Weddings – Brick & Willow Photography

How to make a floral crown

Posted on March 23, 2016April 28, 2016 by Stephanie

Okay… I’m not a florist, not even a little bit. Although I am not a florist, nor do I have any formal training, I love playing with floral arrangements! I have been playing with floral arrangements for as long as I remember. I would always beg my mom to buy stems rather than an arrangement for parties/Thanksgivings/etc, so I could play with the flowers. I decided to make a floral crown for a styled shoot I did a few months ago. I had a styled Littleton wedding shoot at The Barn at Raccoon Creek with a bride and groom. I already had traditional flowers in order from a local florist for my bride and groom, so with my second female model I wanted to do something fun.

Suni was going to wear a gorgeous gold sequin Badgley Mischka dress and I wanted something fun for an accent. I love floral crowns, and I know they’ve been a little… okay a lot… overdone lately, but I still love them. I wanted it to be big and beautiful and slightly obnoxious in the best of ways. I received a few quotes for floral crowns, and it seemed the starting price to be around $150 for what I was looking for. Since this was for a styled shoot, and not a real wedding, I wanted to give it a go. I purchased the majority of the flowers at my local super market, and bought the large roses at a local floral shop because I really wanted them to be a wow factor. A quick trip to Joanne Fabric and I was ready to go.

Shopping List: Flowers (lots of them) 🙂 greenery, florist wire, thick florist wire, and floral tape

All of this cost approximately $40. The project took me an hour and was incredibly fun. I started by cutting the thick wire the size I wanted the crown. I cut about 20 inches accounting for an extra inch and a half on each end. On each end I made a little loop with the wire, which would allow a sting or wire to go through each loop and keep the floral crown on.

Next I cut the roses and wrapped them with wire and floral tape. I cut about a 2 1/2 inch stem and wrapped the wire (7 inches) around and around and then went over it with floral tape. The wire helps give the roses some flexibility without snapping the stem.

Next, I started making tons of mini floral arrangements. I made 15 mini arrangements and they were all different. Some I did one large rose, a few greens, and baby’s breath, others, three mini garden roses and leaves… just whatever looked good to me. Seriously so fun to try and not think about it and just let the creativity take over. When I had the small arrangement grouped together, I cut the stems to the same length (about 2 1/2 inches) and wrapped the grouping with a ton of floral tape. (about a foot each grouping) Once I had all my mini arrangements laid out I started attaching them to the thick wire crown. To attach, I used more floral tape (12 inches or so) to attach each grouping to the crown starting with the end of the crown with the blooms facing the loop and work all the way to the other side. I kept them all facing the same direction so it was easy to attach the next arrangement. I would positing them to try to make it around the same thickness all the way around and to look very full. That’s all!! So easy and fun!

Colleen and Charlie’s Littleton Engagement

Posted on January 28, 2016March 1, 2016 by Stephanie

One of my favorite parts of being a Denver wedding photographer is the winter engagement sessions. I had the privilege of photographing Colleen and Charlie’s engagement session a few weeks ago and it was a great time. They were so incredibly sweet and fun to work with, and their dog Ollie was the cutest. These two just glowed together and the warm winter day with awesome lighting was the icing on the cake. I knew Colleen and I would get along when I
showed up and we were wearing matching boots. 🙂 We even figured out her parents live just up the street from me… such a small world. I loved their styles and her scarf was perfection.

We met at the Platte River trail behind Aspen Grove shopping center. The weather was honestly perfect. It was warm enough to not need a coat, but cool enough where there was still snow on the ground. We just walked along the path and found several awesome spots to take a few photos.

They are newly engaged and already have a lot of their plans in line for their wedding. I love planners! 🙂 These two will be getting married in August of this year at The Barn at Raccoon Creek in Littleton and I’m so excited to spend their special day with them as their wedding photographer.

Littleton Wedding Photographer/ Engagement Session at Red Rocks

Posted on November 16, 2015February 28, 2016 by Stephanie

Being a Denver wedding photographer has so many incredible perks, one of my favorites being having the opportunity to explore areas all over Denver. When Jackie mentioned she was interested in going to Red Rocks for her engagement session I was so happy! Red Rocks is one of my favorite areas just outside of Denver. The views are incredible and there is something that is just magical about the park. The natural beauty mixed with the relaxed architecture is right up my alley.

A few weeks ago I was able to capture engagement photos for Jackie and Dylan at Red Rocks Amphitheater. The weather was gorgeous and the beautiful fall golden colors were still present. Jackie and Dylan make a perfect couple and were so fun to work with. Jackie came prepared with her sharpie so we could write ‘Save the Date’ on the bottom of her shoes for a photo. Jackie is a Broncos fan, while Dylan is a Redskins fan so we ended the session with them in their jerseys. They were so easy to connect with and it was so fun to photograph them because showing their love was so effortless. I loved their photos, however my absolute favorite is the one of Jackie leaning her back on the rocks, and Dylan leaning in for a kiss with his arm above her. My other was the one of them in the center of the arch on the road. It took forever to get the shot as cars would come just as we started in the street, but once we finally had the opportunity, it was totally worth it. I’m excited to be their Denver wedding photographer next year at Hudson Gardens.