INSTAGRAM E-DESIGN GIVEAWAY!
I am so excited about this new chapter for Finch & Thistle and to celebrate, I’m giving away a FREE e-design package for one lucky bride or groom! For details on how to enter, visit our Instagram page at www.instagram.com/finchandthistle
Entries accepted until Friday, March 31 at 7am PST. The winner will be announced on Friday, March 31 at noon PST!
Image by my talented friends: O’Malley Photographers
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- { Monday, March 27, 2017 }
New E-Design Service for Weddings!
- category: E-Design Service, Home, Weddings
I have exciting news! After running Finch & Thistle as a full-service event design and planning studio for the last nine years, I have decided to branch out into e-design services for clients who cannot afford to hire a designer but still want to achieve a beautiful and cohesive look to their wedding or event. Working remotely with clients enables me to bring my design services to clients all over the world in addition to continuing to provide full event design and planning services to clients locally.
Here’s a little bit of information about how the process works:
1. Purchase the design package in my ETSY SHOP
2. Fill out the detailed questionnaire that I will email to you.
3. Add a link to your Pinterest Board(s)
4. I get to work putting together a detailed branding and event design board that you can implement yourself or hire local vendors to implement.
5. Turnaround time is around 10 days from the time you send back your questionnaire.
6. One revision is included.
…and here’s what you will receive:
A PDF DOCUMENT that gives you…
1. A cohesive color palette for the event
2. A separate color palette for the floral design
3. Branding examples for stationery/website
4. Decorative rental suggestions within your described budget
5. Floral design suggestions
6. Display ideas (dessert table, guest book, photobooth, seating chart etc)
PLUS, I can also include rental shopping lists, vendor referrals, and sources for decorative pieces in a customized package. Event design at a fraction of the usual price!
Here’s a peek at an example of what you would receive and some pictures from the actual wedding to show how the design could be implemented…
For more information, check out our new shop here: Finch & Thistle Weddings.
- { Friday, February 24, 2017 }
Nautical Summer Wedding at Seattle’s Admiral’s House
This was such a delightful wedding to plan because Annie is an old friend from college. We met as Freshmen at The University of Puget Sound but had only stayed in touch via social media in the thirteen years since graduation, so it was lovely to hear that she was getting married and would like my help with the planning and decor.
Annie and Kevin were married last July at The Admiral’s House in Magnolia. With some dubious weather on the horizon, we played it safe and ordered a clear tent for their garden ceremony and a marquee for the reception on the front lawn. Annie wanted brighter pops of color and a small nod to a nautical theme which inspired the gorgeous, raw linen napkins and runners in navy and taupe which we layered over a very pale grey tablecloth. To add some vibrancy to the flowers, we added orange dahlias and tangerines in the tablescapes. My favorite part was creating the ceremony arbor which we covered in green plum branches, sweet pea vines, garden roses and dahlias. Julie Harmsen took these lovely photos.
- Tagged: Admiral's House Seattle, Finch & Thistle Event Design, julie harmsen photography, Nautical Wedding, Seattle event planner
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- { Monday, January 2, 2017 }
Published GWS: Provencale Country Club Wedding
- category: event design, floral design, Home, Weddings
Leslie and Glan’s love of Provence inspired all the details of their Everett Country Club wedding (down to the photo booth!) which was featured on Green Wedding Shoes. Photography courtesy of Jagger Photography.
The ceremony took place on the First Fairway with a custom built arch draped in garlands and custom crocheted linen held with floral tie-backs. We used loose bunches of lavender, boughs of pears and market baskets to define the space where the bride and groom would stand. Guests were greeted with strawberry water and lavender lemonade as they found their seats. Cocktail hour took place on a patio lit with cafe lights and guests found their tables at the dried herb bundle escort card display.
In terms of decor, I started with herbs and lavender and went from there adding soft grey linens, hemstitch napkins, vineyard chairs, cream draping, cafe lights and beautiful rattan chargers. We filled the long banquet tables with garden compote arrangements, potted herbs and topiaries and brass candlesticks. The arrangements overflowed with local fruiting blueberries, garden roses in peach, coral and butter yellow, zinnias, apple blossom dahlias, pears on the branch and lots and lots of flowering herbs. They were a riot of color and soft fragrance. Each place setting had a sprig of lavender and was accented with lace.
The sweetheart table was set on the stage so the couple could look out over the reception space. We styled the dusty blue vintage couch and farm table with french market baskets and overturned vintage apple baskets overflowing with lavender and garden roses. The cake was also displayed on the stage on top of a vintage dresser with pear boughs filling the open drawers.
- Tagged: Finch & Thistle Event Design, green wedding shoes, Jagger Photography, Provence wedding, seattle event design, seattle wedding planner
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These clients married in a medieval chapel on a private estate just outside Seattle. They wanted the chapel to have a dreamy, forest feel and I had an amazing time dreaming up the altar installation of Japanese snowbell, privet, foxglove and clematis. By contrast, the Chihuly Glass museum is bright and airy with a huge glass poppy installation. This was the biggest set up we’ve ever had to do in a two hour window and I tried to keep that in mind with the event design as it was easy to get carried away with the greenhouse theme. We brought in potted vine maples and soft seating, created a custom bar backdrop and hanging plants to decorate the tented courtyard. I designed three styles of tables and a greenhouse inspired dessert table backdrop complete with custom 5′ wide laser cut monogram and trailing moss and orchids. The florals were filled with garden roses, mock orange, ranunculus, peonies and kumquats. Italian poppies in sherbet shades added a pop of color and served to incorporate the infamous Chihuly glass installation. Photography by Stephanie Cristalli with assistance by Jenn Tai. Event design, styling and floral by Finch & Thistle Event Design.
- Tagged: chihuly garden and glass seattle, chihuly wedding, finch and thistle event design, seattle event designer, spring wedding, stephanie cristalli photography, wedding design
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- { Friday, August 19, 2016 }
Published SMP: Dreamy Washington Winter Wedding
I am thrilled to see Krissy and David’s dreamy winter wedding featured on the front page of Style Me Pretty today! It is always a treat to work with your industry besties and this wedding was a true collaboration between myself, stationery designer Sally Balt at La Happy and fine art film photographers Scott and Ashlee O’Malley. The gorgeous bride is actually one of Sally and Ashlee’s best friends and if you look closely, you’ll see that they were both bridesmaids in this wedding too. For a full album, take a look at the SMP post here.
- Tagged: Finch & Thistle Event Design, Foliage Runners, Head Table Design, la happy, O'Malley Photographers, Rosehill Community Center, Spring Wedding Flowers, Style Me Pretty Wedding, winter wedding, Winter Wedding Flowers
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- { Wednesday, March 23, 2016 }
Woodland Wedding at Alderbrook Resort
- category: floral design, Home, Weddings
This wedding was such a treat to design but the install day shall be forever burned into my memory because I was suffering from horrendous morning sickness (at only 8 weeks pregnant), couldn’t keep a thing down and had to rely on my amazing team to do the heavy lifting (literally – we had wood stumps to haul around!) All that aside, I always love going back to Alderbrook because that is where Grant and I got married almost 9 years ago. It is a beautiful, sophisticated, quintessential Pacific Northwest hotel and spa with all the charm of a 1950’s summer camp. Guests relax on their balconies or around the firepits and look out over the Hood Canal and the Olympic mountains beyond. Seals have even been known to swim with you along the boat dock.
Kristin and Marty wanted a woodland feel to their beautiful day with lots of ferns and woodgrain details. For the ceremony, we lined the aisle with wood stumps and potted ferns in distressed garden pots. For the tented reception, we created three huge chandeliers of greenery and white flowers and then added color to the tables with floral arrangements in coral, orange and pink. It was a beautiful, festive, joyful day photographed beautifully by Angela and Evan Photography and expertly coordinated by Chesney of All the Flutter.
- { Tuesday, February 16, 2016 }
Summer Corson Building Wedding
- category: event design, Home, Weddings
It’s always fun to watch an old friend get married and even more fun when that friend is a fellow artist with excellent taste. Sarah is an art history professor who specializes in ancient Italian art so the decision to host her August wedding at the Corson Building was an easy one. Sarah and Mark wanted their wedding to feel like a large Italian dinner party and the Corson Building’s Tuscan style villa and beautiful gardens were a perfect match. For the event design and floral, I drew inspiration from the landscapes and gardens of Italy, with lush garden flowers in soft pastel tones, bowls of oranges, persimmons, grapes on the vine, and organic herbs. Guests feasted on locally caught, foraged, grown, and harvested products, served family style. I can personally guarantee that not only was it the best food I have ever eaten at a wedding or event, it was the best food I have ever eaten. Period. Each moment of this gorgeous gathering was beautifully captured by Ryan Flynn and was published on Elizabeth Anne Designs.
Photography: Ryan Flynn | Venue: The Corson Building | Floral and Event Design: Finch and Thistle Event Design | Stationery: Gogo Snap! | Calligraphy: La Happy | Favors: Fran’s Chocolates | Cake: Bakery Nouveau | Hair Stylist: Oohla’s | Makeup Artist: Marina Pirkle | Gown: BHLDN | Bride’s Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo | Ties: Salvatore Ferragamo
- { Wednesday, February 10, 2016 }
Published: Cover Story at Seattle Met Bride & Groom
Last week I had possibly the most exciting trip to QFC with baby in tow *ever* when I spotted my work on the cover of my favorite wedding magazine – Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom. I was asked to create a mostly white bridal bouquet for a color story in the latest issue, but I had no idea until I saw it in person that the editor had picked that shot for the cover.
- Tagged: bridal bouqet, finch and thistle event design, seattle event designer, seattle met bride and groom, seattle wedding flowers
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Last summer I did some freelance floral work for the first time in my 9 year floral career. It was a fun change of pace from 24hr baby care and I had some weekends available because I had turned away so many events knowing I would be caring for my new baby full time. I absolutely loved it! All the flowers and none of the stress of planning and coordinating and designing the event at the same time! I also worked with some of my favorite floral designers and friends – Steve Moore (Sinclair and Moore), Melanie Benson, Nancy Teasley (The Oak and the Owl), Ashley Beyer (Tinge Floral) and McKenzie Powell – and I really enjoyed seeing their processes and comparing how we each do things a little differently.
These flowers were all created alongside Melanie Benson for a Sinclair and Moore wedding at a private estate on the Seattle waterfront with images by Katie DeLorme Photography.
And a few iPhone snaps I took on the day (which just shows why you should hire a professional)…
- Tagged: coral and peach flowers, Finch & Thistle Event Design, seattle wedding flowers, Sinclair and Moore
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