finch and thistle event design

{ Monday, September 12, 2016 }

Spring Wedding at Chihuly Garden & Glass

category: Home, Weddings

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.

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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.

Tagged: alderbrook resort and spa, alderbrook wedding, Angela and Evan Photography, finch and thistle event design, floral and event design, seattle

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{ Wednesday, February 10, 2016 }

Published: Cover Story at Seattle Met Bride & Groom

category: Home, press

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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{ Monday, May 11, 2015 }

Elegant Washington Farm Wedding

category: event design, Home, Weddings

Audrey wanted her Washington State barn wedding to have a loose Marie Antoinette theme and I loved the idea of contrasting the rustic farm venue with a gilded, ballroom design scheme. To achieve this, we employed a mix of rented vintage pieces – old clocks, jewelry boxes, packets of antique love letters, a French barn ladder, and art déco pottery with lush, organic florals in luxe gold urns. Gold rimmed plates, chargers and Chiviari chairs added to the ballroom look while stunning La Tavola linens added a final touch of elegance. This lovely wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty last week – you can see the full gallery of images from Coco Tran here.

The garden inspired florals included local garden roses and dahlias, fresh blueberry branches, clematis, Annabelle hydrangea and Kent Beauty oregano. A sprig of rosemary at each place setting added a fragrant touch. Guests wandered around the farm visiting the various resident animals and then took their seats for the ceremony on rustic wooden benches as Audrey and David were married under a metal arch covered in peach, blush and green blooms.

Tagged: elegant pink and gold wedding, finch and thistle event design, seattle event designer, Washington farm wedding

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{ Monday, January 5, 2015 }

Canlis Dinner Party

category: event design, floral design, Home

As I’m currently in hospital due to some complications with my pregnancy, I figured now is as good a time as any to go through all the professional pictures from our events last year and refresh the portfolio and blog (unreliable internet connection allowing). This dinner party was thrown in honor of a client’s 60th birthday and as friends and family were being flown in from around the country, we wanted to make sure the 60′ King’s table was appropriately lavish but still maintained a wilder, Pacific NW look. The linens were from Choice and the beautiful images are by Stephanie Cristalli.

Tagged: canlis, finch and thistle, finch and thistle event design, floral table runner, seattle floral design, stephanie cristalli photography

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{ Thursday, May 29, 2014 }

Published: Coral, Peach and Burgundy Sodo Park Wedding

category: Home, Weddings

This beautiful and FUN travel themed wedding at Sodo Park was recently published in Seattle Bride AND on Style Me Pretty. Here are some images from Laurel McConnell Photography.

Photography: Laurel McConnell | Floral and Styling: Finch & Thistle Event Design | Venue: SODO Park by Herban Feast Catering | Day-of Coordination: Jen Leslie Events | Dress: J. Heljm

Tagged: Coral Wedding, finch and thistle event design, laurel mcconnell photography, SODO Park Herban Feast, style me pretty, Travel Wedding

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{ Wednesday, May 14, 2014 }

Peaches and Cream

category: Home

Sneak peek from a recent bridal shoot on the University of Washington campus with Jacqueline Dallimore.

Tagged: amaryllis, bridal bouquet, finch and thistle event design, peach garden rose bouquet

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{ Wednesday, April 30, 2014 }

Published: Snippet + Ink Yacht Club Wedding

category: Home, press

Fun to see Edwina and Jesse’s sorbet colored yacht club wedding featured on Snippet and Ink today! Check out all the details here…

Tagged: finch and thistle event design, Seattle wedding, snippet and ink, yacht club

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{ Tuesday, April 15, 2014 }

Published: Style Me Pretty – Urban, Fall Seattle Wedding

category: Home, Weddings

Kristin and Gary’s Fall wedding at Within Sodo has been published on Style Me Pretty today so I can finally share all the details and Chantal Andrea‘s gorgeous pictures here! This was far from a traditional wedding – no sit down dinner, no bouquet toss, no cake cutting and a professional stage setup for the band (with musical cameos by the Groom, Groomsmen, both Fathers, and the Groom’s grandfather)! Half the guests had flown in from the UK and Kristin and Gary really wanted to ensure that everyone had a wonderful time and got to experience a real Pacific Northwest atmosphere.

They wanted the wedding to reflect their cultural differences – Gary is British and Kristin is a Washington native – and show off the beautiful city where they had made a home together. They picked a very urban, warehouse style venue with a rooftop deck, their favorite local tapas bar to cater, Macrina Bakery to provide the desserts and Kristin’s dad’s pub in Anacortes provided the beverages, Rainier beer included.

Finch + Thistle Event Design, Seattle | Chantal Andrea Photography

Kristin and Gary’s wedding was a dream to design because the couple was so open to pushing the envelope design-wise. We wanted to highlight the urban feel of the venue, Within Sodo, but also bring an air of glamour and elegance to the space. We picked a color scheme of navy, cream, red and burgundy so we could use the beautiful local fall flowers and foliage that Kristin loves. The ceremony backdrop that we created out of a Magnolia leaf garland hung with industrial bulb lights and decorated with garden roses was a design highlight.

Finch + Thistle Event Design, Seattle | Chantal Andrea Photography

We also decorated the buffet tables and dessert buffet with the same magnolia garlands and large, overflowing gold urns filled with garden roses, crabapple branches and dahlias. The centerpieces alternated with gold urns on the larger tables and a smokey grey glass vase on the bistro style seating near the stage. We hung giant greenery chandeliers in the main room and Polish glass lanterns twinkled above the dessert table.

Finch + Thistle Event Design, Seattle | Chantal Andrea Photography