A Detail-Filled Intimate Garden Garden Wedding

Creating meaningful, memorable details is what brings me the most joy, so when I had the opportunity to design for my creative, romantic, sweet, loving Aunt and namesake, Maureen, and her love, David, we were bound to come up with lots of special pieces.

Alexandra Meseke Photography • Flowerwell • Stone Fruit

Every letter or card I’ve received from Aunt Mo features her whimsical script, so I knew we needed to feature it somewhere in the paper goods. I asked her to pen her and David’s names for their Save the Date. To notify guests that the bride and groom were treating them to accommodations at Mirbeau, we tied a die-cut key to the details tag.

Inspiration was everywhere. Mo’s dress was covered in the prettiest lace full of romantic watercolor-like appliquéd florals. Flowerwell’s real flowers were a dream of dahlias and garden roses in peachy pinks and foraged raspberry for a nod to the early fall season. Having the bouquets grown locally on Flowerwell’s farm was a sweet touch for the gardener bride.

Mirbeau Inn & Spa’s gardens are designed after Monet’s Giverny and offered the perfect setting for this emotional day. The gardens burst with color in summer, and by early October, we were treated to golden sun, the last of the roses, and the most magnificent weeping willow.

The couple’s monogram features a peony and the couple’s intertwined initials. We repeated the bride’s favorite flower throughout with a peony wax seal, and soft, peachy watercolors on the envelope liners. Washes of blue-green were a nod to tones in Maureen’s dress and the water of nearby Skaneateles lake.

“This hanky is made for happy tears” we stamped on special vintage handkerchiefs along with the ceremony program info and the couple’s monogram. I love a functional keepsake and these “programs” were the talk of the party. My mom (aka the MOH and sister of the bride) and I had fun picking out which hankie was perfect for each guest.

Mo's always been sewing creative pieces, so custom fabric details showed up throughout: we did a fabric welcome sign, she sewed favor bags (filled with flower seeds!) from fabric printed with my watercolor designs, and I gifted her an embroidered tea towel for her bridal shower. The bride made custom masks and her groom wore a pocket square from the same fabric of the favor bags.