Our First Wedding...

...was a simple affair set in Randolph, NH. The ceremony was set in a beautiful, simple, white country church followed by a reception at the Bride's family summer home facing Mt Jefferson, under a tent. It was a hot, early September day and the venue was three hours from home. There was a good caterer who had set up long banquet tables running the width of the tent for us to decorate. The Bride and Groom were young and had a small budget but distinct taste. The mother of the Bride had collected 150 thrift store plates in varying patterns to set the table and we were tasked to create a bit of drama... As complete newbies to the wedding business, we set about with meetings with the bride and mother, researching ideas, pricing flowers, working on a color palette (the Bride was very particular about the tone of red dahlias to be used, if I recall) and in truth just taking a stab at what we could do for them not knowing much about pricing weddings. We arrived at using local seasonal produce, locally cut flowers and grasses from our yards and the trails of Weston and purchasing what we could from the wholesale market. Only the bouts and bouquets could be done the day before, the table décor was done on site. As it was such a hot day, I drove the three hours to the venue with the AC cranked, hoping that the designs wouldn't fade in the heat once I got there. We quickly stuck the bouts in their fridge to cool off and handed around the bouquets before running to the church to do simple pew decorations. Then back to the house to decorate the tables with wooded stands and small groups of flowers and produce. We had never made a bridal bouquet before and these had taken quite a bit of time to master as they included café au lait dahlias which are quite large and flat. The Bride wasn't happy with hers so we were tasked to remove her dahlia and replace with another one. Without completely remaking the bouquet, this was hard to do and I was terrified of breaking the stems! As I was sweating through this, Trish was racing to finish the tables and create small arrangements for the high top tables. In the end, all turned out well. The simple decor fit the location, the bouquets survived the wedding and photos and were then displayed in mason jars on crates, and we made through our first wedding having learned a great deal about the work involved and the stress around wanting to WOW our Bride. We have come a long way since then I am happy to say!

#randolphnh #septemberwedding #cafeaulaitdahlia #tablesettings