Laura & Logan | August 29, 2026
Laura and Logan were married in late August on their family farm in Centreville, which is about as Eastern Shore as a wedding gets. A tent went up in the middle of a field, pastel bunting strung from pole to pole, and past the edge of it the grasses had already turned gold the way they do in the last stretch of summer. When the setting is doing that much on its own, the flowers don't need to compete.
Laura's direction was simple, in the most literal sense. She wanted a light, pastel palette for late August, nothing fussy, and a petite bridal bouquet. Everything was DIY, so the blooms came to her loose and went straight into the hands of the people closest to her.
You don't need a big bouquet
Laura made hers herself, out of a handful of stems, and it was perfect. Blue delphinium alongside pale zinnias, feverfew, pink cosmos, and one golden marigold doing all the work of a focal flower. The stems were left long and bare rather than wrapped, so it read more like something cut from the garden that morning than anything constructed, which is exactly what it was.
If you've been told your own flowers will look like your own flowers, this is the photo to point at.
There's a persistent idea that the bridal bouquet has to be the biggest thing in the room, and for a soft tulle gown and a field at golden hour, big would have been the wrong call entirely. A small bouquet lets the dress be the dress. It also photographs well in close frames, it doesn't tire your arm halfway through the ceremony, and it costs a fraction of what a cascading one does. If you're drawn to the look, take that as permission.
Her bridesmaids carried smaller versions in mismatched dresses, which let the same handful of blooms read differently against every print and shade of blue.
The whole reception was bud vases
Rather than a few large centerpieces, the tables ran on a scattering of small clear bud vases, each holding a few stems, set among votive candles down the length of the white linen. Delphinium in one, a yellow celosia plume in the next, a marigold, a single peach dahlia, a zinnia.
It's the most forgiving way to flower a reception yourself. Nothing has to match. Nothing has to be balanced. You can set them out in ten minutes the morning of, you can tuck in more wherever a table looks bare, and guests can carry them home at the end of the night. For a DIY wedding of any size, it's the approach we point people toward most often, and this one is a good argument for why.
Late August hands you more than you can use
If you're getting married at the end of August on the Shore, the field is at its loudest. Zinnias and marigolds are going hard, celosia is up in those feathered plumes, cosmos are still coming, and the dahlias are beginning their best stretch of the whole year.
Which is what made Laura's ask interesting. Late August naturally wants to be bold, so pulling a softer palette out of that month takes some choosing. Here it landed on pale yellows, blush, cream, and soft blue, with marigolds and zinnias warming it up so it never washed out against all that white tenting.
Thinking about doing your own wedding flowers? Laura and Logan did, and a good share of our couples do. Take a look at how DIY wedding flowers work with us, including buckets by the color palette and bridal bouquet design on its own if there's one piece you'd rather not take on yourself. Or take our quiz and we'll point you toward the right fit.
Vendor Team
Photography: LA Birdie Photography.
Planning: Island Creek Events
Florals: Winters Farm Florals (DIY)
