Jessica's Bouquet Recipe

Hi friends!

In case you missed it, Betsy shared Jessica and Zack's pretty Knoxville, Tennessee wedding yesterday on the blog after it was featured over on Southern Weddings. If you read that post, you already know that Jessica was a very special client (one of my interns very early on in the life of this business!) and that I wasn't able to be at the wedding. I promised myself, our team, and Jessica, that come hell or high water, I would make the bouquets... even if I was recovering from a c-section just a few weeks earlier!!! Jessica and I had so much fun developing a specific color palette for her wedding in the previous months and it was a fun little challenge to pull it through in her flowers.

With such a diverse palette, it can be easy to really overdo it. We knew that peonies were an absolute must, and the rest of the flowers needed to be delicate and cheerful.

Perry Vaile Photography

For those of you interested in creating a similar look, I thought I'd share the recipe and the thought process behind each choice of bloom and leaf! Here's what I used and why:

The Flowers

PEONIES

I used two varieties of pink. Peonies are large, full blooms and Jessica's favorite, so I wanted these to really take center stage. She loves soft blush pinks and brighter, bolder pink hues as well, so these two worked nicely together.

JULIET GARDEN ROSES

David Austin garden roses are never a wrong choice. In this instance, I chose the Juliet variety because it really is just the perfect peach.

WHITE STOCK

I love using stock for it's texture in bouquets. Jessica wanted a loose, organic style for her bouquet so it was important to avoid using only round blooms. If I had only used roses and peonies, the bouquet might easily have taken the shape of a round ball (yuck!)

PINK SWEET PEA

These delicate little flowers were tucked near the base of the bouquet just as an extra special little pop of bright pink color to break up the cluster of greeneries that is always strongest at the bottom of a bouquet. I loved that subtle, soft, and unexpected little detail!

DARK CENTERED ANEMONES

Jessica specifically requested these and I loved the idea. Anemones are playful and eye-catching, but they also gave us just the right little pop of navy blue. Little known fact... many people think the center of these flowers is black, but it really is navy!

The Foliage

DUSTY MILLER

This greenery is a go-to whenever I need to work with grey tones. The soft blue-gray leaves worked beautifully to bridge the grey and french blue in the wedding palette.

SNOW ON THE MOUNTAIN

These sweet little green leaves are such a beautiful minty color. The delicate leaves are outlined with white and they're just a great choice for adding something unexpected!

SILVER DOLLAR EUCALYPTUS

You may notice I use this a lot! This is Jessica's favorite greenery and I share her affinity for these bouncy round leaves. This greenery has such an incredible movement to it... what's not to love?!

One last picture for good measure... because this sweet little bevy of flower girls is too cute not to share!