I cannot even IMAGINE the stress/joy/omg/YES! of planning your own wedding when you just happen to be a celebrated wedding florist. The fact that you get to choose all of your dream flowers and build a wedding for yourself with no boundaries or limitations seems both thrilling and terrifying all wrapped up into one beautiful package. But for Rachel, the owner and designer at Floral and Bloom, it looks like she took it all in stride and designed a day that felt…well, perfect. Photographed by the lovely Vicki Grafton, this is what flower dreams are made of. Full gallery (worth it) right here.
From Colin and Rachel (Floral and Bloom Design)… We have so many favorite details from the day of that it is so hard to choose! We chose our venue (The Retreat at Cool Spring) because we knew we wanted a place for our friends to stay for the weekend and to create a very laid back and relaxing environment for all of our guests. The restored historic manor house overlooks the Shenandoah River and was the perfect place for us to say I do surrounded by everyone we love.
My inspiration for flowers were very soft, lush, and romantic garden style florals while still keeping things pretty classic. Leading up to the wedding A LOT of people asked what I was going to do floral wise for my own wedding. The answer truly was that I just picked all of my favorite flowers and greenery and included them in my designs. The house and overall setting was so lovely that I just really wanted the florals + decor to complement it and not overpower it. Some of my favorite flowers from the day of were the dahlias from my favorite local grower in Leesburg, Virginia and the garden roses from another favorite source of mine in California.
Feeling all the love and support from our friends, family, and vendors was the perfect way for Colin and I start our lives together. I am also extremely grateful for every single one of our vendors. It was definitely a little different finally being the Bride but all of our vendors are our friends and made our wedding beyond anything I could have imagined.
Some of our other favorite moments of the day were obviously the flowers, our amazing cake by Buttercream Bakeshop, seeing our nieces and nephew having so much fun throughout the day, Kayleigh’s flower wagon, our escort card display which included a display of all my favorite garden roses from a California garden rose grower I source a lot of my roses from (Grace Rose Farm) and just having all of our favorite people in one place!
From the Vicki Grafton Photography… Rachel, the owner and designer at Floral and Bloom, has a career that revolves around beautiful florals, so for her own wedding she dreamt up lots of lush florals throughout the day. Some of my favorite elements were the lavish floral cake table, the floral chuppah and the trailing florals on the venue staircase. She also had 3 different table designs with floral centerpieces to coordinate with each.
Photography: Vicki Grafton Photography | Event Planning: Cheers Darling Events | Floral Design: Floral & Bloom Designs | Wedding Dress: Allure Bridal | Cake: Buttercream Bakeshop | Shoes: Elie Tahari | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Vera Wang | Catering: Spilled Milk Catering | Makeup: Susan Lim | Hair: Georgetown Bride | DJ: Premier DJ Services | Grooms Attire: Enzo Custom | Wedding Venue: Retreat at Cool Springs | Furniture Rentals: White Glove Rentals | Katubah: Jennifer Raichman Ketubah | Linens: BBJ La Tavola | Paper & Calligraphy: Stephanie B Design | Photo Booth: Dc Photo Booth | Rentals: DC Rental | Strings : Perfect Harmony Strings | Tent & Lighting: Party Plus Tents & Events Maryland