DesignsandEvents: An Intimate Wedding at Gibbet Hill Grill

As many of you know, I was busy a few weeks ago with a wedding I was doing. I was very excited to be a part of this wedding because it was going to be held at Gibbet Hill Grill, which is a restaurant and wedding venue right down the street from my house. I have never done a wedding so close to my studio before! I created the flowers for a wedding food tasting at the Barn at Gibbet Hill a while ago but, I have never done an actual wedding at the venue. You can see the tasting post here, if you would like. I was thrilled to have this opportunity to do the flowers for this wedding.

I met Ashley and Doug, the bride and groom, about five months before the wedding for an initial meeting. It was there that I discovered Ashley and Doug had wanted to elope but, at the encouragement of Ashley's mom, they decided to have a small wedding at the Gibbet Hill Grill instead. For my part, I was to create Ashley's bouquet, Doug and other's boutonnieres, corsages for the moms and to fill the venue with flowers. Oh and yes, supply the flowers for the wedding cake.

I had some unforeseen problems along the way with this wedding. A member of my team got sick and other unplanned things happened, as well. Thankfully, all the flowers came out beautifully but, in my haste and the subsequent confusion I did not take any photos of Ashley's bouquet or of any of the wedding party's floral pieces. Luckily, we did have time to take many photos at the venue.

I always know when there is going to be a wedding at Gibbet Hill as I drive along Route 40 in Groton. They always let the cattle roam all over the hill on wedding days.

As it turned out, there were going to be two weddings at the same time that morning, one in the Grill and one in the Barn. Each venue possesses its own kind of charm. They are both rustic but the Grill is more intimate and the Barn is much grander in scale. Gibbet Hill, as an entity, has in a way put Groton on the map. People come from all over to dine here and/or go to special events in the Barn. Whenever I mention that I am from Groton people always seem to talk about Gibbet Hill and the great food. Groton is not as obscure as it used to be.

So, as we carried in all of the centerpieces and other floral arrangements, the space started to fill up with fall-colored flowers. I was thrilled to see how my arrangements were beginning to transform the room into an event.

This is such a lovely setting~

The view from these tables is just gorgeous! So quintessential New England!

Ashley and Doug were going to sit at a table by themselves. They got the biggest centerpiece, of course!

There was a gift table~

An appetizer table~ Just making it pretty until the food arrived :).

The arrangements for which I am most proud, however, were the ones flanking the sides of the fireplace. The wedding ceremony would be taking place in front of the fireplace and the family wanted something dramatic for this area of the restaurant. I hope I delivered what they envisioned :).

The flowers in these arrangements were unique and a lot of fun with which to work.

Included in the arrangement are pampas grass, burgundy dahlias, white hydrangeas, safari sunset, wax flower, spray roses, Juliet and Patience garden roses, burgundy roses, hypericum and viburnum berries, as well as a mixture of greens.

Curly Willow extended the height of the whole arrangement. And, by the way, my husband built the wooden boxes for these fireplace arrangements. Aren't they amazing? I am so very lucky that he is so handy and helps me in some way with pretty much every wedding I do.

The arrangement in the foreground here ↓was for the favor table. I think the favors were going to include a special kind of whiskey. I am not sure anyone noticed my flowers with favors like that!

I am really sorry that I do not have photos of the bridal bouquet and other bridal party floral items. Maybe if I am really nice, the bride will share some of her photos with me at some point :). Here's to wishing~

Congratulations Ashley and Doug!