Krystal and Shane
Give me all the black accents! Krystal and Shane had their day of unholy matrimony the weekend before Halloween and went full goth. When I first spoke about florals with their coordinator Melissa, of Little Blue Bird Events, they were so excited to see what we could come up with in the black and red realm. I put together a list of ideas and materials I thought may add to their look with various inspo pictures to get an idea of what they were open to creatively and kind of narrow the vision down.
I’ve been dying (pun intended) to use some sort of carnivorous plants in a design, and one of my favorite roses has always been the deep red and velvety, black bacarra rose. I’m still on cloud 9 (or should I say 6 feet under?) over how it all came together and my floral vision fit into this couple’s unique celebration.
Vendors
Photographer: Ryan Kenady
Coordination: Little Blue Bird Events
Venue: Evergreen Meadows
Florals: The Copper Dahlia , set-up assisted by Art in Bloom Bespoke
Dress: Coco Melody
Hair and Make Up: Salon 22
Cake: Mooncrumb Landing
Couch: Vintage Ambiance
Moth specimen: Love Bizarre Oddities
Horns: World Wildlife Products
Krystal’s bridal bouquet was a cascade that centered around the skull with antlers. Two tillandsia (air plants) shaped the top round and the bottom point with their little curls. I used a faux red cala lily and hand painted the black/brown centers. Other elements included ebony leucedendron, burgundy cymbidium orchids, dyed black roses, black bacarra roses, uluhe (brown fiddlehead fern curl), and Japanese anemone pods in black.
Shane’s boutonniere was equally stunning. Krystal provided the skulls and when she said turtle, I didn’t realize it was going to have the awesome pointed back of the skull that made it look like a little dragon! Joining the little dude on the pocket boutonniere were black preserved hanging amaranthus, red spray roses, chocolate cosmos, black Japanese anemone pods, and black Italian ruscus.
For the ceremony, the venue’s white arch was covered in a black velvet fabric, as well as lots of sticks for a fall woodsy vibe. The arch florals were dried smokebush (sprayed a cranberry red color to stand out), dried black hydrangea, eucalyptus, dried braken fern, plumosa fern, preserved black hanging amaranthus, black bacarra roses, and faux black roses and red peonies. Joining the florals on the arch were a few crows watching over the ceremony. It was a wet day, but the real challenge was the wind and ensuring everything on top of the arch was secure! I can’t even tell you how many times my assistant and I had to chase braken fern or smokebush across the lawn as it tried to escape during set-up.
At the aisle entrance were two lanterns with floral arrangements of pitcher plant, dyed black roses, black bacarra roses, red spray roses, ebony leucadendron, black Japanese anemone pods, black plumosa, and some branch accents. I picked out the pitcher plants with the most red on them, and they did not disappoint!
After a rainy ceremony, guests watched a fire performance before heading over to the reception space.
On the welcome table, Krystal had a black feather wreath that I added branches to, to emulate a crow’s nest and hold their little seed pack and skull candle favors.
A main focal point in the reception area was the coffin arch, set up among a skull and roses rug, cake table, and red velvet couch for guest photos. On the arch, I made a swag with the wedding florals (roses, orchids, black greens), and an additional fun feature of dried and trimmed horsetails. With the fringe trimmed off and the color faded a bit they look just like skeleton fingers and add a touch of botanical.
The table florals were a mix of the beautiful reflexed black bacarra roses, chocolate cosmos, ebony leucadendron, black plumosa and Japanese anemone pods, laurel greens, and trimmed horsetail. I also added faux venus fly traps after handpainting the stems, centers, and teeth a deep red.
The below two photos from the bistro tables were taken by me, I did a combination of two different styles. The first was a petite arrangement with a polished springbok horn surrounded by spray roses, greens and anemone pods, and burgundy feather accents. The second was an arrangement in a black cocktail glass with black bacarra roses and cymbidium orchids. I hand painted various bugs/spiders that were placed among these in black and iridescent red.
As set-up crew, I was headed out as guests started trickling in, but let me tell you there were some well dressed folks at this party!
The cake was another fun feature, as the black cake of red velvet had a realistic chocolate heart as a topper filled with cherry coulis.
For the grand exit at the end of the evening, I wanted to make something special for Krystal and Shane. As a vendor, you want to make exactly what the clients want, but you also dream for an opportunity like this to create something unique!
I learned a few things in my attempt at making a horn headband out of polished blesbok horns, one of them being I probally needed a soldering tool and some heavier duty base materials, but I do think they delivered the desired effect.
For Krystal we decided that I would make a floral mask and the end result is the most rad floral piece I’ve ever made! I ordered a Death’s Head Hawk-moth specimen for this and knew I wanted a cluster of florals on one side with preserved black hanging amaranthus hanging down. I started covering the base of a mask with individual leaves of sprayed black Italian ruscus and as I kept going they just ended up looking more and more like dragon or snake scales. To touch up any floral glue spots and give it some dimension I lightly brushed a bit of the black/brown paint over some of the black leaves. The floral cluster was red spray roses, chocolate cosmos, preserved black hanging amaranthus, brown fern curls, and black anemone pods. I used the specimen pins on the moth to secure straight on top of the floral cluster, but moved the pins so they would be right over the “eyes” of the death’s head marking.
I get to brag about doing the florals for this event for a long time!
