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
Petalena: Creative Designs for Weddings and Special Events 