Wedding Blog

I’ve shown the hive my bridal party floral ideas, so next up is the ceremony and centerpieces. These are some of the pictures I brought along with me when I went to visit/interview florists. Just a bit of advice - it helps immensely to bring inspiration pictures when you visit a florist. They will get a good idea of the look/theme/vibe you are going for, and if your vision is all over the place like mine was, at least they can tell you that and help you narrow things down.

Ceremony:
I want to keep the ceremony mostly white/ivory with touches of orange and bring in the rich plum color for the reception.

My vision is to line the aisle with large copper or dark wood bowls with dahlias in them.

From dreamy R. Jack Balthazar

For the mandap/poruwa, I knew I wanted to have lots of hanging lines of jasmine or orchids. I’m not a fan of the huge pillars that are usually featured in most traditional mandaps. I was having a hard time finding inspiration photos for mandaps until I stumbled upon Michelle Rago’s website. The pictures below are of a wedding she did at Breakers hotel. I am obsessed with the beautiful hand carved structure - it has a sort of Moroccan vibe to it. I don’t think we are going to be able to find or replicate anything as oranate and gorgeous as this, but I can dream…

I LOVE these orchid trees. We wanted to do some type of archway leading into the aisle, but we had to cut the flower budget down so these beauties didn’t make it.

Cocktail Hour:

I wanted to keep the cost of these down so I was going for something simple and unique. I’m not sure my mom was a fan of using fruit in a centerpiece, but I think these towers of oranges with stephanotis will be beautiful.

Another picture from R. Jack Balthazar

I like the look of these flowers in bamboo and they are relatively inexpensive too.

Centerpieces:
Here is where my love for manzanitas comes in. I watched an episode of Platinum Weddings and almost died when I saw this couple’s florals. They had these huge tree centerpieces dripping with flowers. Turns out the tree in the episode is actually made of copper and is something like $2K a centerpiece. Crazy but so beautiful. Manzanita branches instead of a copper tree will make ours A LOT cheaper and just as beautiful.

Copper tree by Square Root Design

Another tree from Square Root

Here is our lovely florist Jill’s interpretation (the pictures don’t do them justice):

Close up of the base

The branches

Details of the base - I love all the roses, dahilas, succulents and lotus pods

As much as I’d love to have all tree centerpieces, with 40 tables that would really break the budget. We are instead going to do a variation of high (tree), low, and long centerpieces.

We are going to have some long rectangular tables as well and I am in love with this sort of creeping tree and flower look from R. Jack Balthazar ( I know, I’m obsessed).

Here are some inspirations I had for the low centerpieces:

Flowers by Fiore Designs

Love this lush piece also from R. Jack Balthazar

Isn’t this piece gorgeous? I can’t remember where I found it, but I love it!

Here’s what Jill came up with as a first try:

I like them a lot but there is something that isn’t perfect about the low centerpieces. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Any advice/changes from the hive?

Have any of you caught manzanita fever? If so, how are you incorporating them into your wedding decor?