Weddingbee Blog

Flowers!

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Before I knew how much these things cost, I had chosen a few elements to focus on: the photographer, the food, and the flowers! I know, flowers die (and food is devoured) but when I shut my brown eyes to imagine me walking down the aisle, or being introduced as Mrs. Pencils for the first time, I saw lots and lots of luscious green and yellow flowers.

But we also didn’t have the… erm… budget for oodles and oodles of flowers by a talented florist.

What else could I do but search for fantastic alternatives to get the floral look I was going for? I loved the idea of somehow being involved in the process, but lacked that one thing: know-how (aka “skill” aka “experience”)! In the very beginning, Mr. Pencils and I imagined that his Gaga (grandmother) could help us out with our flowers. She does the flowers for her church, has created the florals for several weddings, and even made FMIL’s bouquet. However, we didn’t want to put too much pressure on her, so at first we just asked for her advice in finding a good local flower market and wholesale prices on vases and the like.

A whole year went by and we knew… we really wanted HER to help us complete the floral look for our wedding!

So, what else to do but sweep Gaga off her little feet and treat her to the swankiest lunch around… some corn chowder and pizza, courtesy of California Pizza Kitchen! Hey man, she loved it!

Gaga arrived with flower books in tow, and I came loaded down with five pages of floral photos, garnered from an intensive two hour search at The Knot, under “Wedding Flowers”, “Green Flowers”, and “Reception Centerpieces”.

Mr. Pencils and I hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to bring up the floral discussion, since that was our purpose, without rudely seeming like that was our sole purpose. Luckily, Gaga set her menu down two minutes in and said, “OK, so I’ll do the centerpieces, but I’d prefer you to hire a professional florist for bouquets, as they die quickly.”

So since it was settled, we ordered our scrumptious lunch and dove into my inspiration photos.

I love the big, ruffly, oversized, overflowing look. I wish I could tell you I had considered tall, monumental centerpieces like this:

I especially love the floating limes in this last one. It’s so fresh and refreshing and lime-y!

Though I love drama, I love the thought of understated simplicity even more when it comes to centerpieces. Despite our venue’s high, beam ceilings, I was drawn to one specific look:

Combine this overflowing, lush look with the river rocks in this next one- except imagine bigger river rocks!

source for above images

With the combo, you can begin to understand my image of our centerpieces for the reception.
Mr. Pencils and I had trouble visualizing (if you didn’t, that’s why you’re likely much more crafty and DIY inclined than I am) so we went to our friendly neighborhood Michaels and created a mock one for ourselves. Of course, we didn’t account for how expensive fake flowers are… so, our version has just one floating flower like the one above.

• 6 inch x 6 inch clear, square, glass vase: $15 (but Gaga has found 10 for $70 through her local floral market)
• Plastic jug of river rocks (enough for two vases): $5.99 (we’ll most likely just buy these from Michaels, as we need about 10 jugs for 20 pieces)
• Flower: $1.49
• Mock up of centerpiece: Priceless (yeah, I went there)

*personal photos*

Did you have a clear vision for your wedding flowers? Are you doing them yourself or hiring a florist?