Recent Post

thumbnail

FLORAL HOW-TO WEEK | CB x Fifty Flowers: Demijohn Vases

It's time to wrap up Floral How-To Week (where I've been sharing floral tutorials, tips, tricks + more thanks to FiftyFlowers.com who partnered up with me and provided some truly beautiful blooms!). Today, I thought I'd highlight one of my favorite floral vessels - the European demijohn. Demijohns were extremely popular in France, Italy, Germany and beyond to hold champs and wine; they're usually rounded in shape and greenish in hue. The really old ones feature wavy glass and have sweet bubbles in the glass. I had fun collecting a bunch while living in Europe but now I've decided to part with a few and will soon be stocking them in my wedding boutique, CB Vintage. Consider this post a sneak peek and if you're interested in scoring first dibs before they're stocked, just send me a note at theclassicbride@gmail.com ;) 

UPDATE! These darlings have been listed! Hop on over and shop my selection of demijohns! ;)



While these charming demijohns look adorbs for lining a reception table, I think they'd also be endearing bridesmaids gifts - just add a calligraphied name tag, a few stems of your favorite bloom and voila! - you have an incredibly special bouquet-meets-antique-gift for your favorite gals!


See that wavy old glass? Isn't it beautiful??


I love that these cuties still have some labels on them. :)


Again, all the pretty demijohns featured in this post will soon be headed for my wedding boutique (if it's not there already) so shoot me a message at theclassicbride@gmail.com for more details if you're interested.

UPDATE! These darlings have been listed! Hop on over and shop my selection of demijohns! ;)

And catch up on all of my floral tutorials by clicking on "Flower Week" in the labels at the top of this post! ;)

This post is sponsored by FiftyFlowers.com who provided the wholesale flowers for this fun project.

Styling, calligraphy + photos by moi.
thumbnail

FLORAL HOW-TO WEEK | CB x Fifty Flowers: Styling Milk Glass Vases

It's Floral How-To Week on CB (where I'm sharing a week's worth of floral tutorials, tips, tricks + more thanks to FiftyFlowers.com who partnered up with me and provided some truly beautiful blooms!). Yesterday, I shared vase alternatives for floral arrangements but today it's all about the power of a beautiful bud vase! As you may know, I heavily used vintage milk glass vases and compotes in my own wedding and I still love them to bits. They create such a clean and classic look! Here's a few ideas on how to style milk glass:


For my wedding reception, I asked our florist to line the loooong reception table with vintage milk glass vases and compotes (that I had collected over the year leading up to our wedding) filled with creamy white hydrangeas and glossy magnolia leaves. The end results looked prettier than I had even imagined. So I thought I'd recreate that vision on a smaller scale by placing single white peony stems in some of the bud vases I still have - doesn't it look so crisp?


I also love the idea of grouping milk glass bud vases together in a larger vessel to create a bigger statement. These vintage French bottle crates (below) lend a more rustic feel and would look great at a garden or courtyard wedding. And they are for sale so head to my shop here if you're interested. ;)


Again, everything featured in this post will soon be headed for my wedding boutique (if it's not there already) so shoot me a message at theclassicbride@gmail.com for more details if you're interested.

UPDATE! Everything has been stocked! Hop over to my shop see the selection of milkglass!

And make sure you tune in all week for more floral tutorials - just click on "Flower Week" in the labels at the top of this post to make sure you don't miss any posts! ;)

This post is sponsored by FiftyFlowers.com who provided the wholesale flowers for this fun project.

Styling + photos by moi.
thumbnail

FLORAL HOW-TO WEEK | CB x Fifty Flowers: Vase Alternatives: Vintage Crates + Baskets

It's Floral How-To Week on CB (where I'm sharing a week's worth of floral tutorials, tips, tricks + more thanks to FiftyFlowers.com who partnered up with me and provided some truly beautiful blooms!). Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite vase alternatives for weddings! And you better bet they're all vintage (and mostly European) b/c that's just how I roll. (And yep, they're all for sale!)


Vases are great (in fact, I'm sharing a few of my favorite vases tomorrow on the blog) but sometimes you may want to create a larger statement than vases can allow which means you'll need to start thinking outside the box. I loooove using antique wooden crates as floral vessels like this charming French one! The reddish-orange color of the wood and the dark typography just pop against those creamy white peonies ... stunning for a garden chic affair, no? This arrangement could be used in so many different places - as a table centerpiece, part of the altar decor, guestbook table, wedding cake table or even placed on the ground near an entrance.


pssst ... You may remember this French Alsatian crate from the Snow White shoot I styled in Germany two years ago - I used it to hold some shiny red apples. ;)



If you're interested in purchasing this French crate before I list it in my shop, just message me at theclassicbride@gmail.com for pricing + shipping info.

UPDATE! It's been added to the shop! Check out the listing for this darling French crate here.

Continuing with vase alternatives, I'm a huge fan of natural wicker baskets and the fact that this basket (shown below) used to hold a demijohn filled with wine or champs only makes it that much cooler. Seriously, how effortlessly pretty are these flower-filled baskets?! I can totally see them at a preppy coastal New England wedding. I scored two of these darling baskets in Northern France and have listed them in my shop so feel free to take a look. The pair would be beyond stunning overflowing with flowers and flanking an altar ...


Here's another antique wooden crate that would be extra pretty filled with flowers ... they're also great for resting your bouquet! (If you missed the tutorial on how I created that peony bouquet, you can catch up here)


And last but not least, I love incorporating vintage suitcases. I'll admit they've come close to wearing out their welcome with the stacked trend but I think if you're clever with how you use them, they can look and feel fresh and gorgeous again! I love the idea of filling a suitcase with peonies and baby's breath and placing it next to a table outfitted with a globe guestbook (to keep with the travel theme, ask guests to write their favorite vacation on the globe along with a little note).


Again, everything featured in this post will soon be headed for my wedding boutique (if it's not there already) so shoot me a message at theclassicbride@gmail.com for more details if you're interested.

And make sure you tune in all week for more floral tutorials - just click on "Flower Week" in the labels at the top of this post to make sure you don't miss any posts! ;)

This post is sponsored by FiftyFlowers.com who provided the wholesale flowers for this fun project.

Styling, calligraphy + photos by moi.
thumbnail

FLORAL HOW-TO WEEK | CB x Fifty Flowers: How to Arrange Flowers in Apothecary Jars

It's Floral How-To Week on CB (where I'm sharing a week's worth of floral tutorials, tips, tricks + more thanks to FiftyFlowers.com who partnered up with me and provided some truly beautiful blooms!). Today, I'm sharing two of my favorite things: flowers and apothecary jars! And I'm going to show you how to style them together for your wedding!


Okay, only two of these jars/bottles are apothecary but I love how they mesh so well together! The simple lines of the bottles mixed with the frilly French labels of some of the soaps/colognes create such interest, non? When the bottles are showstoppers like these, you definitely don't need to go crazy with the flowers - two simple stems of white peonies create a harmonious balance. I think this grouping would look lovely as a table centerpiece or as visual interest by the escort cards or guestbook. It would also be really striking on a silver tray in a powder room.


Here are the more standard amber-coloured apothecary jars. I found most of them at markets in Germany while I was living in the Mosel River Valley. How adorable is that tiny little one with the HEART stopper?!? :)


THE HOW-TO | Since apothecary jars really demand attention all on their own, you don't want to go overboard with the flowers (they also simply won't fit most of the time due to the small openings). So choose a stem or two of your favorite flower (I personally think creamy white peonies look fantastic!) and drop them in. You could accent with some greenery if you want - I do think some glossy magnolia leaves would look divine. That's it - super easy. Just cluster the bottles together and you have yourself a lovely centerpiece!


This pretty blue apothecary jar is the only one I've ever seen like it. I found it at the Metz, France, flea market and love it to bits! And now, my favorite way to display an apothecary arrangement:


Place the pretties in a vintage metal bottle carrier! Voila! Centerpiece magic! I love how the labels peek through creating more visual interest. The front of the crate reads "P. Schmitgen Berncastel." I'm assuming it was a brewery in Bernkastel, a town not too far from us in Germany. Regardless, how adorable is this?!


And PS. Every single bottle (and that cool bottle crate!) will be headed for my wedding boutique, CB Vintage, soon so get a pre-sale price by e-mailing me at theclassicbride@gmail.com.

And make sure you tune in all week for more floral tutorials - just click on "Flower Week" in the labels at the top of this post to make sure you don't miss any posts! ;)

This post is sponsored by FiftyFlowers.com who provided the wholesale flowers for this fun project.

Styling + photos by moi.
thumbnail

FLORAL HOW-TO WEEK | CB x Fifty Flowers: Peony + Greenery Tablescape Tutorial

It's Floral How-To Week on CB (where I'm sharing a week's worth of floral tutorials, tips, tricks + more thanks to FiftyFlowers.com who partnered up with me and provided some truly beautiful blooms!). Today, I'm sharing a few floral arrangements for a tablescape - I used white peonies and dark green textured filler flower pack for this project.

STEP ONE | Decide on the vessels you're going to use for your tablescape. I decided to style the arrangements in three of my French enamel buckets and then transfer the arrangements to my French champs buckets on the table (to show two different looks). Both containers have a rustic charm that lends well to a farmhouse chic vibe - I think these arrangements would look incredibly romantic for an upscale barn wedding or for an intimate garden soiree!


STEP TWO | Now you need to decide on spacing. It's important not to make the arrangements too tall or too close together as that could impede conversation at the table - you definitely want to be able to see those sitting across from you. ;) With this tablescape, I placed the medium-high containers closer to the middle of the table as guests would be sitting closer to the ends:



THE HOW-TO | As far as how I arranged the flowers, it's called the very technical "plop and tousle." I first chose which flowers/greenery I wanted to include (peonies, white delphinium, green statice, green limonium and white bouvardia). I placed the largest blooms - the peonies - in first as they take up the most room. Then I plopped the greenery in - spacing it out in what felt like an organic way to me. Really, there's no science involved here - it's just what looks and feels right to you! Don't overthink it! It's just flowers and they're already beautiful so there really isn't any way to mess it up. Have fun with it!

 

And PS. Those super pretty enamel buckets are for sale! For info, just e-mail me at theclassicbride@gmail.com. I'll be placing them in my wedding boutique, CB Vintage, soon so get a pre-sale price by e-mailing me. ;) The champs buckets are also for sale so check them out if you're interested.

And make sure you tune in all week for more floral tutorials - just click on "Flower Week" in the labels at the top of this post to make sure you don't miss any posts! ;)

This post is sponsored by FiftyFlowers.com who provided the wholesale flowers for this fun project.

Styling + photos by moi.

thumbnail

FLORAL HOW-TO WEEK | CB x Fifty Flowers: DIY Flowering Champs Drying Rack Tutorial

It's Floral How-To Week on CB (where I'll be sharing a week's worth of floral tutorials, tips, tricks + more thanks to FiftyFlowers.com who partnered up with me and provided some truly beautiful blooms!). Today, I'm sharing a tutorial for a flowering champs drying rack! And I've just got to say, it's a pretty magical thing! ;) First, let me explain what a champagne drying rack is (in case you're scratching your head). Here it is, unflowered:

As you can see, it's a metal rack with lots of spikes which are intended to hold bottles so they can dry. These charming vintage French racks are known affectionately as hedgehogs in France because of the spikes. ;) They were originally used around the 1930s in bistros and cafes to dry wine and champagne bottles.

I found this cutie at the market in Metz, France, and couldn't pass it by. While many people use them today to hang coffee cups or ribbon spools, I love the idea of incorporating them in weddings! It would make a great artsy/industrial chandelier over a long table or it could be a great way to hang escort cards. Or, as you're going to see in this post, it could also make a fabulous flowering tower! I was inspired to make the flower tower by the croquembouche (Check out an example from this French wedding - it's the gorgeous macaron tower with sparklers!). 

With that in mind, here's what I created with the pretty white peonies I had:


THE HOW-TO | This was honestly so easy, I feel silly even explaining it. All I did was take peony stems and place them length-wise along the rows. I just kept adding stems to fill in the empty spots. I let the stem portion extend toward the back of the rack to hide the stems and showcase the blooms. Since I wanted to use the flowers in more projects, I didn't cut the stems but you could certainly do that to make the tower look like it was blooming from all directions - just tuck the short stems in toward the middle of the rack.


And the HOW-TO-USE | I think this flowering champs rack would be stunning as a table centerpiece at a wedding or event! It could also be used at the altar, the guestbook table, welcoming table, you name it! It's a showstopper and would add beauty almost anywhere. :)


And if you're really in love with the champs drying rack, you're in luck! This beauty is FOR SALE! You can check out the listing here in my CB Vintage shop. While you're there, make sure you have a look around at all the other vintage wedding pretties I've been stocking.

And make sure you tune in next week for more floral tutorials on CB - just click on "Flower Week" in the labels at the top of this post to make sure you don't miss any posts! ;)

This post is sponsored by FiftyFlowers.com who provided the wholesale flowers for this fun project.

Styling, calligraphy + photos by moi.

About