A Black Tie Winter Wedding at The Red Lion Inn, Cohasett MA

It was a perfectly normal consult the day that I arrived at Panera, my go to consult location, the very first time I met Barbara. As I sat, I could see her oogoling my portfolio, the cover of the portfolio was the picture below, an amazing wedding done in 2013, dripping with gold glitter and stars. She shares that she is having her wedding at the Red Lion Inn in Cohasset. (Which I L.O.V.E) As I glare up at her she turns the open book to me and says, "You did this wedding? This picture is the whole reason I booked The Red Lion Inn" After that we turned into two teenaged girls "OMG" "This is so exciting" and we furiously brainstormed 1,000,000 ideas. I immediately thought, "Wow, this is going to be amazing".

Couldn't have loved her more.

She later went on to explain that her mother was also once in the planning business and she was heavily involved with the planning process of her one and only child. But her mother was unfortunately helping from afar. We came up with a plan to Skype with Mom to keep her in the loop and for me to get a better working knowledge of all the details as they evolved. It was through our weekly Skype meeting that I got to know Karen. Little did I know she had been stockpiling ideas since the day Barbara was born. Thoughtful, smart and creative, Karen was determined to style the most over the top wedding for Barbara and Michael and truly make it "The Best Day Ever!"

The DIY projects were endless. Karen (mother of the bride) designed every piece of the paper suite her self, and assembled the invitation, place cards and wedding program!

While the bride was getting ready, there was a ladies luncheon; guests were gifted peppermint sugar foot scrub, which Barbara and Karen had made them selves.

The Mother of the Bride hand made black and white wedding wands with bells that were handed out to the guests as they arrived.

The groom made the cork seating cardholders and the vases, which were used for cocktail hour. They were bottles of Saint Germaine and Dewar’s whisky which are the bride and grooms favorite liquors respectively. Also, during cocktail hour on each table were fun facts about the bride and groom. All of the frames were hand painted with gold shimmer and love, care of the Mother of the Bride! The memory tree was made also made of cork frames to match the seating cards.

Served at the bar was a “Babzello” brew which was made on the grooms bachelor party weekend – they even designed the beer label. Instead of table numbers the couple used street names from their neighborhood that were meaningful. There were numerous personalized items all around, including pens, coasters, cocktail napkins, mints, cigar wrappers and matches. There was no denying that this was Barbara and Michaels wedding.

Ok, so details galore... lets get down to what we are here for THE FLOWERS; white, abundant extravagant and refined. The theme of the flowers certainly reflected the rest of the decor. Orchids where dripping from every arrangement and the juxtaposition of the rustic barn with the formal theme was also carried over to the flowers.

Crystals, gold shimmer and white on white flowers. It doesn’t get more classic than that. What I loved the most was that they selected three different centerpieces. It gave a lot of variety and gave the guests a reason to take a good look around. They were also able to utilize some of the centerpieces for the ceremony. Barbara's Step Father actually constructed the pedestals for the candelabras to sit on as they lined the isle. What an amazingly talented family!

The bouquets were simple and elegant white phalaenopsis orchids, roses and touches of sparkle. Barbara really liked the brooch bouquets that seemed to be on everyone's Pinterest board at the time, so we decided to take it to the next level and try combining the fresh flowers with the broaches. The results were stunning.

Lets not forget this amazing wintery image of the bride's maids bouquets.

One of the most amazing weddings I've been to on so many levels, as a guest and as a vendor. The decor, the setting, the flowers, the attention to detail and the happiness, in three words OVER THE TOP (in the best way possible). But, the most amazing part was the amount of love that Barbara and Michael have for one another is breathtaking. It seemed to rub off on every single person in the room, including myself. The love was sincere and abundant and I felt like a part of their family even if it was just for one night. Thank you Barbara & Michael for letting Fleur + Stitch be such a big part of your wedding day!