Back on the mind lately: flowers!
I have thought about it/read about it/researched it all… the debates about silk v. real, the discussions involving ordering flowers online and the endless topics concerning seasonal blooms, colors and everything in between. In my learning journey, I’ve learned a lot – because really, I knew very little about flowers before wedding planning.
Here are my jumbly thoughts:
- I want a hand tied bouquet – I really like the idea of keeping the flowers in water as long as possible before they make their debut, but I also like that stem look.
- We’re going to reduce the floral budget greatly by only doing bride and bridesmaid bouquets. Our centerpieces are taken care of already, as well as ceremony decor. Of course, we already have our bouts for the boys – we might do corsages for moms, if part of a package.
- I will probably order from *GASP* Costco Floral.
All of these topics would not have been possible for me to post about just a few months ago. I had no idea how a bouquet was made (and now I could probably make an okay one, thanks to this nice lady) and was just smitten with images like these, without knowing an ounce about what flowers were contained in it, or how much it might be to afford one:
That one above is mostly peony – a flower I fell in love with, of course, but came to find it was pretty much a spring flower. Then of course, I loved Ranunculus, Dahlias and Stephanotis – I never even realized that Stephanotis was a real flower, can you believe that?
…sigh! But, in all my research adventures, it all came back down to one thing: money. Sure, after cutting my floral needs down, I was looking at a much more comfortable sum, but still, in my mind, it was the only element of the wedding that I felt was completely perishable. As in…I was buying something I knew was going to die soon. It made me really sad to know that, and my practical side got me thinking, hey, maybe I could just do without flowers….yeah, no big deal! Ugh, no, that didn’t happen, because my girly side, which sometimes emerges at the most inopportune times, kept overpowering, “you cannot have a wedding without flowers! What are you thinking?!”
So, with my ideas in mind of how it would look, roughly, and my eye closely locked on our pocketbook, I did some more searching. During this time, I was received suggestions from friends and family regarding flowers, and somehow, amdist the 40,000 ideas I had floating around my mind, I came to the conclusion that for my simple floral order, I could go through Costco, spend roughly $200 and get the arrangements I wanted, with little hassle. This was an idea I had thought of early on, but dropped it for a while since I thought it might be more cost-efficient to go to the grocery store day-of and just pick up some nice arrangements and do some fancy-schmancy hand-tying. Heck, I haven’t totally eliminated that idea yet – though the big CON I see in that one is essentially one that’s very last minute – and I don’t do last minute. Hmmm.
With that great debate (almost) settled, it’s back down to the appearance idea again – I think simple is the way to go, and for the longest time, I was completely smitten with hydrangea bouquets:
…but then, how can you mess with the timeless elegance of roses?
I have decided…or have I? I mean, yes…I have? I think so.
What would you choose in this situation?
I like both of your bouquet ideas, but I just wanted to let you know that hydrangea wilt very quickly, even if you leave them in water until the very last minute. By the end of your initial pictures you could have droopy, floppy flowers, especially outside in the afternoon sun. I personally love hydrangea, but have seen this happen. To help this you can take some pictures without them and let them rehydrate, or combine hydrangea and roses to give the bouquet more structure so it doesn’t become as floppy. Lastly you could opt to have them in a holder that supplies water to the bouquet. There are ways they can even fake it to look hand tied (with stems). We learned how to do this in my floral classes. That way you get the look you want, but the flowers stay hydrated. Sorry to give you so much info, but it’s actually something I know about and don’t want you to lose money on the deal
I live in Orlando so it’s really nicee to have found your blot through “I do budget weddings” blog! I am also considering the DIY bouquet(s) route. I love the lush look of carnations and baby’s breath bunched together. I might use a florist to do other arrangements, but plan to do some myself as well.
I definitely think you could DIY flowers, I don’t know why so many people try to scare you away from the idea…we ended up with very few flowers as part of our wedding, but I have a friend that DIYed hers and they turned out so lovely…she is also in Orlando, check it out:
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/im-married-11