Autumn Secret Garden Wedding Watercolor Map

It was love at first sight…for me and this wedding’s setting. An illustrated watercolor map would become the centerpiece of the wedding stationery for a beautiful September day at this dreamy private estate with meaningful moments and garden delights around every corner.

Pull in along a tree-lined gravel drive and a stately white Greek Revival house greets you with it’s columned porch and classic black shutters. There’s a perfectly manicured hedge and white picket fences on either side. Through the gate to the left is an apple orchard where guests would sample ciders among the trees and just beyond, a dreamy birch allée: a natural aisle for the Bride to process and meet her Groom.

A relaxed luxe private estate wedding features an illustrated watercolor map by Stone Fruit with meaningful moments and dreamy garden delights around every corner. — Brandi Toole Photography

Guests enter through the orchard…

The dreamy birch allée: the perfect garden setting for an intimate wedding.

Brandi Toole Photography / Signs by Stone Fruit

Special Details

The groom’s grandfather wore a boutonniere featuring a sprig from the tree he gifted to the former owners and planted years before the home would be purchased by friends of the bride’s family. This kismet story inspired us to include a watercolor painting of the tree’s branch in the wedding stationery, like in the ceremony program below.

Each illustration for the map was painted larger and separately so it could be used on signs and other stationery pieces. The couple framed the original watercolors as a gift for their friends, the owners of the home.

The bride grew up spending holidays and the couple chose the informal locations throughout the gardens as the settings for their relaxed wedding day. Creative stonework features throughout the gardens: from river rock-bordered pathways to the stacked wall around the vegetable garden (whose gate is topped with a giant rope nest!), to the striking moon gate arch, hidden down a pine-scented path under shady trees.

The wedding date fell just un the cusp of Autumn in Upstate New York. The trees were still largely green and the lawns verdant. The green gardens created the perfect backdrop for the autumn-hued tent reception. Ellie and the Team from Celebrated Events brought in linens inspired by the grey-blue of the outbuildings adjacent to the tent and adorned the tables with layers of beautiful china and glassware from Petunia Rose and lush autumnal florals designed by Arenas for Life.

Brand Toole Photography / Stationery by Stone Fruit / Planning, Design by Celebrated Events / Tableware by Petunia Rose / Floral by Arenas for Life

Pears were an important symbol throughout the wedding day. A pear espalier climbs the side of the guest house and was the backdrop for honey jar favors (from a family member’s farm!) tied with sweet little escort tags. The back of each tag directed guests to their tables, each named with a different variety of pear. I learned a lot about different pears as I painted one for each table!

We wanted to create a tactile, interactive experience for guests, so we created a multi-layer dinner menu with a vellum overlay. One page lists the delicious menus by Root Catering and the next is the story of the house and gardens written the maid of honor, who grew up in the house.

I’m so grateful to Brandi Toole Photography for capturing guests reading their menus. I think they were a hit!

This special detail made me gasp when I saw photos. Melissa, the owner of the home and the garden’s caretaker, reached out for the monogram artwork to create a special gift for Jennie and James. It was such a treat to see the way the artisans rendered the watercolor J&J duogram in stone. At every turn in these gardens there's a special moment to stop and reflect and it's such a joy to know that generations in the future may pause on the garden path and wonder about J&J and their little pear branch, and what that day in September was like way back when.