Busy Brides Survival Guide - Creative Solutions For Your I Do’s and Your Happily Ever Afterwards…

Engaging Floral Designs wins the 2013 Best of Weddings Pick on TheKnot.com!  It's the 2nd year in a row we've won this award and are very thankful to our past clients for all the wonderful feedback you've shared with others about our services and designs to help us earn this recognition.       Happy Holidays!  - Sarah Lusardi, Owner

Wood planter boxes, birch containers and mason jars are all the rage in the latest wedding centerpiece design.  They and are perfect to tie in architectural elements of a building (such as for barn weddings, weddings at the Roundhouse at Beacon Falls ;) ... outdoor weddings, or other "rustic or vintage themed" weddings. This is a design below created by yours truly at Engaging Floral Designs! Don't forget to stop and smell the ranunculus, dahlias, spray roses, tulips, and oh yeah, roses....

It was truly a pleasure to be back at the Roundhouse on September 29th working as the floral designer and day of coordinator for a wonderful couple from NYC.  It was an iffy day with the weather but the rain held out and the ceremony took place outside on the patio area at the venue (the original ceremony plan was on the lawn but it was too damp with all the rain we had previously in Beacon).  These stands were purchased for weddings at Roundhouse and can be used indoors or outdoors.  These aisle markers were used again after the ceremony on the cocktail tables.  Reuse and recycle!   Their dj didn't provide prelude music so we used my assistant's smartphone to play some prelude music stored on there as guests were seated. Their officiant was a friend and offered a very personal ceremony having everyone laughing and smiling.       The cocktail hour took place upstairs in the Gallery area and outside until the rain decided to eventually fall - at least it

Our first event at Roundhouse happened on September 22, 2012.  This bride wanted a very simple, classic white/cream blush look for her centerpieces designed in hobnob mason jars. These tables were not completely set yet but with the glassware, place settings, menu cards, and candles, this was a nice soft look for the space. Can't wait to see the photographer's professional photos when we get them!   For the bouquets, the bride requested a bouquet with anemones, lilies, roses, and...wait for it...baby's breath....(screech, hault!).  What? Yes, it seems that baby's breath is starting to be requested due to the ever so popular vintage romantic trend.  Next year we have a wedding where baby's breath is the only flower in tall glass vases with hanging votives and crystals... who knew!     We can't wait to feature the photographer's images of our flowers to show you the complete overall look...stay tuned!

We had the pleasure of working with a bride that found us by witnessing our work first hand at her friend's wedding that we coordinated and designed at The Highlands Country Club.  Katie was the maid of honor at that wedding - What a wonderful way to really see our day of coordination services in action and to view the quality and value of the flowers by seeing them up close and personal!  Well, finally, Katie and Ryan's wedding day arrived and it was her turn to be the bride dressed in white (well ivory anyway).   Her ceremony was at the Sacred Heart Church and reception was at the Pearl River Hilton in Rockland County. Bouquets: The maid of honor bouquet with picasso calla lilies, cream roses, stock, scabiosa, and greenery. The bride's bouquet perfect in size for the bride Here's an up close and personal look at the bride's bouquet - very soft creams and palest of pink with scabiosa pods, calla lilies, ranunculus, lisianthus, roses, and cabbage rose

This is our latest design - a standard mason jar with a loose garden style arrangement of blush cream roses, lilies, stock, ranunculus, bupleurum and varigated greens. This similar design will be featured at a wedding we're doing at the Roundhouse at Beacon Falls in September - stay tuned for photos of that wedding!

For the classic bride wanting a romantic, soft feel for her floral concept- Try this: A tall clear glass vase with lush hydrangea, delicate roses, fluffy stock, hanging orchids and draping crystals.  Nothing says romance like lots of candles on the table (high and low). 

The bridesmaids wore beautiful raspberry colored dresses and held very pale pink peony bouquets.  The bride's bouquet was the color of the bridesmaid dresses (not shown). The ceremony was held at the Cadet Chapel and the reception was at Thayer Hotel.  The color scheme throughout was whites, greens and pinks/raspberry tones. Ceremony arrangements at The Cadet Chapel at West Point Half  of the tables had low centerpieces with peonies, roses, hydrangea, godetia, and stock in them. The other half of the tables displayed a trio of submerged floating orchids in pink tones atop a beveled mirror This is the outside of the Cadet Chapel In the cocktail room, the escort cards surrounded our rental manzanita tree with hanging votives and a couple of fluffy peonies. At the sweetheart table, some additional flowers used throughout the room were used here. The cake flowers awaiting to crown the top of the cake once it arrived onsite

The ceremony space at The Garrison has SPECTACULAR views! Our company, Engaging Floral Designs, provided all the flower arrangements.  We decorated the bittersweet arbor in greenery with a center arrangement of lilies, mums, snapdragons, stock, and other greens and accented the structure with curly willow in bloom.   The aisle markers were very sweet - we designed little bud vases with purple and white toned flowers such as mums, lisianthus, stock, and roses with an anemone accent. After the ceremony, the bud vases were used on the cocktail tables! The bouquets did double duty as personal flowers and then afterward as adornments for the guest book table once the bridal party no longer needed their bouquets!  The bride's bouquet had roses, calla lilies, stock and peonies in it.  The bridesmaid bouquets had lisianthus, roses and stock. The walk down the aisle is just amazing... our client opted to have the aisle lined with lavender rose petals to complete the look:

In the ballroom, while the ceremony was about to start, the pin spots were turned on to illuminate the tall centerpieces.  The curly willow was forced to bloom some greenery to accent the structure.  Gladiolus in full bloom provided added height and volume. On alternating tables, to save money, the client opted for low arrangements in bubble bowls in the color scheme. Just prior to guests arriving, the ceremony arrangements were placed outside - lucky for the bride and groom today was a beautiful day and the rain never made a presence!

Here's a simple look for those that are not big flower fans but want to still have pieces that make a statement in a room with very high ceilings.  Trumpet vases with white dendrobium orchids, oncidium yellow orchids and tall curly willow branches.

If any bride is interested in attending, there may be a space or two left at this Friday's "Planning Pretty Event" at 7:30pm.  It is being held at the wedding makeup studio of Meredith Hayman.  It's going to be a fun night out with some A-list wedding professionals and the chance to get some great insider tips on having a knockout wedding.   This catered event will include raffles by Etsy vendors, hints on hair and makeup, and a DJ spinning tunes, as well as snacks, pastries and champagne. We'll be featuring one of our floral designs and Sarah Lusardi will be presenting insider planning tips on preventing wedding day snafoos that could arise. This is a wonderful chance to interact with wedding professionals face-to-face to see if their styles match yours. To view the official blog post for this event, visit http://meredithhayman.blogspot.com/     Hope to see you there.  Check back soon for pictures and post event information!

We are proud to announce that Engaging Floral Designs has been rated by local brides and voted The Knot Best of Weddings 2012 Pick. Thank you to our current and past brides for recognizing us for our exceptional designs and service.  It is an honor to be providing unique floral designs to make our clients' weddings one of a kind.  If you are a bride to be in search of a designer to create beautiful pieces for your wedding day, please give us a call to set up a complimentary consultation to get to know your personal designer!  We're located in Beacon, NY and serve the Mid-Hudson Valley region, Westchester and beyond! Engaging Floral Designs

If you missed us at the Villa Barone Hilltop Manor Bosco Bridal Show yesterday, here's what our booth space looked like.  We featured a number of different floral styles, color combinations, and sizes. It was so nice to meet all the beautiful brides to be! Have fun with the wedding plans and keep us in mind for your wedding flower decor and day of coordination needs.

It's bridal show season! Our first stop is the Bosco Bridal Show at Villa Barone Hilltop Manor, 466 Rt 6, Mahopac, NY on Wednesday 1/11/2012 from 6:30pm - 9:30pm. Come see beautiful new designs being offered for 2012 by Engaging Floral Designs and learn about new planning packages offered through NY Engagements, LLC! Photo is our booth at last January's Bosco Bridal Show. Get your tickets at the door!