Organic, Lively Wedding at Hawthorn Estates
I love weddings I’m hired for full scale event design, I love working at Hawthorn Estates, and I really love working with couples from out of town. Truly, Liz and Dan’s wedding was pretty perfect for me and I looked forward to it for a long time.
When I’m working on an event design plan, I often find myself focusing on colour and texture, the floor plan, and rentals options. I want to create an event that has the perfect atmosphere for you (for this, fun and lively atmosphere!), and is a combination of elevated and realistic.
I’m excited to share Liz and Dan’s organic, lively wedding at Hawthorn Estates!
Photos by Izabela Rachwal
Don’t these bouquets perfectly set off the bridesmaid dresses? My favourite wedding parties are always those that are dressed in the palette, rather than all matching exactly.
Colour is always where I start when I design a wedding. Putting together the perfect palette makes me so excited and gets my head in gear for the rest of the design elements. Liz really wanted soft, romantic tones, and I wanted to add in some mauve and brown tones for depth. As you can see from my palette above, we ended up with soft sage greens, blushes and peaches, light pink, mauve, and moving into taupes and browns.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: So much locally grown! Lisianthus, foxglove, zinnias, cosmos, dianthus, with ranunculus, roses and garden spray roses, and olive foliage.
The church (like most churches!) has a lot going on. The stage and altar are quite wide, giving us lots of space to work with.
I knew we’d be fighting against the red tones, but that’s just the nature of the church! The back wall is really quite beautiful, and the angled architecture brings the natural focus to the front, so I simply aimed to bring in brightness and colour through the florals.
Ground-based floral pieces lined the front of the altar, incorporating the full colour palette and similar flowers to the bouquets, while adding in more height and fullness.
Guests were welcomed into cocktail hour in the solarium at Hawthorn, greeted with a polaroid guest book along with custom cocktails (featuring locally grown floral garnish!) and oyster bar.
Inside at the reception, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do with the design. Hawthorn is a warm space, but too often styled in exactly the same way. I wanted to use more saturation, punches of feminine colour, a great floor plan, and a few focal moments to make the wedding design more interesting, leading to a more engaging atmosphere. Situating the dance floor in front of the head table made for a perfect space for the party to get going!
First up on my to-do list, was minimize the “rustic” vibe that people often play to at Hawthorn, and create a welcoming, elegant Italian-inspired atmosphere instead. I focused my attention to the floor plan, allowing the fireplace and the stone to have its moment.
The fireplace is the natural focal point in the room — when you walk into Hawthorn, the first thing anyone sees is this very large, very gorgeous fireplace. Why on earth it’s ever relegated to the side of the floor plan is beyond me, but most people choose to not use it as a design focal point.
So, I knew I wanted to place our head table in front of it, and created a large floral piece on the mantle.
Guest tables alternated between two long feasting tables perpendicular to the head table, and round tables around the exterior of the room.
The tablescape base focused on natural, organic textures of linen and velvet. I added in fluttery florals and warm candlelight, with stone table numbers and handmade paper place cards.
I loved the combination of taupe and mauve linens, combined with the mahogany chairs. The depth that the mauve brings brought the elegant elevation that Liz was after, and created a really luscious base for the fluttery pink florals. I added in sandstone candles in fluted glass hurricanes, ribbed stem vases and soft pink ceramic compotes, and vintage floral inspired table lamps.
A few little touches that I loved adding — this funky little floral base around the heart shaped cake, and the calligraphy seating chart on linen hung with pink silk ribbon.
Handing your bridal bouquet to you is one of my favourite parts of the day — Liz was SO excited, so joyful, and so ready for their wedding. And she sure loved the bouquet, which was everything I could have wanted!
Liz and Dan live in the US, so we planned everything long distance. Thank goodness for Google Meet! But it really went so smoothly — once the design plan is put together and approved, I take the reigns on getting all the quotes and proposals we need from other vendors, and then tie up all the design details so that on the wedding day, the couple has nothing to worry about!
If you’re interested in more about my event design services and if it’s the right option for your wedding, check out my services here.
Izabela Rachwal Photography ~ Stone House Creative ~ Hawthorn Estates ~ Studio Lavender Design ~ Kind REgards Calligraphy ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Jenna Rae Cakes ~ Union Table ~ Wave Sound & Lighting
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
No matter where you’re hosting your wedding, we’re up for it! We love working on private properties, restaurants, and traditional venues, creating magic in your special place. Reach out to inquire about your date availability!
Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to find out how we can create the perfect ambiance for your wedding.