This entire shoot, was based around floral from the very beginning. Kathryn with Beautifully Bloomed and Olivia with Olivia Katherine Photography came to me early on with a vision to showcase lilacs for a wedding. With that one goal in mind, the girls pretty much gave me free reign to design a wedding that focused heavily on the fleeting beauty that are lilacs.

“I like incorporating flowers that have meaning. For me, Lilacs signify such a beautiful start to spring.” - Kathryn, Beautifully Bloomed

The Floral

This entire shoot, was based around floral from the very beginning. Kathryn with Beautifully Bloomed and Olivia with Olivia Katherine Photography came to me early on with a vision to showcase lilacs for a wedding. With that one goal in mind, the girls pretty much gave me free reign to design a wedding that focused heavily on the fleeting beauty that are lilacs.

“Because lilacs are so present in the moment, you can’t rush them. You have to sit and enjoy them.” says Kathryn with Beautifully Bloomed. While these florals are stunning, they unfortunatley bloom for only 10 to 14 days, so incorporating them into this wedding was definitely a success for us! We had to have a backup plan from the very beginning incase we missed our chance with them blooming, or incase they got tempermental and didn’t cooperate when designing arrangements.

One thing that was noted about this shoot, was the smell. Lilacs are a very fragrant flower, and they filled the enitre venue with their sweet scent the whole day! “Chemically mass produced florals don’t have frangrance” Kathryn says, which is exactly why she tries to source her florals locally. When wholesalers mass produce florals, they are grown for increased vase life and durability, often at the expense of the flowers fragrance. This is because the scent gene of the flower can conflict with the genes responsible for ethylene resistance, which is crucial for longer-lasting flowers.

Floral by: Kathryn with Beautifully Bloomed

The Ceremony

Outdoor wedding ceremonies have become a major trend over the last few years, so that’s what we try to highlight for each of our shoots, all while incorporating new and unique ideas for our future couples to try! Wood arches, metal arbors, pillars, fabric swags, everything we create is meant to give our couples new insporation for their big day.

Walnut Ridge Wedding Ceremony Setup

Ceremony arches are becoming a thing of the past. Our new favorite wedding ceremony trend are these pillars! Couples can display floral arrangements on and around them, while still adding to the beauty of the space, and not drawing away too much attention from the moment. These pillars can also be moved easily from the ceremony space and into the reception, to make for more added decor for your lounge area, welcome table, sweetheart table, etc. However, if you are interested in a traditional ceremony backdrop for your wedding, Walnut Ridge has a few options in house for you to choose from that pair beautifully with the space- one less thing you have to worry about! If the weather isn’t holing up for your wedding, no worries! All their ceremony arch options can be used for indoor wedding ceremonies as well.
One thing we love about the Walnut Ridge wedding venue, is their outdoor fountain! Such a stunning feature for any outdoor wedding ceremony, so while we needed decor for the ceremony setup, we knew we didn’t want to pull too much attention away from the scenery. The ceremony space at Walnut Ridge in Shellsburg, Iowa includes bench seating for guests, with a perfect view of the couple from any area. With a stunning backdrop of their water fountain in the pond, and 10 acres of wooded area surrounding the property, this is a picture perfect spot for any couple looking to get married outdoors.

The Tablescapes

Kathryn with Beautifully Bloomed gave me one request: Highlight lilacs. The rest, was all up to us on how to design and make these tablescapes stand out… Pressure was on!

I’m a big fan of full looking tables, but not overcrowded tables- there’s a fine line and everyone has their preference, but by adding in plates, napkins, silverware, and glassware you can help the table achieve a fuller look and not look quite so empty. With each table we design, we first look into the main table decor: What’s going to be the main focus of the table? Obviously lilacs for this shoot, but what can we pair with them that helps add to the ambiance, but doesn’t take the spotlight away from the florals? After that’s decided, we can then look into seeing what place settings pair nicely with the decor.

Table #1

The hardest part about building a tablescape with floral as the main decor element, is you don’t know what it’s going to look like until the day of. You can try to imagine it, but no florist is going to design an arrangement solely off an inspiration pic you found on Pinterest, their going to add their own twist to it, which means planning a tablescape ahead of time can be challenging. However, we knew Kathryn was going to knock these floral arrangements out of the park, so we had to make sure we had the decor on point.

Guest Tablescape Design #1

This first table I wanted to keep bare instead of adding a table linen; I love the wood harvest tables, and I felt that the dark wood would compliment the lavender nicely. I started the table design with the table runner; Normally for long tables I like adding in a runner, because it helps give the table a fuller look! We then placed the floral arrangements, and candlesticks around them, debating on if we liked ivory candles or lavender, but ultimately landing on lavender which really fit nicely with the florals. The place settings were the hardest part when it came to the table design, because in the moment, you don’t know what will look best, so you have to play around with all the options.
The decor used in this tablescape:
Lilac Floral Arrangements
Lilac Bud Vases
Gold Taper Candlesticks with Lavender Taper Candles
Purple Hand Dyed Lovli Tapestry (Table Runner)
Rattan Placemats
White Dinner Plates with Crystal Salad Plates
White and Gold Silverware Set
Pink Water Goblets
Plum Linen Napkins
Dinner Menu

Table #2

For this table I origionally envisioned having a long white table linen covering the harvest table, but once I got everything set up, it just didn’t look cohesive. After I took the white linen off and redesigned the table, I knew this tablescape wasn’t meant to be paired with a linen, it stood out more with the bare wood, so we worked around that look instead.

Guest Tablescape Design #2

The decor used in this tablescape:
Lilac Floral Frog Pin Arrangements
Lilac Bud Vases
Gold Taper Candlesticks with Ivory Taper Candles
3x Crystal Mini Lamps
Lavender Table Runner
White + Gold Floral Decal Dinner Plates
Gold Silverware Set
Plum Water Goblets
Plum Linen Napkins
Dinner Menu

The Details

The details on the wedding day are things like the wedding invites and save the dates, the rings, jewelry, signature scents, vow books, the veil, bridal shoes, etc. These items are nice to photograph in the beginning of the day to look back on and remember all the little details that are important to you to highlight for the wedding.

Detail Shots of the day

Details Included:
Stationary by The Noted Design
Invitation
RSVP Card
Detail Card
Envelope
Jewelry from Elegance on 5th
Wedding Rings
Earrings
Bracelet
Necklace
Purple Table Runner
Lilacs from Beautifully Bloomed

The Picnic

Private moments have become more popular over the past few years: Private vows, private first look, even a private cake cutting and garter removal. This wedding day picnic getaway was to inspire couples to do a fun display for all those private moments you want to include on your wedding day, with a fun aesthetic twist. While the picnic area was adorable on it’s own, we had so much fun taking bridal portraits with it too!

The Lounge

I love to include a lounge for every shoot I do, and I always encourage my couples to include one on their wedding day for a few reasons. 1.) You can move the furniture around the venue, even outside, to take photos with, and they make for some of the best bridal portraits! 2.) Your guests will love to sit and chat in an aesthetic lounge area during the cocktail hour and reception. 3.) They are a great space filler if your venue feels too empty. 4) It makes for a great photo op for your guests!

The Vintage Lounge Display

In this lounge setup from Annata Vintage we included:
A Purple Settee
2x Purple Arm Chairs
2x Marble Side Tables
An Ornate Wood Coffee Table
Vintage Pillows
Gold Multi Heighted Athena Candles
Wicker Baskets with Floral

Our Amazing Vendors:

Venue: Walnut Ridge

Photographer: Olivia Katherine Photography

Content Creation: Katie McDonald

Planner: Elizabeth Bliss Events

Décor: 11:11 Event Co. + Decor on Tap

Vintage Rentals: Annata Vintage

Florist: Beautifully Bloomed

Stationery: Noted Design

Desserts: Baked with Grace

Dress: Jocelyn Taylor Bridal

Suit: Skeffington’s Formal Wear

Hair: Aurora Blush

MU: Aurora Blush

Jewelry: Elegance on 5th

Models: Hallei Frazier and Chaz Vasser

The Walnut Ridge Wedding Venue

Address: 6051 32nd Ave, Shellsburg, IA 52332

Phone: 319-558-9512
Email: walnutridgevenue@gmail.com
Walnut Ridge Website
Capacity of 50 - 250 guests
Cost starts at $4,000 for off season, and kicks up to $6,500+ during peak wedding season
Amenities included: 10 acres, tables & chair set up, mid length table linens, bar setup and staffing, 2 large bridal suites, indoor and outdoor ceremony options, decor options onsite, ceremony arches onsite.