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I guess Natalie just knew that she was in great hands. Natalie and Dan assigned me to make all of the bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, bar decor, entry way decor and some of the hutch decor. I also made a pomander for the tiny flower girl. It was super cute. Everything was berry-toned–from the flowers to the linens to the bridesmaids dresses–and it all looked perfect! I loved making mismatched bridesmaids bouquets (meaning NONE of them matched!) and think they worked great with the mismatched bridesmaids’ dresses.

With the smaller pieces handled by me, Holly made the pew decor, Ryan made the tall centerpieces and head table arrangements and Dan designed the escort card table arrangement, a couple tall centerpieces, the altarpieces and all of the short centerpieces in the vintage cigar boxes. He also made one of the most beautiful bridal bouquets I have ever seen for his bride–an all white soft bouquet of lily of the valley and sweet pea with a brooch and floppy bow. Natalie absolutely loved it and I loved that the groom made her favorite floral piece for the wedding day. He also made his own bout using some sprigs of Lily of the Valley. He was a very helpful, creative, and motivated groom! I loved working with him, Holly and Ryan. It was a fun couple of days!

On the wedding day, I delivered all of the bouquets and ceremony decorations while Holly and Ryan delivered and set up the reception decor. The reception decor included gorgeous tall candelabra centerpieces, short centerpieces in vintage cigar boxes, 2 long and low rose arrangements reused from the ceremony altar, 20 pew decors reused as centerpiece accents, 2 shorter candelabras for the head table, a large escort card table arrangement, vintage family photos and additional mini arrangements for the hutch and hundreds of pedestal candles and mercury glass votives. I cannot wait to see all of the photos taken by the amazing Jeremy Lawson of Jeremy Lawson Photography!

Other great vendors helping make the wedding perfect were Shannon Gail who was a bridesmaid and the main wedding planner, Beth Bernstein of SQN Events who acted as a Day-of-Coordinator for the wedding day, Nika Vaughan who made Natalie and everyone even more polished and beautiful that day with her make up skillz, Colin Lyons who shot late night photos at the reception, Creative Cakes who made a delicious and gorgeous wedding cake, Traveling Photobooth who provided hours of entertainment for those of us brave enough to get into the booth and the venue Cog Hill, wowed me with the yummy food. The tomato basil soup was so tasty and the entree was amazing! I was very impressed with everyone coming together to make things just amazing and unforgettable and I was honored to be a part of it.

View Some Photos from the Wedding…

I am so lucky to have married my best friend three years ago. Happy Anniversary Matt!

Couple: Bridget & Patrick
Wedding Month: End of July
Ceremony Site: St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Chicago
Reception Site: Backyard Wedding on Chicago’s Southside
Colors: Navy, Hot pink and yellow
Flowers: Zinnias, hydrangea, calendula, aster, billy balls, gerbera daisies, germinis, stock, yarrow, marigold, sunflower, mini sunflower, agapanthus, delphinium and silver sage
Items made: Personal flowers, Centerpieces and accents for reception, signs, parasol, card holder.

Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. McGinnis! Have a great life together!

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For the fabulous bridal bouquet, I combined peonies, mini callas, vanda orchids, cymbidium orchids, and spray roses. It is one of my favorite bouquets EVER! The handle was wrapped in ivory satin with a champagne overlay and a double RR monogram adorned the top. The bridesmaids carried bouquets of purple hydrangea, fuchsia roses and spray roses, champagne roses, callas and orchids. The bouts and corsages were all made with orchids, callas, and spray roses to coordinate with the bouquets.

For the ceremony, we just provided a bag of petals for the moms to toss at the couple–this is a fun Greek tradition that I wish I was there to see! I’ve done a few Greek weddings and have never seen petals thrown at the couple!

For the reception, we did paper decor items included U of I table numbers and escort cards and my friend Kristina, the groom’s sister, made R’s for the backs of Rich and Rita’s chairs and for the entry doors.

We also did a gorgeous floral piece for the escort card table and our signature floral-rimmed card holder vase and a smaller vase for wishes and advice.

The head table was decorated with submerged flower cylinders, petals and vases for the bouquets. The cocktail tables also got a variety of submerged cylinder and rectangle vases with floating candles on them. The cake was decorated with an “F” topper and flowers cascading down the front and back on an angle.

The guest tables were adorned with 3 styles of centerpiece included a tall mixed arrangement of hydrangea, stock, roses, larkspur and orchids with gold curly willow branches and purple uplights inside; a trio of submerged orchids in cylinder vases with floating candles; and a short full mixed arrangement.

I loved working with Rita and Rich to plan their wedding floral decor and 2 of their showers too! I really appreciate all of the help I received from Kristina and Pauline in making Rita and Rich’s wedding perfect!

I wish the new Mr. & Mrs. Freidag a lifetime of happiness! CONGRATS!

…and GO ILLINI!

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For Jamie’s bouquet, she carried a hot pink bouquet of peonies with a chic ivory satin handle. The bridesmaids carried magenta rose bouquets with lime green hypericum berry accents and navy satin handles. The bouts and corsages were all made with roses, ranunculus and spray roses to match the bouquets.

For the ceremony, we did a scroll pattern of roses petals down the center aisle and hung hot pink cones of hydrangea from shepherd’s hooks lining the aisle. Our natural branch arch was decorated with simple floral bundles to set the stage for the vows. The venue’s beautiful lake and weeping willow trees did the rest of the work!

For the reception, Jamie and Chris selected navy linens and brown chiavari chairs–and it was the perfect base for our bright and bold floral arrangements. A true testament to how linens and chairs can really elevate the ambiance to the next level! I loved the contrast!!! The centerpieces we did in three styles: 5 tall pilsners with a bright mixed arrangement on top and submerged orchid and magenta LED uplight inside; 4 short full mixed arrangements; and 5 trios of cylinder vases with submerged orchids and floating candles inside.

We also did beautiful swooping flowers down the cake. It looked amazing! For the escort card table, we made an awesome manzanita tree with hydrangea balls and hanging amaranthus and votives with a floral base. We also provided vases for the bouquets and petals on the head table and one of our birdcage card holders for the gifts.

It all looked so fantastic and I am so happy for Jamie and Chris! Congrats you two!

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For the personals, Morgan carried a huge bouquet of colorful blooms–it was just breathtaking! The bridesmaids carried smaller, tighter mixed bouquets that were still bold with color. The guys wore orchid bouts and the corsages were made with orchids and spray roses.

For the ceremony, 2 altarpieces were made in pilsner vases with sprays of orchids shooting out the top with curly willow branches. They were later moved to the gift and escort card tables.

For the reception, Morgan made some awesome ribbon boards to display the escort cards we designed (I cannot wait to see them!). We also made the table numbers and provided our signature rectangle card holder with monogram to hold the gifts.

For the guest tables, we designed two styles–a tall cylinder vase with stock and curly willow branches with dendro orchids on them and the other a short mixed arrangement in bright, bold colors with a ti leaf wrap. The cake was decorated with flowers as was the head table.

I already have some awesome photos from their pro photographer, my vendor friend Danielle Aquiline–so I included them in the gallery. I cannot wait to see more photos of the flowers and decor!

Congrats to Morgan and Brian!!! All the best to you both!!!

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This holiday weekend I had the pleasure of doing 2 weddings, I met with 2 clients and I also had a few leftover blooms to make these beautiful floral arrangements for the studio. It’s been a busy weekend for Kio Kreations!

I hope all of you are having a great, fun, relaxing weekend!

Enjoy the rest of it!

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ALSO–In the future, I plan to have “Military Mondays” for anyone affiliated with military in any way (related to, married to, etc.) Military Mondays will be an opportunity to get a vase filled with flowers as well–our little way of giving back what we can and hopefully make people happy with flowers for at least a week…again, email me for more info about this. We will post these randomly on Mondays when we have enough flowers on hand to make arrangements for people.

Happy Monday! Come get some flowers!!!