I'm in love...with our florist

I'm just going to come right out and say it: I'm totally in love with our florist! Wait, correction...BOTH my mom and I are in love!

After I won $500 in flowers from another florist, I was feeling a little pressured to book them for the wedding day. However, something just wasn't clicking completely, and I couldn't figure out what it was (well, that and the fact that the store reneged on their $500 prize because I wanted to purchase bulk flowers and arrange them myself...ugh, but that is another story for another day). So, I decided to at least look into a few other options before I made my final decision. I found The Bride's Bouquet on Carlouel's preferred vendor list, and I gave them a call. Thankfully, they were still available for our wedding date, so I set up a meeting. Mom and I met up with Debbie and we talked flowers for an hour or two. She was SO nice, very knowledgeable, and had a ton of ideas to help with my vision. She really "got" the vision/theme that I am hoping to achieve for the wedding.

And...do you want to know my absolute FAVORITE thing about Debbie? The flower contract includes a flower preview! On Friday afternoon before the wedding, I will be able to drive to her shop to see all of our bouquets, boutonnieres, etc. all ready to go! It will also allow for changes to be made/ rearranging to occur. And, I will be able to have peace of mind knowing that everything will be gorgeous for the big day! Woo hoo! In the end, after taking a look at her price quotes, we quickly realized that The Bride's Bouquet was extremely reasonable. We booked Debbie as our florist on the spot!

Last week, we all got together again to go over our order/fine tune the details. I can't wait to see everything! Here's a little sneak preview of what will be included in our flowers:

• The mantle where we will be having our ceremony in front of will be filled with blush pink peonies and garden roses, as well as greenery and large white pillar candles. The other two mantles in the club will be filled with greenery and the large white pillar candles

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• The curly willow branches hanging in the dining room will be filled with small poufs of baby's breath throughout
• For the ceremony set up, every third chair on each side of the aisle will be tied with a pouf of baby's breath
  

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• Bride's bouquet: blush pink peonies, blush pink garden roses, and coral bell foliage (similar to this photo)

The Knot

• Bridesmaid bouquets: Originally, I wanted to recreate these bouquets:
  

The Knot

I was obsessed with the pink anemones (aren't they pretty?). Then, my beautiful friend and fellow bride K (aka kjpugs) got married in March. Her bouquet was stunning, wasn't it?

Oh, and it is unrelated, but seriously...how freaking CUTE are these photos? Ok...I digress...

Erin Hession

However, she did show/tell me that her anemones completely wilted over the course of the day. Ouch! Debbie assured me that this would not happen with my flowers, but in order to ease my mind, I decided to eliminate them. So, the bridesmaids will be carrying a similar bouquet containing blush pink garden roses, pink lisianthus, some cymbidium orchids, seeded eucalyptus, and some creamy colored stock.

• Boutonnieres: single ivory ranunculus (Mr. Buttons will have 2)
  

The Knot

• Mom will carry a small tussy mussy filled with ivory ranunculus
• Corsages for MIL/grandmothers: these will vary to match their dresses
• Cocktail hour: tables outside will be set with a wine carafe filled with blush pink garden roses and greenery

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• Reception tables: each table will have 2-3 vases filled with poufs of baby's breath. After hearing Debbie's extremely reasonable quote, we decided to forego the DIY centerpieces. We will be delivering the vases to her, and she will make them beautiful. AND Mommy Buttons won't be stressed out. Win-win!

I am literally about to burst with excitement at the prospect of seeing my wedding day flowers! Thankfully, I only have a short amount of time to wait!

Were you in love with your florist/flowers/etc?

Figuring out the flowers

You guys are going to start thinking that I am a spaz. Yep. I am indecisive- very much so!

When I started planning (back in August 2009), my original inspiration for flowers involved an all white bouquet for myself, and green bouquets for my bridesmaids. The florist had suggested green hydrangeas...like this:

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But, as you might recall, my love for hydrangeas faltered. And, as the decision to create our own centerpieces with baby's breath came into play, the vision for the bridal party flowers did as well. Over time, the idea of white and green flowers became less and less desirable to me...I was hungry for some color!

So, I searched high and low across the Internet for some new floral inspiration. Surprisingly, I found myself drawn to a color I would have never expected: pink! Normally, I am not a huge fan of pink. I like it, but you won't find it in my wardrobe (except for a pair of shoes) or in other aspects of my life. But, there is something so romantic about soft pink flowers, and I was sucked in! Here is some of the inspiration I culled from The Knot:

Armed with my new inspiration photos, I selected my favorites and placed them in an inspiration board:

Left to right (clockwise): Bouquet - The Knot, bouquet - The Knot, shoes - personal photo, dress - personal photo, bridesmaid dress - J Crew, shoes - Nordstrom

I love how the two inspiration bouquets are similar, yet different enough that they will stand apart from each other! The bridesmaids will have a slightly lighter colored bouquet, and I will carry one with a pop of pink peonies and garden roses.

And what about the boys?

I'm loving the idea of ivory ranunculus boutonnieres for the men. Mr. Buttons will wear one like this, with two flowers:

The Knot

The groomsmen and other men will wear ones with only one bud.

And guess what? I made a discovery in the baby's breath department! Who knew that there were different types of baby's breath? I discovered a type called "over time," which has much larger buds than the typical "million stars" variety. They almost remind me of really tiny carnations, rather than baby's breath. I also think that it looks a little less "weedy" than the million stars. So, we are going to make sure to purchase this variety of baby's breath for our centerpieces!

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So...there you have it! My new floral inspiration...hope you like it!

Did you find yourself changing any of your original ideas/inspiration in your wedding planning?