Farmer Zoe
- Nov 13, 2023
- 5 min read

July Wedding Flowers Styled Shoot Sneak Peak

Updated: Nov 15, 2023

Wedding vendors list:

Florist: Sterling Flower Farm LLC

Hair and Makeup: PB Beauty Studio & Boutique

Officiant: Spiritual Bondings

Photography: Portraits by Karleen

Venue: Angel and Anchor Farm

I am way overdue in getting these beautiful photos posted. If you're looking for floral inspiration for a July wedding in Connecticut, be sure to read this post and check out the photographs from our styled shoot. In July I teamed up with some of my favorite local wedding vendors to create two beautiful looks for a rustic summer wedding, all made with Connecticut's best cut flowers, grown right here on our farm. Due to record rainfall amounts and flash flooding, our model couldn't make it to the styled shoot, so I ended up being both the floral designer and the model. While initially I wasn't thrilled to model, modeling ended up being a blessing in disguise, because I got to work more closely with the team of vendors, and learned so much about them. I have a lot of praise to give to the great local wedding vendors that I was so fortunate to work with, and will follow up with future blog posts with all the details. I would highly recommend any of them if you are planning a wedding! I had so much fun doing this styled shoot with them. This article is the first of several that I have planned about the vendors involved in this shoot.

When planning a wedding, one of the most important qualities to look for in your vendors is how well they communicate with you, and how comfortable they make you feel. I don't always feel comfortable working with hair and makeup artists because I don't do my hair or wear makeup. But Paige at PB Beauty helped this farm girl feel glam. My hair resides in a messy braid 90% of the time. Paige came up with a beautiful hair style that made the most of my super long, thick hair, matched the rustic theme of the photo shoot beautifully, and actually held up through rain and extreme humidity. She also did air brush makeup for me that made my skin glow and brought out my features, while having a completely natural look. I loved chatting with Paige while she did my hair and makeup, and I'm certain she would make any bride having some wedding day jitters feel completely at ease. The last step to complete my look was to add some floral hair pins that I made with flowers from my farm. I love coordinating hair flowers to the bridal bouquet (and/or bridesmaids bouquets) and had several looks for both fresh and dried flowers to go with the shoot.

Which brings me to the flowers. If you're new to my work, a quick summary of my concept of flower arranging is to use what I grow on my 4 acre flower farm to create gorgeous wedding designs. I design with flowers that I had a hand in growing because I like knowing that the flowers were picked in the cool of the morning, at the ideal harvest stage, and immediately put in water. Our flowers never spend time out of water, being carted around the world in a hot truck. This gives me confidence that the designs will hold up beautifully throughout your special day. Regenerative farming methods are also extremely important to me. I love to create an art form that not only looks beautiful, but also improves soil, provides habitat to wildlife, and feeds the bees. Sourcing flowers that I have had a hand in growing ensures that sustainable practices were used.

July brings beautiful dahlias, zinnias, delphiniums, strawflowers, cosmos, and an assortment of other delicate and delightful beauties to the floral palette. I had a hard time choosing between a soft, neutral color scheme, and some louder, brighter jewel tones. Both would work wonderfully with the venue for the shoot, the lovely Angel and Anchor Farm (more on them later). I ended up designing two different floral looks for this venue. The floral look below was inspired by the pale blue skies, butter yellow buildings and earth-toned horse pastures of the venue.

My second look for this shoot was inspired by all the beautiful, colorful landscaping throughout Angel and Anchor Farm. This look features deep blues and purples, with contrasting oranges and yellows. For both of the bouquets, I took advantage of the myriad textures available in Connecticut locally grown flowers in July. July is a month of transition from spring flowers to summer flowers, and therefore I had a lot of fun with the varying sizes and shapes of blooms available, from dramatically tall delphiniums, to delicately floating cosmos, to fluffy dahlias plump with many layers of petals.

There isn't any wedding venue more local to my locally grown flowers than Angel and Anchor Farm. I am so lucky to have this spot practically in my backyard. Nichole and Bill Phelps, the owners, have been such kind and friendly neighbors. They work so hard to maintain the gorgeous Victorian home, barn, and sheds on the property, as well as the beautiful gardens. In addition to the beautiful grounds, Angel and Anchor Farm also has a menagerie of adorable horses, miniature donkeys, peacocks, chickens and dogs. The venue provides the perfect combination of rustic and elegant, which is also the feeling I try to capture with my floral designs. I always feel inspired after a visit to Angel and Anchor Farm.

The rain had a way of shaking up my plans for this styled shoot, but we pushed through and had a great time, and got some beautiful images. Karleen of Portraits by Karleen took all of the beautiful pictures in this blog post, and many more. She helped me pose for the pictures and knew just what to do to showcase the beauty of the venue and flowers. Due to heavy rain, many of the pictures were taken in the beautiful bridal suite indoors at Angel and Anchor Farm. With just a little bit of daylight left, we got a break in the rain and went outside to get some pictures near the adorable little greenhouse at Angel and Anchor Farm. The farm's miniature donkeys, Mac and Cheez, came by to liven things up.

Also livening things up was wedding officiant Susan Craig of Spiritual Bondings. Throughout the photo shoot, she was doing a comedy routine about a last minute change to the vows to incorporate the husband's total obedience to the wife in all matters. It was easy to see how her humor and presence would help quiet the nerves. Susan is not only funny, but also heartfelt in her passion for love and for helping two people join together to start a new and better life. I know this because Susan is also my neighbor, and I have gotten to know her well over the years that we have lived on the same street together. I am fortunate to live near other great wedding professionals who can remind me why we do what we do, and always inspire me to keep improving. I included Susan in this shoot not only because I wanted to showcase another great local wedding vendor, but to show how nice it looks when couples purchase flowers for their officiant to wear. It really helps to create a cohesive look during the ceremony, and is a very kind and thoughtful way to recognize your officiant.

I hope you enjoyed reading about and looking at these photos featuring the work of myself and several other wedding vendors in our quiet little corner of Northeast Connecticut. In future blog posts, I will go further in depth about each unique vendor. Please don't hesitate to reach out to any of us to inquire about our services for your upcoming wedding. I've linked all the vendors' websites below again for your reference.