedding to Mr. Brancaleone, but being in the wedding industry, it’s easy to look back and say “Ah, I should have used THAT flower, THOSE colors, THOSE linens.”

Needless to say, the florals from this wedding were right up my alley. Veronica wanted them to be natural, playful, lush, and fluffy enough to eat. We decided to use mostly peonies and dahlias, wispy buplerum and lady’s mantel, and seeded eucalyptus loosely gathered into rustic urns.

Have a look at the results! (Thank you to the enormously talented Jerry and Ingrid of Jerry Yoon Photography for capturing these images! They really took my breath away!)

A collage of details: Veronica scoured antique stores for vintage books, which served as colorful platforms for the urns and vases. Angel was able find a million ways to incorporate those books! Check out the blush, blossom pink, and magenta peonies in Veronica’s huge bouquet. As far as bridal bouquets go, I like ‘em big!!!

The ginormous altar pieces consisted of esperance and voodoo roses, fragrant stock, and of course, bunches and bunches of peonies and dahlias. Each arrangement (not including the urns) weighed over 50 pounds.

I advise brides to go as big as possible on altar arrangements, because while they may look freakishly huge in the workshop, once placed in position in a church or garden, they look just right.

I loved the shade and privacy created by the long rows of cyprus trees at the ceremony. The happy newlyweds!

My husband Joe captured a cute shot of Veronica and Paul Jae during the ceremony. When Angel and I first met Veronica at U.C. Berkeley, we always talked about how stunningly beautiful she is. 103 degree temps and she still looks flawless! Her groom, wearing a dahlia bud bout, is quite handsome as well.

An incredible shot of the typewriter vignette (Angel gets full credit for this sweet little setup!) that greeted guests.

Thanks to my hubby for taking this closeup picture of the vignette. A minor detail, but I LOVE how perfectly the peonies match the tea tin holding the pencils! Simple pleasures…

As Angel pointed out in her blog, only some of the centerpieces were placed in this picture. I waited until the very last possible minute to set out the centerpieces that weren’t protected by shade. Scorching weather can be treacherous for flowers, but these blooms held up remarkably well.

Probably my favorite detail from this wedding, captured once again by Joe: a collection of clear and cobalt glass vases were artfully arranged on a ledge behind the sweetheart table. I had a chance to incorporate some different flowers: papery lisianthus, pink garden roses, tulips, snapdragons, and last but not least, orange cushion mums. Who says mums are not a wedding flower? They are adorable, and I don’t discriminate

While the guests watched a slideshow inside the villa, my hubby took the opportunity to snap an incredible night shot of the reception. Even after the sun disappeared, the weather was still a toasty 97 degrees.

Veronica and Paul Jae: It was an honor to not only florify your wedding, but to be a guest at it. I praise God for your commitment to Him and to one another. Enjoy married life in Boston!!! Next time Joe and I visit family in Gloucester, we hope you will come to the harbor and enjoy lobster and fried clams with us!

Introducing… The Treasured Petal Blog!

This is the first-ever post of The Treasured Petal blog, and boy, does it feel great to be writing this! My name is Kristin Brancaleone, owner and head designer of The Treasured Petal florist, wife to Joe, mother of two fur children (Pesto, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and Basil, a darling Boston Terrier pup), and lover of all things floral, girly, whimsical, sassy, and wedding related!

I’ve been a bit nervous to dive into the blog world, despite the helpful encouragement from colleagues and clients. There are so many blogs that I adore and stalk every single day, and I knew that if I were to start a blog, I wanted it to be colorful, inspiring, informative, and most of all consistent. I knew this would be a big commitment!

Having said all that, I am officially ready to get this going! This blog will be…

1. my online gallery, showcasing T-Petals fabulous weddings as they come, and I have to say this year’s weddings will be total showstoppers! We’ve got a sweet lemon yellow soiree in the works, an over the top wine and chartreuse tropical wedding coming, a shabby chic sherbert and sage wedding, and a classy beachside affair to name just a few. I hope to give you a peek into the design process of each wedding, from the florist’s perspective!

2. my sketchbook, to share any decor ideas and inspiration that strikes my fancy.

3. my show and tell, to highlight some of my favorite flowers and botanical elements in all their God-created glory.

4. my brag book, to show off cute pictures of my dogs. hehe

On that note, I think I’ll tackle # 4 right now and just get it out of the way! (Pictures compliments of my talented hubby, Joe)

Pesto, aka Pestorino, Bratsky, Capt. Featherbutt, Fabio

Basil, aka Basilina, Gas Bag, Boston Terrorist

Baby Pesto and Me

Baby Basil and Me

B.F.F.!

My father in law is currently doing an oil painting of this picture so we can hang it on the mantle!

Thank you for visiting! Please stop by real soon, as I have so much to say about Jill and Harry’s geometrical wedding, and Veronica and Paul Jae’s bookish garden wedding!

Ciao!

Kristin