3250 Peace Valley Lane, Falls Church, VA 22044 703.734.1137 by appointment only
From the beginning, we knew that we wanted our wedding to have a modern, contemporary feel. From my dress, to the invitations, to the flowers, and chuppah, we wanted elegance and simplicity. Based on many excellent recommendations and beautiful pictures of their work, we met with Yellow Door and hoped they would be able to capture this look.
One of the challenges that we faced with the flower and chuppah design was to meld this idea of modernity with the very Victorian feel of the Willard hotel where we were having the wedding. All of our worries were immediately put at ease during our first meeting in the lobby of the hotel with the suggestion of a subdued color palette of apricots, sages, and creams. The palette felt romantic and soft; and the flower choices of calla lilies, hydrangea, and roses retained a tight and tailored look. This marriage of soft colors with stronger structure was magic, and it was one that was carried through the designs for the bouquets, ceremony, and reception.
When discussing the bridal and bridesmaid bouquets, we were introduced to the idea of Biedermeier floral design. This “Old world” style of design clusters the flower types separately in rings of concentric circles, blending a sense of timelessness with a more modern feel. The colors remained soft, and my bouquet expertly captured the tailored look we had hoped for, but did not have the words to describe!
Another challenge we faced in the floral design was that of the chuppah. Because my father was the rabbi performing the ceremony and my sister was performing the music, we knew that we wanted the chuppah to be the centerpiece of the evening. Again, we wanted to create modern elegance, and we had a foggy idea of a chuppah being done all with draping and without flowers – seemingly floating and softly lit. Unfortunately, we had no pictures to help explain our ideas more concretely. Our vision was somehow understood exactly and quickly a sketch was drawn that put our vision into reality. The dupioni silk wrapped poles that were going to be used in the design created a soft sloping shape that would be draped with panels of chiffon in our color palette. The base of the poles had pools of rose petals around the edges of the drapery. Candlelit clear vases down the aisle complemented the chuppah perfectly and added to the glow of the ceremony room. When we first saw our chuppah on the evening of our wedding, we were elated – it was everything we wanted and more, and I still get glowing comments about our chuppah to this day.
At the reception, we had three different types of centerpieces, ranging in height from high to low. The plan was that we would use different flower types at each table. At first, the vision of a non-uniform look seemed strange to me, but it was explained that this could be another way to incorporate a more contemporary look and provide visual interest to the guests. As it turned out - the contrasting design of huge green calla lilies in vases in combination with softer candlelit mounds of hydrangea was unique and gorgeous.
Working with Yellow Door was truly a pleasure. From the initial meeting to the beautifully written proposal, we really sensed professionalism and passion for floral design. We appreciated their flexibility in trying something new with our chuppah, and we were amazed at their ability create exactly what we wanted from our vague, sometimes confused, ideas. From the e-mail and phone calls to meetings, time was always taken to listen and explain, and the results were magic.