There is something especially satisfying about taking the ingredients of a very classic wedding – white flowers, greenery, candlelight – and tweaking them just enough to make the result feel fresh. That was very much the direction for Amy and Reuben’s wedding at the Park Hyatt in Washington, DC: modern, with playful twists on classic looks. 

The palette was predominantly white and ivory, but this wasn’t meant to be a sea of indistinguishable white flowers. We wanted contrast, texture and a little bit of tension. White anemones, with their fabulous dark centers, did a lot of that work for us, while bleached foliage added something unexpected. Fresh greenery kept the overall design from feeling too pristine or formal.

Amy’s bridal bouquet brought those ideas together beautifully. We designed it with white Tibet roses, ranunculus and anemones accented with bleached ruscus. For the bridesmaids, we simplified the mix to white roses and anemones with the same bleached foliage, then finished the bouquets with black satin ribbon. Anemones are particularly good in a wedding like this because their dark centers give you contrast without requiring another major color. Against roses and ranunculus, they also bring a completely different shape to the bouquet. When you’re working within a restrained palette, those differences in form and texture become all the more important.

Greenery-Focused Ceremony at the Park Hyatt

Both ceremony and reception for Amy and Reuben’s wedding took place in the same Park Hyatt Hotel ballroom. For the ceremony, Amy and Reuben married beneath a stunning, white organza draped chuppah accented simply with smilax vines. A white fabric aisle runner completed the setting. We intentionally kept the chuppah restrained. We love a flower-covered structure when the design calls for one, but not every chuppah needs to be buried under flowers. Here, the loose movement of the smilax against the white draping was enough.

Four tall arrangements set atop gold Harlow stands flanked the chuppah. These were primarily greenery, using a mix of Italian ruscus, eucalyptus and salal, accented with white and ivory larkspur, stock, roses and spray roses and just a few touches of anemone. The greenery-forward approach made them feel lighter and more modern than a densely packed traditional floral arrangement, while the gold stands gave them the formality that suited the room.

Those arrangements also had another job to do. After the ceremony, they were moved to guest tables for the reception. We’re big fans of repurposing ceremony flowers when it genuinely works. The important caveat is that the timing, design and logistics all have to make sense; otherwise, moving flowers can create more expense and complication than it saves. In this case, the transition was built into the design from the beginning.

Mixing Centerpieces for the Reception

Rather than repeating one centerpiece throughout the ballroom, we designed three different table treatments. The four tall arrangements from the ceremony became reception centerpieces, while eight tables received low, airy arrangements of white Tibet roses, ranunculus, stock and sweet pea. Ruscus and lemon leaf connected the lower arrangements to the greenery of the taller designs, and each was surrounded by three glass-enclosed white taper candles. 

One of my favorite details was underneath all those flowers: the containers were painted black. It wasn’t enough black to turn the flowers into a capital-B Black-and-White Wedding. It was simply a small, sharp detail that gave all of those soft white spring flowers a little edge.

For the remaining tables, we let candlelight take over, using groupings of pillar candles and floating candles softened with touches of Italian ruscus. The combination of tall flowers, low flowers and candle-focused tables created much more movement through the room than we would have gotten from placing the same arrangement on every table. Sightlines changed, the density changed, and the room felt layered while still reading as one cohesive design.

Spring Flowers in a Modern DC Wedding

One of the pleasures of an April wedding is the flower selection. Amy and Reuben’s designs included ranunculus, sweet pea, anemones, stock, roses and larkspur, and that mix allowed us to do quite a lot within a very limited color palette. The ranunculus and roses provided softness, sweet pea brought movement, stock and larkspur gave us line, and those anemones added their unmistakable graphic centers.

It’s a good reminder that a wedding doesn’t need a long list of colors to have visual interest. In fact, restricting color can make the individual flowers more noticeable. When everything isn’t competing on color, you start noticing the difference between the tight layers of a ranunculus and the open face of an anemone, or the way a stem of sweet pea moves differently from a rose. Texture, shape and proportion get to do some of the work that color normally does.

That approach was particularly well suited to the Park Hyatt Hotel. Amy and Reuben’s wedding still had all the elements we associate with a classic DC celebration, but none of those elements had to be used in the most traditional way. The bleached foliage was a little unexpected. The tall arrangements gave greenery as much importance as the flowers. The black containers provided just enough contrast. And varying the centerpieces kept the ballroom from feeling overly uniform.

The result was exactly what we had set out to create: a modern Park Hyatt wedding with a playful twist on the classics. Nothing needed to scream for attention. Sometimes changing a few details is all it takes to make a familiar idea feel entirely its own.

Venue: Park Hyatt Hotel, Washington, DC

Photography: Roe Photography

Florist: Petal’s Edge Floral Design

Planner: City & Terrace Events