How I Tied the Knot: Bouquets and Boutonnieres

Previously in the post, tying the knot: bouquets and boutonnieres, I shared some of my favorite pictures of our flowers from our big day. Now, it's time to let you all in on how I developed my vision for the flowers, dealt with the florist, and the lessons that I learned from that aspect of our wedding day. And, of course, some pretty pictures to display along the way!

This was my inspiration behind my bridesmaids bouquets. I told my florist to take out the peach and marigold (leaving just the plum and raspberry) but that I wanted the same flowers with the same fullness. I went in to see a trial version of the bridesmaids bouquets. And I cried. In front of the florist. Perhaps only one or two tears rolled down my cheek, but I cried all the same. It was horrid. The peach/marigold was quite present and apparently my raspberry translated into her hot pink. Thus,

Lesson learned #1. No matter how much it costs, ask to see a mock-up of your/your bridesmaids bouquets. I would have been sobbing the majority of the morning of our wedding day had I not seen that sample and had the time to sit with the florist and get it straight. I gave her a ribbon of what "raspberry" meant to me, so that she could order the dahlias in the correct color. So if you are picky, like me, about what colors you want your flowers to be, give your florist a sample of ribbon or cloth to work with.

At the end of the day, the bridesmaids bouquets turned out lovely.

After seeing the disastrous first mock-up of my bridesmaids bouquet, I was scared to think what my bouquet was going to end up looking like. So I scrapped any notion of a bouquet that would pop with color. I went with an all white fluffy bouquet. And the result (of spider mums, button mums, and asters) was beautiful. But what made my bouquet perfect was the finishing touches that I put on it. I attached my sorority pin and a locket. The locket was a gift to me, from my bridesmaids. They gave it to me on the day of my Daddy's memorial service. The silver locket held a picture of my Daddy and I and had engraved "Always with you, Daddy". It was just what my bouquet needed.

Here's the kicker, friends. Total price for the 8 bouquets (bride & 7 BM's) and 10 boutonnieres (groom, 7 GM's, my uncle and Chris' Dad) was $500. Thus,

Lesson learned #2: You do not have to use the florist that every other bride in town uses. If I would have gone with the first florist that I talked to (the most popular one in town), the cost of our flowers would have been tripled. Look and ask around, get quotes, and check for florists with smaller shops or that operate out of their home. You can save yourself a couple hundred dollars, get more personalized service, and your flowers will still be just as beautiful.

previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

Tying the Knot: Bouquets and Boutonnieres

If you can recall from this post and this post, I had been trying to decide, for the longest time if I wanted my bouquet to be a beautiful white bride-y bouquet or if I wanted a bouquet that would pop out from my dress with its vibrant colors. I think deep down, I always wanted a white bouquet. I already knew that the BM's would be carrying dahlias so having white dahlias in my bouquet was only natural. But the spider mums, oh the spider mums. Mommy and I have always loved them and I must say that they really gave my bouquet the perfect fluffiness. The bouquet was finished off with white button mums and I loved the end result.

Chris wore a white dahlia for his boutonniere. Confession: From day one I was attracted to Chris' jawline. I love everything about it.

The groomsmen each had a raspberry aster as their boutonniere. The plum ties were a gift from the Groom.

The bridesmaids bouquets were plum dahlias and raspberry asters. This was our inspiration for the bridesmaids bouquets. They turned out plum-ish enough for my matchy-matchy obsessive compulsiveness with just the right amount of a raspberry "pop". My beautiful bridesmaids and I, all lined up in a row with our pretty little bouquets.
Sidenote: This is the picture you will get if you force the guys to pose with the bouquets. They thought they were hilarious.

previously in the series "tying the knot": we did it, a preview, our honeymoon, our candy bar, lifesaver, getting ready, our first look, the bride and groom
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

Bridal Bouquet Sample

My florist was so worried about disappointing me after I shed a tear while in her presence that she made me a sample of my bridal bouquet for free. It is magnificent.
We are going with an all white bouquet of spider mums and little "button" mums with a couple of white dahlias. It's going to be the prettiest bouquet e-v-e-r.

Bridesmaid Bouquet Samples

When I told you that the sample of the bridesmaid bouquet that I picked up on Friday couldn't have been more breathtaking, I wasn't kidding.
Please excuse the poor image from my cell phone.
The raspberry isn't EXACTLY as dark as I would like it, but it's certainly better than the colors (like orange) that appeared in the first bouquet I picked up.
We can breathe easy now.