Wedding Blog

I’ve already outlined how we’re doing somewhat alternative arrangements for the tables at our wedding — apothecary jars full of candy — but I haven’t yet described what I had in mind for our flowers. I’ve mentioned how I was a little let down by the first florist we talked to, so I was hoping that the next meeting would go better than the first (and that our meager flower budget would stretch a little further after subtracting the centerpieces).

I knew going into the meeting what I wanted — sort of. I knew I wanted peonies. And, well, that’s about it. Oh, and I decided to nix the bouts for the guys; we’re doing pocket squares instead. And I wanted the girls to have similar flowers to me, but a darker shade of pink. So, I had pretty open parameters. I was worried going into this meeting that the florist would tell me that peonies wouldn’t fit within our budget, or that the season was just shy of when we’d be getting married. You see, my dream bouquet was this one:

Image : Weddingbee PRO Nancy Liu Chin

…and I really didn’t want to give up that dream. It’s just so beautiful — and ever since our peonies bloomed in our yard this late spring/early summer, I had told myself they would be in my bouquet.

Armed with that picture and my fingers crossed behind my back, I met with florist number two, Carrie from Petals Floral Design. She was so amazingly friendly that I felt comfortable with her right away. We sat down and I showed her my picture. Immediately she said that we could do peonies. Yes! Sweet manna from the heavens, my dream of peonies was coming true! She suggested adding a few other flowers to the mix, though, so that the bouquet would hold up all day. What did we add?

A few Esperance roses:

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Some pink lisianthus:

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And a few pale pink ranunculus.

Of course, I’m biased and obsessed with all things pink, but I think it will be absolutely gorgeous! The next surprise came when she said that the bridesmaids could carry peonies, too. Two for two! My six girls will have smaller bouquets made up of dark pink peonies, dark pink spray roses, pink bouvardia and some greenery. They’ll be beautiful, I’m sure.

Mr. French Fries bout will be an Esperance rose (like the ones in my bouquet), and my dad will have one with dark pink spray roses like the girls. The flower girls will be donning head wreaths made out of baby’s breath (my little French Fry niece is much too young to carry anything, and might not even leave the head wreath on…) and the French Fry moms will have corsages consisting of pink mini cymbidium orchids. So, so pretty.

I had gone into the meeting pretty much ruling out any type of altar arrangement for the church, but Carrie fit not one but two of them into our budget! They’ll be mixed pink flowers from the bouquets, and they’ll be placed into vases that will easily go from the church to the reception (i.e., they won’t be the classic church-style spray arrangements). I was so glad she was able to work this in.

I’m so happy we decided to book her, and that we have our flowers figured out! I can’t wait to see our flowers next June, and am so excited that I’ll be carrying my pink peonies down the aisle.

Did you have a clear vision of your ideal bouquet from the start? Did that vision work its way into reality?