Nicole and Phil

Let me tell you how I almost fell out of my chair during my initial consultation with Nicole and Phil for their wedding florals. They were describing a slight nod to celestial, old-world, snowy and winter, but fantasy inspired, moody aesthetic and then followed up with, “Are you familiar with A Court of Thornes and Roses?” In which I immediately responded with… “Are you telling me you want to feel like you’re in Velaris?” Bookish conversation followed (because hello, it’s me) and we were off to a great start.

In addition to the vintage-feel of their venue, The Muse, their color choices of lavender, gold, and dark navy blue held up to the moody and old-world look, but we still did a lot to bring that fantasy theme to life. Nicole and Phil had the full private venue and bar area for their event, hosting an intimate ceremony and dinner upstairs, before cocktail hour downstairs with additional guests arriving for the reception while the team flipped the upstairs event space for an epic dance party. Keep reading for how we created the magic and all of the touches and details that brought the Night Court and Velaris to life.

(Don’t worry folks, there’s a lot of talk of amaranthus here, but no relation to Amarantha. IYKYK.)

Vendors

Photographer: Vonne Wilde

Planning and Coordination: Amethyst Events

Venue, Bartending, and Coffee Service: The Muse Whiskey and Coffee

Florals: The Copper Dahlia Sourced from Northwest Wholesale, Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, Mayesh Seattle, Cascade Floral Wholesale, Alabama Smilax, and The Copper Dahlia

Hair: Ashley of Salon Ivory

Makeup: AM Beauty Bridal

Catering: Onmi Sea

Cake: Sweet Dream Bakes

Dessert: Puffy Pandy

Linens: Cort Party

DJ: DJ TinTin

Dress: Khristelle Tan

Suit: Leesle

Groom’s Ring: Dynamic Designs Jewelry

Bride’s Ring: Jennie Kwon Designs

Nicole’s hairpiece was a center comb piece of lavender spray roses, white delphinium, white and purple phalenopsis orchids, gold Italian ruscus and blue dried hydrangea to accent the amazing blue of her hair. I like to make the hair comb as a base, then provide plenty of additional individually wired components so the hair stylist can build and shape the movement they’re looking for depending on the hairstyle.

Nicole carried a cascade bouquet, with hanging lavender preserved amaranthus, gold Italian ruscus, ivy berry and greens, white and purple phalaenopsis orchids, lavender clematis, white peonies, lavender roses and spray roses, blue dried hydrangea, and white panda anemones. I love this bouquet so much, and it’s very special that Nicole decided to have it preserved after- see it here on Kinetic Botany’s post!

Phil’s boutonniere, as well as the fathers’ and officiant’s were a lavender rose, with astrantia, Italian ruscus greens, lavender preserved amaranthus, and ribbon wrapped in navy.

The mothers wore phalaenopsis orchids with a little greenery base in their hair to match Nicole’s bouquet.

The graphics Nicole and Phil had on their welcome sign may look a little familiar for you book lovers. Entering in the front doors of The Muse, guests were greeted in the front area with swags of floral clusters on modern pillars. In lavender tones, I used carnations, astrantia, and roses, blue dried hydrangea and ivy berries, white spray roses and white panda anemones, and black dried braken fern with green and gold Italian ruscus.

Photo provided by Amethyst Events team

Upon ascending the stairs to the event space, guests were greeted by a wisteria install against the pillar at the top of the stairs, suspended above and drawing you into the room.

Across the wall of windows was the main wisteria arches installation, lit up with twinkle lights. I built the mechanics for this series of arches in order to stretch the decor from floor all the way up to the ceiling. Check out this Reel for the Part 1 behind the scenes scoop on how I built it! I foraged an entire mature wisteria to get 40-ish 12-15ft long wisteria vines and make the base for the arches. Since it was climbing up a plum tree that the owners also wanted to remove, I was able to cut the plum up in segments and with a little detangling I left a lot of the wisteria intact so I could create this massive statement piece.

After the wisteria vines were up and the base tucked into black velvet, I added the smilax greens and individually hung lavender preserved amaranthus, lavender hybrid delphinium, lavender larkspur, and white belladonna delphinium. Also take a look at the Part 2 Reel to see us hanging these components and the full reveal video!

The head table directly under the center wisteria arch was long black velvet, with my white rental fabric as a center runner and trailing sides. An additional runner of book accents went the length of the table, and the front draped with white and lavender preserved amaranths, gold Italian ruscus, and beautiful blue sprial eucalyptus.

When I was foraging wisteria vines for the arch, I came across one specific small vine that was coiled around multiple pieces, which ended up being the piece I built this whole cake floral accent around. That one stick in the middle has so much character! I worked with Cindy of Sweet Dream Bakes on the plan for my cake stand and dimensions of the cake. The floral components were lavender spray roses, lavender clematis, and lavender anemone, with Italian ruscus and wisteria vines. Draping on the table was more Italian ruscus, sprial eucalyptus, and hanging white preserved amaranthus among twinkle lights.

I love the placecards- just another nod to book lovers! We added a sprig of gold Italian ruscus to each setting.

The guests tables linens were a silky dark navy blue, which can be a really tricky color to match/complement in the floral world. There’s bright blue florals, some light blue, but not a lot of options for dark navy. I ended up creating blue sprayed hydrangea from dried, in order to get that perfect color match and keep the contrast moody. I used the hydrangea in other pieces, but I’m really proud of how the centerpieces turned out.

In a gold mercury glass pedestal compote, along with the hydrangea, I used ivy berries for more blue-black accents and the brown clusters of seed pods from pieris to bring in the gold-ish tones and compliment the gold sprayed Italian ruscus. Florals included white oriental lilies, white panda anemone, white veronica, “pink” astrantia, and lavender clematis. My aim with these choices was to echo the celestial star theme, with the star shapes of the clematis, lilies, and astrantia, while also using lots of texture and trailing varieties for the “old world” look.

Serving as a runner, I collected books which fit the aesthetic and stacked them down the center of the table. Tucked among the runner of books were candles, twinkle lights, more gold Italian ruscus, and blue spiral eucalyptus.

Who loves a room reveal?! I most certainly do. There was no doubt that what the team pulled together was going to floor Nicole and Phil, and their reactions did not disappoint.

For Nicole and Phil’s ceremony, she entered from under the wisteria pillar, then the couple stood in front of the head table, framed by the center wisteria arch.

After dinner and cake (the Korean food spread by Onmi Sea was so impressive), guests went downstairs for more dessert, coffee bar, drinks, and mingling throughout all the rooms at The Muse.

In the front “office” transitional room to the bar was the guestbook table, and the pass-thru arch that also served as guestbook photo backdrop.

I used more wisteria branches, including a chunky trunk portion, woven into the circle arch, and added smilax and eucalyptus, then hung white preserved amaranthus for more of that wisteria look. Two asymetrical ground meadows at the base of the arch were made of trailing ivy berry, white delphinium, lavender roses, astrantia, and white lilies.

An arrangement of white delphinium, peonies, lavender anenomes, clematis, astrantia, ivy berry, blue delphinium, and black braken fern accented the guestbook table.

While guests socialized downstairs, the team upstairs flipped the room for dancing. We broke down all of the guest tables and head table, repurposing centerpieces and decor to downstairs on the fireplace mantle, on bar tops, and as accent pieces.

On the opposite side of the upstairs room, removing the tables provided plenty of access to the library and fireplace nook for plenty of bookish photo opportunities.

Over the fireplace, I added stacks of books and arranged my tall cylinders with a starburst taper candle and black candles. Trailing smilax reached above and throughout, with two centerpieces of lavender roses, button mums, white veronica, blue dried hydrangea, and white panda anenome.

On the library wall, I hung more smilax to give the illusion of an overgrown old library, with 3 arrangements of lavender clematis, lavender button mums, white spray roses, white veronica, ivy berry, and spiral eucalyptus.

This nook off the side for people to hang out had the maximum ambiance, and the wisteria installations provided the perfect backdrop for some serious dancing and party!

Thank you so much to Nicole and Phil for having me be a part of your special day and letting me geek out over the vision!