Weddingbee Blog

Mr. Mink proposed right around the time I joined Pinterest. Normally, one wouldn’t connect joining a website to getting engaged, but I probably wouldn’t have explored Pinterest so early if I wasn’t starting to look at wedding blogs. Pinterest was how I organized my inspiration pictures. The very first board I created was for flowers.

I love flowers. Usually, I’d scoff at buying something with a very short life span, but practicality goes out the window when I see pretty blooms. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bridal bouquet that I didn’t like, but this one is my absolute favorite:

Image via Snippet & Ink / Bouquet by Holly Chapple / Photo by Kristen Gardner

When I first saw this bouquet on Snippet & Ink, I loved it. I quickly tracked down florist Holly Chapple’s website and her blog. I found out that she’s particularly proud of this bouquet, as it was the third one she made for the three daughters in one family. I was surprised to find out that the she was in Virginia! Alas, she is at least three hours away, in the Washington, DC area.

There is no shortage of amazing florists in Charlottesville, and I started looking at websites and blogs to get a sense of the different options I had. I wasn’t quite ready to make appointments, so I kept gathering inspiration. Everyone told me to have pictures of what I wanted when I met with florists. I was having a lot of trouble narrowing the options down.

At one point, I mentioned table arrangements to my mother, and she told me that the centerpieces at a wedding she went to that weekend had hydrangea in them and she thought that was very different. It sounds like the flowers at the wedding she went to would have fit in almost anywhere in the South but seemed understated in New Jersey.

From Style Me Pretty / Flowers by Greenwich Orchids / Photo by Joshua Zuckerman

You’ve probably seen a Jersey wedding on TV at some point between Four Weddings and that David Tutera show on WE. Rooms are full of color, flowers are often in very tall vases and erupt like waterfalls from the top, with crystals dangling between the stems. It’s two parts wedding, one part theater. We go big in Jersey.

But I’m not in Jersey. I’m in Virgina. I’m getting married at a vineyard. I started thinking about the overall feel we wanted at our wedding, and floral ideas started to emerge.

I think our centerpieces will be low, with a fairly simple palette. Flowers with strong lines, like calla lilies, and exotic flowers like birds of paradise didn’t feel right anymore. Peonies, garden roses, and hydrangea started showing up in in greater numbers on my Pinterest board.

From Elizabeth Anne Designs / Flowers by Friday Flowers / Photo by Emily Takes Photos

Do you love flowers or do you think they are a frivolous expense?

If you are using flowers in your wedding, how did you determine what blooms would be included in your arrangements?