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Don’t get me wrong, I love flowers. However, being a budget bride means that I really do have to pick and choose which elements are most important to me. I love fresh flowers, but unfortunately they are one of the items I’ll be saving on.
Lovely centerpieces that we can’t have:
I originally thought we’d be saving on flowers by DIYing it, but then I remembered how I’m not very good at DIY and that having to produce a whole bunch of floral arrangements the morning of my wedding would probably kill me and make our wedding morning quite unpleasant and stressful. There would probably also be a lot of tears, which would interfere with my attempt to look lovely and fresh!
Anyway, my strategy now is to find as many floral alternatives as possible. Here’s the two alternatives I’ve already decided on:
1) The Faculty Club will be decorated for Christmas, so I don’t need to worry at all about any floral decoration for any of the rooms.
2) My bridesmaids will be carrying lanterns instead of bouquets. Here’s an image of the IKEA lanterns I bought for my ‘maids. I may have made my sister walk down the aisle in IKEA quite a few times before deciding on these ones.
3) The centerpieces are going to involve mason jars, candles, and perhaps some pine. They haven’t really been figured out yet, but I do have a vague idea about what I want.
Here are the things I still need to figure out:
1) Boutonnieres and corsages. I think I could probably just do away with these and not bother with an alternative, but I’m open to any ideas… hint, hint!
2) Something for me. I would be open to carrying something non-floral myself, but I’m not sure what. I love the idea of carrying a book, but I don’t know that I have a book that is special enough to Mr. Knitting and me to warrant being included in our ceremony.
3) Something floral for the flower girls. I suspect even I can’t get rid of flowers for the flower girls…
What’s your favourite flower alternative?
What if your flower girl held a basket of pine cones with embellishment? Not sure how “christmasy” you want to get, but that would be lovely 
Are the boys wearing suit jackets? We’re not doing boutonnieres, since the fiance likes pocket squares more, and I think having both looks silly.
I think little sprigs of pine would be great for the guys. And it would tie into your centerpieces and be super easy. And I have to say I LOVE the lantern idea for your girls! I have seen brides carry an assortment of christmas ornaments instead of flowers. Its easy DIY, there are tutorials online. Super unique too. Good luck! Oh they make tiny ornaments that you could maybe use for the guys too so everything coordinates!
Hi Miss Knitting!
May I suggest a small bouquet of wintery branches (you can get outside or at a craft store) and maybe even spray a little fake snow on. Then, how about adding some of your favorite charms to the branches to make it sparkle and have an extra personal touch or some antique brouches to ribbon at the bottom.
Just a suggestion, but I am a wedding planner to specializes in budget and DIY weddings in Washington DC. If you need any other suggestions, please ask!
Danielle Palleschi
Event Designer with Avalon Caterers
Here’s some bout ideas. Some are flowers, but there’s one idea with a pin that has a bird. You’ll see.
Somewhere in my internet searching (I’m not at my home computer right now) I found freeze dried flower petals that were pretty inexpensive that we may use for tables and our flower girl. They looked great and would be less prone to bruising than fresh ones. Some pine with silver pinecones would look beautiful as a bouquet.
Love the idea of pine twigs for the bouts and what about pine wreaths for the centerpieces with a mason jar/candle in the middle?? Sooo pretty!
I was looking into doing a winter wedding in the begining and I found some cute ideas to make snowballs, and using small pinecones with some sparkles to use in a bouquet too!
Hope this gives you some help
What about this for you (right image):
http://ruffledblog.com/Images/posts/pine-cone-bout-bouquet-wedding.jpg
And this for the guys:
http://beautifulblooms.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/16-04-28-2-blake-12-12-09.jpg
You could do a larger version for a corsage
The flower girls could have mini pinecones in their baskets.
What about carrying a book that doesn’t have significance to you yet, but will? A really nice photo album, to fill as you grow together, or a journal with a letter to your future husband on the first page? Depending on what role religion plays in your life, maybe a bible that will be your family bible in the years to come?
Alternatively: A candle? A beautiful Christmas ornament? A leather bound copy of your favorite seasonal story? Or baby’s breath, which is a flower, but cheap, and kind of snowy and ethereal when you bunch a lot of it together.
At any rate, it’s going to be gorgeous–and so are you!
Once Wed has a tutorial for a pretty DIY pine cone bouquet: http://www.oncewed.com/7377/diy-wedding/flowers/diy-pinecone-wedding-bouquet/
Good luck!
I bought those same lanterns to add to my decor at the reception! Love them. Got 2 of the larger ones too.
I saw some great twig pomander balls on Etsy that could also be lovely for the flowergirl. My friend’s church wouldn’t even let the flowergirl throw flowers, so you could totally do without them.
When I thought about bouts for your wedding I immediately thought of something like this:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_toRhG94JMIE/SxCHJJxXpVI/AAAAAAAAAMA/Jyb2cNn3jX0/s1600/boutonniere+006.JPG
Including a pine bough, some red berries, the pinecone is cute…
lanterns are such a cool idea! I also love the look of pinecones, I’m sure you could do something super cool with them!
i second the idea of the pocket squares for the guys. brooches for the ladies would be cool too
An alternative bouquet for you… picking up on both the lanterns your BMs are holding and your mother’s lovely sari… maybe a traditional Indian thali with diyas, like this:
http://festivals.iloveindia.com/diwali/pics/diwali-diya.jpg
For your flower girls, I remember a friend telling me that at her cousin’s Xmas eve wedding, the flower girl had a basket of mini candy canes that she handed out to those seated closest to the aisle.
You could channel Randy from “Say Yes to the Dress” he suggests pocket squares over boutonnieres. If I didn’t have such a traditional groom we would have gone with awesome patterned pocket squares.
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Mrs. Knitting, Toronto Age and Occupation: 24, Student Recruitment Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Neuroscience PhD Candidate Engagement Date: October 2009 Wedding Date: December 2010 Venue: University of Toronto Faculty Club About Me: I'm a pearl wearing, etiquette book reading Toronto girl who loves cooking and baking, museums, charm bracelets, and collecting books on Jackie Kennedy (a lot). I've been known to spend Sunday mornings at the antique market, Wednesday evenings at sister sushi dinners, and any bit of spare time reading. After six and a half years of many late night walks, watching DVDs together in bed, travelling to places like New York, and Tobermory, doing Sudokus together on the couch, lots of Indian food, the occasional yoga class, moving in together and so much more, Mr. Knitting and I are planning a cozy Christmasy (it's a word!), vintage wedding in Toronto complete with many DIY projects (eek!) and lots of help from our amazing group of family and friends.
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