A Floral Paradise for Mr. & Mrs. Cole

At a private residence overlooking the lake, Andrea and Justin were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Cole in a mid-November ceremony surrounded by an abundance of flowers. Andrea shared her inspiration behind her venue, stating, “Deciding on the venue was super easy for us. I grew up by the beach, and the beach/lake are my happy places. Our shared dream is to build another house on the lake. Justin also grew up going to that same family lake house. Aside from having a few non-traditional elements, I really wanted a tented wedding.”

Andrea, a flower preservationist, has an impeccable eye for design and worked with Avant Garden to create a masterful display of orchids, eucalyptus, and roses. Andrea’s company, Dbandrea, created beautiful pieces for her wedding day. “The ‘C’ is, of course, our monogram, and the encased menus were made as we wanted our guests to see my company’s work and interact with them throughout the day. The flowers used matched the flowers at the wedding, and the black background was added to go with the black/modern theme. My company differentiates from the competition due to its quality; we meticulously restore the colors and the shapes of the flowers, making them look as close as possible to the way they did when they were fresh, in both Pressed (framed) and Floral Blocks (resin).” From the handmade floral blocks to the gorgeous tablescape, no detail went unnoticed.

For the decor, Andrea enlisted the help of Social Llama Events to coordinate her dream wedding day. Her favorite part of the planning process was seeing all kinds of personal details go into the wedding. “Our planner made us send over a list of what makes each of us unique as individuals and also as a couple (she calls it the insider info). Most, if not all, statements were integrated into the wedding in different ways. Our planner gave us a booklet of the entire day written down without missing any details. This booklet included mock-ups and the fact that the day looked and went very similarly to that was incredible,” Andrea shared.

The most important decor element for Andrea was the flowers. She brought back a fifth of her wedding flowers to have preserved and made into gorgeous keepsakes. “Every installation was incredible! Avant Garden did such an amazing job of pulling my favorite flowers together and making masterpieces with them! Every flower included was chosen by me. White anemones are my favorite flowers, so they were super important to me,” she shared.

The tablescape design was a beautiful contrast of the light, whimsical flowers with the black reflective tabletop and velvet seating. Near the entryway to the reception, the piano was set for music to be played as cocktail hour began. A magnificent waterfall of flowers spilling out of the piano was a true highlight of the reception decor. Andrea and Justin offered unique cocktails for their guests, including a smoky Hibiscus Margarita for her and an Old Fashioned for him. The Coles’ intimate evening came to a close with a fireworks show on the water, followed by their grand exit amidst a tunnel of sparklers. Andrea shared, “the sparklers were not planned. On the way to the lake house, Justin saw that the fireworks stands were open as 11/11 is Veterans Day. He stopped and bought them without telling me. At the end of the night, after the fireworks, it was the best way to send people off – and also some of the photos I like the most!” 

Congratulations to the Coles!!