kio kreations

A Pink & Green Vintage Wedding at Arrowhead

kiokreations — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:44:06 +0000

We just did an amazing vintage-inspired wedding at Arrowhead Golf Club for Katelyn & Alex in pink and green with subtle purple accents. Flowers included peonies, wax flower, spray roses, ranunculus, lisianthus, viburnum, freesia, stock, queen anne’s lace, roses, hydrangea, and some foliages.

The centerpieces had a bit of a vintage-meets-modern vibe with soft textural flowers and foliage in clean cylinder vases. The manzanita tree was an awesome addition to the escort card table which was covered in favor box escort cards. The bouquets and bouts had a timeless vintage garden feel and turned out fabulous! Katelyn’s all white bouquet is one of my favorite to date! So many fabulous textures!

We loved working with Hazelton Photography and Arrowhead Golf Club (two of our favorite vendors) on this event. We cannot wait to see the professional photos of the day! Until then, check out the photos I took of the flowers and decor in our gallery…

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Mother’s Day Centerpiece Tutorial

kiokreations — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:46:25 +0000

Our last class of the season did NOT disappoint! My students did a fabulous job making modern, Asian-inspired designs for Mother’s Day. We used a variety of materials including fantail willow, horsetail, ti leaf, galax, dahlias, dendrobium orchids, allium, Yazoo roses, spray roses, leucadendron, green pittosporum, peonies and vanda orchids. They turned out so awesome!!!

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A Beautiful Purple, Lavender, Green and Ivory Wedding at Hyatt Lodge

kiokreations — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:13:27 +0000

Katy and Jim’s wedding at Hyatt Lodge (McDonald’s Campus) in Oak Brook was awesome! Not only did Katy pick awesome things from us in the way of flowers and paper items, but they also hired some of our favorite vendors for the other parts of their wedding including Blend Beauty for hair and make up, Gina & Tony for photography and Anika Kai Events for day of coordination.

Katy and Jim’s colors were dark purple, lavender, green and ivory with some silver and brown accents. Flowers included roses, hydrangea, various foliages, lisianthus, sweet pea, peonies, callas, stock, hydrangea and dianthus. We did all of the amazing bouquets (Katy’s was another one of my favorites!), bouts, corsages, the ceremony arch and aisle decor, the cocktail decor, the seating chart, a double-sided Just Married/Love is Sweet banner, the card holder, the menus, the table numbers, the cake flowers, and the 3 styles of reception centerpieces. Everything looked great and the bride got so many compliments (and passed along her love of her bouquet to me as well!)

I wish that Katy and Jim have a wonderful marriage! Congrats!

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Fabulous Special Order Flowers

kiokreations — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:10:13 +0000

This past week we had 2 weddings and 3 other orders to fill, and we did them all beautifully. In this photo you can see a tall purple, white and silver centerpiece that we did on a contract basis for an event company and a short, full, mixed arrangement we did for my favorite neighbor’s Grand-daughter’s Holy Communion. I love how these pieces turned out and so did the people who ordered them!

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Yellow, Sangria and White Wedding Flowers

kiokreations — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:34:14 +0000

One of my favorite things about this business is having clients that were SO happy with their flowers that they recommend us to their family and friends. That was totally the case with Ally & Matt’s wedding. Matt’s sister, Deanne, was one of my favorite past brides, so she recommended us to him and Ally, who also liked us and had us create beautiful personal flowers for their wedding. I loved the color combo they chose–it was a magenta/sangria color, yellow and white and they picked all awesome flowers–callas, cymbidium orchids, peonies, and billy balls. Love all of the choices and LOVE the bold color mix.

I wish Ally and Matt a fun & full lifetime of happiness together!

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Derby Day Flowers for Lymphoma Research Fundraiser

kiokreations — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:22:30 +0000

Months ago I was asked by one of my favorite past brides if I would donate flowers for a Lymphoma Research Foundation Derby Day Event–and of course I agreed. I made some Southern-inspired rose arrangements in mint julep containers as well as an entry piece that was an homage to the ring of roses that goes around the winning horse’s neck. The flowers turned out really cute and I hope the event had a great turn out. I love supporting a great cause!

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The Perfect Decor + Music Pairings

kiokreations — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:04:59 +0000

Want a fabulous wedding? Think about setting the perfect ambiance by pairing your wedding look/theme and decor with your music. I’ve written an article on Wedloft about the perfect music and decor pairings–check it out!

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A Tuscan Garden Wedding at Monastero’s in Chicago

kiokreations — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:18:36 +0000

When a pair of vendors ask you to do their wedding it is a total honor. I have had that pleasure now twice this year! Back in February, I helped with Natalie and Dan from Zuzu’s Petals wedding and at the end of April I designed the flowers and paper items for Victoria Sprung (Sprung Photography) and Mike Hendzel (Hendzel Productions). The flowers and paper items turned out amazing and the couple could not have been happier. Victoria literally wanted to keep her bouquet forever.

I can’t blame her. Her bouquet was one of my favorites FOR SURE. Her bridesmaids’ bouquets were also awesome. They perfectly capture the “Tuscan Garden” feel we were trying to achieve. The bouts and corsages were rustic and simple and coordinated well with the rest of the flowers and we made a particularly cool floral wand for the little flower girl.

Both the wedding ceremony and reception were at Monastero’s Banquets on the north side of Chicago. The venue room we were in was called the “Botticelli Room” and had touches of gold and champagne and many jewel-tone colors in the wall mural and carpeting. The ceremony settling was marked by an awesome set of altarpieces on top of columns with branches that formed an arch. Bunches of blooms were also tied to chairs lining the aisle. Black and wine-colored linens covered the tables and chairs and worked perfectly with our 2 centerpiece styles surrounded by gold mercury glass votives. One style was a mixed Tuscan-garden arrangement in a black pedestal urn vase and the other style was a short, low-profile, somewhat pave floral arrangement with votive candles that was enclosed by a rustic black distressed frame. They were unique styles that we seldom get to do, and I hope more clients ask for them in the future–they were fun to make and looked fantastic! Adding to the fantastic was the awesome floral-rimmed card holder, the “Sword in the Stone” flower-adorned cake, and the awesome manzanita tree escort card table arrangement. We also made some fabulous paper items including artist/philosopher themed table numbers, coordinating escort cards and some totally fun programs. There were nods to the couple’s 3 cats all over the place, including the head table, cake table and even on the escort cards and programs. They are cat lovers for sure, and as a cat lover myself, I can respect that.

I am so glad Victoria and Mike wanted me to be such a big part of their big day and it was a total honor! I wish them a lifetime of happiness!

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Simple Orange Tulip Shower Centerpieces

kiokreations — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:02:37 +0000

I love when our upcoming brides’ friends or families contact us to make their rehearsal dinner or wedding shower flowers. So I was very glad when this orange tulip centerpiece order was placed for one of our 2012 bride’s showers. They wanted “U of I” colored flowers that were simple and would not out-shine the wedding flowers which were also simple and chic in design. We came up with cylinders filled with orange tulips and wrapped in a band of navy ribbon. Perfect for any Illini Alumni.

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A Springy Rustic Wedding at Morton Arboretum

kiokreations — Sun, 06 May 2012 13:05:55 +0000

Joanne and Paul had an awesomely beautiful wedding on a brisk but beautiful spring day a couple weeks ago. We were so happy to be a part of it, thanks to a recommendation by one of our favorite photographers, Caitlin Hazelton of Hazelton Photography. Joanne and Paul’s needs were few, but we were able to accommodate their small event with some simply stunning flowers!

Joanne’s bouquet was one of my favorites and involved lots of colors and textures…which is why I loved it! There were also some flower girls of different ages so 2 of them got smaller versions of the bridal bouquet and one got a floral-embellished basket with petals. There were also some simple bouts and corsages for the groom and parents of the bride and groom. Everything was chic and springy.

The ceremony and reception were in the same space (The Founder’s Room) at the Morton Arboretum’s Thornhill Center. Joanne and Paul made their own chuppah but needed some simple floral bundles for decorating it in addition to a bunch of small centerpieces of various shapes and sizes to line the middle of the banquet-style reception tables. The centerpieces in the birch vases were a huge hit–and everyone also liked the candlestick and vintage blue mason jar ones as well.

Congrats to Joanne and Paul!