Wedding Flowers

Yesterday evening, Craig and I went with his mom to a florist who is a good friend of his mother's to discuss the flowers for our wedding. I really liked the florist - she was straightforward and honest about what would look good and be the most cost efficient as well. I am finding that my little folder of wedding inspiration pictures I've gotten off the web is the best idea I have had yet. When we went to the florist, I had all the following pictures printed off on two sheets of paper, as well as grouped together according to topic. I also had a list of the flowers that we would need for people and the contact information of the florist on there as well.

When we sat down to initially discuss what I wanted, I just handed her the stapled sheets of paper and she was pleased and a little taken aback at how prepared I was. What can I say? I am approaching planning this wedding the same way I approach everything else...I over prepare for everything so that I am in control of the situation and I make sure I get what I want. I just know that if I didn't have these pictures, the whole wedding planning process would be an absolute nightmare for me and I do want to enjoy the next eight months.

Ceremony Flowers:

Our wedding site is outdoors and will look something similar to the above picture. It is on a golf course and so the natural scenery is pretty beautiful. There is an white metal arch (smaller than this one) and I think we're just going to wind some silk ivy around the front just to soften it a bit. Behind the arch is a small landscaped flower bed that has rocks, bushes and should have some flowers come next March. This will save us on flowers for the actual ceremony. Along the aisle, the hotel does provide a runner which will have petals strewn down it by my beautiful little flower girl, Emma. I'm just going to be saying continual prayer for wonderful weather on our wedding day, March 13, 2010 and I encourage you to do the same.

Along the aisle chairs of the first two rows, we are going to have the exact same flower decoration as the one above. This is just going to designate the family and close friends chairs as well as make the front of the wedding site pop a little bit. Every other aisle for the rest of the chairs we are going to have a toned down version of this with just white roses and greenery.

This is probably my most favorite thing about the flowers so far. I am in love with my centerpieces. I am expecting about 200 people at the wedding and that means with 10 people per table about 20 tables with centerpieces. I definitely knew that I didn't want to do the same thing at every table and I also wanted varying heights at each table. So this is what we have come up with: half the tables will be "high" tables with tall vases filled with Granny Smith green apples and brown stick looking things. Around the base of the vases will be a round mirror provided by the hotel and plain vanilla votive candles. The "low" tables are going to have small square vases filled with water and three green hydrangea flowers, again on the mirrors with candles. I think for the table decoration we are going with cream or ivory linens and then a "T" formation of alternating brown and green sheer material. I am super excited to have this part of the planning out of the way because I was very stressed about making sure that the reception looked good.

Below are several different examples of bouquets that I found. I don't really remember all the flowers that we chose, but I can tell you that my bouquet will be mostly white with green accents and my bridesmaid's bouquets will be the opposite with mostly green and then a little bit of white accents. My bouquet will have a little more loose feeling - almost as if I picked wildflowers from the ground while the bridesmaids will be a little more tightly packed together.

The boutonniere for Craig will reflect my bouquet with a mini Calla Lilly and the groomsmen's boutonnieres will reflect the bridesmaid's bouquets with green and white orchids.

Overall, picking out and discussing flowers made me very excited - partly because we're getting closer to being married, but also because I just want to see my vision come to life. On a separate note, I was reading in one of my bridal magazines and it recommended that a bride meet with at least THREE different vendors for each aspect of the wedding (cake, flowers, DJ, etc.). That absolutely floored me! I don't have that much time to devote to researching and meeting with all those people. Well...it is summer vacation, so I COULD have that much time if I wanted to, but frankly...I don't want to devote my entire summer vacation to meeting with people and discussing the same thing over...and over...and over. That statement just seemed a bit ridiculous and I feel very lucky that between the two of our families we have been able to find quality vendors either through family connections or high recommendations.