bouquet inspiration

With summer here, I've found myself day dreaming about flowers more than ever! I've been drooling over several fellow bloggers' inspirational bouquets, and skipping to posts on flowers on nearly every blog I've visited. And, after weeks of inspiration searching, it's safe to say that if I had to do it all over again, I would have used one of these photos as my inspiration!

However, keep in mind, I am an equal opportunity lover - I love any bouquet so long as it's full of texture and visual interest.

Whether it's organic in shape and style, like i heart peonies famous bouquet...

...or slightly manicured, like this 2 Excited Nests' beauty...

Whether it's bold in color like these gorgeous jewel tone bouquets...

...or bold in texture like these vintage-inspired bouquets with ruffled peonies and striking anemones...whatever the case may be, I LOVE them all!

And, on a side note, I love the idea of using ribbon for additional visual interest...I can only imagine how gorgeous it would be to have ribbon fluttering in the air as you're walking down a grassy aisle... Love it!

photo credits: 1) i heart peonies, 2) 2 Excited Nests, 3) unknown - if you know, email me!, 4) The Bride's Cafe via Green Wedding Shoes, 5) housemartin, 6) 2 Excited Nests

mod milk glass?

Nathan and I trekked out to Ikea yesterday (Nathan's personal hell) to brainstorm possible media storage solutions for our new place, and of course I spent an additional hour exploring all of the inexpensive decor possibilities... You really can't take me anywhere these days. :)

During my exploration, I came across these adorable modern white vases that reminded me of milk glass! If you're a mod girl having a mod wedding, wouldn't it be cute to incorporate these into your centerpieces!? Filled with a single bud or left empty displayed at varying heights, I think these vases would make a perfect addition to a sleek wedding design!

Vendor Review III: Wedding & Reception Flowers (& candles)

Flowers with Feeling: A+

I really couldn‘t have had a more perfect experience with my florist, Flowers with Feeling. After months of being told that my budget wouldn’t allow for much creativity, Tina told me to give FWF a call…just to see what they could do. Boy, am I glad I did! My contact, Tammy, was actually willing to work with my mini budget (as you may recall, our flower budget took a huge hit when we decided to go with our fabulous caterer – review to come!).

I gave her some direction (by some, I mean I gave her a 20 page document that included all of my floral inspirations), but after hearing several people rave about her work, I was super confident with letting her do whatever she wanted to do.

My bouquet was inspired by the color of the bridesmaid dresses and had the most amazing mix of textures – it included dahlias, fringe & double tulips, ranunculus, coxcomb, and amaranthus, while my bridesmaids carried cream colored clutch bouquets with dahlias, English garden roses, and double tulips. Lastly, thanks to oliviamoon from Etsy, my bouquet included a pendant with a photo of my mother, so I could have her with me throughout the ceremony… The bouquets could not have been more fabulous!

As for the reception flowers, we kept it simple (and small). We had long banquet tables each of which included 15 or so candles in varying sizes, and featured two mint julep cup vases filled with dahlias, roses, and snow berries – seriously, those are all the flowers we had, and honestly, that’s all that we needed! The flickering candles made the space intimate and romantic, and provided tons of visual interest and texture. Plus, Tammy let me purchase all of the mint julep cups, candles and cylinder vases on my own which totally helped to keep costs down - because I can hunt down a deal like it's nobody's business!!! It was perfect, and it was all because of Tammy and Flowers with Feeling!!!!

photo credit: Essence Photo and Video

related posts: ourbudget-friendly wedding II: ceremony, Vendor Review II: Hair and Make up, our budget-friendly wedding I: Attire, The photos are in!!!, Vendor Review I: Reception Music

yay for colorful bridal bouquets

For some reason, I’ve been mildly uneasy about my pomegranate and raspberry colored bridal bouquet. Maybe it’s because almost all of the most beautiful bouquets I’ve seen have been ivory/white, or maybe it’s because a big, bright bouquet against a soft ivory dress is just plain scary, or, maybe I’m afraid that I’ll be jealous of my bridesmaids ivory vendella rose, ivory peony tulips, and ivory dahlias… Whatever the reason may be, I’ve just been nervous about it…until now! This afternoon, I saw Darlene and Jeff’s beautiful wedding featured on The Bride’s Café. Darlene had the most vibrant raspberry colored bouquet I’ve ever seen, and her bridesmaids carried beautiful, delicate, white bouquets alongside her…and it looked AMAZING! My fears have been put to rest. Yaay for pomegranate and raspberry colored bridal bouquets!

photo credit: The Bride's Café

tulip love

Calling all Fall brides-to-be... Check out these Double Late & Fringed Edge Tulips! Do they remind you of Peonies, or what!? I don't know what kind of prices we're talking about, but you better believe I'm bringing this inspiration board to my next florist meeing...

photo credits: blue spectacle, tulip cummins, double dazzle, David Teniers, lilac perfection, lilac perfection, blue heron, mount tacoma tulip, curly sue, black hero

anemone love

Our "flower budget" took a big hit when I realized I didn't add in tax and gratuities in our overall budget (the first of my many wedding mistakes). Even though I can't afford the good stuff, I've been torturing myself with photos of beautiful (read: expensive) bouquets! Feast your eyes on these GORGEOUS anemone bouquets! So vintage, no?

photo credit: blushalicious

vintage inspired flowers

Today during my lunch hour (I've about had it with lunch hour wedding vendor meetings), I met with my 4th florist, and finally, I feel like I'm getting somewhere. He totally gets that I want something petite, simple, elegant, vintage inspired and budget friendly.

Apparently budget friendly means roses and carnations to a some florists... I seriously can't think of anything more "uninspired" (WTRITO, you hit the nail on the head). However, with that said, the florist showed me several cost effective centerpieces that were actually...roses and carnations...which were somewhat decent. I know, I can't believe I'm saying it either!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm not walking down the aisle with a big bouquet of died carnations. But for now, I've at least temporarily suspended my protest against these everyday flowers.

I should have a quote by the end of the week, so we'll see...

above photo: ivory spray roses, ivory carnations, white orchids, ivory lisianthus, seeded eucalyptus

photo credit: for now, unknown...