Wedding Setup: Novelty Hill + Januik

The next in our setup series is a wedding in greens, whites, and touches of purple that took place at Novelty Hill + Januik, the Woodinville tasting room for Novelty Hill and Januik wines. The look was lush and natural with a modern sensibility.

This setup tour starts off with a peek into the Sold Cooler. The Sold Cooler is where the flowers and greens for an upcoming event are tagged and stored so they aren't inadvertently used for something else and where the finished arrangements are kept before being delivered. Most of the pieces go into the cooler already crated for delivery. This means that when the big day comes, all the setup team has to do is roll the carts out, check off the items, and load them into the van. Having an efficient system where most of the work is done ahead of time makes it easy for everything to get on board in a timely manner. 

The finished pieces for the wedding are stored the the Sold Cooler. 

The bouquets, centerpieces, body flowers, rose petals, large arrangements, and the JICB for the wedding.

Large arrangements are packed in milk crates and braced with sponges to keep them from toppling during transit.

Bags of rose petals and a box of loose orchid blooms. This cart doesn't go in the van, so the arrangements on top and the items on the bottom will be fitted in separately.

The bridesmaid and bridal bouquets travel in cylinders with just enough water to cover the ends of the bouquets to keep them fresh. The cylinders fit into crates that are normally used in restaurants to wash and store glasses.

Vases with a low center of gravity like the short cylinders can travel in trays lined with non-slip material.

Body flowers, such as corsages and boutonnieres, are gently packed in plastic sleeves and transported in low cardboard boxes that come from one of our flower suppliers.

Loading the delivery van properly is extremely important, especially when it's carrying precious cargo like wedding flowers! A lot of thought goes into how the arrangements are fitted onto the those ubiquitous black carts (with three different leg lengths, they can be specifically configured for the needs of the occasion) so that as many pieces can be transported as safely as possible. Some tall arrangements must be placed on the floor of the van to prevent them from getting crushed against the ceiling and then there are often rental components to be put in as well. On some setups where the ceremony and reception are held at different locations (like the previous setup detailed in this blog), the van also must be loaded so that what's going to be unloaded first is nearest at hand. It can be like putting together a jigsaw puzzle to get everything in! Once the carts have been bricked to keep them from rolling and unsteady props have been lashed to the sides of the van with bungee cords, it's time to pull out and hope that you've done your packing job well and that nothing shifts while in transit!

One...two...three...lift! Mary Kay (L) and Lynn (R) load an extra cart into the van. It will allow them to quickly move heavy trays of flowers from the van to the venue.

A concrete block with an aluminum pole cemented in the center for a handle (you can see it behind the cardboard box) keeps the wheeled cart from rolling during the ride.

All the crates and trays are packed snuggly together so they don't move around, thus reducing the possibility of damage to the fragile flowers and vases.

"Don't forget the toolbox!" It's a common reminder when a setup party heads out the door. The toolbox contains extra knives, boutonniere pins, floral tape, zip ties, different-colored chenilles, pliers, wire cutters, duct tape, a hammer, and all kinds of other handy (and sometimes setup-saving!) essentials. Also invaluable on a setup is a designer's personal toolbox. These are typically stocked with his or her knives, scissors, wire cutters, shears, gloves, tape and other useful items, such as tissues and, if the setup is a long one, a small snack!

Lynn makes sure the all-important toolbox gets loaded into the van.

This is Lynn's personal toolbox. Fena Flowers' owner, Judi, gave all the employees their own toolbox--complete with name tag--for Christmas a few years ago.

And THE most important thing to bring along on a setup (after the flowers, of course): the wedding file! It lists all of the elements--from hand-held bouquets to rented columns--that Fena Flowers is providing as well as descriptions, contact information, and notes on when and where things need to be. When each item is completed during the assembly phase, it is highlighted on the left (yellow, in this instance) and when it is loaded into the van, the item is highlighted on the right (blue). The double check-off system reduces the risk of a ring bearer's boutonniere going unmade, for example, or a box of tea lights not making it into the van when it is being loaded.

The wedding file gives the setup crew the who, what, when, and  where of all the aspects of the wedding.

Novelty Hill + Januik is a beautiful contemporary venue with a reception room and gardens that can be rented for weddings and other events. It is also a popular tasting room in the Woodinville wine country area and as is sometimes the case with venues, it was still open to the public when Fena arrived with the wedding flowers. The reception was being held in the Terrace Room, which was closed to the public and therefore setup was underway, but the ceremony was to take place in the garden, which was not only filled with customers enjoying the scenery and the brick oven pizzas, but the wedding rehearsal for a ceremony taking place on a different day! In cases when a venue is not going to be fully ready for the wedding until after our floral team is gone, someone, usually the event manager, is delegated to put the final floral touches in place. I would say it's much more common to put centerpieces on tables wearing only linens than to put them on tables that are fully set. While it would be nice to see how every venue looked fully decorated for the wedding, it's fun to visit venues in the setup phase, too.

The tasting room has a distinctive contemporary style!

The Fena Flowers van is in place outside the tasting room to unload its carefully packed floral cargo.

The Terrace Room is a hive of activity as employees worked to get all of the table linens in place, though some of the tables themselves would be moved to a different area after the public departed.

A pair of large signs temporarily taped to the wall gives Januik employees a clear set of instructions as to what needed to be done when and by whom! Organization is the key to get everything accomplished on time.

All the components for the ceremony are set aside on this table.

The large arrangements contain white hydrangeas, white phlox, white snapdragons, white lisianthus, green roses, green spider mums, green hydrangeas, green and purple dendrobium orchids, green hypericum berries, chocolate mint scented geranium foliage, and a leaf wrap inside the vase.

After each large round (that's lingo for tables) received a sage runner, its centerpiece could be put in place. Before placing the arrangement on the table, Lynn wipes off the bottom of the vase to remove condensation and any stray leaves or petals.

The upper layer of this black cart has been removed to give Lynn and Mary Kay easy access to the centerpieces in a tray on the bottom. 

One of the wedding centerpieces. It contains white and green hydrangeas, green and purple dendrobium orchids, purple mini calla lilies, green roses, chocolate cosmos, "green trick" dianthus, chocolate mint scented geranium leaves, optic grass, and a leaf wrap inside the vase.

Once the centerpieces are in place, all that remains in the tray used to transport them are a few scattered petals and leaves.

With the large centerpieces in place, it's time to move on to the next element of the decor. Mary Kay pours water into tall glass cylinders that will hold floating candles.

Jugs of water were transported in a milk crate just for this purpose.

The filled cylinders are ready for the next step!

A box of floating candles.

After Lynn drops an orchid bloom into each cylinder, Mary Kay follows with a candle.

The end result!

The cylinders with flowers and candles are put in place.

The recessed area of the wall decorated with the cylinders is also being used by the employees to store their drinks as they hustle to get the room ready; by the time the reception started, all of these extra "decorations" will be gone, of course!

These phalaenopsis orchids and maidenhair ferns, along with a few of the small centerpieces, were part of the rehearsal dinner decor and will make a second appearance at the reception, including in groupings near the cylinders with the floating candles.

What's that in the distance?
It's the bridal party looking into the room as they pass by!

After saying hello to the bride when she peeked into the room, Lynn carries the bride's bouquet to the staging area where she and her bridesmaids are prepping for the ceremony. The bride's bouquet includes white and green roses, white spray roses, white mini calla lilies, white dendrobium orchids, white ranculuses, green hydrangeas, green hypericum berries, and varigated lily grass.

Mary Kay and a member of the wedding party ferry the bridesmaids' bouquets to the waiting attendants. The bridesmaids bouquets are made up of green roses, purple mini calla lilies, green and purple dendrobium orchids, green hydrangeas, green hypericum berries, and variegated lily grass.

The groom's boutonniere--a white mini calla lily with two green and purple dendrobium orchids, variegated lily grass, and ivy leaves--sits with the other body flowers.

Shortly after the bride passed by, the groom appears to claim his boutonniere. The wedding photographer pins it on his suit with Lynn's assistance.

Lynn lends the Januik staff a hand and helps put out linen squares, some sage and some gray, on the small rounds.

Small centerpieces are then placed on these cocktail tables.

 Each of the centerpieces contains a different grouping of green and white flowers, such as dahlias, roses, hydrangeas, mini calla lilies, phlox, orchids, and dianthus.

This one is dominated by white phlox, an orchid, and a loop of variegated lily grass.

Lynn consults the wedding file to make sure no detail is being missed, but Fena's work is nearly done!

The centerpieces are all in place; the full place settings will be laid out closer to the reception's start time.

The reception room will be lit by glowing lanterns.

Orchids.

A shaft of sunlight illuminates the sheer black ribbon of the chair tie.

One of the small centerpieces.

Other decor includes wedding photos of the bride and groom's parents and grandparents that are hung on sage green ribbons from the wall.

A centerpiece detail.

The complete picture of the wedding decor would not come fully into focus until closer to the ceremony's start time when the tables would be set, the rose petals scattered, and the largest arrangements put into position, but Fena Flowers' work was done. The soft, lush, greens and whites of the flowers would do their part to bring a more personal touch to Novelty Hill + Januik's beautiful, contemporary venue.

Fena Flowers

425-825-8181

12815 NE 124th St, Ste. K

Kirkland, WA 98034

www.fenaflowers.com

Photography by c.creativity

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