No Power In My Flowers
April 20th, 2008 @ 4:00 pm by Mrs. Caramel
In my previous post there was a comment about my bouquet, which was a compliment — thanks! I really disliked my bouquet, so I was surprised to hear that! I’m sure it’s a nice bouquet in general, but it was nothing like what I had discussed with my florist.
Here were some pictures I had provided for inspiration:
(via theknot)
Beautiful right? I wanted a clean, classy beautiful bouquet. I even mentioned to her that I REALLY wanted the cute stephanotis flowers, just like in that last picture. I also wanted to add some greens in there because I thought having an all white bouquet would be too bland. What did I end up with?
Look how much green there is! It’s like a Christmas tree bouquet!!
In my mind: “just smile…. just pretend these are the most gorgeous flowers ever…”
“ummm…..yuck…”
I’m sure the flowers were lovely, but it was nothing like what I had been expecting, and the green color was just total overkill for me. I even contemplated picking out the green with my own hands! However, I was able to compensate by only picking black & white pictures of me with the flowers. But ladies— just remember that your photographer will want you to pose with your flowers all day.
So if you don’t really care about the flowers (like I didn’t) then please remember that you should LOVE your bouquet. It doesn’t matter as much for the centerpieces and the BM’s bouquets, but your bouquet should be beautiful. Try to go over what you do not want with your florist ahead of time.
I think overall it was my own fault for saying “whatever you think will look great should be fine!” I was a bit too easygoing with the flowers. I didn’t think I’d really cared that much— but now that I look back, I’m still regretting it.
Did anyone else have this problem with their florist?
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21 Responses to “No Power In My Flowers”
Actually, that’s exactly what I said to my florist. But it’s also why I picked her. Although I found a florist who was a) cheaper and b) more personable, I went with the florist whose work I adored. I’m pretty sure that even if she brings flowers that are the exact opposite of what we talked about and contain only the flowers that I hate–I’ll still love it. I hope this philosophy doesn’t backfire!
Strange- it’s as though instead of going with the sort of monochrome look you were inspired by, she mixed all the colors and looks to blend the red, white, and greens. It is pretty, but so different from what you had in mind!
I discussed with my florist specific colors and flowers that I wanted. I brought in a bunch of photos of bright bouquets, full of yellow and pink and blue and purple - very vibrant against my all white dress. Thank God I had the good sense to have a trial bouquet done for my bridal portraits! I showed up and the bouquet was this lilac and pink (no other colors) frilly girly thing that was nothing like the colors/flowers mentioned IN MY CONTRACT! Luckily, I had enough time that I was able to go into their coolers of flowers and start handpicking what I wanted and they made me a brand new one on the spot. I even took pictures of the new bouquet and brought them back to my florist so there would be no doubt what I was going for. So, on the day of the wedding there were no big surprises as my bouquet was what I wanted (the only thing they messed up on is that my BM bouquets were supposed to be a smaller replica of mine, but without white flowers. To this day, I’m the only one who knows the white flowers in their bouquets were wrong.)
sadly i was very disappointed by my flowers. I just picked one kind of flower and wanted a tight rounded nosegay of matsumoto asters. I even brought a picture of EXACTLY what I wanted and we even kind of counted to see how many it would take to make it the same size, etc. I wanted all the leaves stripped and just a perfectly formed bouquet. but….on the day of the wedding, the florist dropped off the flowers and they were loosly tossed together with an ugly ribbon tied in a bow around the stems and all the greenery still there. In the end, I was able to look past it and it wasn’t a big deal. but my florist was the biggest regret for me.
No offense, I understand it wasnt what you wanted but from her perspective you gave her three completely different looks, how could she not just try and blend the three?? If you only really wanted stephanotis you should have just shown her an exact pic.
I was bummed that I forgot to tell my florist to hand tie my bouquet. He put my flowers in those plastic bouquet holders with lace framing the flowers (think 80s style). I’m sure he saw the disappointment in my face when he delivered them which also made me feel bad because he’s the nicest guy in the world. The flowers were gorgeous though and in the long run, if they weren’t in the holders with the floral foam giving them water, my flowers probably wouldn’t have lasted all the way until the end of our long wedding day (over 13 hours).
I have heard and witnessed so many horror stories about bouquets that I am just once again glad that my mom is talented enough to handle it all for me. Also, I have absolutely no problem telling my mom when she’s doing something wrong 
Even though your bouquet looks very pretty in the pictures, its not what you envisioned, and that’s the part that’s the most disappointing.
I was pretty disappointed with my bouquet. I gave the florist one picture of what I wanted mine to look like, and it turned out very different, and kind of cheap looking. I also wish I had asked her to do something nicer with the wrapping. Per my planners request, she redid the bouquet on the spot, but the wrapping was unraveling the whole night Oh well, what can you do? Sh*t happens, right?
If I was your florist I think I would have been confused too since the inspiration pictures are so different! Did you explain what it was about the pictures that you liked? Either way, I’m glad that you are able to have a good attitude about them now that your wedding is over. I think the flowers look very pretty in your portraits!
I agree that the dark green is overpowering the other flowers. It would of looked prettier if she just used baby’s breath. However, that did not take away the beauty of your wedding. You were such a beautiful bride. You certainly were a show stopper bride and took center stage! Your hair do inspired me to leave my hair down and I actually used your picture as a sample look for my wedding day (dec 1, 07). Thanks so much.
I totally understand!! I cut numerous pictures out of magazines, and I told him I wanted my centerpieces and bouquets to look like fire (lots of oranges, a few red and some yellow with specks of white). Bright, bright, bright. When I went for my mockup….the first thing he showed me was pink and purple. I nearly died. The last thing (”more your color palette”) was a pale, sherbert color and mostly yellow. I was so disappointed. We went back and forth for a while, and finally came up with something lovely. I realized that while I have a vision in my head, there’s a bit of trial and error when you’re trying to convey that to another person. It’s hard, and while I’m still nervous about my wedding day, I’m more confident that he understands what I want.
I agree that the look wasn’t the same as the looks you presented. With the actual flowers, though, most people should realize that many flowers aren’t available much of the year, and minor issues in growing seasons can affect what florists get. My mom’s a florist and she also says that a lot of the flowers you see in floral design pictures would never hold up the entire day for a wedding. They’re designed for show, similar to airbrushed pictures in magazines.
I met with my florist for the first time this weekend, and this post has inspired me to set another meeting closer to the wedding and make sure that we are on the same page!
I must agree with Mrs Caramel 100%!!!! I originally took a very laid back attitude with my florist until I realized that if I don’t like my bouquet…it will be in all my pictures! Hence the drama of firing my florist…but yes, I definitely agree with you…if nothing else, you must LOVE your bouquet because if you don’t you’ll dislike your pictures even more and we all know that our pictures is what we will have for memories in the long run…so my advice is to definitely have your bouquet mocked up with your florist…
My bouquets weren’t what I expected either. From the time of the sample that I saw to the wedding, the weather/season had changed. The flowers were all wilted and the colors were all off. The florist changed the roses and not only were they mauve looking but they just looked so bad after wilting and compared to the dresses. You can’t tell from afar but up close, you could see the flowers were falling apart. It totally screwed up my color scheme vision. You’re right, when I look at the pictures, I’m reminded of that.
awww. i had a similar experience. although, my bouquet came out closer to what I had imagined, and yet, i was still pretty disappointed. The green tipped baby roses were wilted and also clashed with the gorgeous full ivory roses. I wanted soft whites and shell pinks. Instead, I ended up with too much green and a blah bouquet. What can you do, right? I’m sorry your florist took things into her own hands. That’s a bummer!
My florist was the person I trusted most and it turned out she was the one that nearly ruined my wedding. I gave specific details and pictures went to wedding fairs with her and SHE WAS AWFUL the day off…I won’t even repeat what she called my bridesmaides! So I completely sympathize with you!
Did you mention your disappointment to your florist? Maybe the next bride she books will avoid the problem you had… good for you for realizing that, although it wasn’t what you envisioned, you didn’t let it ruin your day!
Sorry to clarify, the first pic was for my BMs, the 2nd pic for my MOH, and the last one was for me! So I thought I was pretty clear… Especially since I mostly wanted calla lilies and roses– which she told me were in season. I think the green stuff was 90% of the problem!
And yes, I JUST emailed her two days ago! I felt stupid for emailing her since all has been said & done. But I thought about future brides and that maybe she should be more clear in case this happened to someone else!
my flowers also looked nothing like the picture I’d picked, from HER books, but I gotta say I didn’t care that much. They weren’t horrid, mainly boring, and my flowers were a bargain.
Mrs. Caramel, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 24, Art Gallery/Museums
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Engineer
Engagement Date: January 8, 2007
Wedding Date: October 6, 2007
Venue: a beautiful church and hotel reception
About Me: I love dancing, singing, eating out, eating in, surfing on the net, and brainstorming fantastic ideas. I also love cats, coffee, and know every quote written on Sex & the City. I'm known to laugh really loud and have really crazy hand gestures while I talk. My fiance writes songs and I take pictures. What else? We're just a crazy young couple in love, trying to make a fabulous wedding!
This is the reason why I will be making my own bouquet (and many other details of my weddings - invitation, decorations, favors, programs, my hair!). I just can’t stand to have the details in someone else’s hands!