Who doesn’t wax romantic at the thought of a vintage French garden soiree? It’s a gorgeous theme for a wedding, and I had such fun creating a part of such a beautiful night.
When you walk into a garden, you are surrounded by greenery, and that is precisely what I tried to recreate. Go big with greens and vines when trying to get a garden look at any sort of event. Not everywhere—you don’t want to overwhelm—but do include a couple of accent points focused just on greens. Your guests should feel like they are walking into a garden.
I created this feeling with a big feature piece at the entrance. Some choice vines crawled up the curtains like they’d been growing there for years. First impressions are essential at any event, and I was so happy with the end result of this piece. Definitely my favorite element of the night.
To get that vintage French garden feel at your event, use lots of pastels. We focused on whites, light purples, and used pops of orange tulips for interest. Picking just the right garden roses added a level of sophistication. The bronze underside of magnolia leaves kept the arrangements themselves feeling sepia and very vintage.
I didn’t want things too modern and crazy, so I kept pieces vintage shaped, but added some fun flowers to give the loose and free feeling of a garden in both the elevated and low tables setting arrangements. Cherry blossoms and pussy willows broke free from the top, and low amaranthus draped down.
Vintage Ambiance provided the most beautiful rose goblets for the tables and the gorgeous, vintage glass compotes that I used for all the low centerpieces.
I loved using my geometric bronze bud vases—again adding a touch of sepia tone to the evening—to display a few choice sprays to accent the cocktail tables.
This bouquet was one of my favorites to design. I picked a sepia toned orange with a fresh peach rose, mixed with antique carnations. Lots of texture and lots of garden pastel green. Such an event should have nothing too dark and nothing too modern.
I was very pleased with how the flowers turned out. They added beautifully to the ambiance created by the live band, vintage tableware, and French garden lighting. Everything tied together to make one unforgettable belle nuit.
