Wedding at Hyatt Union Station

We just wanted to share some pictures of a beautiful wedding we helped out with this past spring. Emily (Murnin) Tochtrop was a great bride to work with. We were fortunate enough to work with great vendors and a great venue as well. All Dressed in White coordinated this event and everything flowed together flawlessly. Check it out:


(All photos courtesy of Koch Photography)







The ceremony was held in one of the ballrooms and the reception was in the Grand Hall. The ballroom was decorated with our canopy, draped fabric, and flowers. The aisles candles had clusters of the same bright wedding flowers .





All of the bouquets had a linear design. The same bright colors from the ceremony were used for the bridesmaids bouquets.


Congratulations to the newlyweds!! It was a pleasure working with you!!

Splashes of Color

There are always ways to brighten up your wedding color scheme with flowers. Whether used in moderation or as a main focus, bright, citrus colors are a fun look for any season. Here are some examples:

Stephanie (Young) Margolis, who got married on a beautiful day in April, chose lots of bright colors for herself and for her bridesmaids. Hot pink and orange gerbera daisies popped against the sage green dresses. The bride's bouquet was a mix of the bridesmaids flowers with the special addition of green cymbidium orchids. Her outdoor ceremony at World's Fair Pavilion was beautifully orchestrated by Cosmopolitan Events. (Photo by Tim McDermott)

Lara (Anderson) Johnson, also wanted to utilize bright colors, but in a different way. She chose to add ivory roses to her bouquet of yellow freesia and bright green cymbidium orchids. The yellow and green accented each other well while the ivory helped give it all a classic bridal look. The whole look was carried through at her reception at the Piper Palm House with the same greens, yellows, and ivories.

Another option is to do what Emily (Murnin) Tochtrop did for her wedding. Emily chose bright pink mini calla lilies with orange nerrine lilies in this linear arrangement for her bridesmaids. For the bride, we kept the same look and similar flowers, but designed an all white bouquet. This kept the neutral tones for the bride and the bright splash of color for the bridesmaids. This all worked together at the Hyatt Union Station Ballroom and Grand Hall where the ceremony and reception were held.

With so many uses, bright colors can be just the touch of fun you are looking for!

What if I'm unsure about the flowers I selected?

Here at Sisters, we don't work like a "normal" flower shop. When a bride meets with us, she is not meeting with someone who just takes an order, she is meeting with the team (Shelly & Emily) that will ultimately execute the design of all the flowers for her wedding. By the day of the wedding, we will have worked out details with multiple meetings and dozens of phone calls and e-mails. That's why what occurred on April 26th was such a shock to us.

Several weeks ago, Angie S., a bride that we had been working with, was unhappy with the multi-colored bouquet that she selected and we delivered. Upon its delivery and the bride's reaction, our delivery person called Emily, who happened to be in the shop. Emily immediately made a replacement bouquet in light pink and white and sent it back out with the delivery driver. We care about our brides, and even though things didn't go as planned, we did everything we could to make Angie happy on her wedding day. Making a replacement bouquet was above and beyond our obligation, but we felt it was within our ability to help in any way we could. Emily made a follow-up phone call that day to ensure that the replacement was acceptable and was told by Angie's wedding coordinator "Yes, Angie loves it. It's perfect."

Even though the colors and flowers types were specifically listed in our contract and chosen by Angie, we quickly learned she didn't realize what she had ordered or what the different flowers would look like together.


Here are pictures of the bouquet, as listed on Angie's contract. These shots were taken after the bouquet was brought back to Sisters: (for the record, we did not like the combination - especially the yellow ranunculus that Angie added at the final consultation.)

Unfortunately, because she was upset, Angie added that the spray roses were dead, which, clearly, they are not. Sometimes, people exaggerate for dramatic effect, not only about flowers, but about situations in general. Thank goodness we have pictures in case we end up on Judge Judy!! :)

This is a professional shot of the replacement bouquet.
(Picture by Christopher Cook)

So, what now, and why bring up a bad experience? The goal here is to ease the minds of our remaining '08 brides. We've always welcomed brides who have wanted to come and see their flowers the week of their wedding. Some have made small changes, but most have been extremely happy. (One time, Emily even called a wedding coordinator the day before the wedding to say that the bridesmaids' bouquets were designed as the bride wanted, but Emily had a concern that they may be a little more funky than what the bride intended. Both the coordinator and Emily agreed that it would be a good idea to have the bride come in and check it out. As it turned out, that's exactly what the bride wanted.) If you are unsure of what a certain type of flower/color/design looks like in person, stopping in to check out your order is always an option. It is also VERY important that brides read the bouquet/flower descriptions on their contract. If anything needs to be clarified, it's certainly ok to ask us.

Thank you for reading our blog, hearing us out, and listening to our suggestions. Now, we have to get back to work!!

Best wedding wishes,

Emily and Shelly

Recent Wedding Pictures by Lace

Here are some photos of one of our weddings from a couple of weeks ago. Rachel and Jim had an outdoor wedding at the beautiful Cafe DeMenil. Rachel carried calla lilies, Asiatic lilies, roses, and spray roses in shades of oranges and mango, accented by pearled stephanotis--all in a tear-dropped style bouquet. Jim's boutonniere was a calla lily with pearled stephanotis.



Both photos were taken by Gina at Lace. She has a great BLOG, too, so be sure to check it out: http://www.laceimages.com/

A special thanks to Christy Ricker with All Dressed in White for planning a memorable day for the bride and groom.

"Ernestine, my bride, I love you so much..."

These were the words spoken by my 90-year-old grandfather last Sunday at 2:30pm. My grandmother and my cousin Sarah were each holding one of his hands. He passed away at 3:05. I am so thankful that he was able to say these words to my ailing grandmother, his wife of over 66 years. He was smart and alert right to the end (he was sitting up in bed reading the Sunday paper that very morning!).

As my children and I travel to his funeral, it causes me to reflect on those things that are important and long-lasting on this earth. My dear brides, your wedding day is special and important, no doubt. But I wish you deeper things than a gorgeous, fun wedding: May you dance at the wedding celebrations of your grandchildren. May life give you challenges that show you and your husband that your relationship has the staying power you hoped for. May you see your great-grandchild born, grow and mature into young people of whom you are very proud.

Planning your ceremony and reception is difficult and sometimes stressful, but remember to keep your focus on the important things. When you are at the end of this life, you will not care that your flowers were not the exact shade of pink that you had in your mind, or that the DJ played the hokey-pokey when you asked him not to at your meeting 8 months ago, or that Uncle Fred got a little too tipsy at the reception and told your new in-laws about the time you were 5 and shoved a pea up your nose at the Thanksgiving dinner table. These are not the enduring things that define your life. Have the best, most gorgeous wedding you can, for sure. But be ready for 60+ years of ups and downs, a lot of joy, some sadness, and a lot of surprises along the way.

All the best! - Emily

9th Street Abbey

Here are some springy pictures of a wedding we did at 9th Street Abbey in Soulard. The wedding was on April 26th, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom!!




These are shots of the whole room from the balcony above.

Two different arrangements were used to decorate the guest tables. One was all cherry blossom branches and the other was a submerged green cymbidium orchid with the bride's candles.

The overall look of the room showed the bride's style while it complimented the historic Abbey.

Grand Hyatt at Union Station

Here are a few pics from one of our most recent weddings at Grand Hyatt Union Station:







Tall and short centerpieces with all white flowers were used. Tulips, hydrangea, snapdragons, curly willow and pheasant feathers filled these tall cylinders.













Shorter clusters of vases with similar white flowers balanced out the other tables.

Alternating cluster vases were used to line the middle of the head table.

As an extra special treat, the guests were able to find their place cards on top of a bed of pink carnations. This box was approximately 2 ft. x 4ft. and held over 200 carnations!! Sisters Flowers rents this white wooden box to be filled with similar flowers or short grass and flowers for any event.