A Floral Designer’s Christmas Wedding Was a Flower-Lover’s Dream at The Grandeur House in Little Rock, Arkansas
There’s an undeniable romance embedded in the holiday season and no one knows this better than Dale Aldridge. In fact, he created an entire business that centers around Christmas! Dale’s company, Silks A Bloom, creates the floral design for weddings and events, but they specialize in Christmas decor. So naturally, when Dale’s long-time boyfriend, Sage Carpenter, popped the question in 2020, their wedding theme was a quick decision.
After selecting a mid-December wedding date, the grooms created a bit of a play on Christmas colors with their palette. “Our wedding colors were a crisp white with accents of emerald green and fuchsia,” Dale reveals. “This [color scheme] has always been a holiday favorite for Sage and me.” Their hues created a dreamy, warm vibe that reached every corner of the day.
The candle-lined aisle led to a simple white altar displaying modernized candelabras and other votives of varying sizes. Each element of the ceremony embodied the “lovely and bright” aspects of Christmas. Dale and Sage wore coordinating velvet suit jackets in deep green, custom made for them. The ladies of the wedding party wore striking black gowns and carried bouquets of ivory blossoms accented by cedar and other winter-inspired greenery. “There was one surprise design element at our ceremony: we did not have a single flower in the decor,” says Dale. “In the space, we did not want the decor to distract from the reason that were all there—our long-awaited union.”
Sage and Dale have been a couple since 2003, first conversing over the phone and through messaging applications, then finally laying eyes on one another over Labor Day weekend. “Our eyes locked for the first time and the rest was history,” Dale recalls. After a few years of dating, the pair decided to purchase commitment rings. “Keep in mind that, at the time, it was not an option for us to legally marry in Arkansas,” notes Dale. “When marriage for same-sex couples became an option in June of 2015, we celebrated with everyone else as we were so thankful to all that fought so hard for our love to be recognized by our government.” The grooms decided to wait until the time felt right for them to get engaged—Sage proposed to Dale just before their 17th anniversary.
After the vows, attendees were led into the grand reception space, displaying Silks A Bloom floral designs at every turn. “Mixing our love of Christmas, flocked trees, shiny ornaments, velvets and mounds of clustered floral, the details all fell into place,” describes Dale. Friends and family found their dinner seats on emerald green seating charts surrounded by a cascade of white hydrangeas, garden roses, stock, orchids and amaryllis—blooms that were found throughout the venue. “Flowers lined all of the tables, surrounded the seating charts, hung from the ceiling, lined the staircase banisters, covered the DJ's facade; there were very few places that didn't include stunning floral.”
Loved ones easily slipped into the Christmas spirit surrounded by flocked trees and a plethora of shiny baubles: ornaments could be found on Christmas trees, woven into the lush table runners and even hanging from the ceiling. “There were flocked trees clustered in varying sizes ranging from six to fourteen feet tall,” Dale explains. Dining tables displayed vibrant linens in green and fuchsia. Each floral centerpiece, whether a runner or a tower, overflowed with blooms, giving each table a sophisticatedly wild, “spilled” flower aesthetic. Surely, this matched the overwhelming amount of love (and holiday spirit) present in the room.
The grooms wisely advise future couples hire a planner for their nuptials, but Sage and Dale also offer their thoughts on healthy marriages. “Coming from a couple who has now been together for 19 years, do not expect marriage to be easy or picture perfect. It is constant work. It is always growing together. It is constantly learning more about each other. And most of all, during the difficult times as well as the good ones, remember the love that brought you together and keep putting in the work. That investment is one of the most important ones you can make throughout life.”