Happily Ever After at Wayfarers Chapel

Rain, rain, go away...la la la...

I guess I've learned to appreciate rain more and more as I get older. It used to be a hindrance to just about everything--play, commuting, life. Now, it not only waters my extremely thirsty garden and washes away the dust on my bath-challenged vehicle, but it also makes me feel rejuvenated and cleansed (a "frenemy" of sorts). Why oh why does it always have to happen when I have to go buy flowers though? **sigh**

Instead of thinking about the hectic commute tomorrow, I'll reminisce about a recent morning outing up to Wayfarers Chapel atop the stunning hills of Palos Verdes where I was enveloped by rays of sunshine, a slight breeze and (dunt da da dah) silence (that just sounded like it could be the lyrics to a hit 70's song!). I had an early afternoon wedding to do and showed up a couple of hours early and took photos of the venue and the flowers I had designed.

If you are not familiar with the infamous Wayfarers, it is a beautiful chapel surrounded by glass walls and ceiling that features tremendous views of the ocean and affords you the feeling of being immersed in a natural environment even though the city is just a hop, skip and a jump away.


The bride made two requests from me: 1. Her bouquet needed to have the herb sage incorporated into the design and 2. The groom needed to have a hand in finishing off her bouquet. The first request was a cinch. The second request required more ingenuity and a bit of secrecy. The groom was excited with my suggestion that he surprise her by attaching a hand written note onto her bouquet handle. When the groom showed up to write his note that afternoon, he was smiling from ear-to-ear; a definite sign of their wonderful future together.


His boutonniere carried the same garden-inspired feel with the use of ranuncula buds and accents of sage.


I fell in love with the elegance of the Maid of Honor bouquet made of just ivory roses and ranunculus.


The flowers definitely embodied the beautiful simplicity of the venue and the refreshing feel of its surroundings which, on that particular day, was miles away from the weather I will be facing tomorrow...ugh. I know, I know...I can't complain. I live in LA.

Judgement Day

As promised, here is the round hand tied bouquet in order to compare and contrast the look of the cascade versus the nosegay. I used a similar mix of flowers, but felt that the nosegay bouquet needed the pink pom poms to offset the darker coloration, mostly for photo purposes (This is kind of the Art Director side of me kicking in). In real life, the bouquet would look fine with shades of burgundy and purple, but in photos, the details get a little lost with large clusters of darkness. You might ask, why wasn't this the case in the cascade? The use of a bouquet holder allowed the flowers to be placed with some separation, so even in photos, each bloom can be appreciated. This separation is relative since you can see that the flowers still look beautiful in the hand tied bouquet.

Due to the spacial relationship of the flowers, even though the cascade was larger in size, more flowers were used in the construction of the nosegay. On the flip side, more time was logged in the designing and flower prep of the cascade.

One last thing to consider with the nosegay is the finishing of the handle. The handle is often overlooked because it is usually covered at least partially by the hand that is holding it. However, similar to wearing a killer pair of shoes under your long wedding gown, it finishes the look and it's those moments when someone catches a glimpse of it that makes it worth finishing off the look. For this garden inspired bouquet, I chose to do a twine wrap.


There's a million other options depending on the look and style of your bouquet. Use rhinestones, leaves, contrasting ribbon, vintage handkerchief...whatever best suits you on your wedding day. So, what's the verdict? Cascade or nosegay?