Wedding Blog
Bouquet Inspiration:
Floral design by Beautiful Blooms
My Bouquet created by our florist Mary Elizabeth McVeigh:
Flower Cake Inspiration by Knottie MrsMek
The Flower Cake For Our Escort Card Table
Inspiration for our Tall Centerpieces:
Trial Centerpiece designed by our florist:
Actual centerpieces for our wedding:
I bought a bunch of candelabras at a pretty good price and they didn’t work with our centerpieces because they were so heavy. We decided to remove them and keep the centepieces low during the reception. Each table had three low centerpieces and the arrangements still looked great. We don’t have a lot of photos of our centerpieces but these photos give an idea how they looked during our reception:
Our florist did an amazing job for our wedding. The bouquet was the most intricate design because it involved a lot of exotic flowers that are difficult to find through most wholesale florists. I was quite pleased with our flowers and we got exactly what we wanted. Communication was really the key to our sucess. Out of all of my vendors I spent the most time discussing and confirming our proposal with our florist. It makes sense, if you’re spending $1000 - 2000, you really should get what you ask for. I made sure all the flowers were available and I tried to avoid flowers that would most likely be off season for my wedding day. It really keeps costs down and you can definitely have more floral arrangements if you stick to flowers that are seasonal for your wedding day.
Inspirational photos are also great if you want specific or elaborate floral designs. I really didn’t have time during my internship year to explain to our florist what we wanted for our wedding, so to keep it simple I e-mailed her photos of arrangements that we would definitely like to see at our wedding. This was a great idea with our florist, not only did she create exactly what I envisioned, she also added unique details like gold leaves to my bouquet to match my personality and style. Mary McVeigh was wonderful to work with. She works within the Philadelphia and Delaware regions and she works with any type of budget.
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Share this post: Vendor Rave: Flowers By Mary Elizabeth McVeigh
I love all the unique flowers and bright colors in your flowers! It’s helpful to know what the different flowers are too - I don’t think I’ve ever seen poppy pods before. Is that a stuffed lion in your bouquet?! Please share the story if you haven’t already - I love hearing about the little personal items people weave into their wedding bouquets.
Did you really keep that adorable tiny stuffed lion in your bouquet? That’s adorable.;-)
was that all $1500? do you mind me asking how much you generally spent on your flowers? and iguess the amount of things (i.e. # of centerpieces, bouquets, etc). i’m trying to figure out a budget for my flowers and do not knwo where to start. thanks so much!!!!
oooh..whats a good price for candelabras?
I used Mary McVeigh as well and I second Mrs. Bell Pepper’s rave. She was able to recreate some totally expensive designs I gave her. Not only did they look like the original pics, but it was waaaay cheaper. Let’s put it this way, I don’t know Mrs. BP’s budget, but mine was no more than $2000. I ended up spending $1800 on 10 calla lily centerpieces, 8 orchid bouts, my peony and lady slipper bouquet, 3 peony and orchid BM bouquets, 3 orchid corsages for the moms, 6 cocktail tables, 100 white tulips down my ceremony aisle, a gorgeous placecard table decoration, and probably a lot of other flowers I’m forgetting. Everything was so perfect. My flowers were REALLY hard to come by, especially my green and white striped lady slipper orchids in my bouquet. Mary was fabulous and so great to work with! A+++!
Deena-I will tell you that Mary was the least expensive of all the florists I spoke to. I got estimates ranging from $1800 up to $6000 for the same thing. Crazy! My advice–shop around!
Can you tell me where you you got the stands for the table names/numbers? I am looking for something similar. Thank you!
I totally agree with the other commentors! How could you leave out the story of the lion? 
i can’t believe how gorgeous your flowers were for so little cost!
Flowers were lovely; the flower cake is a neat idea! I’m looking for little mini-easels as well - looked at Michael’s and AC Moore this week and turned up nothing.
From Mrs. Bell Pepper’s post here:
http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/07/17/professional-shots-the-details/#more-27084
about the table easels
“We bought them from the museum gift shop, I found the idea from a bride who had her wedding there and used the easels as escort cards..”
I was wanting some too and can’t find any mini easels that have the little tripod legs on the internet 
OMG-I just noticed the little traveling gnome in your table location cards! That is such a cute idea!
I was just wondering what you ended up doing with the candelbra crystals? I’m thinking of purchasing them from cristalier as well.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, the flowers are beautiful! I love all the colors - the purple is especially lovely.
I was wondering if you’d mind posting about your experience with James Ciccotti. I am thinking about ordering some custom shoes and would love to get your thoughts… and hear about the comfort level of the shoes! Thanks!
where did you get your postcards?
Do you have Mary McVeigh’s contact information? Your flowers are fabulous!
PLEASE give us Mary McVeigh’s contact information- your flowers are amazing and I am in the market for a philadelphia area florist!
Mrs. Bell Pepper,
Please can you tell me how you did your table cards? My wedding is in december and i will like to do something similar.
Can you tell me how you did your table cards or if you can point me in the right direction?
thanks,
Ms Chi, I created the tablecards using adobe photoshop. I added text and layered another photo on top of the location photo. what ideas do you have in mind for your table cards?
My fiance loves soccer, so we are going to name some of the tables after some soccer players from his fave teams and I live in NY so we are going to name the rest of the tables after subway stops en route to my apt. in NY. Also, do you plan to sell the easles you used? And if so do you mind if I buy them from you and how many do you have? I really liked all your ideas for your wedding, you are very very creative!
[...] Vendor Rave: Flowers by Mary Elizabeth McVeigh by Mrs. Bell Pepper [...]
For a review of my so-so experience with Mary McVeigh, click here:
http://sites.google.com/site/geekchicbride/vendor-reviews
The groom needed to fix the ceremony set-up minutes before the wedding! =(
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Mrs. Bell Pepper, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 28, Resident Physician
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident Physician
Engagement Date: May 30, 2006
Wedding Date: June 2007
Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
About Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
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