Historic town of Collinsville, Connecticut

My husband and I purchased a home about 3 years ago in Collinsville, Connecticut.  I am completely in love with this quaint town.  So many things to do, the people are so nice and it's in the heart of everything happening!  Rt. 44 is right down the road, where you'll find great organic and natural grocery stores like The Meat House.  Go a little further and you can pick up fresh produce at either Tulmeadow Farms or Rosedale Farms.  Rosedale Farms offers their own farm made wines, a great corn maze and so much to do with the kids.

So, with my love for this town.  It really is a wonderful area, really great schools and just the overall atmosphere is lovely.  We decided to open up shop in the old Ax Factory in the center of Collinsville.  Of course, it's the busiest time of wedding season for us (the fall).  So, we're doing a bit at a time as we can and hope to be ready to meet clients sometime in October.  It's really a fabulous space with lots of light, super tall ceilings and tons of character as well as history with the old factory feel.  I'll be posting images when we finish renovating the space!

There are so many great artists and businesses in the center of Collinsville.  La Salle Market is there if you want to grab a breakfast sandwich or coffee, dinner at Crown & Hammer pub, art classes with Kate at River City Art Center or even a birthday party with the kids there and authentic tacos at Husk.

Here's a few pics from the fabulous Alissa Dinneen from a wedding we did together in August at Lord Thompson Manor.  Enjoy and we hope to see you soon!

Saving tips

With the economy being the way it is, every little penny counts.  Some simple things will help to keep your check book from going up in flames.  Think outside the box and some simple cut backs will help you have a wedding of your dreams without taking out huge loans.

If you don't have the cash to purchase it, you don't need it.  Paying for things right away, means you don't pay huge interest charges on your purchases.  Save your change, I grab my husband's change every week and put it into a jar.  Do you know, I usually use the money to buy groceries for the week.  You'd be amazed of how much you can save in spare change and putting dollars in that jar too!  Cook meals at home and eat out only once a month or two.  This saves a bunch over the course of a year!  If you do eat out, look for coupons online or in the mail to your favorite restaurants.  I get the Sunday paper every week and clip coupons.  Being a savoy shopper and only buying food you really are going to eat saves big bucks!  

Now, I don't normally recommend designing your own flowers.  It can add more stress to your day than you are ready for.  However, if you are looking to cut back on your floral costs... hire a professional for your personal flowers and ceremony decor (boutonnieres, corsages, bouquets, etc.) and ask some friends to help you with the reception flowers.  Get married during the summer or early fall, locate a local farm or grower and purchase cut seasonal flowers.  Fill mason jars with water and add one kind of flower.  I love using mason jars filled with play sand, real beeswax candles and clustering different size jars down long rectangle family style reception tables.  Just add touches of blooms or during the winter, evergreens and pine cones.

Meg & Sarah's wedding

This wedding was designed and perfectly coordinated by Bernadette from 14 Stories.  The setting was Chimney Corners camp in Becket, Massachusetts.  They really could not of asked for a more perfect day.  With every wedding, details are so very important and anything organic or natural.

We picked ribbon grass out of the gardens at the studio.  Freshly picked lavender pieces garnished the couple's signature "sweet pea" drink.  I happily picked every last stem of mint, thyme, rosemary and basil from our gardens to use as sweet and savory scents to all the tables.  The dining room smelled spectacular and very inviting!

There was an abundance of raspberry and orange gerbera daisies in glass mason jars, copper mercury glass bud vases and various vases.  We gathered kale, purple dahlias and purple hydrangea in vintage style wooden boxes with handles.  The details are just gorgeous.  Lots of natural twine twisted around boutonnieres of orange gerbera daisies with millet grass and mahogany fern curls.

Alice in Wonderland wedding @ The Barns at Wesleyan Hills

Today's wedding was for Anna and Matt, one of deserving couples for 2010.  Their wedding was mainly around the theme of Alice in Wonderland.  A wonderful fun and colorful wedding.  The couple worked closely with Jubilee Events to come up with a design that they would absolutely love and remember for a very long time.

They were married in a little chapel (Hope Valley Church) right down the road.  The bride and her attendants were able to literally walk down the road to the romantic ceremony.  They couldn't of asked for better weather!

The bouquets were so very different, colorful and whimsical.  Green millet, hot pink mini calla lilies, billy balls, scabiosa pods and garden roses were hand tied and wrapped with Tiffany blue ribbon.  The bride carried a bouquet of similar flowers but a splash of red roses and cinnamon cymbidium orchids.  Each boutonniere was different and truly one of a kind.  Here are a few images of the reception decor.  Bright colorful zinnias, gerbera daisies and various flowers were clustered in vases and vintage medicine bottles then clustered on the tables.  An old wooden door was hung over the head table and medicine bottles strung with natural twine featured colorful gerbera daisies.  I'm dying to see what Raw Images captured!

The details that bring it all together

By: Jessica Robinson

With any wedding, it's the simplest of details that bring everything together and make it complete.  Like adding moss to the edges of the wooden crate centerpieces for a touch of detail for your eyes to be drawn to.  The more candles the better.

The simple touch of adding a rose bloom to each out of town guests room lets them know you really love that they are taking time out of their busy lives to share this with you.  It will really brighten their day.  Even adding chocolates to pillows in every room, something that adds the personal touch is perfect.  Create a cozy and intimate feeling by having a lounge area.  Ryan Designs offers some amazing pieces that you can rent to complete the look.  Add a fire pit, local wine and you'll have the perfect environment for a highly talked about event.  Ask your caterer to put out trays with all of the makings you'll need for yummy S'mores.

I just received one of the most unusual and impressive invitations in the mail.  Custom designed by Jillian at Fizz Paperie.  Her designs are fabulous and so very creative.  There is nothing she cannot do!  Believe it or no, this invitation is actually made out of wood.  The detailing is perfect and absolutely stunning!  I love the whole look.  It's classy and says romantic yet sophisticated New England wedding.  Lyndsay and Alex's wedding is in October at the Fairmont Hotel in Boston.  The wedding is going to be amazing!

More exciting news for Jessica's Country Flowers.  We just got the keys to our new studio in Collinsville, Connecticut.  It's located in the old Axe Factory in Collinsville.  Right in the heart of the happenings of a very busy town.  We need to do a little painting, add some chandeliers and just the right touch of decor then we'll be ready to meet all of our wonderful clients.  I'm really excited about the changes we're making this fall and winter!

Summer floral details

By: Jessica Robinson
For a summer wedding, I love the look of lots of candles, preferably beeswax candles.  The light aroma of beeswax is romantic and subtle.  Then adding flowers that remind me of sun filled summers at our farm as a child.  Things like zinnias, statice, salvia, sunflowers, sage leaves, fresh lavender and fresh mint, simply placed in vintage mason jars.

I love the look and feel of long tables.  You could never imagine, unless you attended a romantic dinner party how the simple family-style tables bring so much conversation to any event.  If you have a small wedding you can have one very long table, an intimate gathering of your close friends and family.  With larger parties, you'll simply have multiple tables.  Still creating that intimate environment and connecting more people together.

With late summer and early fall weddings, I love the idea of an early afternoon wedding with luminaries strung overhead and lots of pillar candles clustered on the patio or gardens.  Loose blooms in various mason jars and vintage drinking glasses can be simple but very romantic.  As the autumn weather cools the air off I love the look of deep purples with touches of earthy sage green then creamy colors mixed in.  Try adding some height with branches in glass cylinder vases, copper glittered leaves hung and of course, lots of candles.  Nothing can be more romantic than tons of candles.  I'm looking forward to some very gorgeous weddings this fall.

One of the prettiest places for a wedding

By: Jessica Robinson

Caitlin and Mike applied for our deserving couple contest back in 2009.  They were going through some family issues and struggling financially.  Mike was lost his job and went back to school full time and they were living off of one income.  They are such a loving couple, devoted to their family and to each other.  We couldn't of selected a more grateful and truly deserving couple.

The setting: The Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown, New York.  They were married in the chapel on the grounds, Cornwallville Church.  Then the reception following in the barn at the museum.  The Farmer's Museum is a spectacular venue that has deep roots in New York State's rural history.  The museum is set on 120 acres of pristine farm land which has been a working farm since the 1790's.  The Farmer's Museum is a private, non-profit educational organization.  

Caitlin had a really great inspiration board she had created for us.  From that we designed many just gathered looks.  I used old aluminum sap buckets from my parent's sugar house to showcase some antique purple hydrangea I picked out of my gardens at 4:30 am the morning of the wedding.  For her centerpieces we created three different looks.  One was in wooden crates, lined with sheet moss and overflowing with seasonal flowers.  The other were a chocolate footed metal urns filled with antique hydrangea, garden spray roses and locally grown flowers.  For a simple look, we gathered bright pink and purple salvia, fresh mint, fresh sage leaves and garden roses in various sized mason jars.  Then, clustered them together on the tables.  The smell of fresh herbs is intense and wonderful for a summery wedding.

The bride carried a hand-tied bouquet of white dahlias, patience garden roses, locally grown millet and wrapped with wide ivory satin ribbon.  The groom's boutonniere was a simple dahlia bloom wrapped with a touch of natural twine.  The bridesmaids carried a garden mix of purple statice, purple dahlias, creme de la creme roses and garden spray roses.  Each was wrapped with a fancy chocolate ribbon with copper sequins, then vintage rhinestone buttons for added detail.

I'm really looking forward to all of the incredible images that Justin & Mary Marantz took.  Their truly gifted artists capturing the details of the wedding in a way not many can.