Loretta Stagen Floral Designs

Destination weddings are usually a three-day event. Part I of this weekend was at the incredible rehearsal dinner held at Hidden Court, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Guests were escorted through the courtyard to the room overlooking the Koi pond. There they found the escort table…where they looked for their seating cards which rested atop a bed of wheat grass: In the living room, this dramatic arrangement of roses and scabiosa pods sat on a sideboard. It was created in a large square glass container, lined with ti leaves. Bright oranges and shocking pinks were featured both in the house and in the tent. After enjoying cocktails on the back terrace … overlooking the endless meadow and the Atlantic ocean …on a “perfect” weather day….the guests walked to the tent where they were awed by the decorations on the French farm tables and the spectacular buffet table. The long centerpieces, which included an abundance o...

"Wedding season is here again, and Loretta Stagen, a transplant from the state's Gold Coast happily acclimated to western Connecticut, is fired up with enthusiasm and ideas. Yes, the recent royal wedding and the U.S. Color Council 's 2011 palette can't help but influence choices in style and color, and the average spending for one family's personal extravaganza could easily buy a mid-size car. Stagen has overseen flowers at weddings over the top as well as modest, and she believes beautiful bouquets and arrangements can go a very long way to setting a tone. On a recent Friday at her studio in New Preston, she was working on a wedding for a bride with only $1,400 to spend on flowers. The solution? A large arrangement that would be mounted on a pedestal for the service and a bouquet of double white freesia, snowy sweet peas, and purple lianthus and anemones. "This is going to be elegant and gorgeous," she declared, "and well within her...