New Bern NC, Where Wedding Florals Become Art: Inside Grace and Ivy
- Leigh Fulcher
- May 4
- 8 min read
Tucked in the heart of New Bern, Magnolia Manor 1843 has long been a setting for refined Southern weddings, but it was the artistic vision of Grace and Ivy that truly elevated our space to editorial acclaim. Known for luxury wedding flowers, romantic garden design, and bespoke floral installations, this talented floral designer brought our historic venue to life in a way that captured the attention of Southern Bride magazine. In this feature, we’re highlighting how Grace and Ivy’s eye for detail, texture, and timeless elegance transformed our venue into a publication-worthy wedding experience in coastal North Carolina.
New Bern wedding venue
Where Wedding Florals Become Art: Inside Grace and Ivy, A New Bern wedding venue floral designer
The Beginning-
1. Every great design house begins with a vision. What inspired you to create Grace and Ivy, and how did your journey into wedding floral artistry begin?
Like many great things, I would say my Grace & Ivy was created to meet a need in the industry. I’ve always been drawn to the hospitality industry, but it wasn’t something that was heavily advocated for in my community. Where most kids grew up dreaming of being doctors or lawyers, I always envisioned someone more for myself. My grandma, Gracey Pugh, was the driving force behind cultivating my love for flowers. I spent many days with her tending the gardens and making seasonal arrangements to display around the house. The time spent together in her gardens and decorating for every season has ultimately led to where I am today.
The Distinction
2. In a world filled with talented floral designers, what distinguishes Grace and Ivy? What defining philosophy or approach shapes the work you create for your couples?
Design isn’t just a service we offer, its and extension of who I am. My brain is wired to see the beauty and craftsmanship in everything. As a company, we have a unique ability to take a few small details and craft a design that is not only beautiful but feels like an expression of the clients we design for. At the heart of our floral philosophy is a belief: your love story provides the most powerful inspiration of all. Anyone can create something beautiful with the right resources; however, beauty is just the starting point. We care about how the room will flow, how guests will engage with the design, and what feelings the design elements evoke. From flower placement to linen selections, every detail has to have purpose and intention behind it.
The Specialization: The Advantage to Couples
3. How does your dedicated focus on weddings elevate the experience for your couples? In what ways does specialization allow you to offer a deeper level of artistry, attention, and execution?
Our dedicated focus on weddings allows us to approach each celebration with a level of intentionality that goes far beyond floral design alone. Weddings are deeply personal, emotionally significant events, and specializing in them gives us the ability to truly understand the rhythm, logistics, and layered details that make a celebration feel seamless and meaningful.
Because our work is centered exclusively around weddings, we’re able to offer a more refined experience for our couples. Every design decision is made with the full guest experience in mind — from how florals interact with the architecture of a venue to the way color, texture, and scale shape the atmosphere of the day. This level of specialization allows us to create designs that feel cohesive, elevated, and deeply personal to each couple rather than simply beautiful arrangements placed within a space.
It also allows us to give an exceptional level of care and attention to execution. By intentionally taking on a limited number of weddings each year, we’re able to cultivate strong relationships with our couples, collaborate thoughtfully with creative partners, and remain fully present throughout the design process. We believe artistry is not only found in the florals themselves, but in the experience of being thoughtfully guided, cared for, and served well from beginning to end.
4. Weddings carry a unique emotional weight and logistical complexity. How does your expertise in this singular space allow you to anticipate needs, refine details, and create seamless floral installations on the wedding day?
I’m proud to come from a family with a generational legacy of ministry leaders, which has given me a deep understanding of the importance of covenant. That understanding shapes the way we serve our clients — with the honor, care, and respect their day deserves.
For us, it’s never about working with the biggest budgets, but about partnering with couples who value the meaning and principles of marriage just as much as the celebration itself. Because of this, we take on only a limited number of couples each year, allowing us to intentionally cultivate relationships and give each celebration the time, care, and attention to detail it deserves.
Design & Signature Style
5. How would you describe the signature aesthetic of Grace and Ivy? Are there particular textures, color stories, or design elements that feel most reflective of your creative voice?
Our signature aesthetic is rooted in refined garden-inspired design with a soft, romantic sensibility. We’re deeply drawn to the feeling of an English garden layered with the warmth and elegance of the South — designs that feel lush, intentional, and effortlessly timeless rather than overly structured or trend-driven.
Our creative voice is most reflected through delicate spring pastels, tonal color palettes, and floral compositions that feel organic and full of movement. We love incorporating layered textures through blooms like garden roses, sweet peas, ranunculus, tulips, and seasonal flowering branches to create depth and softness within each design.
What inspires us most is the balance between sophistication and natural beauty. We want our work to feel immersive and emotive — as though the florals naturally belong within the setting while still creating a sense of wonder. Every arrangement is designed to feel abundant yet thoughtful, romantic yet elevated, with an emphasis on seasonality and intentional detail.
The Process
6. Walk us through your design process. From the first consultation to the final placement of a bloom on the wedding day, how do you guide couples from inspiration to realization?
Our design process is rooted in collaboration, intentionality, and thoughtful storytelling. From the very beginning, our goal is to create an experience that feels personal, seamless, and deeply reflective of each couple and the atmosphere they want their celebration to embody.
The process begins with an initial consultation where we take time to understand not only a couple’s floral preferences, but also their overall vision, priorities, and the feeling they want guests to experience on the wedding day. We discuss everything from the venue and seasonality to color palette, personal details, and the overall aesthetic direction of the celebration.
From there, we begin developing a custom design proposal that translates their inspiration into a cohesive floral story. This stage includes curated color palettes, floral selections, textural direction, and conceptual design ideas tailored specifically to their celebration. We intentionally guide couples through the design process so that every element feels elevated, cohesive, and aligned with the overall experience they want to create.
As the wedding day approaches, we refine every detail through ongoing collaboration with planners and creative partners to ensure the floral design integrates beautifully within the larger vision of the event. We carefully consider scale, movement, placement, and how each arrangement will interact with the venue and guest experience as a whole.
On the wedding day itself, our team oversees every aspect of installation with great care and precision. From preparing each bloom to the final placement of florals, we approach every detail with intentionality. We believe the smallest details often make the greatest impact, and our goal is always to create designs that feel effortless, immersive, and beautifully reflective of the couple we are serving.
Investment & Intention
7. Floral design is both an art and an investment. Why do you believe working with a dedicated wedding floral designer is invaluable when curating a truly unforgettable celebration?
Floral design has the ability to completely transform the atmosphere of a wedding day. Thoughtful floral design creates emotion, sets the tone for the celebration, and shapes the way guests experience each moment. We believe working with a dedicated design team is invaluable because it brings a level of artistry, intentionality, and cohesion that elevates the entire event experience.
As your creative partner, we do far more than select beautiful blooms. Our role is to thoughtfully interpret a couple’s vision and translate it into an environment that feels personal, refined, and seamless from beginning to end. Every floral choice — from color palette and texture to scale and placement — is carefully considered in relation to the venue, the season, and the overall guest experience.
Because weddings are our sole focus, we understand the nuances that go into creating designs that not only photograph beautifully, but also function well within the flow of the day. We know how to design with movement, architecture, lighting, and guest interaction in mind.
Investing in a dedicated design team also means investing in expertise, guidance, and peace of mind throughout the entire process. From conceptualization to execution, we help couples navigate decisions thoughtfully while ensuring every detail is handled with care and precision. Ultimately, truly unforgettable celebrations are created through intentional experiences, and florals play an integral role in bringing that atmosphere to life in a way that guests will remember long after the wedding day has ended.
Designing for Historic Spaces
8. When designing for a historic estate such as Magnolia Manor 1843, how do you approach enhancing the architectural charm and natural surroundings while ensuring the florals feel both timeless and intentional?
Whenever we approach the design of a historic property, I’m always looking for ways to honor its existing charm while layering in distinctive details. Because venue selection sets the tone for the entire day, it’s important that our design elements enhance that experience for both the couple and their guests.
We partner with some of the industry’s leading rental and linen companies, which gives us the flexibility to create offerings that feel fresh and, at times, entirely new to this market. Thoughtful design should function seamlessly while elevating the beauty that’s already present.
Recognition & Achievement (Bonus)
9. You were recently featured in Southern Bride. What did that recognition mean to you personally and professionally? Did it affirm the vision you have always carried for Grace and Ivy?
Being featured in Southern Bride felt both surreal and grounding at the same time.
Personally, it was a quiet, full-circle moment. So much of what we do as a design firm happens behind the scenes—in early morning market runs, late-night installs, and the in-between moments where you’re trusting your instincts more than anything else. To see that work recognized in such a respected publication felt like someone had paused long enough to truly see the intention behind it.
Professionally, it offered a sense of affirmation—but not in a loud, celebratory way. More like a gentle nod that the vision we’ve been cultivating for Grace and Ivy—lush, intentional, emotionally immersive design—resonates beyond just our immediate circle. It reminded us that there is space for florals that feel layered, artful, and deeply personal, rather than simply decorative.
If anything, the feature in Southern Bride reinforced our commitment to designing with feeling first. To create environments that are meant to be experienced, not just photographed, and to continue to evolve Grace and Ivy in a way that stays true to that ethos, no matter how much visibility grows.
"Recognition is beautiful—but alignment is everything"
Southern Bride article:
Much Gratitude....
We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Michael of Grace and Ivy for taking the time to share his floral passions and design perspective with us. It has been a true pleasure to meet and work alongside him, and we can genuinely say he is as beautiful a person as the art he creates. We are incredibly grateful for his invitation to be part of the Southern Bride shoot and so proud of what he and his team brought to life. It means so much to collaborate with such a talented group of wedding professionals here in New Bern, North Carolina, and to be included in something so special.
New Bern wedding venue, Full of Historic Southern Charm for the Couples who want to create their own lovy story from the pages of a romance novel.
Photography: @haleybraddyphotography
Venue: @magnolia_manor_1843_venue
Planning: @partyperfectionweddings
Floral & Event Design: @graceandivyfloral
Hair & Makeup: @halosalonnewbern
Dress: @thornburybrides
Dress Designer: @pronovias
Jewelry: @astermaeve_
Menswear: @menswearhouse
Grooms Bowtie: @brackish
Rentals: @charmingandquaint
Linens: @nuagedesignsinc
Day of Paper & Signage: @feteandquill
Catering & Bar: @vinecateringco
Cake: @famousrestaurantandbaking
Cookies: @l.c.designco
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