A Garden Wedding

When Christine and Stephen hired me to help them plan their October Garden wedding, I was really excited to know we would be working with Allied Arts in Menlo Park! As a gardener and floral photographer myself, I love any chance to be in one of my favorite gardens. But the more I get to know this couple, the more excited I am to see all their fun plans come together.

Looking over the rustic fence into the Blue Garden in Allied Arts.

The ceremony will be in the Blue Garden, but the orientation of the focus of the wedding was our mission last Saturday, when we visited Allied Arts.

We discussed the different options as we stood in the middle of the Blue Garden.

Should it be here.........

..or here......

or here....??! You will have to wait to see, as the decision is still under discussion!

The hydrangeas won't be as blue in October, but they will have a tinge of blue mixed with some lovely antique looking burgundy and grey shades... the natural backdrop will be perfect for Christine's color palette of blues, purples, and burgundy shades, with some bright green and cream for contrast.



Stephen is British, and comes from a long line of English gardeners; his family will certainly enjoy the charm of this California version of formal garden, with hundreds of roses, perennial borders, fountains, stone and brick pathways, and of course a place for tea in the center!


Christine is a concert pianist, whose friends, all professional musicians themselves, will be providing ceremony and cocktail music. One of our decisions during our visit was where to place the Stringed Quartet; the music for Christine and Stephen's wedding will not be background, but rather the musicians will be taking a primary role throughout, so we needed to be sure they could be both seen and heard! The bride, groom and musicians will be the key players at this wedding!

I will be writing more about the developing plans for Stephen and Christine's wedding celebration; creative ideas in the works to blend musicians, gardeners, Brits and family friends, for an unforgettable Garden Wedding.