Mrs. Lollipop, Pittsburgh
Age and Occupation: 26, Computational Linguist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Project Manager
Engagement Date: August 2, 2006
Wedding Date: September 2, 2007
Blogging Since: July 17, 2007
Venue: The PPG Aquarium at the Pittsburgh Zoo
About Me: I'm a Pittsburgh transplant who grew up in the deep south. I have a weakness for exotic alphabets, DIY projects, mobster movies and international travel. My fiance and I are both non-native Japanese speakers and we have a bullfrog named Skinny.
Our Favors Require A Degree In Botany
August 30th, 2007 @ 10:34 am by Mrs. Lollipop
The best advice I can give to other DIY brides is to test! everything! I am surprised everyday by the varied ways that things can go wrong. Case in point, our favors:
Each guest will get a little pot of wheat grass to take home with them after the reception. Wheat grass is a convenient choice for favors: it grows quickly, the seed is cheap and easy to obtain and it grows in thick, beautiful green blades. Well, it grows in thick blades most of the time.
Above are three failed wheat grass samples. The leftmost has blades that are too skinny and unkempt and their sheaths are too long. I obtained that particular variety of wheat grass from a local sprout farm, Mung Dynasty, which to their credit is fantastic for everything else.
On the right is a variety of spelt wheat grass from Whole Foods. Clearly, these seeds are meant more for eating because fever than 25% actually germinated. Lastly, in the middle we have grass sprouted from seed that I’ve had in stock for four years. It’s the best candidate, but a great deal of the seed isn’t sprouting. Three strikes.
So, in my current perfectionist fugue I ordered two more varieties of grass seed from wheatgrasskits.com. The first was barley grass and the second was a reliable variety of wheat grass. I’m crossing my fingers.
13 Responses to “Our Favors Require A Degree In Botany”
I grew wheatgrass centerpieces for my wedding reception. I ordered the seeds off of ebay (”hard red” seeds). First, I soaked them for approx 12 hours. I then layered them into my containers (in a fairly dense layer) and placed soaked paper over top. I waited 2-3 days and uncovered. Wheatgrass looks best about 9-10 days after you plant it. Here is the address for a pic of my centerpieces:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33411984@N00/1263473746/
One thing I forgot to add….. I accidentally left the leftover seeds soaking outside, and boy did they wind up stinking! The flies were all over them. Disposing of rotten seeds a few days before the wedding was not my idea of a good time!
I’m growing wheatgrass centerpieces for my wedding… I blogged about the process here, http://www.xanga.com/jessica9801
check it out.
Good luck with this. I hope you post a picture of the field of grass you will have growing closer to your wedding date.
I think the idea is adorable. I have seen the wheatgrass as a centerpiece but not as a favor. My dad has taken to growing small pots of it for his cat instead of spending $1.25 every week at the local farmers market. So hopefully your guests’ cats can have a treat if the humans don’t run it through a juicer. 
FYI I used to grow wheatgrass for my guinea pigs. I bought it at the petsore in little kits and it came out very lush. The little piggie had to mow it on the regular.
My cats would love you. Petsmart sells a very good wheat grass seed if you can’t make the others work.
Laura, congratulations. I’m loving all the homemade elements to your wedding! It looked really warm and personal.
[…] Petunias took Miss Lollipop’s advice to heart and realized that we should put one of our intended projects to the test, sort of.For many […]
Hi there Mrs L! I was wondering how your new seeds ever turned out?!? Wheatgrass is an awesome decoration, I’m thinking of growing some on my balcony. Let me know which type/brand worked best for you!
What a coincidence! I’m writing follow up post right now. The grass turned out great and I was even able to add little flowers.
[…] Previously: Our Favors Require a Degree in Botany […]
Hello Everyone. I have really enjoyed reading all the info about using wheatgrass as a decoration for weddings. I really want to use it for mine too. I want so bad for it to be successful… I guess I’ll start by doing some of those oh so fun trial runs. What suggestions do you have for the best success?
The grass from wheatgrasskits.com really did the trick. I’d suggest starting there.
