Wedding Blog
I am so excited about the vendor we just booked! Not only is she my final vendor, but this could be my favorite wedding decision so far (sans saying yes to Mr. Pineapple).
Since Mr. Pineapple and I are not using real flowers for our centerpieces, I was a bit torn about using them for the bouquets, boutonnières and corsages. I love love love flowers. Growing up I dreamed of being a florist. In elementary school, my plan was to open a shop called the Flow-Pop Shop. Each bouquet would contain real flowers along with chocolate ones.
How could I dare not have real flowers in my wedding?
Well, this is how:
Oh my goodness! Those flowers are not real! They are made out of clay by an artist in California named Diane Phillips of DK Designs Hawaii.
I stumbled upon her etsy store while browsing around a few blogs last week. I immediately sent her an email and asked if she would be able to create the flowers for our wedding. I didn’t even give it a second thought. Since my centerpieces will be made out of paper, why not bouquets of clay?!
Here are the kickers 1: they cost the same as what I had budgeted for real flowers, 2: they will last forever and 3: it will prevent me from adding another DIY project, I think I’m up to 10 or 11 now and haven’t even begun to post about them!
So far, Diane has been an absolute joy to work with. She provided me with a quote and asked about some of my favorite flowers. I sent her the following inspiration images and color palette:
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Although I have some idea of what I would like - vintage, a little rustic, muted - I want to leave as much up to Diane as possible.
She will be creating my bouquet, 5 bridesmaids’ bouquets, groom’s bout, 5 groomsmens’ bouts, 3 mom corsages and 3 dad bouts. Whew… she has her work cut out for her. In a few weeks she will have some sample flowers ready for me. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with!
They will probably be a bit heavy to carry and I know some of my more traditional guests will think this is crazy, but I am stoked.
What do you think? Anyone else not using real flowers in their bouquet?
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wow–I’m really interested to see how your bouquets turn out–you gave her some great inspiration!
I noticed your other posts about not using real flowers–but I missed the Why? part….
Holy shazbot, the flowers look so real! They are absolutely amazing and I think they are the perfect touch for your wedding. She must have a lot of patience and a steady hand!
Whoa… those are amazing! Seems like an excellent complement to your paper flowers.
I assume that you’ll have a separate bouquet for the toss - because a clay bouquet in the head could really injure someone 
Hehe, your real flower-less wedding is reminding me of a wedding I attended with silk bouquets that were so realistic that none of the guests realized they weren’t real. Then the MOH toasted “may your wedding last as long as the flowers in your bouquet!” …and the crowd gasped! The poor wedding party had to quickly explain that the flowers were going to last a long, long time!
I thought about doing the same thing- those clay bouquets are gorgeous. Unfortunately, by the time I found out about them, it was too close to my wedding.
I love it! In fact, my husband and I keep cool present lists for each other and I just added a link to Diane’s etsy store for him. I think it’d be awesome to have a version of my wedding bouquet that won’t die =)
I can’t wait to follow your progress with the flowers and find out how they turn out!
Fabulous! and a forever keepsake- they’ll make a beautiful gift for your bridesmaids too! Please let us see the samples 
I thought about those as well, but since I didn’t require large bouquets, fresh dahlias wound up being cheaper!
I’m using wood flowers for my bouquet. I love them http://www.woodyaflowers.com .
@brendalynn: and @rzblna: Well the why started out for the centerpieces. I think I will be able to do each table for $12 rather than $50+ by using candles, paper flowers etc. As far as why not real bouquets? Originally I was planning on using real ones, until I discovered Diane’s work. I love the fact that they will last forever and that they are beautiful hand crafted sculptures. Since they will the same price as real flowers the concept - off beat, custom, lasting, artsy pieces - is what sold me.
I’ll definitely be looking at the clay flowers! I’m not using real flowers either–I’ve opted to use silk so that I can keep my bouquet forever.
These are really popular for crafts here. I haven’t known anyone who’s actually used them for their bouquets, but I’ve seen and felt the flowers up close — they’re really NOT as heavy as you’d think for clay. They’re made of this super-cool Japanese (natch!) polymer — they feel a almost like paper or fabric, and they’re nearly that light. So, you could throw them, but you’d probably hurt the beautiful fake flowers! I’d say that a bouquet might even weigh less than one of real flowers ’cause of the water weight in real flowers.
One of the more popular things to do w/ them is to use them for hair picks (instead of using a single rose, orchid, etc.) or to affix a single one onto a box/container for favors.
i have a bouquet from diane! she was indeed awesome to work with (she even sent me a free little sample flower). My mom was even able to pick up the bouquet for me from the studio in Honolulu. I got all stephanotis, and they really are fantastic, very light, and a little malleable still so you can adjust the petals a very little bit.
pic: http://tinyurl.com/5rfmml
i took the bouquet apart over Christmas and scattered the individual flower clumps (about 3 blossoms a stem) and scattered them all over our tree. Better than having it sit in a box.
I totally forgot about that company. My BMs used her for her wedding. She used them on her favors and the flower girl. They are soooo amazing. I tried to convince her to use them for our bouquet. But she was afraid. You can’t tell the different. I just contacted them to replicate my bouquet for keepsake and my TTD. Thanks for posting this!
I just wanted to say that I am currently working with Diane right now for my June 14th wedding. She has done my invitations and my guests were amazed at the quality of work that she provides. They were truly beautiful! She has made these clay flowers for my hair and my bridesmaids hair and they look better then real and are so life-like and light! She will be doing my favors and many other elements to my wedding. I’m so happy you found her! You will be very happy!!!
Hi Miss Pineapple. Diane made my favors for me - Chiaki & Chad under “Real Weddings”. She does an awesome job and is such a sweetheart. She also made an appearance on the Martha Stewart show on April 1. You can watch the episode on MS’s website.
They are beautiful… I must admit I was wondering about the weight too! Can’t wait to see how they come out
I just finished placing my order with Diane for two white gardenia hair flowers. Can’t wait to see them!
It is exciting to hear so many have worked with Diane or are currently working with her. I think she may be onto something here…
The clay flowers are great. I had them for my wedding too. They are very light , so don’t worry. It feels like a thin cardboard. There are several instructors of the Deco Clay craft academy, where Diane is an instructor, that make these. You can find then on etsy.com or Decoclay.com look under instructor locations to find them and contact them. I did and don’t regret it! You must show us what she makes!
[...] grumpy. Then, I checked my e-mail and got a wonderful treat. Diane from Dk Designs Hawaii had my clay flower samples ready! She wanted to show me the colors and types of flowers she had created to get my [...]
I have to say that I randomly found Diane in 2005. She ended up making my beautiful bouquet (which is actually the first photo shown of me and my husband’s hands She did a wonderful job and is totally a great person to work with. She aims to make you happy and you can definitely leave your trust in her hands!
I would never have thought of not using real flowers until I saw those. They are beautiful!
These are absolutely STUNNING!! What amazing creativity! SERIOUSLY!! She ROCKS! I even had to blog about it today because they were so beautiful. Good luck with this. I bet they will be a show stopper for sure!
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Mrs. Pineapple, Pittsburgh
Age and Occupation: 24, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Student Affairs Administration
Engagement Date: August 4, 2007
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: April 14, 2008
Venue: The Rivers Club
About Me: Being a transplant from sunny south Florida I am learning to live with all four seasons while playing with our cat collective, line dancing, and doing a ton of DIY projects for our wedding (seriously, like a thousand)!
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