Posies, Petals, and Prices

When it comes to flowers at weddings, the battle lines are pretty well drawn with supporters on every side feeling strongly about their choice.  Whether you go no flowers, fake/handmade flowers, or real flowers, it is a personal choice and depends on the feel of the wedding and what fits in the budget.

For me, I love real flowers; I love their smell and look and I enjoy some fresh flowers on a vase on my table because it makes me smile.  So I knew that I wanted flowers at our wedding, and I knew I wanted real ones.


Some say that it's crazy to spend that amount of money on something that will die in a few days, but the idea of some type of faux flowers sitting around in boxes after the wedding doesn't really appeal to me.  That just means I need to find something to do with it all!  Maybe I'll dry my petals, but mostly I just want the flowers to function well on the day of.

Flowers by Blumen Lendle.  Photo credit: Studio Tran

But they are a pricey item that don't actually add any value to the wedding - nobody can eat, drink, or sit on it, so I understand why they get cut from the budgets.  For us, we will be using the flowers in key areas that will make an impact, so that the cost doesn't get out of control.  I love the idea of assembling arrangements yourself by purchasing the flowers wholesale, but it definitely seemed like something out of my abilities.  To the pros we go!

I'll be working with Claire, and her business is Blumen Lendle Floral.  I had emailed her to ask if she was available for our date during my great vendor blanketing campaign of  February '13, and got a quick reply back saying she was booked.  A day or two later, Nanny was telling me about this lady who does flowers and goes to her hair salon (a special bond, there), and asked if I had contacted her.  I said I had, but she was booked for our date, so we made a phone call and she said that the other wedding was small and that she could take us on too!

We met with Claire, and she was awesome.  She's certainly not as well known in the wedding world as some other big names here since she chooses to take on a limited number of weddings a year.  She is very experienced and said she can do whatever I want, which I found to be true in looking at her photos.  In talking with other brides and comparing some prices, she's not ridiculously cheaper than some of the other places, but the price of bulk flowers plays so much into that.  She definitely was just fine with my ideas of only doing certain floral arrangements, and didn't pressure me into trying to add on more.

Pardon the glare (which is not glitter dust falling from the flowers, although that would be awesome.) I snapped this with my phone from Claire's box of photos.  

I'm very much a "yep, that looks good," type of person with flowers.  I saw the centerpiece above and I kept saying just that.  I'm not super detailed and opinionated with the flowers, so I just passed on what I like as far as colors and types and letting her decide all of the details.  I don't care exactly which flowers are used where or are certain colors, I just like a mixture of textures and colors in everything.

With our color palette of purple, teal, and gold, I knew that we wouldn't be matching flowers to those colors exactly.  So I just wanted to go with something that would compliment the dresses and other decor well, like shades of purple, pink, and green.

Texture and the colors I like against a purple bridesmaids dress./Found on Wedding Chicks/Photo by Katelyn James/Flowers by Janie Medley Flora

I told her that I like orchids, calla lilies, hydrangeas, garden roses, and ranunculus, and that's pretty much where I left the direction as far as flower choice.  As long as we have some of those types, in some kind of similar color palette, and there are no stephanotis anywhere to be found, then I will be just fine.

All photos from www.fiftyflowers.com

Claire will be arranging six bouquets, for myself and my five bridesmaids.  Mine will probably by very similar to the girls, with some pops of white.  Apparently that's a little nontraditional (really?), but I just love me some color!

White bride bouquet and colorful bridesmaids bouquets./Photo via Blumen Lendle page on theknot.com.  

We are skipping boutonnieres and corsages completely, since we didn't really think they were necessary, and our mothers didn't care too much about having them.  We're also skipping out on ceremony decor.  This was something Claire suggested, as well as something we noticed in pictures of church weddings.  The churches themselves are so beautiful, that they don't need anything in them, really.

For the reception, we will have three of the large "cloud" centerpieces with the glass vases on our large tables, and the remaining will have glass cubes of some smaller arrangements or candles.  I'm still working out the details of the number of tables and arrangements of each, but we'll definitely have some varying heights going on.

Board of Trade wedding with some tall centerpieces, mixed in with smaller ones./Photo by Studio Tran

We might do something interesting in the entrance arcade where our guest book and card box will be, since it will be one of the first things the guests see when walking in.

I love the idea of doing something like this behind the table:

Not as elaborate as this, but I like the "shelf" of flowers, perhaps with dangling crystals./Photo via WedLuxe/Floral Design by Celebrationz/Photo by Corina V Photography

There's really no room for a buffet arrangement or anything on the bar, and we have a whole different plan for the courtyard, so this will be the extent of the flowers.  It definitely shows off the flowers and includes them in the decor without being overkill.  Once people get into the reception and start dancing and mingling, many of the little tables will not be seen anyway.  We'll have our photographers get some pictures before, and it will make for a lovely impression right when the guests walk into the room, so that's what I'm trying to keep in mind.  

What was your plan for flowers at the wedding?