We’re so pleased! Just yesterday we received a call from The Knot letting us know that we’re of the wedding professionals selected as “Best of The Knot 2010!” Hooray! The magazine will be out in January so keep your eye out for it!

Who we really want to thank are all of the wonderful couples (and families) we worked with over the last year. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to do the creative and collaborative work that we do to make each wedding a wonderful and personal celebration!

xo-

Apryl & Julie

Petalena

We just finished up a big wedding this past weekend at the Taj in Boston’s Back Bay. Most of us Bostonians probably think of this space still as the Ritz Carlton and it hasn’t actually changed very much since the Taj bought it a few years ago.

The ballroom at the Taj is quite lux, with lots of deep reds, golds, and warm ivories. It’s beautiful but it’s a lot of room. Given the detailed and decorative quality of the room we kept the flowers a little more hushed and neutral with ivories and golds primarily.

Bride's Bouquet Against the Studio Door

The bride’s bouquet was rather hushed and tonal – just loved it. A few dramatic cattaelya orchids, phalenopsis orchids, ‘quicksand’ roses (our fave rose!), fiddleheads, lovely big white amaryllis, and some lovely soft peach-meets-brown cymbidium orchids.

Bridesmaid Bouquets

The bridesmaids’ bouquets had a touch more of color with deep gold Mokara orchids and soft orange ilex berries. The bouquets look beautiful against the aubergine color of the dresses.

Now, onto the Taj!

Place Card Table at the Taj

Just love this arrangement Apryl did, it’s so exhuberant but subtle at the same time. It says autumn to me but without being too over the top.

Chuppah with Orchids and Curly Willow

I still can’t believe how perfectly beautiful the flowers fit with the room – we did more of the orange Mokara orchids and then red and deep pink Ankara orchids with lots of curly willow. We draped the staging with ivory fabric and did a long runner edged with white rose petals up each side.

The bride and groom rented the poles and fabric from the Israeli bookstore in Brookline and then added the groom’s mother’s own sari as additional decoration. It was such a lovely and personal touch.

Cocktail Hour Arrangement

We did petite little bud vases of ‘Majolika’ roses or orchids for the cocktail hour. Each vase was wrapped with a bit of angel vine for an additional organic texture.

A slightly blurry (but still lovely) photo of the ballroom being set for dinner

I was getting just a bit frustrated at my lack of photographic skills, the room was so lovely and glowing but I could not get a decent photo. Wondering if I should take a photo class…oh well. Thank god there are professional photographers out there!

Style One for Table Arrangements

We did two different table designs for the ballroom – ten arrangements with a bronze footed compote style container filled with amaryllis, orchids, unique foliages, and ilex berries.

The second style, seen below, we took three different kinds of neutral vases and did simple more modern arrangements in each. These arrangements were kind of deconstructed versions of the larger table arrangements.

Style Two for the Dinning Table Designs

We just loved how everything looked together – elegant, slightly organic, not fou-fou.

Photos & Design by Petalena

O.k., FINALLY I have narrowed down the selection of images from last weekend’s wedding to include to a few quite lovely ones. But it was so hard to decide! Apryl and I had the best time designing the arrangements for this wedding.

Oncidium Orchid Spray with Tree Stump & Moss

Our inspiration was ‘a walk in the woods.’ We imagined lots of soft beautiful mosses, the way the ground is sort of springy under your feet with all the pine needles and organic materials gently breaking down over time…ferns at the bases of trees, wild Lady’s Slipper orchids on a forest floor.

Lady's Slipper Orchids with Maidenhair Ferns

We had so much fun sourcing the materials for this wedding, foraging for moss near Petalena Studio and up in Maine and New Hampshire when we were there visiting friends and family (thank you to Christine especially!).

Terrarium with Orange Cattaelya Orchids

We did three different style for the tables (1) low bronze trays filled with mosses, tree stumps, and orchids; (2) large glass hurricanes filled to create a terrarium of orchids, mosses, lichen, and ferns (3) low cork containers filled with mosses, ferns, and orchids. Kind of picking up theme here? Yes, we used A LOT of mosses, orchids, and fern! But what was so fabulous, was that despite having only three primary materials, each arrangement was so unique from the next.

Low Cork Vessel filled with Phalenopsis Orchids, Maidenhair Ferns, & Mosses

I love this photo because although it is a little hard to see, there’s Apryl in the background, wearing a deep magenta top that is practically the same color as the orchid here. We always joke that we subconsciously dress to match each of weddings – but we actually do!

I had gobs of fun creating the entry table arrangement, which despite my fancy camera, I could not get a decent shot – so fingers crossed the professional photographer might have take a few lovelies. Stay tuned on that one…

Entry Table Arrangement

I’ll show a few more here so you can see all the fabulous detail, plants tucked here and there, it really looked like I didn’t even create this – it looked like it literally was plopped right out of the forest.

Entry Table Arrangement (detail)

Backside of Entry Table Arrangement

Lady's Slipper Orchid (detail)

It was so fun making this design. As staff, other vendors, and clients walked by, people would stop and say, “Did you make this? Good for you!” Or these two big guys who were delivering this massively heavy photo booth who actually stopped, looked at the entry table and said “Dude, that is freakin’ cool!” You know something is pretty unique when even a random guy feels compelled to say something!

Blood Orange Cattaelya Orchids (detail)

Oh sign, Shannon & Troy, thank you so much for having us be part of your day, it was fantastic!

Photos & Design by Petalena

We’re still resting our minds, hands, and feet after this weekend’s wedding with a fantastical woodland theme. The bride had a vision for flowers and design that would evoke stepping into the forest – lots of mosses, ferns, and orchids. We have soooo many photos from this wedding that I’m still going through them and struggling to pick our faves. Since I need a few more days, here is one lovely shot of the small posy bouquets we did for the six bridesmaids:

Bridesmaids' Posy Bouquets of Fantastical Orchids

It was so completely lovely. More soon….

Photo & Design by Petalena

A favorite timeless color palette of ours is warm ivory, peach, and silver. It’s so classic – yet a bit different than doing straight up ivory/white flowers. Peach and ivory flowers complement the silver of the table and container perfectly and contrast subtly with the navy rimmed porcelain plates of the dinner settings.

Hydrangea & Garden Roses in Ivory & Peach

Not to toot our own horns too much, but isn’t this gorgeous?
Of course not for everyone, some like things a bit more festive and bright – but this is perfect for a  couple looking for a classic and gorgeous style for their wedding.

Peach and Ivory Table Design at the Union Club

I think the Union Club might be our new favorite wedding locale. In addition to being just next door to one of my fave restaurant treats, No. 9 Park, this beautiful private club is small in scale but still grand with boutique rooms for a dinner party-feel. Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous, oh and it’s perfectly downtown!

Hydrangea & Garden Rose Table Design

So, what’s in these lovely arrangements, hmm? Well we have lots of lovely ivory hydrangea paired with a fave garden rose “Juliet” and petite little deeper peach spray roses. Plus we have a few warm “Majolika” roses too for another ivory tone.

And of course the bouquets for the bride and bridesmaid – quite similar actually to the table designs but with some touches of champagne roses and peach and white ranunculas:

Bouquets wrapped for travel

And the bride’s bouquet:

Beauty Bouquet

Such prettiness! I hope these photos hold everyone over to till our next wedding – it is going to be wild forest glen inspired!

Design & Photos by Petalena

Here are a few lovely images from a wedding we just finished at the Lyman Estate – a Historic New England site – in Waltham, Massachusetts. With lots of beautiful period rooms, the mood for the wedding was to be a  festive dinner party complete with lots of jars informally filled with pretty seasonal blooms and tied with ribbons:

Tulips & Dahlias by Evening Sunlight

Pomegrantes with Dill & Astilble

The color palette for the table arrangements was primarily deep plums, burgundies, greens, and soft neutrals.

Hydrangea with tulips and pomegranates

Each table was a bit different from the next, for an informal and slightly eclectic feel.

Festive arrangement of peach dahlias and mint

Tulips in sunlight

Lovely, lovely fall flowers. Cheers to the fabulous bride and groom – it was wonderful to be part of your day!

Design & Photos by Petalena

Just a few photos from a wedding this fall where we used a new iron arch we purchased over the summer. Clients often ask us about recommendations on where to rent an arch or chuppah and aside from a few places, there just aren’t a lot of good options in Boston. So, when we found this one at a high-end garden store, we jumped it on it! Now it’s great because we can offer it to our clients who appreciate having another option.

Detail of flower "cuff" on wedding arch

We used several varieties of roses here for the flower ‘cuffs’ and some insanely beautiful hydrangea that one of our favorite vendors at the flower market hooked us with from Holland.

Wedding Arch with Urns

Here you can see the full arch which we draped in a soft blush fabric. I just adored the urns we did for this wedding too – antique black with lots of different roses in tonal pink and antique colors.

Detail of Ceremony Urn Arrangement

I just think these colors are so sublime. They are colors, but so quiet and subtle, it’s just so beautiful and classical while still being a bit unusual with the taupe roses and incredible hydrangea.

Flower Cuffs for Wedding Arch in transport

And lastly, just a kooky little behind-the-scenes shot of me hanging out in the back of the van before we head off!

Julie with flowers (and other sundries) in the Petalena van

Happy fall! Stay tuned for next week’s wedding – it’s going to be just gorgeous. Lots of seasonal flowers and branches of persimmons and pomegranates in a European market-place style. Ceremony and reception will all be at the Lyman Estate in Waltham, one of the most beautiful venues (at least we think!) in the Boston area. We’ve very excited!

Design & Photos by Petalena

We did a wedding back in July for a wonderful couple – one American, one Canadian. They met in Montreal, had a moment, he left and went back to Boston, she stayed. He couldn’t get this girl off his mind once he was home, so he tracked her down only with the information that she was a middle school science teacher in a suburb outside of Montreal. He found her. They met again, they fell in love, and now they are married!

Celeste's Celestial Bouquet

Our friend Connie Miller of studioatticus took the photos for their wedding and we just fell in love with this image she captured. The bride wore a stylish shorter gown with beautiful lace and fabulous Christian Louboutin heels for an extra bit of style! Connie captures her here, bouquet lowered, so lovely against the beautiful lacy contrast of the gown.

Her bouquet by Petalena featured lush deep pink peonies, magenta  mokara orchids, blush pink cymbidium orchids, and accents of green mint and silver dusty miller foliage.

Photo by studioatticus

Bouquet by Petalena

Following up on our blog post from yesterday on our wedding at The Boston Harbor Hotel, here is the lovely bridal bouquet in blushes, warm ivories, and silver:

Blush Bouquet

We used lovely, lovely roses like pink Vendela roses, fragrant gardenias, soft ivory Majolika roses, plus a few ivory calla lilies, and pink cymbidium orchids for good measure. The bouquet was accented with silver foliage – an elegant look for brides who want to avoid greenery in their wedding design.

Blush Bridal Bouquet

We did a lovely vintage style handle  for a more formal and elegant look. The trick (and the painstaking part) is that many of the flowers need to be wired so the ends of the flowers will fit into the small narrow handle. It’s a great, high end look – perfect for more formal weddings.

Detail View

Is this just timeless?

Photos & Design by Petalena

We just finished up a lovely wedding at the Boston Harbor Hotel this weekend. One of our favorite color palettes of cameo pinks, silvers, and beige-y mauves. Here are photos of the bouquets. Something about this palette is just timeless, like right out of a vintage photograph…

Bridesmaid Bouquet with Hydrangea & Roses

This wedding introduced us to a fabulous rose “Quicksand” – the most subtle warm taupe that looks gorgeous with pale pinks but could also be used in an incredible variety of palettes.

Close Up of "Quicksand" Rose

Is that just magical and vintage?

Photos and Design by Petalena