Let me set the scene - my little brother and his beautiful wife-to-be standing under a stunning arbor arch covered with florals in a muted sunset color scheme with a hint of deep burgundy, about to say, “I do.” This was one of the most memorable moments from my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding. Hi! It’s me, Maegan, with The Floral Pop, a local Nashville florist and wedding vendor. I recently had the incredible privilege of designing the florals for my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding here in Nashville.
If you know me, you know I am truly devoted to my family, and I was so honored to be asked by my sister-in-law, Kathryn, and my brother, Ethan, to be the florist at their wedding. Kathryn and her mom were the main point people for everything wedding florals, and we worked together to create their dream wedding florals. Obviously, with it being family, I wanted to ensure everything was exactly how they imagined and dreamed. I always strive to go above and beyond for the couples I work with, but this was the most in-depth and personal experience I have had when planning florals. I absolutely loved getting to go through this process with my sister-to-be.
My sister-in-law, her mother, and I did a ton of investigating into which colors and flowers would look good together based on her ideas. We even went to two or three of the wholesalers I work closely with to see the actual flowers we could use to give her a visual of the color palette for her floral arrangements. After a lot of meetings and conversations, we decided on a muted sunset color palette with a hint of deep burgundy that I joked was the manly color added in for my brother. This color palette represented them as a couple so well and was more colorful than most wedding florals that are currently trending, which we all loved!
Once we decided on the colors, flowers, and arrangements, it was my time to get to work. Kathryn gave me creative freedom and trusted my final vision for the arrangements, so I placed all the orders and prepared for their big day. We finally made it to the week of the wedding, and the entire family was so excited. My brother, Ethan, and I are incredibly close, and I was so excited to see my kid brother marry the woman of his dreams. The week of their wedding went so easily, and I had the support of my mom, aunt, cousin, and a fellow floral designer friend, Cara, to help me design the floral arrangements. My mom was the best throughout the entire week. She was there to support me in any way and was my rock. I love that she is always there for me, and I know I can always call on her.
Beginning on Wednesday morning, I processed all of the flowers to make sure everything was ready to be designed on Thursday. My incredible friends at Mint Spring Farms allowed us to use their in-house floral studio to assemble all the arrangements. This was a HUGE help as putting together arrangements in my small studio at my house is not the same process, especially when a family member is getting married that week. My mom, aunt, cousin, Cara, and I got to work on Thursday morning. We began with a team meeting and gave out floral duties, such as creating table arrangements, bud vases, and bridesmaid bouquets! I had such incredible support, even though I needed to clarify a few times which flowers were which to my family members.
My family and Cara went above and beyond to support me in creating the arrangements. Cara took on the task of designing all of the table arrangements, and with her exceptional artistic eye and years of experience, they were absolutely gorgeous. With so many table arrangements to be designed, Cara began assembly lining all of these designs. Similar to an assembly line in a factory, a florist will work to add only one variety of flowers to all of the arrangements at a time and then come back through with the next flower variety. This style of designing quickly creates the arrangements flower by flower, instead of the slower process of designing one arrangement at a time. With everyone’s help, the process absolutely flew by. Cara and I tried out many types of new floral arrangements that we had never made before, and I even had compotes shipped from Australia from the store Oh Flora. (Pro Tip: Their customer service is absolutely INCREDIBLE. I reached out to customer support because they were out of what I needed in their U.S. warehouse, and they quickly helped me get what I needed. I was very impressed that they shipped the compotes from Australia quickly.)
Since we were quickly progressing through the "to-do" list on Thursday, we were able to grab lunch and enjoy each other’s company, and by 3:00 pm, we were wrapping up all of the things my family could help us with. Then, on Friday morning, Cara and I returned to finish designing with a hard stop at 3:00 pm because I had to be fresh and ready for the rehearsal dinner! We arrived around 8:00 am and knocked everything out faster than I expected. We were even done an hour early, which gave me plenty of time to get ready and enjoy spending time celebrating with my family. Having an outstanding design team is so important as a florist, but Cara is truly top-tier. She is an artist, and I know I can trust her with anything I ask her to help with. She has such an eye for design.
We finally made it to the day of the wedding, and I had so much help with set up from my family and friends. As a team, we divided and conquered, with some of us setting up the table arrangements with candles and greenery, extra bud vases on the head table, adding mint and lavender sprigs to the 120 napkins, and all of the other arrangements around the venue. Even with all of these small details to accomplish, everyone, including the groomsmen, went above and beyond to help us throughout the day. This just shows the community my sister-in-law and brother have surrounding them and supporting them. It speaks so much to who they are as a couple and their hearts.
There was one small hiccup on the morning of the wedding, but it ended up being a funny story once we solved the problem. The wedding venue was an hour away from Mint Springs Farm, and when we began loading the floral arrangements up, we tried to turn on my mom’s car, and it would not start. My heart dropped, and I went straight into problem-solving mode. I sent Cara and my aunt ahead in my car and Cara’s car to start getting set up and began making calls to find someone to help. I called a florist friend’s husband who lives near Mint Springs Farm, and he ran out of the grocery store to come and jump my mom’s car off. I was so thankful and was just so excited when I finally made it to the wedding venue. There were many prayers said throughout the day, and getting my mom’s car to start was absolutely one of them!
The final details were beginning to come together, and I ended up designing the bridal bouquet the day of to make sure it was perfect. It was a bit larger than expected, which added some weight (oops), but it turned out absolutely beautiful. I had the opportunity to present Kathryn with her bouquet, and it was such a meaningful moment of the day. They set it up almost as a first look (even though I was only halfway done with make-up and hair and running around with a flannel shirt on); I will never forget her face when she turned around and was awestruck! She even did a little happy dance because she loved it so much. It was the first time I was outwardly emotional while presenting the bouquet to the bride. It made me tear up as I shared about the flowers I specifically chose for her and how much it means to me to welcome her to the family. It was such a special moment for Kathryn and I as our family watched in the background.
After presenting her bouquet, there were still a few things to complete, but because it was mid-July, we were battling the heat. I knew to wait as long as possible before putting anything outside where the flowers could quickly wilt and die before the ceremony even began. One of the ceremony arrangements included an arch which we covered in florals and greenery to give it an extra pop of color as you looked up at the couple while they were standing at the altar. Cara took charge of the on-site design, setup, and placement of ceremony pieces while I was getting ready. By the time I was finished with my hair and makeup, almost everything was ready to go. Cara and I wrapped up everything as guests were beginning to arrive, and the ceremony was about to finally begin!
As the ceremony began, I finally had a moment of stillness to take a breath and soak up the moment. I ended up tearing up during the ceremony because my brother is so special to me. He has grown and matured in life and his relationship with the Lord so much over the past few years. This was reflected throughout the ceremony and celebration with their close group of friends and family. The evening was incredible, and we had a great night. Everyone shared how much they loved the florals, which meant so much to me. They turned out better than I could have even imagined. Ethan and Kathryn’s photographer, Hannah Mac Photography, captured the night so wonderfully. I had worked together with her in Utah before and absolutely loved working with her again.
Funny enough, after the wedding was over around 9:00, a bunch of family and friends helped to clean up all of the florals and we saved them for Kathryn's older sister Lis' baby shower the next day! It was a weekend filled with celebrations with family and friends!
This summer wedding turned out so beautifully, even with the heat in Nashville, and it reminds me of another beautiful wedding I was honored to be a part of. I highlighted this incredible wedding in my blog post, A Stunning Monarch Summer Wedding. Check it out for more summer wedding inspiration!
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