3250 Peace Valley Lane, Falls Church, VA 22044 703.734.1137 by appointment only
My mom and I went into this wedding planning thing not really knowing all that was involved. We didn’t have a wedding planner—although by midway through we were skittering around trying to find one. We didn’t, but that was okay, because as far as flowers were concerned, Yellow Door was an immense help—and incredibly patient in working through all scenarios with us. And then reworking them. And then reworking them again.
I wanted my wedding flowers to be GORGEOUS! Well, really—who doesn’t? And truly, I don’t think anyone could have done more beautiful wedding flowers than Yellow Door. After having met with several floral designers mom and I were starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Then we came to Yellow Door. Immediately both mom and I felt like we’d finally found someone who “got it”—”got” what we wanted but couldn’t articulate.
Since my husband and I didn’t have any attendants, the “wedding colors” question didn’t really come up until it was time to think flowers. As a graphic designer I designed our invitations, and Rob and I letterpress printed them. So when it came time to figure out flowers, I asked Yellow Door to use similar colors to that of the invitation. My tastes as far as graphic design goes, always lean towardcomplimentary colors. Especially purple and green. As a more (shall we say) mature bride I didn’t want a bright purple look. That seemed a little youthful to me. I wanted soft tones, not much white, but pinks, plums, pale purples, and dusky greens. I wanted an elegant look, and I hoped for it to include roses, and hydrangeas, but beyond that—I didn’t really know the flower names. When they mentioned orchids—I got really excited. I knew orchids! I love orchids! And from there, it went.
I’d wanted my bouquet to have a few cascading elements, but not a big cascading bouquet like they had in the 70s. I love tight little bouquets, like tussy mussys, but knew that probably wouldn’t work for me. If I were petite—than maybe, but I felt like I needed a big airy bouquet. What I ended up with was the most stunning bouquet I’ve ever seen with varied flowers, all the ones we’d talked about and more, texture, and wonderful colors, and scent.
The Ceremony Flowers
Several of the chuppas we’d seen at different florists were too stiff, and severe looking. I wanted my chuppa to not be so structured. Maybe even a little bit wild, but to still seem visually comfortable in a hotel ballroom atmosphere. The ballroom wewere married in was unusual though, as it has lots French windows, and was bright and airy. I wanted the chuppa to follow suit, including the top. I asked Yellow Door if they could make a canopy that was sort of organza-ish—like the top layer of fabric on my dress. I wanted the canopy to be see through, and light. I’m so glad it was too. During the ceremony the sun shone into the ballroom, through the organza and onto us as our rabbi and pastor married us. The chuppa was a show stopper! During the ceremony I kept having to remind myself to look at the groom because I couldn’t stop looking at the flowers and branches on the chuppa! (Even during the middle of the wedding ceremony I kept thinking about how glad I was that we’d picked Yellow Door.)
I loved the idea of having other flowers at the ceremony too, but was about to give up on that because I wanted to try to keep costs down. Our designer suggested using our centerpieces to do double-duty. They put them on columns all the way up the aisle, and did a bit of swag and drape between each one. The Yellow Door team even took care of the tiniest details. For instance, they closed off the end of the white aisle runner with an orchid decorated bow. I love details!
The Escort Table
This floral display was a matter of much discussion. We couldn’t figure out why it was going to be so costly. Once we saw it, we totally understood. Even in the midst of my wedding I was taken aback by it’s gorgeous-ity! And further, so that the chuppa wouldn’t be the only element with the branches, Yellow Door maintained consistency and used the same type of branches here.
The Reception
Yellow door reset elements from the ceremony for the reception as décor for the table designs. I wanted there to be something new for folks to look at when they returned to the same ballroom. So half of the table designs used the hurricane and candle, and half used a beautiful silver bowl from Yellow Door’s inventory. The bowl had small candles attached on the sides too, to keep consistent, but be a little different. The beautifully arranged flowers and candle light provided elegant look I was going for. And the detail of mixing the two arrangements—yet maintaining a consistent look–met with my inner stickler. Oh, I almost forgot another detail that I think made the whole table setting even prettier. I designed a menu, the hotel folded it smartly into a napkin, and Yellow Door placed a single mokara orchid on each.
The cake was gorgeous too. It was covered in orchids and roses!