I’m crazy in love with how these pale colors combine to make the softest, most sophisticated summer reception look. Lately pale colors have been a bit off trend. The vivid, vibrant palettes have been popular for the last few seasons, but I’m seeing glimpses of these softer colors returning to wedding popularity. How about Reese’s petal pink wedding look? For now the pale look is all about monochromes, but I’d bet a box of cupcakes that combinations of pales will more popular within a season or two. But, just to be stylish, let’s not call them “pastels.” We’ll be right on point if we instead rebrand these pretty colors “sheers.”

This gorgeous party design is the work of the oh-so-talented Kim Foren of Geranium Lake Flowers. Kim is among the most inspired, creative and just plain fun women in the world. Her wedding flowers and events are divine.

While the b-maids’ flowers were varied in color, the table flowers were each of different hue. Cute jam jars held salmon or yellow, peachy or coral. The effect was pretty, restrained and elegant.

According to the recent Wedding Report, the average cost of a wedding in 2010 was just about $24,000. From some couples, that amount might represent a down payment on a house, or 4 European vacations. While a gorgeous wedding is a wonderful thing, it’s never a good idea to start a new marriage with a wedding that’s more than your budget. If you’re a frugal bride-to-be, maybe diy flowers like these would be right for you?

If you’re interested in seeing more of Marisa and John’s handcrafted wedding at Pendarvis Farm, jump over here.

I’ve shared before how much our clients have loved their Timberline Lodge weddings. Besides the setting, which is eye-poppingly and soul-stirringly beautiful, it’s straightforward and simple to plan a wedding at Timberline Lodge. Their event people are nice, helpful and full of creative options. And since so much is included, you won’t find your head spinning from having to sort through a million different options. Is Timberline Lodge the perfect wedding spot for you?

This would be a wonderful look for an intimate winter reception. I can easily imagine the Renaissance Room at the Governor Hotel transformed with a look similar to this. Or tweak the colors a bit to something like salmon, peach and deep red and picture it against the creamy white of the Heritage Ballroom.

I think the key elements to getting this look is to pile on the rich metallics as a base, and then contrast that with a delicate feature, like the peonies. Old-fashioned cabbage roses would work if peonies weren’t available. Or in early spring consider something like parrot tulips and ranuculus to get a similar delicate and fragile feeling.

This was our first chance to shoot a big event at the relatively new Leftbank Annex. With a woodland theme in mind, Kim transformed the open space for a Elliot’s Bar Mitzvah celebration. Kim deftly split the space: scrumptious blue and chocolate decor on the adult side. On the other, a groovy space for youngsters complete with faux blackjack tables.

In the gallery below, you’ll find all the lovely details from this gorgeous event. I hear that Kim will appear on “The Today Show” sometime in July. Do you think she’ll remember us when she’s famous? Well done Kim!

12►

All the beautiful details for this wonderful day were carefully planned by Ashley with a little help from Molli Barss at Soiree. The most memorable detail for me was Ashley’s gorgeous bridal bouquet made of vintage brooches. Besides being beyond fabulous, they suited a bride who is allergic to flowers. In fact, the florist, Lillypilly, created all kinds of lush, textured beautiful flower decor with nary blossom in sight. And in a twist on tradition, Ashley and Nick choose small individual cakes for every guest. What a sweet little treat.

Congratulations to you both, Nick and Ashley. Thank you for having us along on your sweet and lovely wedding day. Visit this link to see a selection of our wedding favorites.

UPDATE JUNE 1, 2010.  Ashley and Nick’s wedding gallery is now available. Visit this link to see the photos from their lovely wedding day.

Lavish created the floral designs for Roger and Lynn’s lovely wedding last summer.

If you’re looking for a florist with a unique eye, loads of creativity and tons of personal attention, check out lavishflora.com.

Adrian’s bridal bouquet included white, pink and and acid green orchids in a classic round shape with a colllar of sturdy dark green foliage. The groom’s bout’ was a single shapely orchid backed by glossy straps of foliage and beargrass. Check out the sweet floral headdresses on those oh-so-cute flowergirls. I’ll bet you can imagine how hard it was to keep those little dudes inside their mini madras sportcoats.

The table flowers were especially handsome. While I didn’t picture the huge (5 or 6 feet) vases towering with curly willow branches and long stems of white orchids, I thought the smaller, companion table flowers were worth noting. Simple, sculptural and dramatic, each square vase contained a spray of hot pink orchids with a ruff of tangerine dahlias all anchored with beach pebbles.

Because orchids are widely cultivated as cut flowers, and because the companion greens are always available, this would be a great look for any time of year in Oregon. However, in this instance, the orange dahlias suggest later summer, so this particular combination would be more of an August or September option. But let’s say you’re getting married in June or July. You could substitute salmon colored roses for the dahlias for a similar look.

You can always call us for ideas and inspiration for your Northwest wedding. Over the years we’ve worked with all the best florists, caterers, bakers and stylists in the area. Drop us a line anytime and we’re happy to share our opinions with you.

I think the key to why these flowers are so lovely is that they don’t try too hard to be anything but simple. There’s nothing exotic or overly-constructed. Every flower pictured here is readily available in the Portland area in the summer, and based on the look, it wouldn’t matter if you had a particular bloom. For example, if you had more dahlias and fewer gerberas, it wouldn’t change to the whole look. The key, in my opinion, is keeping the color scheme tight–stick to a relatively narrow range of colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel.

I can see this working with a range of rosy colors, say soft pink through magenta and purple. Or white through cream all the way to pale yellow. Choosing your scheme this way insures that no matter what blossoms come your way at wedding time, you can surely find a pretty assortment without having to pay extra for a particular shade or shape.

One more plus: it’s easy to pick an accent color when your color scheme is analogous–for example here, Amanda used burgundy and yellow ribbons to tie her personal flowers, but nearly any soft color could have worked. Think about how well a soft, grayish blue would look with cream and white, or also be a great companion to a pinky purple scheme.

Brave? Try it.