seattle floral designer | Finch and Thistle

{ Thursday, December 3, 2015 }

Published: Seattle Bride Classic Ballroom Wedding

category: event design, floral design, Home, Weddings

I absolutely loved working with Hanna and Brian to plan and design their Washington Athletic Club wedding last summer and it was so fun to relive the memories of this classic and elegant wedding when it was published by Seattle Bride. Like many of my clients, Hanna and Brian live out of state so we collaborated on their wedding remotely and with a few in-person meetings to make site visits and round out the details. For such a large, formal wedding, it truly felt like a family affair: Hanna and Brian’s high school best friend made the stunning cake and macarons, Hanna’s cousin is the photographer who shot the wedding, a friend of theirs provided the Tesla for the getaway car, and her mom collaborated with me on many of the small details such as the portrait display for the escort cards and the fun confetti shower surprise during the first dance.

Here’s how Hanna described their day…

“Our wedding really showcased local and national vendors. Our photographers captured the natural beauty of summer in Seattle and the love in the air on our wedding day. My cousin Lindsey is a phenomenal photographer with her teammate Leah, both based in Austin, TX. Our close friend and professional baker from Midori Bakery made our 5 tiered carrot cake topped with gorgeous sugar flowers and our wedding favor macaroons. People are still raving about them! The wedding planning, florals, and decor were done beautifully by Rachel Bowes of Finch and Thistle Event Design. We would highly recommend all of our vendors to future brides! The Washington Athletic Club handled our group flawlessly and we all felt at ease!

The whole day felt like a fairy-tale. Traditional details included my fiance and I seeing each other for the first time when I walked down the aisle with my father, I used the gold pocket watch my late grandfather gave me to wrap my bouquet and I hand-sewed my own chapel length veil. Modern touches included the white Tesla electric car that drove us from our church to the reception, our first dance song was “All of Me” by John Legend, and our final dance was”Magic” by Coldplay while surprise confetti fell onto the dance floor. Looking back, we wouldn’t change a thing!”

Tagged: Finch & Thistle Event Design, seattle event designer, seattle floral designer, The Life You Love Photography, Villa Academy, WAC wedding

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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