Weddingbee Blog

Before I get on with the portraits Mr. CB and I took after our First Look, I thought I’d fill you in on my bouquet, my bridesmaids’ bouquets, and the guys’ boutonnieres. After the post on the guys getting ready, I had some requests for close-ups of the bouts and since my bouquet debuts during our portraits, I figured now was the best time for the first flower post!

My bouquet:

The bouts:

And, the bridesmaids’ bouquets:

If you remember, I had very strong opinions about how I wanted my flowers to look. I wrote about inspiration here, here, here, and here. That said, I didn’t have the biggest budget in the world for flowers. A total of $1000 to be exact. Compared to estimates for what I wanted, that wasn’t very much and had to include a $200 travel fee from Denver as well.

The morning of the wedding, Erin Hornstein, owner of Plum Sage flowers, which specializes in organic flowers, showed up around 11 AM. She readied the flowers on the porch and since the temperatures outside were in the 40s and 50s, she had no worries about refrigeration to keep them fresh. The year before, Erin had gotten ready for her own wedding in the same cabin so there was something bittersweet about her preparing the flowers there.

Erin of Plum Sage, cutting raffia for the bridesmaids bouquets

Photo by Amanda Wilson

Originally, my bouquet was to have white dahlias mixed in but when I came outside to look at the flowers, I wasn’t keen on them. Even though the dahlias were white, they were green toward the center (as it’s hard to get a pure white flower) and I, personally, don’t love the peach-and-green color combo. It took away from the romantic ruffles I was hoping for. So, with no hesitation, Erin agreed to take them out of my bouquet and put them into my bridesmaids’ bouquets. In return, I stole their garden roses. Bridezilla, I know.

So, my bouquet ended up a concoction of peach juliet garden roses, peach stock, white ranunculus, chamomile, and dark green Israeli ruscus tips.

The bouts were a spin on Mrs. Cherry Pie’s use of wheat sprigs, which I adored. The groomsmen got a mix of wheat and chamomile while the dads, grandfathers, uncles, etc, got simple wheat sprigs. The chamomile was a bit fragile and wilted sort of quickly from hugs and whatnot.

Photo by Erin Hornstein from Plum Sage

The bridesmaids’ bouquets were a reflection of mine but contained more white to complement the girls’ dresses. And, to save a few dollars, we used light peach carnations instead of garden roses. They have a similarly ruffly effect but are a quarter of the price. So, the girls’ bouquets contained: light peach carnations, white lisianthus, white dahlias, butter stock, white ranunculus, and candor pompom mums.

Because my budget was so low, I asked Erin from Plum Sage if she would be willing to buy us buckets of flowers and bring them with her from Denver for the bridesmaids bouquets. My girls could take a stab at putting their bouquets together themselves. The rock star florist that she is, Erin agreed and even offered to oversee the putting-together-of-the-bridesmaids-bouquets for free! I considered doing this for my centerpieces but decided it would be too difficult the day-of to be putting vases and arrangements together. Even the thought of coordinating friends to do that was stressful. When Erin arrived the morning of the wedding, time was speeding by faster than expected and it was quite frosty outside (where the bouquets would be put together) so Erin offered to put them together for us! That was a serious stress-reliever. She donated her time to design these babies which is why the cost (below) looks so low. She ended up charging me retail prices for the flowers and skipped adding on a design fee which was totally unprecedented. Her precious work was not under-appreciated. I mean, look at these beauties!

Budget Breakdown (for bouquets and bouts):

• Bridal Bouquet (8-9″, with garden roses, ranunculus, chamomile, stock, and Israeli ruscus tips): $110
• Groom and Groomsmen Bouts (with wheat sprigs, chamomile, and ribbon): $8 x 6 = $48
• Bouts for Grandfather/Dads/Uncle (wheat sprigs only): $7 x 4 = $28
• Bridesmaids’ Bouquets (6-7″, with carnations, lisianthus, dahlias, stock, ranunculus, and candor pompom mums): $33.80 x 5 = $169
• Total (with 7.72% tax): $382.41*

*Note: Because this is flower post part 1, I will finish the budget and include the travel fee ($200) into part two (which will include flower girl petals, centerpiece decor, and corsages).

My favorite flower photo (and a signature Tec photo):

How did we get here?

First, Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Boulder, CO.
Then, I spent a peaceful morning with my bridesmaids and maids-of-honor.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party that night.
The next morning, two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.
On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated from his bachelor party while I hiked with friends.
Until evening, when we celebrated our rehearsal dinner.
Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.
And the guys got ready too.
Mr. CB and I had our First Look.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**