Garden Party Sisters » Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com South Jersey Wedding Florist Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:09:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 South Jersey Wedding Florist: Karen and Byron http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-karen-and-byron/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-karen-and-byron/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:09:46 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1455 Karen and Byron’s wedding was a really special wedding for A Garden Party, we have known Karen for our whole lives! Both of our moms had a baking 4-H club that we were in (Bakin’ Bits <3) and not only did we learn how to make barbie cakes and all kinds of goodies we now spoil our husbands with, we formed a strong friendship.  And as for Byron, he was John’s college roommate and I often define our relationship as BB and AB (before Byron and after Byron haha), he has been there by our side for many years and even on our own wedding day. John and I were happy to return the favor for them! Together, Byron and Karen are one of those couples that are just so perfect for each other, watching them is seeing a couple that really interacts as one.  Byron farms in South Jersey (his farm actually touches our farm!) and they really wanted to make that a part of their day.  Their photographer, Millie of Millies Photography, got some great shots on the farm and at the bride’s grandmother’s historic home in Elmer.  Millie was a perfect addition to the wedding day, I just loved her wit, attention to detail, artistic eye and genuine enthusiasm for her job. Thanks for the sharing the images!

A Garden Party made sure to incorporate lots of little “down-home” touches that showed Karen and Byron’s personalities.  The boutonnieres were all accented with a touch of dried wheat, right from Byron’s fields and we wrapped Karen’s bouquet with a family heirloom crocheted piece, accented with a vintage brooch (also a family piece).  In the bouquet we used pale pink mini callas, bouvardia, dahlias, waxflower, and freesia. Look closely at the picture of the bridal party…Mary was proudly holding one of our creations.  We love doing wedding flowers, but especially love doing the flowers for couples that we know.  Congrats Byron and Karen and thank you for letting us be such a big part of your day!

Check out the crochet work and brooch….details like this are so pretty, and really meaningful.

Karen and the sweetest little flower girl (love that Caylen!), I love the wreath of flowers we made for her hair. This image is truly magical.

Check out this ring bearer - he is keeping his eye on things! Love you Bradley!

There’s Mary and John, 2nd couple in from the right hand side….gorgeous bridal party!

I love this picture, Millie really caught the perfect moment here.

 

 May your love always reap bountiful harvests…..xoxo

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-karen-and-byron/feed/ 0 Less Paper, More Flowers http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/less-paper-more-flowers/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/less-paper-more-flowers/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:38:54 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1440 We love meeting with our brides – sitting down with them, bouncing ideas around, looking through our albums and books…and we started to feel as if our brides were getting bogged down in too much paperwork.  Soooo to make things a little simpler, and to give us more time to look at the pretty pictures, Mary came up with an online pre-consultation form that can be filled out and sent to us prior to that first consultation.  No more papers to fill out during the meeting and lots more time to talk about flowers, cool! So for all you brides out there that haven’t had your first consultation yet, you can find a link to it on our contact info page. Next on the horizon – an online contract that can be signed with an electronic signature (give us a week or two to get it set up).

Also – we have been busy, busy, busy with weddings and it shows in the positive feedback we have been getting! Read our reviews and leave your own on The Wedding Channel /The Knot and Wedding Wire. We love hearing from our brides so if you haven’t left us a review yet, please do! 

Now – back to work, we have 3 weddings this weekend and lots of flowers out in our studio waiting for us….you can barely walk through there with the hundreds and hundreds of roses (I think 700+ this weekend!), hydrangea, lilies, gerbers, callas, dahlias, and I could go on and on. Stay tuned for more of our bridal blogs, we have some amazing professional pictures on the way!And just because I couldn’t wait to share this beautiful picture from Douglas Photographics…..

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/less-paper-more-flowers/feed/ 0 South Jersey Wedding Florist – Jaclyn and Brandon http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-jaclyn-and-brandon/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-jaclyn-and-brandon/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:14:38 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1427 Cornflower blue has been showing up a lot in our flower studio lately and we love it, especially accented with yellow.  Jaclyn and Brandon were married about a month ago and were kind enough to share these pictures with us. All photos are courtesy of twoweddingphotographers.com (check out their website – looks like they have some great packages). Jaclyn was such an adorable bride, the yellow flowers definitely complimented this bride’s sunny nature. Check out the photos!

I loved the color of the bridesmaids' dresses, perfect for a July wedding.

For the ceremony we designed these two pieces to flank the bride and groom. We used blue hydrangea, yellow lilies, and blue delphinium.

Jaclyn carried a bouquet of white roses, white mini callas, yellow ranunculus, blue delphinium, and cornflower. Look at her smile - so pretty!

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of yellow roses (accented with blue rhinestones - love that bling!), white ranunculus, blue delphinium, cornflower, and bear grass. The flower girl carried a pomander of yellow mums.

For the groom's boutonniere we used a white calla lily accented with cornflower and a bear grass loop, all tied together with ribbon.

Thanks Jaclyn and Brandon for letting us be a part of your big day.  Best wishes on your future together as Mr. and Mrs. :)

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-jaclyn-and-brandon/feed/ 1 Philadelphia Wedding Florist – The Aldie Mansion with Roanna and Reed http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/pennsylvania-wedding-florist-the-aldie-mansion-with-roanna-and-reed/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/pennsylvania-wedding-florist-the-aldie-mansion-with-roanna-and-reed/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:11:08 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1397 Recently we were lucky enough to do the flowers for Roanna and Reed.  Mary went to Penn State with Roanna (or Ro boat as Mary loves to call her) and she was so excited to do her wedding flowers for the special couple! Even though Reed is a graduate of Illinois, Mary is happy that her fellow Penn Stater found love in the Big Ten.  Tina (another college friend of Ronna and Mary), of Tina Jay Photography, caught some amazing shots of the day that we couldn’t wait to share with everyone. The wedding took place at the Aldie Mansion in Doylestown, PA, with an outside ceremony on a gorgeous summer day in July. Roanna was a gorgeous bride, I <3 her hairpiece! Her bouquet featured red orchids, red roses, yellow freesia, and red hypericum – all circled with a ring of galax leaves.  The bridesmaids carried bouquets of red roses, circus roses, red hypericum, and yellow freesia – accented with a collar of galax leaves.  Inside the mansion the centerpieces were done in glass bowls filled with lemons, circus roses, red roses and those amazing orchids. The centerpieces were done in a modern dome of roses with the exotic red orchids adding height to the pieces.  All of the centerpieces were pin spotted with extra lighting and the room was just gorgeous.  Every detail was thought of, right down to adding tall vases of yellow calla lilies to the place card table.  The overall theme of the wedding really shone through and it turned into a gorgeous, fun, wedding.  Mary and I were so excited to be a part of this wedding and have loved sharing it with you. – We hope you enjoy the pictures!

Roanna with her bridesmaids :)

Roanna and Reed had a first look session before the ceremony....I love how he is looking at her, so sweet!

Roanna's bouquet featured red roses, red mokara orchids (love these!), red hypericum, yellow freesia, and galax leaves.

All the bouquets lined up pretty :)

Who knew yellow and red was such a stunning color combo!

Check out the mokara orchids in these - we def plan on using these more. The lemons worked perfectly with the red roses, circus roses, and orchids.

For the place card table we used long stem yellow callas accented with red ribbon.

Thanks Roanna and Reed for letting us be a part of your special day!!!

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/pennsylvania-wedding-florist-the-aldie-mansion-with-roanna-and-reed/feed/ 1 A Garden Party – now on Style Me Pretty! http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/a-garden-party-now-on-style-me-pretty/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/a-garden-party-now-on-style-me-pretty/#comments Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:46:05 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1383 Mary and I love browsing wedding blogs as a way to find inspiration for new ideas and one of our favorite blogs is Style Me Pretty They always have the most gorgeous weddings featured on their blog and I know I have spent many an hour drooling over their photos….that counts as job research right? Recently we decided to submit A Garden Party and see if they would be willing to add us to their Little Black Book of preferred vendors. We were thrilled when we were contacted (right in the middle of a crazy busy wedding weekend) that we had been selected. We got the sweetest e-mail from them and were again reminded of why we love our jobs so much. The e-mail said that we had been selected because of our “exceptional customer care, superior design style, the continual honing of one’s craft, a genuine interest in fostering a relationship with the client, and being highly recommended by colleagues and clients”. Both of us were so honored and thrilled….I think tears may have snuck up on us both when we read the e-mail. Check out our Portfolio on The Little Black Book when you get a chance!

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/a-garden-party-now-on-style-me-pretty/feed/ 0 A Garden Party’s First Bridal Open House was a success! http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/a-garden-partys-first-bridal-open-house-was-a-success/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/a-garden-partys-first-bridal-open-house-was-a-success/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:35:58 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1339 I often think back to where I was or what I was doing a year ago, do you ever do that? I can’t believe how much life has changed for me in the last year; Lee is already a year old, John and I have been married over 3 years and my business is booming! Pinch pinch, is it real? Dawn and I have been a part of so many beautiful weddings, all of them memorable for different reasons. Every time we add a new bride to the schedule I feel like we have made a new friend! I love the feeling I get welcoming blushing brides and families into our new consultation space, the ideas start flowing right away for everyone. With this new space pretty much finished up, we just had to plan a big party to celebrate and what better way to do it than invite some other great local professionals and tons of brides?!?! A ginormous thank you to all of the talented and friendly vendors and all of the excited and supportive brides/friends/family that came out for the big night! If you missed the fun, let me fill you in…

Rental City provided the beautiful tent, linens, tables, chairs, china - the works for us! They have EVERYTHING you could ever want for your event, be sure to give Nandi a call!

Inside the shop we had our consult space all done up with many bouquets, centerpiece rentals and albums for inspiration.

All of our ladies lined up ready for the party...

I am thinking that our centerpiece inspiration table is going to need another table, there are just too many options!

The bride wall of fame gets lots of rave reviews!

These chairs are the perfect place to sit and relax while we help you with your flower order!

The beautiful and talented ladies of Salon Nicole were busy doing hair and makeup most of the night!

Bella Limo of Elmer came too!

Rental City with their impressive array of rentals!

Stephen from The Sweet Life Bakery showed off some tasty and trendy sweets!

Sarah had lots of lia sophia jewelry for all to admire.

An overflowing gift basket from Auburn Road Vineyards for a lucky winner!

Auburn Road Vineyards provided samples of their sparkling wine. Located in Pilesgrove, they host many events including showers and receptions!

Maria from Designed by M.E. stationary had an amazing collection of stationary samples! Her work is detailed, classy, thoughtful and of course she was the sweetest person to work with. I am so happy Irene sent me to her!

And of course the lovely Tina of Tina Jay Photography came too! Her new albums were a hit!

In the center of the tent, we hung our own vintage chandelier dripping with roses and crystals, I fell in love!! I can just see someone getting married under it, hanging so romantic in a tree or something. LOVE.

The hot centerpiece of the show was our peacock inspired creation in our bell vase. Hydrangeas, dahlias, callas and dendrobium orchids complimented the hues of the feather perfectly!

Just loved the shimmer of this tablecloth from Rental City! And you can kinda see the hanging feather in the bottom of the bell vase too...

More brides should do napkin details, it ties it all together!

Ohhh Casey, this one is for you!

Again, the linen makes this black and white tablescape complete! And who says yellow football mums are old news?

Our new black vases popped with yellow flowers and feather accents.

LOVE the linen!

Our new lanterns (rental) with a lush floral ring of coffee break and quick sand roses...I want to get married again (same guy) and do this! I also think these would be cute hanging in a tent with LED pillar candles!

Loved the color combo of this one!

Dear Free Spirit Rose, you make my job so easy and fun. Love, Mary

Pink tinted water in our chic vase with gold manzanita, pink crystals and orchids....pretty!!

A close up...

Another cute cocktail table arrangement featuring our picture vase with a moody mix of purple carns and roses. Vintage mercury glass votives hold a few candles and a few roses to extend the design.

Every time I walk by our new sign, I feel so proud!

 Again, thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success (and thanks to Tina for sending me these pics)! It sure was a family affair, Mom, Dad and our other sister all came to help us out too. Maybe next year we will have Michelle from All Things Beautiful do most of the planning….and we can just show up :)  We are thinking of adding a bridal salon and live music next year, so that will be something else to look forward to. Now, I better get back to my brides…the phone has been ringing off the hook the whole time I have been blogging!

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/a-garden-partys-first-bridal-open-house-was-a-success/feed/ 4 South Jersey Wedding Florist: Tommy and Shannon at the Smithville Inn! http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-tommy-and-shannon/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-tommy-and-shannon/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:01:53 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1312 Tommy and Shannon were hands down one of my favorite weddings we have done recently.  I am a sucker for lots of purple…add to that all these gorgeous butterfly accents and it was perfection.  They got married outside at The Smithville Inn in picture perfect weather.  When Mary showed me all the details in this wedding I was so excited to see that the couple had come up with a theme (butterflies).  It is always fun to add special little details and watch it all come together in the end.  Denise Mabilog was the photographer for this wedding and she caught some gorgeous shots – check out her blog, she does amazing work! Now on to the good stuff :)

Shannon's bouquet featured picasso calla lilies, vanda orchids, lavender and ivory roses, and dark purple stock. We added sprigs of fresh lavender and this bouquet smelled amazing. We wrapped the stems with a handkerchief that Shannon provided to us (I think it was her grandmother's). Photo courtesy of Denise Mabilog Photography.

Here is a close-up shot of the bride's bouquet. If you look close you can see that we snuck in a couple of jeweled butterflies - so pretty! Photo courtesy of Denise Mabilog Photography.

For the bridesmaids we used similar flowers and accented the stems with a butterfly. I love the pops of bright green against the purple. Photo courtesy of Denise Mabilog Photography.

Shannon was such a gorgeous bride! I love this shot, these girls all look so pretty and that covered bridge is picture perfect. Photo courtesy of Denise Mabilog Photography.

They got married outside under this pergola. We added butterflies to the urns, perched on the branches and put a few in the top arbor piece. We even hung strands of white butterflies on each side <3

I loved these urns. We use our manzanita branches, hydrangea, roses, stock, and of course those butterflies!

Mary designed this piece and I have one word for it - LOVE!

This piece was featured on their seating card table. Adding a tall piece like this to the placecard table is so eye catching.

Check out the little butterflies that Shannon gave us to put on all of the wineglasses - I love these little details! Photo courtesy of Denise Mabilog Photography.

We made floral rings to go around hurricanes for half of the tables. The floral rings are a great option for brides that want to give their centerpieces away to their guests at the end of the wedding.

The other half of the tables we did these mounded silver bowl arrangements. The silver metal bowl is a rental and the arrangements are designed for guests to remove and take home. I love hydrangea; especially mixed with roses, kale, bupleurum, and butterflies. Photo courtesy of Denise Mabilog Photography.

Instead of a traditional cake topper, we decorated the top of their cake with just a few spray roses and a beaded butterfly. Photo courtesy of Denise Mabilog Photography.

Lots of pictures, but they were all too good not to share!  Congratulations to Tommy and Shannon and thank you so much for letting us be a part of your wonderful day.  July has been such a fun wedding month for us :)   This Friday we are so excited to be hosting our first annual Open House.  We hope to see you there! Contact Mary via e-mail, Mary@gardenpartysisters.com to RSVP or for details on the Open House.

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-tommy-and-shannon/feed/ 3 NJ Wedding Flowers: We love our brides – and they love A Garden Party! http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/nj-wedding-flowers-we-love-our-brides-and-they-love-a-garden-party/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/nj-wedding-flowers-we-love-our-brides-and-they-love-a-garden-party/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:04:43 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1294 First things first, congrats to last weekend’s brides – Jaclyn, Shannon, and Roanna.  There will be some fabulous blogs coming up shortly about these girls, we were in love with ALL of their flowers! Now on to one of the many reasons we love this job SOOOO much. About a year ago Mary and I started sending out 10 question online surveys after each wedding.  We were looking for feedback on how our brides would rate their experience with us.  It is so important to us that we are giving our brides what they are looking for.  Last week in the middle of wedding madness (July is definately a top wedding month for us!) we got this survey response back and it really reminded both Mary and I why we love this job so much; we really love hearing how happy and how much of an impact our flowers can have on a bride’s wedding.  My hope is that our brides always love what we do, just as much as we love what we do.  This job is a dream come true for Mary and I and we thank all of our brides (and the moms, bridesmaids, etc.) for giving us a chance!  Now on to the survey!

How did we do? Fill out these 10 questions to let us know!

Question Answer
1. How would you rate the quality of our first consultation? Above and Beyond!
  Our first consultattion was so pleasant.
2. How would you rate the ideas and creativity offered to you during the consultation? Above and Beyond!
  My daughter left the consultation knowing that she was going to get exactly what she wanted.
3. How would you rate our speed of communication with you? Above and Beyond!
  Every e-mail was answered within hours of being sent.
4. How would you rate our ability to interpret your ideas and vision? Above and Beyond!
  Sarah barely even needed to say what she wanted and Mary knew exactly what she wanted.
5. How would you rate the overall quality of your wedding flowers? How closely did we meet your vision? Above and Beyond!
  The flowers were top quality.
 6. How would you rate the quality of your ceremony flowers? Above and Beyond!
  The flowers that were prepared for the ceremony were beautiful.
7. How would you rate the quality of your reception flowers? Above and Beyond!
  Words really can’t describe the flowers for the reception. Only the pictures can do that! I’m still hearing about those flowers!
8. How would you rate the competitiveness of our pricing? Above and Beyond!
  I have to be honest, we didn’t even price around after meeting with Mary. There was really no need to.
9. How would you rate the fairness of our contract? Above and Beyond!
  Everything listed in the contract was delivered exactly as described and then some.
10. Would you recommend our services to a friend? Yes
  Hopefully, you’ll be busy based on the number of people I’ve already told to contact you.

Well doesn’t that just give us the motivation to keep us going!! Thanks for the good word!

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/nj-wedding-flowers-we-love-our-brides-and-they-love-a-garden-party/feed/ 0 South Jersey Wedding Florist – Danielle and Anthony http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-danielle-and-anthony/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-danielle-and-anthony/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:14:18 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1281 Ok – Mary and I have vowed to try and get caught up with our blogging!  July has been a really busy month so far (yay!), but we had to share these pictures with you.  Danielle and Anthony got married June 5th at The Palace in Blackwood, NJ and we loved how her bouquets turned out. Danielle was a gorgeous bride and we are thrilled to have these pictures to share on our blog – thanks Danielle!

The glowing bride with her bouquet. Danielle carried white roses and calla lilies, with accents of rhinestones (love that bling!). Check out the rhinestone band covering the stems - we LOVED this band.

The bridesmaids carried coordinated bouquets of white roses and calla lilies, I love how sophisticated the all white bouquets look against their black dresses.

All white flowers really do create a sophistated, yet romantic look.

I love the outside ceremony area at The Palace, it is gorgeous!

I wanted to share this photograph because it shows a new trend we have been seeing alot more of; instead of corsages many moms are now choosing to carry small nosegays. It really helps tie the moms flowers in with the bridal party, I think her bouquet of mini callas is gorgeous.

Close up shot of bouquets - I am in love with the rhinestone bands!

Just had to share this picture because I think these two are just adorable!

 

Congratulations Danielle and Anthony – your wedding day was beautiful and we were so happy to be a part of it!!!

]]> http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/south-jersey-wedding-florist-danielle-and-anthony/feed/ 1 Philadelphia Wedding Florist: Tara and Charles http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/philadelphia-wedding-florist-tara-and-charles/ http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/philadelphia-wedding-florist-tara-and-charles/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:54:44 +0000 Mary http://www.gardenpartysisters.com/?p=1259 Tisk, tisk, Mary has been a bad blogger! It has been a while since we featured some wedding work and I apologize. We were away on a family vacation and the beach was just too distracting! Or maybe it was the 5 kids that kept us all busy…anyway, I am happy to showcase Tara and Chuck’s wedding from June 12, 2010. These docs (yes both are doctors) wanted an intimate backyard wedding, something Tara always dreamed about. When we arrived at her childhood  home outside of Philadelphia and entered the backyard, I could tell her dreams would come true that day. A giant willow tree (I think I have to get one of these on the farm here) with a gazebo nestled underneath was the perfect place for vows and a nearby tent (with AC!!!!) was placed on lush green grass and was lit with chandeliers, I couldn’t have done it better myself. Take a look for yourself!

The photos are courtesy of John Robert Pankratz , many thanks for sharing!

Tara putting on the final touches...notice her floral hairpiece that we recreated for her. This is what she had to say about it, "they were able to take a family heirloom hairpiece and bring it back to life, literally - they revived it, reworked it, and made it like new - and it's 5 generations old!" It was our pleasure!!

This is what the hairpiece looked like when she gave it to me. What can I say, I love a challenge!

Stunning.

 

Her dad confided in us that he only wanted to give her everything she hoped for on her wedding day....seriously pops, you made me tear up. Tara's bouquet is composed of white mini callas and stephanotis with a vintage inspired beaded leaf collar.

Her aisle was lined with these swirled hooks with hanging vases of orchids and callas...it looked great!

Told ya that tree was awesome!

Family shot....her bridesmaid carried picasso callas to coordinate with her white callas.

A perfect DIY project....Tara made table numbers from wine bottles and found the perfect place to display family wedding photos. How thoughtful!

Centerpieces were submerged callas with floating candles, a simple and elegant mix!

I have a feeling this might be hung in their house one day.

I covet this tree.

 Thank you Tara for letting us be a part of your dream come true…best wishes for a lifetime of love!

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