Weddingbee Blog

Heheh. “Peony” kind of rhymes with “genie,” plus I really do dream of peonies, so it’s, uh, a double entendre, kind of. Anyway.

At the beginning of November, Mr. Panther and I spent a weekend in CT. I was dying to meet with our florist again, so we set up an appointment.

We knew who we’d use as a florist (De Vars-Phillips Florists & Antiques) pretty early on. My mom knows Bill through a mutual friend, and he told her he’d be “creative” with the price. That was enough to seal the deal. At the time, I didn’t know too much about floral design, and I kind of figured, “flowers are flowers, right?” I often joke that it’s easy to tell who picked what vendors because all the vendors chosen by my mom or Mr. Panther’s parents are friends (our reception band, ceremony musicians and potential cake baker are all friends of my FILs) and all the vendors chosen by Mr. Panther and me are Internet superstars. After a lot of research, I’m not going to lie—I started worrying that I’d never seen our florist mentioned on any wedding blogs.

After our first meeting last spring, I wasn’t totally convinced.

I wasn’t in love with any of the ideas or pictures he was showing me, and I was a little worried by that. But as it turns out, this was because he was going off the theme and colors I’d given him (beach theme with blue, lime green and white), and deep down, I didn’t really like them. When Mr. Panther and I returned last month with our new theme and colors, he blew me away!

But honestly, the most important takeaway from this meeting? We can have peonies! I’ve always loved peonies—our thank you cards prominently feature them, as do our wedding invitations (you’ll see!). But I just assumed that they’d be present on paper only, since we have a July wedding. Apparently, not the case. I don’t know how. I asked him if they would be crap quality or really expensive since they’re out of season, and he said he thought they would be fine. I don’t know how this is true. Maybe July 2 is still peony season in Connecticut? Who knows? I’m almost afraid to believe it. But that’s what he said, and somehow, he’ll make it happen. Peonies!

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We can have garden roses, too. I’m insanely pumped, because garden roses, cafe au lait dahlias and peonies make such beautiful friends.

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So, OK. Even though our color palette is already pretty huge (sapphire, deep violet, lavender, golden yellow, aqua and teal), I’m expanding it to allow for peach and blush flowers. They’re not officially part of the color scheme, but I’m considering them our neutrals. Since the rest of the colors are so vibrant, I think that works. Or, as Miss Prairie Dog would say, “it doesn’t match—it GOES.” (I quote Miss PD a lot, don’t I? She’s such an inspiration!)

Other flowers now in our plan are:

Larkspur (they’re the tall ones):

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Purple lisianthus:

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Light purple hydrangea:

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Craspedia:

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Allium:

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Purple anemones:

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… And probably a couple more. But I think that’s enough flowers for one post, don’t you? I’m obsessed! I know a lot of these flowers are pretty trendy right now, but oh, well. I like what I like. Oh, and uh, Mr. Panther likes them, too.

Did you have any pleasant surprises at your first few vendor meetings?