With Valentines day just a few sleeps away, it seems like beautiful blooms are on display around every corner!! Flowers (I think, at least) are the best gift for your loved ones on V-Day, and will always be appreciated (I'm talking to you Nick).  With this in mind, I've gone through the archives of all the beautiful real weddings I've had the honour of being a part of, and gathered my top 5 favourite Bridal bouquets.  So, without further ado (and in no particular order).... 1. This Pender Island wedding holds a very special place in my heart, for many reasons....and the guinea feathers poking through in Nicole's soft and romantic bouquet, just so happens to be one of those reasons.

Bouquet by: Verbena Floral Design | Photo by: Jennifer Ballard Photography  | Pender Island, 2012

View More: http://ameris.pass.us/kristy-matt-married

2. This textural beauty is so incredibly unique, and was perfectly fitting for this Farm wedding. And I could star at those rich colours all day long...I mean, black ranunculus' in a bouquet?  Gorgeous!!!!

Bouquet by: Rook & Rose Floral Design Boutique | Photo by: AMERIS | Birds Eye Cove, 2013

View More: http://centricphotography.pass.us/lydsdayanddan

3. This soft and natural inspired bouquet, just oozed romance!  The splashes of chocolate cosmos, mixed with berries, lush roses, and soft ferns, was utter perfection for this farm to table wedding.  I'm pretty sure I could stare at this one all day!

Bouquet by: Clare Day Flowers  |  Photo by: Centric Photography  |  Birds Eye Cove, 2014

4. This one had me at hello.  The rich colour palette, textural elements, flowing ribbon...it was even more stunning in person! And making it even more special, a lady slipper orchid was added at the last minute by chance, which just so happened to be the national flower of Singapore (the Bride's home)

Bouquet by: Verbena Floral Design  |  Photo by: Kelly Brown Photographer  |  Starling Lane, 2014

5. This sweet posy was filled with so much goodness, I can hardly stand it!!  Featuring my personal favourite flower of all time, the Anenome, it couldn't not make this list!  And the perfect balance of texture and soft blooms, makes it perfectly west coast!

Bouquet by: FLEURtacious by Lynda Marie | Photo by: Hunt and Gather Photography | Ward Room, 2013

What a way to start the day!!!  I am beyond

thrilled

to have Kristy & Matt's intimate barn wedding, featured today, on

100 Layer Cake

!!  This wedding was unique in so many wonderful ways and I can't think of a better place to be able to share it!  Thank you so much to

Ameris

for capturing it so perfectly, and also to all the other fabulous vendors that came together to make this 1 for the record books!  You can check out my personal blog post about their wedding

here

.

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Working alongside this couple was a dream come true!  Not only did they have incredible style, but they knew what was important to them, and placed a strong emphasis on that all throughout the planning.  I could go on and on about this day, but figure I'll let Kristy tell you, as she really sums it all the best! (thank you to 100 Layer Cake, for sending the following Q&A from Kristy my way!)

Can you tell us briefly a bit about you, and how you met?  Matt and I met at a punk rock show in Victoria, BC.

How would you describe your wedding theme?  We wanted a small rustic farm wedding with lots of antique touches for our theme. This included lots of wildflowers and colours.

Do you have any particularly significant stories about something that happened on or defined your wedding?  Matt and I have a basset hound and we wanted him to be part of our day. One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing our hound spending time with all our guests. In lots of our photos you can see him with different people!

View More: http://ameris.pass.us/kristy-matt-married

Describe the inspiration for your wedding. What do you think made your wedding particularly you?  

Before meeting Matt I never expected to want to have a big fancy wedding. However, once we got engaged I really wanted to celebrate our love, as cheesy as it sounds! We wanted to keep it small and informal. Our first decision for our wedding was that it must be on a farm. Birds Eye Cove was the perfect location and provided much of our inspiration. We wanted to play on its rustic features and add some of our own touches. Music was a must since Matt and many of our guests are musicians. We brought lots of records from our own collection and found a great Buddy Holly tribute band, Johnny Vallis.

Describe any awesome DIY projects?  One of my favorite DIY projects was making our bourbon bar. We both love bourbon so we picked four of our favorite bourbons and created four bourbon cocktails. Guests could then pick which bourbon they wanted to try and in one of the cocktails. Barb, our amazing planner, and Erica, from Rook & Rose made this idea even better by featuring the cocktail and bourbon choices on a window pane by the bar.

View More: http://ameris.pass.us/kristy-matt-married

What was your favorite part/memory of your wedding?  

The speeches were my favorite part of our wedding. It was such a special moment. My grandparents' speech was incredibly sweet and had me, and many of our guests tearing up. Their speech was followed by some pretty goofy stories that had us all giggling our tears away after as well!  I will never forget all the amazing people who spoke on our behalf and their wonderful words of wisdom and support.

What did you splash the cash on for your wedding and why?  We splashed the cash on food and music (and my dress)! We both agreed that great food and music really make a great wedding. We decided to do a mainly vegetarian meal with a few seafood dishes. Food For Thought was the perfect catering vendor for us. We asked for a loaded dessert table and it was the most delicious table of goodies I could ever imagine! Having a live band was really worth splashing the cash as well. We love live music and Buddy Holly is one of our favorite bands. We discovered that Johnny Vallis, as Buddy Holly, was the best Buddy Holly tribute around and was right in our backyard so it was meant to be!What did you really save money on and how?  Having a wedding planner really helped us save money and keep everything within our budget. Barb from French Kiss Events made everything possible! Without her and her team our wedding could not have been the perfect day. She helped us pick out the right vendors and realize all those special touches that made everything so beautiful and unique while still staying within our budget.

In retrospect, was there anything you would have done differently?  I wouldn't change anything about our wedding.What advice would you give or lessons did you learn?  What I took away from our wedding day and all the months of planning is to make it about love! Include what you love and let those you love help. It makes the day that much more special.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Kristy & Matt, for asking me to be a part of your wedding!  I wish you nothing but the best, and can't wait to hear what is next for you 2!

xo Barb

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I feel beyond honoured to have this mod-New Years Eve soiree, from last year, featured AGAIN, this year!!  In 2012, it made it's first appearance on SMP, and this year, had the honour of gracing the seriously fabulous pages of Grey Likes Weddings!!  Thank you to Lady Grey, and all the other society ladies out there, for featuring this shoot, and I hope that it helps to inspire some seriously glamorous New Years celebrations this year!!

The wedding of Kristy & Matt is special to me in so many ways!  Not only was it my first wedding at the stunning new(ish) venue of Birds Eye Cove, but it was one of those amazing weddings where my inspiration for the wedding & the couples personal style meshed together so perfectly, that wedding magic was created!!  It was the small details in this wedding, that mattered the most.  The mismatched vintage china serving platters, the record players for cocktail hour entertainment, the natural linen tablecloths, and the hand stamped escort cards, are just a few of my favourite details! I also had the rare opportunity of working alongside some of my favourite people in the industry, and still cannot get over how beautifully it all went together!!  Thank you so much, Kristy & Matt, for having me be a party of your wedding!  You guys are two of the most authentic people I have had the privilege of working with, and I will treasure your wedding for a long time!!  Thank you also to all the fantastic vendors who worked alongside me, to create this stunner: Rook & Rose Floral Design Boutique (those dried flower napkin blooms killed me!), Food For Thought, Conscious Hair by Elena, Melanie Baird Makeup Artistry, and of course, the AMAZING Ameris, for the drop dead photos below!!

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View More: http://ameris.pass.us/kristy-matt-married

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For the first wedding of the season, not only did I have the absolute honour of working with the sweetest and most gracious couple ever, I ALSO got the chance to work alongside an "all-star" wedding team! Rook & Rose Floral Design Boutique always takes their design to the next level, and this wedding was no different!  They brought Heather's garden-inspiration to life, through the gorgeous terra-cota plants, cafe-lighting & mini-rose favours. And don't even get me started on Heathers bouquet...it was stunning!  And Ameris' images from the day are so jaw-droppingly beautiful, that I almost couldn't choose which ones to share!  We have 4 more weddings together this season, and I can't wait to spend more time with them!! Working with Heather & Jim throughout the past few months was absolutely wonderful!  It is always so nice when a couple has complete faith in their vendors, and is more than happy to pass over all artistic control.  I loved creating the custom menu's & typewriter inspired stationary for them, and being there to make sure the day went seamlessly!  Heather & Jim, thank you so much for asking me to be a part of your beautiful wedding day!

All photos courtesy of Ameris Photography www.ameris.ca

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