3) Reception Food and Cakes
4) Photographer/Make-up/Hair
5) The Dress Click Here
I mentioned on the Facebook page this weekend about creating photo albums of all that is covered in a "Wedding Wednesday" blog post. I am working on creating those albums today. I will plan to upload each album with the photos shared from posts accordingly. Make sure to like the page so you can follow along! Click HERE.
Before marriage, I was not a huge flowers person. I did enjoy receiving the occasional arrangement on Valentine's day, but I was never one to want to spend money on flowers nor did I want Tony to buy flowers for me often. Flowers die to quickly, so I hated knowing that he was wasting money on something that I did not need. Now, the story is a bit different. Just about every other month I will pick up a pretty floral bouquet while grocery shopping just to set around our home. Tony does not seem to mind and I am quite obsessed!
Flowers were not difficult for us to decide on when planning our wedding. Tony could have cared less about flowers, so I had range to run free and make the decisions on my own. I knew that I wanted something simple with a lot of color. The Bridesmaid dresses and our decor was earthy tones full of gold, silver, brown, bronze, and gray. I knew that I wanted the flowers to be the only pop of color that would stand out. We went with calla lilies, bundles of random flowers, and a lot of greenery.
Like with the previous posts, I hit up Pinterest. I found multiple color schemes that I wanted. Flower wise, I honestly could have cared less. I truly just wanted a lot of color in our floral. I found multiple arrangements full of the colors I liked best. Those photos made were given to my florist at our initial consultation and she went from there.
TIP #1: [Before you begin planning the big things, check the price of the flower and arrangement you are using before considering another aspect of planning that is just as expensive. Flower are not cheap. However, depending upon the look you are considering, you may be able to swing your flower budget to another side of planning if you choose an inexpensive flower. Regardless, plan adequately when setting the budget until quotes are received after your initial consultation.]
TIP #2: [When trying to determine what type of flowers you would like to have, it is important to know what flowers are in bloom during the season of your wedding. Also, make sure you know what color that flower will be during the particular season of your wedding. While you may love a particular flower, it may not be the proper color at the time of your wedding.]
TIP #3: [When you are trying to determine the date of your wedding and the type of flowers to have, take into consideration the heat and cold. We could not put out our door decor out until minutes before guests arrived. Since it was so hot, the morning of our wedding I positioned our wreaths in certain cool spots of the church so that our photographers could take the necessary pictures outdoors. Once they were done with these photos, the flowers went back inside.]
All say all of this because-- My flowers were not the color that I had originally wanted. At the beginning of planning my florist failed to tell me that the flowers I wanted would not be available in the color I wanted. She allowed me to figure this out when I went to pick up my flowers for my bridals in May, which was one month before our wedding. Therefore, there was not enough time for me to change flowers with a month to go.
What I did not know was the price of callas. My florist failed to tell me the price of an individual calla because she knew that I was ordering flowers that were $15 a piece. Yes, I had a huge budget for flowers, but anyone at our wedding can testify that there was not an over abundance of floral anywhere. Although I know a little more about the price of flowers after the fact, I do not think I would change anything if I had to go back and re-order.
Keep in mind that your bridal session will be a trial run for everything- hair, make-up, dress, and flowers. (You may have noticed that my bridal bouquet is golden callas. My wedding bouquet is red callas. Point being that you will never know what you are getting with your flowers.) I seriously wanted to pull my hair out at the time. Today, it does not make a difference to me one bit. Try not to stress the little things.
This was the color I wanted. (Peachy, Orange, Yellow)
My bouquet was simple, only 25-30 calla lilies. I wanted it to be different from the traditional bridal bouquet. Often times I think the bridal bouquet is never noticed when only using white flowers. I went a little over the top and out of price range, but I liked the bouquet color in the end (although it was red, not peachy orange). Plus, this is all the beauty of planning a wedding in 2012-- You do not have to do everything based on tradition.
Honestly, I was too tired to argue with the florist come the end of May. Even though the color was off, I later learned that we were taken for a ride on the price of callas. All I can say is, "I learned my lesson." Please do not let someone take advantage of you when it comes to the floral aspect of planning.
When planning your wedding, keep in mind that you will throw a bouquet at the reception. I decided to throw my original bouquet. If you decide to throw a different bouquet, most brides have a replica made that is smaller than the original bridal bouquet. Having a second bouquet requires more funds from your budget, so keep in mind all options.
My mom actually was able to recover the bouquet after Tony and I left. She dried the flowers, and now I have them as a keepsake. I am not sure what happened to Tony's boutonniere. I have seen bridal bouquets dried and framed in shadow boxes. Now, I wish Tony and I would have done something similar.
Advice: The best advice I can give to someone who ends up with flowers that are a different color than expected, you will be the only one who knows what the original color was supposed to be. Do not fret- the guests will never know you intended the flowers to be another color.
Advice: Another piece of advice I will offer is on the topic of greenery. I am sure everyone has a different opinion about greenery. I liked the classic, simple look. Depending upon your budget and what you prefer, greenery may be an option that looks good even if it was not a first consideration. It acts as a great filler, too.
These were our door decorations. There were six doors on the front of the church. I had two wreaths on two of the doors. The other four doors were open as guests arrived, so we did not need addition wreaths. There were two doors on the reception exit with two wreaths, too. I bought the wreaths, moss cover, and initials at Hobby Lobby.
The initials on the wreaths became a DIY project. The initials were gold originally, but I covered them with moss cloth. My florist added the floral addition to the top of each wreath. I like the way the wreaths turned out, although I had something different in mind. There was no way I could argue my vision and run to the nearest Hobby Lobby once these were made after our dress rehearsal.
Alternate use of the wreaths after our wedding. This was part of the Randolph in-law/ grandparent gifts. The wreaths, crosses, initial, and burlap bows are all from our wedding.
The grandparents, wedding party, entertainment, and groomsmen boutonnieres were single callas with red berries. The bridesmaids bouquets and mothers mussy tussys were a bundle mix full of color floral with a few callas added. The bridesmaids bouquets also doubled as centerpieces on 5 of the 10 tables.
I chose to spend money from our budget on the gold and silver globe/vase table centerpiece decor from TJ Maxx instead of floral arrangements. Honestly, I might have chosen to use floral centerpieces if flowers did not die so quickly. As frugal as I am, I cringed at the thought of spending money from our budget on things that I knew I would never use a second time.
Is my sister not the most beautiful Bridesmaid you have ever seen? :)
Do not be afraid to stand firm with someone. I never over stepped my boundaries with our vendors, but I did take many things into my own hands (professionally) while planning our wedding in order to make sure that it turned out the way I wanted. Tony thought I was crazy, but I was determined that certain things were going to turn out a certain way.
Everyone affiliated will have an opinion about everything- be it the vendors, family, friends, bridesmaids, girlfriends/wives of groomsmen and even the critical nosey people attending the ceremony. Many aspects of wedding planning can make people jealous, nervous, or even unhappy although it is supposed to be one of the happiest moments of your life. You will need to be aware of those who are providing opinions for the right reasons.
My director was amazing. She taught me many things throughout planning our wedding that I will never take for granted. One thing I learned that I apply often today is this-- If you have to, eventually learn to not ask someones opinion on an aspect of planning (this may not be possible depending upon where the wedding funds are coming from). I had a difficult time learning to deal with this because I am the type of person who would rather have those around me happy. I am content in almost any situation and can pretty much go with the flow. I learned quickly that when planning a wedding you cannot be just content. You better love it- all of it. Also, I learned that it is impossible to please everyone when planning a wedding. Unfortunately, there is no way around not hurting someones feelings, too. Like I have said, everything happens for a reason. It is what it is. In the end, the only opinion that you will need to worry about is yours and the Groom.
This was the floral arrangement for the reception. There were three more similar. Two extra large, extra heavy arrangements were inside the church and one was in the foyer.
My florist was extremely opinionated when it came to decorating the stage area. I knew that I wanted my wedding party and those affiliated with the wedding ceremony to be the main attraction, not the flowers. I did not want overpowering floral arrangements. I knew that I did not want three arrangements for two reasons:
- 1) I studied photos from prior weddings in the same church. Some wedding had three arrangements, and some weddings had two arrangements. I knew that I wanted to make our wedding as unique as possible without decor and floral being too similar to other weddings.
- 2) Depending on your setting, having three arrangements causes one arrangement to look like it is growing out of your head in photos (Something to consider as you are planning!)
Advice: When you are long gone enjoying your Honeymoon with your husband give someone the duty of donating the flower arrangements. I had a plan in place for the floral arrangements, but I am not sure that it was followed through with according to my preparations. I have no clue as to where everything from our wedding ended up.
I think my parents took a lot of the Bridesmaids floral arrangements that were left. I think my mother-in-law took some arrangements to the local nursing home. I know the church kept a few arrangements for service the next day.
If you have any questions about something that I did not cover, please feel free to email me! I would love to help in any way possible during your planning process.
Brides: If you are not aware-- Bridal magazines have sections just for flowers. The magazine will list flowers that are in season for the specific time of year. The magazines will also list what color the flower the should, what it should smell like, and if it will stain dress material certain colors.
I have said this before and I will say it again- Although everything did not go as planned during our wedding day or planning process, I would never change anything. Everything that happens is for a reason. Indifference makes your wedding all the more unique. Our flowers were perfectly imperfect, the door decorations ended up as gifts for my in-laws, and Tony and I are happily married. Overall, the journey to the altar was successful, stressful, and entertaining for all the right reasons.
Stay tuned in! "Wedding Wednesday" continues next Wednesday.
Until next time- Happy Blogging!
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