Decorating a Mantel~Wedding Style

Yesterday was such a fun day. Our friends, Timme and John's son, Alden is getting married in another week in Idaho. So they had a "pre-ception" for them here in CA at their beautiful home last night. It could not have been a more lovely evening! The weather was gorgeous, the dinner delicious and the company outstanding. They had the dinner catered and we dined outside by the pool~ it was heavenly!

Timme asked me to decorate the mantel in her living room with something nice. I was delighted to help out. A mantel is simple enough but I wanted to ask my friend, Maureen, to help me. She, you may remember, use to help me stage homes and she is also a floral designer.

Neither one of us had ever made a live garland we confessed when we sat down to do it! Ah, the pressure...but we decided to give it a go. Actually it was remarkable easy and a lot of fun. The hardest part is keeping it fresh looking for a few hours. We started out tramping through our yard just cutting various greenery and then we brought it all in, layered it and wired the seven foot garland together. The heartier the green the better they held up!


I bought two beautiful hurricane candle holders, some white sparkly sand and some light yellow candles to blend in with her Tuscan wall treatment. I ♥ her walls, all mottled looking and so Italian! Scrumptious! Look at the detail below.


The bride had selected a dove gray and white as her wedding colors so since there are no gray flowers we were aware of, we decided to complement the room with a little touch of saffron yellow. We also used some little white flowers and some baby's breath pompom thingies ( my highly technical description since I have no clue what they are called) that made up the bouquets for the tables. We grabbed some white lights and a couple rolls of wired, delicate, white ribbon with a little shimmer and this is what we came up with for the party. They seemed pleased and it made a nice focal point being the first thing you saw when you entered the room from the foyer. The fireplace is just fabulous with the granite surround and hearth and the beautiful carved wood detailing.

Most of the evening they had a video
of the bride and groom playing on the
flat screen above the mantel.
For this shot it was music.

Maureen and I had a lot of fun doing it!
We are constantly laughing when we are together...
so it was a win/win for us all!