Whimsical Giant Flower Wedding: Brittany + Paul

wedding with giant flower

Brittany + Paul’s wedding is just so magical + fun! From Brittany, “After months of debating, I decided to go with the theme of Scandinavian Garden (since my husband, Paul, is from Denmark and we met in Copenhagen while I was studying there and I LOVE all things floral) for the reception which meant lots of bright colors with a touch of rustic…we’ll call it Rustic Technicolor. I loved designing our invitations.”

And Brittany even wrote up a cute DIY just for GWS which I will be sharing later today for paper flower tea lights, thanks Brittany!

illustrated wedding invitation

wedding shoes

giant paper flower wedding

vintage wedding dress

wedding banner

Because our first date was to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, I wanted to bring in some of its magical imagery. One pathway in the theme park in particular hosts a barrage of quirky signs, which led to the idea of painting banners to be hung in our garden site. We decided on a canvas that we shaped to 30 x 50″. Originally I was going to paint them all in florals but then thought of all my majorly talented friends and family. Since most of them couldn’t come to the reception anyway, why not have THEM paint them? I sent out about 20 blank banners with a color palette and a few inspirational images of “Scandinavian Garden” and waited on the edge of my seat for their return.

And boy was I pleasantly stunned with the results! The first one back came from a friend of ours, an attorney, who colorblocked the floor plan of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water home, after a road trip to Pennsylvania we had taken. Another was from a classmate friend of mine who cleverly incorporated the flowers of significant places in our leaves into the Danish flag, like the Canadian maple leaf (Paul’s birth place), DC cherry blossoms (where I went to grad school and one of two sites of our long distance courtship), California poppy (where I’m from and the site of our reception), and the Danish daisy. Other favorites were a floral piece that Paul’s dad, an artist, created and a portrait of a wedding couple by my artist cousin, Bryson Gill, not to mention two stunning likenesses of Paul and me by my sister. I was overwhelmed by their creativity, devotion, and support.

wedding banners

giant paper flowers on the table

To build on the Danish references, I envisioned oversized flowers plastered throughout the garden much like the Danish fairytale Thumblina by Hans Christian Andersen. Hans Christian Andersen also dabbled in the paper arts and being much more skilled in paper flower making from a project I did at theDanish Embassy last year, I decided to go with an all-paper flower repertoire, from recycled or recycleable materials. Thankfully, my mom was on board and went to town finding out the best ways to achieve oversized flowers. We came up with one large flower per round table for about 20 tables, each flower requiring about 7 sheets of large artist paper. I picked up a silk flower early on in the planning process and put it to use as the stem for my new paper bouquet and nearly squealed for hours after its completion. (click here to learn how to make those giant flowers!)

bundt cake table

LED lit hula hoops!

wedding exit

One of the highlights of the whole event was the chance to work with our friend Kimi Encarnacion. Kimi and her husband Jay Jay had a band called Moonpools and Caterpillars and remain the ultimate rockstars. Kimi was kind enough to say yes to 1) redoing my mom’s wedding dress 2) playing at our reception. I had a not so pleasant time deciding on a dress but it came much easier when mom suggested that I used hers. Thankfully, Kimi could make a paper bag look fantastic. She turned the dress around so that the back buttons now lined the front, took off the high neckline and created a v-neck, removed the bell sleeves and left the puff. Much like my mom’s dress, I made a sash with green and then made fabric flowers in whites/off whites/blush pinks to accent. I painted a false curtain on canvas for the band on the stage with our bright Scandinavian florals and hung a dainty chandelier to give light to the musicians. Kimi and JJ perfectly entertained their guest with a fantastic playlist that included songs like Hey Ya and Home is Wherever I’m With you.

The floral theme continued into the attire of the bridal party. I made bow ties for Paul, my two brothers and Dad out of Liberty Of London prints and found a bright vintage skirt and contrasting top for my sister with some floral print flats. Mom decked out in fabric flower necklaces. All in all, I think we were crazy to try to do everything ourselves, but the memory of making things together combined with the good times made will not be forgotten.

Wedding ceremony site: Newport Beach LDS temple
Photography: Ali DeGraff Photography
Dress: from mom
Shoes: Matiko
bow ties: Liberty of London from PurlSoho
suits: Brooks Brothers
Hair: Rebecca Maready

Thanks so much Brittany and congrats to you + Paul! Check back later today to see her fun tutorial for paper flower tea lights!

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