It has been my dream to create and design florals for a destination wedding for years and this dream finally came true when Mary and Jeremiah reached out to The Floral Pop to support their upcoming Montana destination wedding. Yes, you heard correctly, MONTANA!!!
I could not wait to get started and as soon as we confirmed, I jumped into the research, purchasing and design elements head first. As a company that prioritizes sourcing locally, I wanted to ensure that The Floral Pop was making good use of the local flowers and vendors in the Montana area.
Hi! It’s me, Maegan, with The Floral Pop, a local Nashville florist and wedding vendor! I started The Floral Pop with the dream of one day designing not just for locals but also for destination weddings. Now, a destination wedding was no longer just a dream; it was becoming a reality!
So, "I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan"... Well, not quite, but I left BNA (Nashville, TN) with a long list of things to do with my favorite Thursday boots headed for Montana (FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER). Not to mention, it was just TWO days before the wedding. Upon arrival, I picked up my box of supplies and a floral shipment from FedEx, and was ready to begin my work to make Mary and Jeremiah's wedding florals come to life.
Before assembling wedding florals, they must be processed, which means the leaves are taken off, bad petals are picked off and all thorns are removed. The plan was to process these flowers in my Airbnb, but as we all know, no travel day is perfect. My next option was sitting outside with the beauty of Montana as my backdrop, but that plan was quickly ruled out when rain came pouring down. That's when my rental car became the studio - thank God for 4Runners.
The following day, I met up with an incredible Montana based floral vendor, Jacy, who runs Gallatin Valley Botanical at Rocky Creek Farm, just outside of Bozeman, MT. She provided me with some beautiful cosmos and dahlias. These florals were the perfect local Montana touch to enhance the bouquets, centerpieces and arch piece designed specifically for Mary and Jeremiah’s special day.
That evening, after the designs were completed, just when I thought everything was smooth sailing, I went by the venue to drop off their floral arrangements for the following wedding day and it was almost a tragedy. Whether you work with a florist or choose to DIY, a key factor for the long life of your floral arrangements is keeping them fresh and cool. But as many florists will tell you, there is a huge difference between floral coolers and your typical refrigerator. Once I arrived at the venue, I found they only had a typical refrigerator and this was where the florals had to be stored overnight. To put this into context, just as some ovens run hotter than others, some refrigerators run colder than others, and I had to learn that the hard way. When I arrived the next morning, I opened the cooler to find the water in the arrangements was completely FROZEN and my beautiful local dahlias and cosmos brown had wilted.
To be completely honest, this might have been the scariest moment I’ve ever had in my career. As an incredibly detail oriented person, I felt so much panic! But with my experience and determination, I knew I had to do all it took to make sure Mary and Jeremiah's wedding day was perfect. As Mary, the bride, and her bridesmaids were upstairs getting ready, I was picking dead flowers out of their bouquets. Thankfully, I now had a local flower friend I could call during this emergency, and I did just that!
After a rushed trip back to Jacy's farm, the florals were saved, and the day turned out to be absolutely gorgeous. A romantic, lush green mountainside scattered with the pinks, maroons and the whites of the wedding florals made for a moody and picturesque wedding day for the happy couple. Even though I had to learn some challenging lessons during this trip, it only increased my excitement of booking more destination weddings for the upcoming wedding season!
Are you a bride or groom planning a destination wedding? Check out my list below of a few gorgeous venues I'm daydreaming of doing wedding florals at! I am hoping that if I put these dreams out into the world, I'll see them come to fruition one day. If you are interested or want to chat about what a destination wedding could look like for you and your special day, then please reach out to me, Maegan, at The Floral Pop!!!
The Little Daisy Jerome in Jerome, Arizona, USA
Annadel Estate Winery in Santa Rosa, CA
Alcazar Del Garraf in Catalonia, Spain
Searcy's at the Gherkin in London, England
Parisian Chateau in Occitanie, France
Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada
Chateau des Lavandes in Provence, South France
The glass conservatory of Ballyfin in Laois, Ireland
Anthony Chapel, Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
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