If you’re searching for a unique wedding venue in Los Angeles, SmogShoppe is one of those spaces you don’t forget.
Recently, Magical Blooms had the opportunity to design the wedding flowers for the sweetest couple celebrating at SmogShoppe on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, and this venue was made for a couple willing to have a little fun with flowers.
The design was colorful, artistic, slightly funky and intentionally unexpected.
Exactly what this space called for.
A Former Smog Shop Turned Los Angeles Wedding Venue
Yes, it really was once a smog-check center.
Today, SmogShoppe is a 6,500-square-foot indoor-outdoor wedding and event venue filled with character, greenery, vintage details and industrial architecture.
There are soaring wood ceilings, concrete floors, dark walls, handcrafted wood tables and incredible living greenery throughout the property.
Then you discover the courtyard and its vertical gardens filled with succulents and drought-tolerant plants.
It is such a hidden Los Angeles gem.
Rather than covering up all of that personality with wedding décor, our goal was to design flowers that became part of it.
Our Floral Vision: Artsy, Funky and Full of Movement
This wasn’t a wedding that needed traditional, perfectly rounded centerpieces.
We wanted every arrangement to feel a little different.
The floral palette moved through pink, coral, peach, lavender, purple and green, giving us color without making the room feel overly formal.
We incorporated flowers and textures including:
• Dahlias
• Anthurium
• Roses
• Hydrangea
• Amaranthus
• Gladiolus
• Celosia
• Textural greenery
• Tropical foliage
• Interesting seasonal flowers and botanical elements
Some flowers stood tall.
Others bent or trailed.
Amaranthus spilled toward the tables.
Anthurium created sculptural moments.
Dahlias added those gorgeous explosions of color.
The arrangements weren’t designed to look perfectly identical because flowers don’t grow that way in nature.
Each piece had its own personality while still belonging to the same floral story.
Bud Vases Can Make a Huge Impact
One of my favorite details was the collection of smaller floral arrangements running along the long wooden tables.
Instead of placing one enormous centerpiece in the middle of every table, we used multiple vessels with different flowers, heights and shapes.
That gave the tables movement from one end to the other.
It also allowed the beautiful wood tables at SmogShoppe to remain visible.
This is something I tell couples all the time:
More flowers doesn’t always mean bigger flowers.
Sometimes repetition is what creates abundance.
A collection of bud vases and small floral moments can transform an entire table while still allowing guests to see and talk to one another.
The Head Table Needed Its Own Moment
For the main head table, we wanted to create something guests would immediately notice when they entered the room.
Rather than filling the tabletop with one enormous arrangement, we looked upward.
We suspended two long bars above the tables and covered them in cascading greenery and oversized tropical foliage.
The greenery floated over the table, almost creating a botanical ceiling.
Large monstera leaves gave the installation scale while loose greenery dropped naturally downward.
Below it, the colorful flowers continued across the tables.
That combination created a visual frame around the head table without blocking everyone’s faces.
It changed the architecture of the room.
And that’s one of my favorite things flowers can do.
Designing Flowers for SmogShoppe
Every wedding venue should influence the flowers you choose.
SmogShoppe already has so much personality that I wouldn’t recommend trying to turn it into a traditional ballroom.
Lean into what makes it interesting.
The industrial walls.
The wood.
The plants.
The enormous windows.
The indoor-outdoor feeling.
The succulent garden.
The vintage personality.
For this wedding, our colorful, slightly wild floral designs provided a beautiful contrast against all of that existing green.
Instead of fighting the venue, we designed with it.
A Venue Made for Creative Couples
If you want a Los Angeles wedding that doesn’t feel cookie-cutter, SmogShoppe gives you an incredible canvas.
It can work beautifully for:
Wedding ceremonies
Wedding receptions
Rehearsal dinners
Engagement parties
Holiday parties
Corporate events
Brand events
Birthday celebrations
And because the space already has so much greenery and architectural personality, your flowers don’t necessarily have to cover every square inch.
We can identify the places where floral design will create the greatest impact.
Looking for a SmogShoppe Wedding Florist?
If you’ve booked SmogShoppe and are starting to search for your Los Angeles wedding florist, we would love to create something specifically for the space and for you.
At Magical Blooms, we don’t believe in copying and pasting the same wedding design from one venue to another.
We look at the room.
We look at the light.
We look at the architecture.
We look at what is already growing there.
And then we ask:
What can flowers do to this space that nothing else can?
Whether you envision colorful and funky flowers like this wedding, something romantic and garden-inspired, all white and green, modern tropical flowers, or a completely different direction, we’ll design around your personality and your celebration.
Planning a Wedding or Event at SmogShoppe in Los Angeles?
Let’s talk flowers.
Magical Blooms creates custom wedding and event floral design throughout Los Angeles, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Palos Verdes.
From bud vases and centerpieces to head-table flowers, ceremony installations and large-scale suspended greenery, we can transform the room while still allowing the personality of your venue to shine through.
Your venue doesn’t need to disappear underneath the flowers.
The flowers should make you notice the venue in an entirely new way.
INQUIRE ABOUT YOUR WEDDING OR EVENT
Jenny Barker, The Flower Doctor
Magical Blooms
Los Angeles & South Bay Wedding and Event Florist