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A Very Jurassic Wedding

November 9, 2018 by Christine

As a florist, designing a wedding is what I love most. One of the sweet brides I have been honored to design for just happens to be an anthropologist. When Alexis hit me with a dinosaur theme, I just knew it would be a very Jurassic Wedding! From ferns to moss, tiny dinosaurs to great big dinosaurs we had a ball putting this one together.
The colors Alexis chose were as bright and sunny as her wedding day. Big, bold, bright yellow roses and blue delphinium would be nestled in deep green ferns and accented with sunflowers.
Then Alexis hit me with the real kicker! To really top of her theme of a Very Jurassic Wedding, she was enlisting the aid of a dinosaur named Norm, on loan for the day from the Field Museum! Well, we figured if Norm was going to be a guest at such an auspicious event, he needed to dress for the occasion! It isn’t every dinosaur that can pull off a rose and sunflower flower crown, but Norm made it look great!

Even in all his fossilized glory, Norm still could not compare to a bride as beautiful as Alexis! Don’t Alexis and Michael make a stunning couple?

Everywhere you looked was that sunny yellow and blue color palette, from the wrist corsages to the barrette in the flower girl’s hair.
Don’t you just love the little dinosaur table numbers? Too cute!

My favorite moment of every wedding I design is when I hand the bride her bouquet.

Alexis, we wish you and Michael many bright sunny years as husband and wife!

A Rustic Woodland Wedding at Pinstripes, South Barrington

October 18, 2018 by Christine

A little moss, a few candles, and some amazing pink roses are sometimes all it takes to create a rustic woodland wedding vibe just about anywhere.

Erin & Joe’s wedding at Pinstripes in South Barrington was one of those times. When I met Erin, she had a very clear idea of what she wanted for her wedding, think lanterns, moss, twinkle lights and loads of green, like a woodland garden at twilight. The pops of light pink made it all the more romantic.

We used one of my all-time favorite roses, Esperance. They open so full and lush that Erin told me her guests kept touching them to see if they were real! The moss covered wood slabs, twinkle lights and those roses brought a bit of rustic woodland charm to the tables and the ceremony.

Erin had a lovely banner made for the ceremony which we accented with garland, moss and more roses. During the cocktail hour, we moved it all to the reception so they could use it as a backdrop for the sweetheart table.

Sara at Pinstripes was kind enough to capture this for us. Don’t they make the sweetest couple!

Major shout out to Brooke Rumbold of Brooke Alaina Photography for sharing the pictures in the gallery below. You can read more of Erin and Joe’s story on Brooke’s blog.

To find out more about Branching Out visit our About page or shoot us an email.

Woodland Wedding Vibe

September 6, 2018 by Christine

Erin, our sweet bride, may have had her wedding in Hoffman Estates but we still managed to give her a Woodland wedding vibe.

Moss, garlands, lots of greens, huge Esperance roses and fairy lights, brought the woods indoors.

This big boho beauty of bouquet was a hit!

What’s a flower girl without a flower crown!

Tell us your vision and let us create your dreams.

Wedding Bouquet and Flower Arch, Oh My

August 22, 2018 by Christine

Pick a wedding bouquet and strike a pose!

I had the best time last Sunday with Team Nashville at the Pink Bride Bridal Show. Vicki imagined an amazing flower arch and brides could have their choice of wedding bouquet to pose with. Along with Jodie and Alicia, I climbed up the ladder and we made it happen.

The brides had a ball with all the different styles and shapes of bouquets to pick from. Most of these lovelies had never held a real brides bouquet before and for many a Mom in attendance, it was that “OMG, this is really happening” moment. As you can see, the bespoke garden style bouquet was the definite favorite with the Nashville brides.

Branching Out Event Florist, we are everywhere!

If you are in the Nashville market, you can reach out to Vicki and team Nashville here

Are You Thinking About Your Company Christmas Party?

August 15, 2018 by Christine

I know it’s only August, but your Company Christmas Party is closer than you think.

Here’s why you need to start moving on it now…

There are only 3 Fridays and 4 Saturdays before Christmas in December 2018. Since Christmas is on Tuesday, there is a good chance a lot of your guests may be leaving town on Friday the 21st and making a real holiday out of it. That effectively cuts those available prime company party dates down to 2 Fridays and 3 Saturdays. So you have 5 nights, more companies in the Chicago region than you can count, and a limited number of venues that are both cool and in your budget. Are you starting to see my point?

At the very least, you need to start thinking about what kind of company party you want to have.

If you are having your company Christmas party off-site, start looking at venues now so you can get one locked in before the rush starts.

If you are having your corporate party in-house, you need to start thinking about all the vendors that you will need to make it a fabulous party. You see, it isn’t only the venues that will book up quickly. December is a crazy month for most event vendors from DJ’s to caterers to florists. A party with bad food and no entertainment isn’t much of a party, and who wants a table without a little something pretty and festive as a centerpiece?

You don’t want your party to look like this, do you? This is from a Company Christmas party I went to last year. It just made me sad.

Contact the team at Branching Out Chicago and let us find the right solution for your Company Christmas party.

Start planning your Company Christmas party today.

Contact Christine

A Wedding Bouquet for the Desert

July 5, 2018 by Christine

I have done a lot of wedding bouquets and every one is special, but when your best friend calls and says she is getting married you just know it is going to be epic.

Then she tells you she is getting married in the desert.

At Lake Havasu Falls, which is an 11-mile hike in.

Avid hikers, Amber and Kyle decided to get married in a private ceremony at Lake Havasu Falls, which is an 11-mile hike through the desert, up and down cliffs in the heat of summer. Ok, weight and durability would be an issue. Amber’s first choice for a wedding bouquet was succulents. There are some pretty realistic one made out of silicon that would work.

Here is the boutonniere I made for Kyle out of the faux succulents.

Amber loved her bouquet.

The problem with succulent wedding bouquets is they weigh a bloody ton!

When you are hiking 11-miles in the desert, every ounce matters. So with weight being an issue, we decided at the last minute to go another direction, silk wildflowers.

Here is her bouquet and gown drying on a rock after the ceremony.

Kyle’s wildflower boutonniere.

The original succulent bouquet found new life as cake decor! That’s fitting.

Every wedding is unique, this one may be a little more than most. As a professional, my role is always to figure out a way to make it work and we did. Thank you, Amber and Kyle, for letting me make your wedding more beautiful, one bloom at a time.

Spring Wedding at Pinstripes

June 20, 2018 by Christine

Flower Crowns Come in All Sizes

June 20, 2018 by Christine

Flower crowns are one of our favorite thing to make and we recently discovered that they really do come in all sizes. One of our sweet brides is an anthropologist and went full Jurassic on her wedding. She even managed to get the loan of a full-size T-Rex skull! Well, we just thought that if a T-Rex was coming to the wedding, it should be dressed in style, so we made Norm a flower crown with a 72″ diameter.

We promise we’ll make yours a bit smaller!