Peacocks, Plumes and Plenty of Colors!

Have you ever really looked at a peacock feather? There are SO many colors to work with! Eggplant purple, teal, green, chocolate brown; they are SO beautiful!
Peacock feathers do have their disadvantages though. The peacocks drag those long, long tails around behind them, all folded up, and then when they get really ticked at another peacock, or they see their lady love peahen, they fan it out ala NBC. Consequently they are one sided, because the peacock doesn't really care what the view from the side or back is, he is only concerned about his tail being visible to whomever he is facing.
This makes for some unique problems when it comes to using these gorgeous jewel like feathers in floral arrangements and bouquets.
We have used them flat on the placecard table, under a fitted glass, with wonderful results. We have also done this on the cake table, and it looked amazing. It just doesn't work though to put a few feathers in a vase. It takes some special talent to make them work.
Our wedding this evening really showed what you could do with peacock feathers to use them to best advantage.

Not all of the tables had tall arrangements, there were roughly 5 per side of the room, and then the remaining tables had our tall hurricanes with a pillar candle, and votives around them.  The black aquarium rock in the vases was also used in the hurricanes which helped to tie the two designs together.  Personally, I'm not fond of tall arrangements on ALL of the tables, it can be really overwhelming!  This was the perfect number--visual impact, interest, and not at all "too much".  I also liked the use of the pampas grass plumes in the arrangements.  This grass grows wild all over Northwest Indiana, and many times you can pick it along the side of the road.  It's a beautiful filler with the peacock feathers and gives the arrangements a lot of volume and substance without the cost of additional fresh flowers. 
The bridesmaids wore black gowns with teal sashes, and the groomsmen wore black tuxes with teal ties and vests. It was a very elegant look.
The bouquets and boutonnieres had fresh flowers with peacock eye feathers and sword feathers mixed in. Just enough to nod to the peacock theme ( you don't want to SCREAM it! Peacock feathers can easily be overdone :)

All in all, Ryan and Jessica did a terrific job designing their wedding! It was done with style, elegance, and just the right amount of pizzazz!  And, it never hurts to have a stunning and elegant bride as the centerpiece!

Congratulations you two! It was a beautiful evening for a delightful couple!