Summer Wedding Perfection | Kira & Scott
This late summer wedding is one of our absolute favorites from 2022! Picture this: an idyllic private estate with acres of PNW forest, a gorgeous lawn, and a tented reception. We could not have asked for a more perfect place to showcase summer blooms! Of course, Kira and Scott were a delightful, down-to-earth couple to work with. Their wedding vision was super fun, too - summer camp meets glam summer wedding! We really enjoyed working with them, their planning team, and their family to bring their vision to life. Every bespoke detail, floral installation, and wedding vendor was chosen with care to make this one-of-a-kind summer wedding a reality. It was such an honor to work with so many talented people to make Kira and Scott's unique wedding vision come to life!
Summer Wedding Planning
When Kira and Scott reached out to us, they knew they wanted something unique and different for their summer wedding. (All of our clients feel the same way, which is why all of our weddings look so different!) Luckily, they had a stunning family property full of old growth forests, a grand lawn, and multiple getting-ready spaces. Ultimately, they wanted to glam it up while still keeping a fun, easy, and effortless summer camp vibe. We worked with an amazing team of vendors to turn this blank slate into a bespoke celebration! It included all sorts of fantastic touches, like a glamping setup, multiple bars, and a dramatic ceremony backdrop. Plus, some fun moments on the 4x4!
Summer Wedding Ceremony
Naturally, we loved setting the stage for a truly original wedding ceremony! Kira and Scott each had their own aisles, which they walked down simultaneously. For this reason, we wanted to highlight this unique layout with aisle flowers place down each aisle. We loved seeing them walk down the aisle "together" and meeting at the end! And we love the way the aisle florals framed this special moment.
In addition, we loved the large wooden backdrop for their ceremony. Originally, this was meant to be a much longer wall lined with florals. We also constructed a large, asymmetrical floral arch for the ceremony. Sadly, some of our plans had to change due to a wildfire in the area that was creating its own weather. The arch and backdrop were too unstable in such high winds. Instead, we layered several floral arrangements on the ground in front of the smaller wall. We also repurposed our long floral arrangements to go behind the ceremony seating. In the end, despite the 50+ MPH winds, we were able to rearrange almost all of the florals and create a ceremony that still looked incredible! We loved watching these two celebrate with all their family and friends!
Summer Wedding Reception
After the ceremony, Kira and Scott held a gorgeous tented reception on the lawn. Obviously, we tried to pack every space full of amazing summer wedding flowers - from bud vases to larger pieces. As you can see, we chose compotes for the round reception tables. On the longer farm tables, we repurposed the ceremony florals, and added chic bud vases to create a floral tablescape. We also added botanical sprigs to the napkins, as well as candles everywhere. All in all, we loved how much the floral design brightened and enlivened this space!
In addition, we created multiple floral installations for the bars, restroom trailers, and seating chart. These foam-free floral installations were so imaginative and beautiful! We really love how they brought in more of the natural surroundings to each of these spaces. They also helped to break up the hard planes of surfaces like bars and seating charts. Of course, we loved creating them almost as much as people loved viewing them!
Summer Wedding Flowers
From the beginning, Kira and Scott cared about incorporating local and seasonal flowers into their wedding. Kira found inspiration in the natural beauty of the forest on the family's property. She also knew she wanted late summer blooms and boho textures like eucalyptus and amaranth. In addition, she envisioned a combination of blushy wedding flowers with more bold and colorful blooms. When we walked the property together, we were also really excited to incorporate some of the same forest botanicals like dried bracken fern into their late summer wedding palette.
Together, we developed a floral palette that was the perfect balance of muted neutrals, boho textures, and bold pops of color. We used a wide variety of late summer beauties like dried bracken fern, eucalyptus, amaranth, dahlias, roses, rudbeckia, chocolate cosmos, nicotiana, and celosia. Almost all of our materials were sourced from local farmers like Sweet Alyssum Farm and the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market. We never use floral foam, but the whole team also considered other environmental impacts. For example, we chose not to light candles due to the fire risk, and Kira chose compostable confetti for their ceremony. We love working with clients who value environmental sustainability like we do!
Here is what Kira and Scott had to say about working together:
"Carolyn was absolutely amazing to work with. Her floral arrangements are gorgeous, the nuts and bolts of planning, payments, budgeting, and communication were easy and straightforward, and most of all, she's a wonderful human and I'm so glad to have gotten to know her."
Summer Wedding Details
In a fun twist, Kira and Scott chose to not have a wedding party at all. Instead, we created wearable floral pieces for them, as well as their family and friends. We loved crafting Kira's wedding hairpiece and seeing how gorgeous everything looked on her, and their friends and family! Additionally, we loved making funky, textured boutonnieres for all the men. And we really enjoyed adding other details like eucalyptus sprigs in place settings, small and brightly-colored cocktail table florals, and loose blooms on tables.
We loved crafting all of these custom pieces for Kira and Scott, which elevated every space they used. Kira's bouquet was also a stunning piece that elevated the wide variety of botanicals we chose to use. We also crafted floral dog collars for their pups! But alas, the dogs were a little too rambunctious for them to stay on. That said, we love it when dogs join the party - even if they're a little wild! 🙂
Summer Wedding Tips
Summer weddings can get uncomfortably hot in Seattle - especially since we keep having heat waves and wildfires. As we continue to see the impacts of climate change, you may consider a wedding venue that has an indoor, air-conditioned option depending on the weather. However, one of the biggest benefits of summer weddings is that there are so many flowers to choose from! It's so easy to craft floral and event designs that are completely unique to the time and place of your wedding. Lastly, we can't say enough nice things about the team of vendors for this wedding. It's so important to hire pros for your summer wedding, especially if the weather gets wild! We can pivot and work together to keep it all running smoothly. As always, we are so grateful we could work with such a fabulous team of vendors to make Kira and Scott's wedding dreams come to life.
Are you thinking about getting married in the summer? Ready to talk about your wedding? We’d love to chat! You can check your date with us below.
Vendor Team
Thank you to this incredible team of wedding vendors!
Floral Design: Bloom Poet | @bloompoet_
Planner: Jayne Marason | @jaynemarason
Photography: Photo by Seattle Wedding Photographers Jenn Tai & Co. | @jenntai.co
Catering: Duos Catering | @duoscatering
Hair and Makeup: Pacific Brides | @pacific_brides
Signage: Chloe Clarke Paper | @chloeclarkepaper
Lighting: Bellevue Lighting | @bellevuelighting
Rentals: CORT Party Rental | @cortpartyrental; Pedersens Event Rentals | @pedersenseventrentals; Fanciful Rentals | @fanciful_rentals; Balancing Baloons | @balancingbaloons
DJ: Wunderland Events | @wunderlandevents
Photo Booth: Little Photo Bus of Portland | @littlephotobusofportland
Restrooms: Privy Chambers | @privychambers
Glamping: Glamp Box | @glampboxco
Games: Off the Block Games | @offtheblockgames
Valet: Butler Seattle | @butlerseattle