I’ve been hearing a lot about how much people love Pomanders, aka “Kissing Balls.” Pronounced Pom-an-der, this lovely ornamental ball is from the french for Apple, (Pomme), possibly because they originated as a means to act as an air freshener (thanks, Webster’s Online). Prior to the time they became a component for wedding decor, they were comprised of good smelling fruits and herbs, like oranges studded with cloves:

The lovely image above was taken by Marissa McClellan.
Today, pomanders are used as held accessories, like for the flower girl. I made this pomander from green button mums studded with ivory pearls suspended by a black satin ribbon:

green pomander kissing ball with pearl accents

They can also act as decor accessories to hang on the backs of chairs, down your aisle, or hanging from shephard’s hooks. A common flower used in pomanders are carnations– the variety of colors, paired with the durablity and spread of the lacey blooms make it an ideal choice:

I made this burgundy carnation pomander ball to hang down an aisle, suspended by ivory ribbon:

Pink carnations are paired with green button mums to indicate an important staircase:

You can also make pomanders from other materials, like the one below, which I made from gerbera daisies, tulips, and roses:

Just a reminder that if you are interested in attending the holiday wreath design course for Weds at the City Club, please send a comment, DM us on Twitter, or send us a an email at brocadedesigns gmail com.

Event Specifics:
- In this 1 hour interactive course, you’ll learn how to decorate your holiday wreath
- The class is at the Nashville City Club (you need not be a member to attend) and is $45 at the door
- All your materials & supplies along with instruction will be provided
- This is an ideal course for anyone at any level of design knowledge

We’ll have a mix of different styles to decorate with, from fall harvest to total Christmas goodness. Please spread the word and let us know if you want to attend no later than Tuesday at 4 pm!

We hope to see you there

Mark your calendars– Brocade will have a happenin’ holiday open house on the fifth of December. We’ll kick off the fun at 12 and go on til the evening, with fabulous goodies to see and sample, mulled cider, hot peppermint cocoa, delicious edible goodies, and much, much more.

At the event, you can preview some of our premade holiday wreath collection– all fresh, and either pre-designed and custom made just for you– sign up for us to come by with fresh cut, local garland to dress up your mantle, holiday table, staircase or mailbox– and see some of our fantastic Holiday crafts: from our handmade ornaments, holiday cards, gifts, soaps, candles, and all together too much fabulousness to tell you about here– you’ll need to stop in and check out the goodies for yourself.

Tell your friends, spread the word, and come out to a fab open holiday open house:

Brocade Holiday Open House December 5

At the start of October, I had the pleasure of designing a lovely bouquet & personal flowers for Lauren & Dustin’s fall flair wedding.

Images courtesy of Joe Hendricks Photography

The bride carried a bouquet composed of ivory hydrangea, coffee break roses, vendela roses, deep reddish brown hypericum berries, orange double petaled freesia, and mango calla lilies:

The bouquet was hand tied and emebellished with ivory double faced satin:

The gorgeous bride holding her bouquet for a bit of bouquet glam:

The guys wore buttonholes of coffee break roses and seeded eucalyptus accented with copper wire:

One last look at the happy couple!

For more details about the wedding including great images, check out the Joe Hendricks Photography Blog

Thanks, Lauren & Dustin! Congrats!

This past labor day weekend, I had the pleasure of working with Megan & Andrew on their wedding flowers. They were married at the Opryland Hotel at the Crystal Gazebo, followed by some party down fun in the Magnolia Ballroom. Their colors were predominately whites & Creams, with green as an accent. The bride wanted a touch of purple in her bouquet– a great contrast and complement to her color scheme.

Photographs courtesy of Myrick Studios

Prior to her wedding, Megan and I never met! She lives near NYC, so we did all of our consultation and planning via Gmail Chat! We corresponded with pictures and discussion topics about what she wanted for her wedding. Megan wanted something that used her two key colors (white and green) but that was not too contemporary and that was a lower centerpiece look. About six months before the wedding, she sent me some pictures that inspired her, and from these, we came up with her centerpieces and bouquets.

Megan’s inspired images:

Because of the distance, we did some mock up centerpieces and a mock up bouquet so that Megan could see what her flowers would look like on the big day:

Megan loved the texture and depth of the bouquet with a mixed of open and closed roses, the peeking button mums, and the deep contrast of the vivid purple lisianthus.

And now, on to the big day:

I love this image of the entire bridal party holding their bouquets:

Megan’s bouquet: green dutch hydrangea paired with purple lisianthus, vendela and escimo roses, and green button mums, with ivory double faced satin ribbon and embellished with a brooch accented with pearls:

The bridesmaids carried bouquets of ivory hydrangea, green button mums, green hypericum berries, and vendela and escimo roses hand tied with mossy green double faced satin latticed with ivory satin and embellished with pearl headed pins:

The centerpieces featured green button mums, ivory spider mums, ivory cushion poms, and green hypericum in a six inch cube vase filled with coffee beans:

One last look at the centerpieces:

I was so very happy to work with Megan and Andrew on their wedding flowers, and their comments that followed– “I absolutely loved all the arrangements that you made. Thank you so much for everything. Everyone was raving about the flowers! They were so beautiful,” are the words I live for! Thanks for letting me share in your day, guys, and congratulations!

A last look at the toss bouquet: we amped up the purple and green elements and it’s just so pretty for a last look:

Check out Myrick’s blog post for more pics from this fab wedding: http://blog.mikecowart.com/2009/10/andrew-megan-yates-opryland-wedding-photography/

Sign up today– just $20 at the door, all of your supplies are included, hosted by the Nashville City Club

Where: The Nashville City Club (You don’t have to be a member to attend)

What’s Included: All materials for a successful design project and handouts

There’s something that is so crisp and cute about a pink & green wedding. It’s contemporary but not too modern, it’s fresh and free and classically pretty. I created this bouquet for a bride this past summer that was in love with peony, but unfortunately peonies weren’t in season, so we substituted the next best thing: a pale pink garden rose:

This pretty bouquet combined lime green hydrangea, green hypericum berries, and blushing ballerina pink garden roses for a lovely hand tied bouquet.

Crisp, fresh, and lovely.

I have been meaning to post these pics for a few weeks but I totally got caught up in weddings!

First off, a few images from the main piece that I did for the marketing table at TPAC. This arrangement greeted showgoers as they came into TPAC to see Wicked.
The piece is largely about structure & statement: mossy branches, coco lashings, and crystalized birch branches represent the core components, with a moss covered base and hanging moss covered balls. Added details included glittered poppy pods, glittery eucalyptus, and hanging crystal beads that we hand strung:

Lovely spider mums gave a great texture & depth to the arrangement, along with pale green carnations & dark moon carnations, also dusted with glitter:

From the cast party, I do have a few great images by Mimosa Arts, the event photographers:

Now, it’s time to get ready for the season closer of Little House on The Prairie

Sharing from the McLellan blog from this gorgeous wedding! Kristin– Simply Stunning Events & Brian– Brian Kaplan Photography– are a wonderful couple & I am so happy for them both! Mel & Sean were amazing to work with, and here’s a few of the awesome images from Kristin’s day (more details to come later on).

Bouquets & bouts:

From left to right: the bride carried a full bouquet of white & green, with white dahlia, cymbidium orchids, jade roses & calla lilies; groomsmen bore mango callas accented with lily grass loops & a bright red dahlia bloom, bridesmaids carried bouquets of lime green hydrangea paired with mango callas, cherry brandy roses, jade roses, and dahlia, groom had white calla lilies and a green button mum.

Chatting with Kristin I said that I thought headdresses–er, crowns– would be the perfect fit for her absolutely darling flower girls:

Green ivy was paired with red & orange spray roses, button mums, and vivid green hypericum

Flower girl basket & ringbearer pillows:

Local moss was picked two days before the wedding and then embellished the flower girl baskets (also accented with flowers and ribbon) and the ring bearer pillow (embellished with ribbon, button mums, and mokara orchids).

The reception was held at the stunning Country Music Hall of Fame. I love the high ceilings, impressive high windows, and opportunities for great lighting. A long view of the room:

Kristin had three different types of centerpieces. For drama, we had these magnificent trees that sat utop tabletops covered with moss & fresh flowers. The trees had curly willow, hydrangea, spider mums, roses, mokara & James Storeii orchids Arachnis orchids:

You can see the awesome lit monogram on the wall by Nashville Event Lighting– too cool!

The other centerpieces were either a cluster of cylinder vases filled with colored water atop moss, or medium height centerpieces of hydrangea, dahlia, roses, and orchids, and the cocktail tables were shorter cylinders with colored water atop moss:

All in all, a breathtakingly beautiful wedding. Thanks to the McLellans for sharing images, and if you’d like to see more, be sure to check out this amazing teaser video by the oh-so-wonderful 2Duce2 totally amazing videographers & so great to work with!

On a beautiful sunny day in June, there was a lovely wedding at Travellers Rest in Nashville. This lovely historic home features a beautiful garden spot perfect for nuptials and a renovated barn for receptions.

The bride loves wildflowers, especially the look of different flowers paired together to create a colorful, lovely glow. Some of her favorite blooms included sunflowers, blue hydrangea, tulips, and mum daisies– all which make an appearance in her wedding flowers.

In the garden, the aisleway was dusted with high & magic rose petals and then finished with a wrought iron garden arch:

The arch was decorated primarily with white & yellow mum daisies and sunflowers, along with hanging candles suspended by ribbon:

The goal of the look of the arch was to feel more wild, less structured, with full headed sunflowers, crocosmia sprays, ivy, and mum daisies:

The bridesmaids carried a bouquet comprised of blue hydrangea, yellow button mums, bluplerum and high & magic roses:

The bride carried a bouquet of mixed wildflowers, with rannunculus, tulips, and billy balls, then hand-tied with yellow double faced satin ribbon:

The bride’s cake was from Dessert Designs — a beautiful creation in ivory and decorated with loose cymbidium orchids, high & magic roses, and hydrangea:

The centerpieces all varied, featuring different wildflowers paired with hydrangea which filled the bride’s grandmother’s mason jars. Each jar was embellished with a simple bow tied ribbon in shades of chocolate brown, yellow, taupe, and blue:

What a lovely wedding for an equally wonderful couple– may your lives together be blessed for always!