When Kelly Doonan Events and Mibellarosa Designs set out to create an editorial inspired by Chinoiserie, they took a traditional interpretation and crafted a modern fine art take on this aesthetic. From the Bride’s dress and the stationery to the ceremony backdrop and the draped reception scene, crawling florals are woven into every inch of this inspirational bliss. There’s an abundance of detail to savor, thanks to Josh & Dana Fernandez.
From Kelly, owner ofKelly Doonan Events… Together, working and co-designing with Phuong of Mibellarosa, our inspiration was to take the Chinoiserie style and apply a fresh palette of colors that aren’t normally utilized together in traditional fine art weddings. We chose to focus primarily on shades of teal and aqua, with assists from peaches, pinks and mauves. While remaining true to the Chinoiserie tradition, the final outcome of the shoot illustrates that a muted color palette isn’t always required in order to achieve the look of fine art refinement.
For the ceremony, Phuong of Mibellarosa sought to mimic Chinoiserie style wallpaper by painting three panels with flowers, including fluffy cherry blossom branches, phalaenopsis orchids, roses, hydrangeas, wisteria, carnations and baby’s breath. She wanted to portray the feeling of the trees and flowers commonly seen on the wallpapers coming to life and blooming straight out of the walls. Sleek, creamy velvet chairs with gold legs were brought in by Johanna Terry Events to provide a pop of color, complementing the park’s green lawn and to draw the attention of the viewer down the aisle to the floral panels. The colorful panels also created the perfect backdrop for the cake.
Becca of Becca Cakes Dessert Design created a wedding cake design combining a variety of textures and colors to bring the Chinoiserie inspiration into a three-dimensional form. The base is champagne gold with bas relief birds and floral textures. The ruffles on the bottom tier are layers in shades of teal, turquoise and mint to bring a pop of color inspired by the beautiful chinaware on the tablescape, as well as to add dimension and texture. The cake is dressed with an arrangement of handmade sugar flowers in shades of white and blush. To compliment the wedding cake Becca also created a small groom’s cake, which is further inspired by the tablescape. It is a mint blue with the same bas relief birds and floral textures used in the wedding cake. The birds are accented with champagne gold and the cake is wrapped in a sugar flower vine of greenery and peachy-pink climbing roses.
Johanna Terry Event’s team constructed a structure draped in lavender grey chiffon to create a romantic setting for the long head table dressed with rose velvet linens from La Tavola. Mibellarosa created floral compotes with cherry blossoms, roses, Japanese pieris, chocolate lisianthus, pink snowberry, snapdragons, nerine lilies, carnations and bleached fountain grass. An installation of cherry blossom branches, peach phalaenopsis orchids, curly willow and smilax hung over the table adding a bit of whimsy. Phuong’s team also draped the posts with greenery and peach roses to mimic climbing roses. A hand-painted urn sat at the bottom of the vignette to complete the look. The table was topped off with various designs of fine china and flatware from Berings. The china was chosen with special care to incorporate the various colors of the bright palette yet with various patterns so that it would not be one-note.
The bride’s Monique Lhuillier gown on loan from Casa de Novia with its beautiful ivory velvet ribbon and lace detailing that mimicked the shape of flower blossoms was a wonderfully dramatic addition to the overall look of the shoot. Hey Lovely Makeup complemented the elegance of the gown with a sweeping updo as well as to show off the deep neck line and intricate lace pattern.
Phuong from Mibellarosa, created a posy of fluffy pale peach and blush ranunculus, anemones, sweet peas, nerine lilies, and carnations to keep the look modern, sleek and elegant to complement the gown. Pale peach chiffon ribbons by Frou Frou Chic accompanied the bouquet and then finished off with an exquisite gold bird brooch.
With Chinoiserie style as the muse, Dionne from Nib and Pixel knew that flowers, birds and trees were an absolute must when designing the invitations for this shoot. The colorful, pastel twist on historical Chinoiserie design was a fun, but chic take on the usual royal-blue-and-white interpretations we had seen trending in wedding design in the last few years. The suite was not only inspired by Chinoiserie motifs in art, but also took a cue from Chinoiserie furniture design, with the inclusion of brass semi-circle hardware, similar to what you’d see on Chinoiserie chests and tables (these can be seen in the invitation clips, and also on the envelope flap). To add in some texture, the place cards included Japanese stab-binding on the top of each card.
[iframe http://www.youtube.com/embed/s9wyw2GSwE4 600 338]
Photography : Josh & Dana Fernandez | Floral Design: Mibellarosa Designs | Cakes: Becca Cakes | Makeup and Hair: Hey Lovely Makeup | Bouquet Ribbon: Frou Frou Chic | Branding Film: Josh & Dana Fernandez | Bridal Boutique: Casa de Novia Bridal Couture | Bridal Shoes: Bella Belle | Ceremony & Reception: Mcgovern Centennial Gardens | Diamond Engagement Ring: Trumpet & Horn | Earring Ring Box: Bark and Berry | Engagement Ring Box: The Mrs Box | Gown Designer: Monique Lhuillier | Linen Designer: BBJ La Tavola | Linens, Chairs, Tables, and Pipe and Drape Build: Johanna Terry Events | Model: Rachel Lapierre | Paper Goods & Calligraphy: Nib And Pixel | Planning : Kelly Doonan Events | Tablescape Items: Bering's | Wedding Ring Box: Voeu Du Coeur