Sans Bouts

I'm not sure what happened first. All I know is that I got it in my mind that we did not need boutonnieres, and that these could be a viable alternative for live flowers.


Here's another view. Pretty cute, huh? I had even considered incorporating some of them into the 'maids bouquets to tie it all together. The instructions seemed simple enough. All I needed was fabric, floral wire, floral tape, modge podge, scissors, and a little bit of time. Those last four things I already had. I found some cute teal and green fabric, the wire and the tape at (my fave) Hobby Lobby.

What seemed like a really cute idea turned out to be a complete and utter disaster! Its so bad I couldn't even take a picture to show you. I just threw it away. All in all, the materials cost very little, so I didn't take a huge financial hit on this crafting failure. If I had to mass produce them they would have been about $1 each, if that much. However, this was my leading contender for boutonniere alternative. So I needed a new plan.

Enter pocket squares.

When MamaP and I first discussed the guys going sans bout, she suggested pocket squares. At the time, I was not sure you could wear them with tuxes. Turns out, people do, and they're considered to be quite chic when done well. (Besides, its not like the guys are dying to wear flowers on their lapel - lol).

Once I found that out, I started thinking about colors. My first choice would some teal and green combo. That was quickly shot down. Then I thought green or teal would be nice. But I was having a hard time finding some online that didn't look cheap or weren't terribly expensive. MamaP suggested I contact our tuxedo "vendor," MW Tux to see if they could help us out. And it was at that point, that I decided to delegate this to the PHI.

Especially since he's always offering to help.

Yesterday while strolling through the mall, we stopped into MW Tux to ask about pocket squares. It was his idea to stop in there, since he hadn't completed his pocket square recon. Turns out that the tuxes already come with pocket squares! But they're black. Against a black tux. And the other options are ivory, red, and other fairly standard colors. They don't carry teal or green. So, if we wanted teal, green, or some combo, we'd need to find some other place to get them from.

What did we decide?
Black pocket squares it is. Something like this:

{found here}

To summarize:
- We decided against live flower boutonieres.
- I thought I could make fabric flowers to use instead.
- That was my first crafting failure.
- Change of plan: pocket squares.
- Tuxes come with black pocket squares.
- We're going to use the black pocket squares.

I love that the current plan manages to save us money. Boutonnieres from the florist would have been about $8 each, and the fabric flowers would have been $1 each. Their pocket squares won't cost us a single brown penny! I would have liked them to be in a wedding color, but frankly, I don't think the guys care. And if they don't care, I'm going to try not to care either.

Well, not that much.

Whatcha think? Boutonnieres: necessary? not needed? good place to save in the budget? opportunity to do something different? Do you plan to have your guys wear them? Why or why not?

♥

Show Me

On Sunday, I got to attend my first bridal show as a bride. As you can see I was pretty excited. Not only because it was my first one, but because I got to spend a good part of the day with some of my favorite ladies: MamaP, my MdOH (maid of honor) Dani, and Godmommy.

{l to r: MamaP, me, and Godmommy}
{l to r: me, MdOH Dani, and MamaP}
With less than 7 months to go a good bit of our wedding is already planned. However, bridal shows can be an excellent resource if you need inspiration or vendors. We went to a show down in Miami (which~60 miles away), and many of the vendors don't do events up our way. No biggie. MdOH Dani and I did see a DJ that was promising, so I went on their site and sent an email. We'll see.

By far, the best part about a bridal show is the inspiration. There were tons of food displays, flower arrangements, and just general decor. If you don't know what you might want your wedding to look like, popping by a bridal show isn't a bad idea. Here's a sampling of what we saw that day. MdOH Dani took all the pics because she rocks...and my hands were full.

They try to make up for the mass chaos at the beginning by giving us food...

How fab is this creation? I know it reads very tropical at first, but I think this would be an awesome addition to any cocktail hour or buffet set up. This booth also offered chocolate covered strawberries (See em? Bottom left corner). I could care less about that cheese, I was all about the strawberries.
SO cute! Too bad they tasted like crap.
There were also quite a few table scapes...

This blue, yellow and white combo just felt refreshing. I'm not sure I'd decorate a wedding reception table this way, but maybe a brunch or some other kind of ladies luncheon. I so want be a lady that lunches...hint hint. LOL.
If we were having sit down meal, we would totally have menu cards. I know they are a waste of paper, but I love them! They're an excellent way to add color to your tables, and provide another opportunity to use the wedding colors in the paper-goods. Plus, if done right, they are really chic.
And we mustn't forget the flowers...

MamaP and Godmommy love Calla Lillies. I like them okay. The bottom bouquet looks like my FSIL's bouqet - which was quite lovely. I'm just not a Calla Lilly girl.

This green and white arrangement is much more my style. Fabulous!
Oh and we absolutely loved this topiary. Perfect for a garden party themed wedding (or a bride that just loves topiaries). The vendors at this booth were giving out free roses to all of the ladies - everyone had a rose. I looove big lush romantic roses, and these pink ones were beautiful. Sorry, no pics.
I feel like bridal shows are part of a bride's rite of passage. You're expected to go to them and (believe it or not) alot of times brides can get in free. I'm thinking this might be my only one for my wedding. It was a fun afternoon, and I got a serious sugar high from the free samples (esp. the mini doughnuts, the Doubletree cookies, and the ice cream bar). But there were a gazillion people there, the people were poorly herded, and some wedding vendors are very very pushy. Overall, the fun times definitely outweighed the logistical difficulties. Have you ever attended a bridal show? Whatcha think about it?

♥

Hot Date w/ Hydrangea, part 2

Now that we had the basics straightened out, the first hands-on thing (think: fun with flowers) we did was sort out the centerpieces. As I mentioned earlier, she suggested we provide our own glassware, and told me that for the size tables were having (60 inch rounds that seat 8-10 people), a 5-inch cube vase would be nice. Turns out 5-inch cubes are a little difficult to come by locally (and not to mention EXPENSIVE), but I found some 8 inch bubble vases that had a 5 inch opening. I brought those along instead.

Here's a mock-up of the centerpiece using green hydrangea and the bubble vases:

That's MamaP's hand. It was right at that point that she asked Darines if it was possible to add some greenery to the centerpieces. She went and retrieved these wide green leaf things and stuck a couple in there ( so we could get the look). Here is Centerpiece 2.0:

Not the best pic, but you can see the wide ribbon looking leaf I was talking about. She's going to add about five of them to each centerpiece and we're going to sit the centerpieces on a dark teal satin table runner. I just love them. They're exactly what I requested, but better.

Then we moved on to altar arrangements. I know I got on my bridal soapbox and declared that I wanted an arbor at the ceremony. Well, I've stepped down off said box, and have opted to have Darines design some arrangements to put at the front, rather than the arbor. I didn't have anything specific in mind, but we decided to use some silvery looking urns, filled with hydrangea arrangements. Initially we were thinking something like this:

That's Darines trying to hide - lol. We really liked the look of the white against the modern but still neutral containers. And we definitely could see using these arrangements somewhere else in the event space after the ceremony. But then Darines suggested throwing in a touch of color to these arrangements. Something like this:

She added some standard sized hydrangea stems that have a hints of green and blue on the leaves. From a distance they read green, but upon closer inspection you can see the touches of blue. I like AltarArrangement 2.0 better because the additional stems adds visual interest to the arrangements, and is a nice way to incorporate the wedding colors without beating everyone over the head with them.

Overall, I am so pleased with today's appointment. I went in not knowing what I wanted the ceremony decor to look like, and having all of the flowers turn out better than I imagined. Hydrangeas will be everywhere! I love that I'm able to use the bubble vases (that I can get at Michaels for the low), and that MamaP and Darines totally hit it off. I know everyone getting along is not necessary to work together, but it sure does make the process go a lot smoother.

Hiring a florist is definitely not the cheapest way to approach wedding flowers, but I definitely think its worth it. When its your turn, how are you planning to approach flowers? Do you already know what you want, or will you require an expert to help develop your vision?

♥

Hot Date w/Hydrangea,part 1

Back in January, on a whim I decided to hire a florist rather than have my godmother arrange the flowers. Godmommy is not a florist by profession, but has this unbelievable talent when it comes to flowers - live, silk, it doesn't matter. While I knew hiring a professional would cost us more money, I really wanted Godmommy to be able to enjoy my wedding as the godmother of the bride, rather than the florist. Unfortunately, I decided this towards the end of my 2.5 week holiday break.

Enter Darines at Simply Flowers. I called to see if she could meet with me on such short notice, and she was crazy enough to schedule an appointment with me before I skipped town, and we hit it off immediately. She shares my love of hydrangeas and did not scoff at our very tiny floral budget. I had done my homework, so I knew I wanted:

• Simple, but elegant flowers. I DO NOT like my flowers fussy. Designs featuring one or two types of flowers really speak to me
• My bouquet to be white hydrangeas and ivory roses, and the 'maids flowers to have some green in them
• Simple low round hydrangea centerpieces (white or green)

I also needed several boutonnieres and corsages. And after some discussion, MamaP and I decided we needed some floral ceremony decor. Thankfully, Darines sent a proposal back that was well within our budget, and told us that our centerpiece costs would decrease significantly if we could provide our own glassware. She also suggested we brainstorm ceremony decor when I was home in March.

I recruited MamaP to come with me to the floral meeting today. She wanted to meet Darines, and eyeball the flowers...even though she isn't paying for them. I think its a mama thing. Technically, the first thing we did was review the plans for the personal flowers: my bouquet, the 'maids, the boutonnieres and corsages. I'm carrying white hydrangeas with ivory roses, the 'maids are carrying ivory roses with kiwi green button mums, the PHI's bout will be roses and hydrangea like mine, the other bouts will be green button mums, and the corsages will be ivory roses. Just needed to verify that was still the plan. It was.

Thankfully our meeting was not all talk. In the next part I'll show you some pretty flowers...

♥

Can I have one of these?

(found it here)
I haven't given a whole lot of thought to ceremony decor. But I do know that I want something like this up at the altar. I think I've been avoiding thinking about ceremony decor because I haven't been able to get this (or something like it). But that time is over. I'm going to use all my little resources to accomplish this for our ceremony. Painted a soft ivory, or stained dark cherry (oh how I ♥ cherry wood). With better greenery and fewer flowers.

In the meantime, how would you decorate your ceremony space? I still need some ideas for the rest of it!

Before I go, I know I've been absentee this week. And I feel bad about it. I've been swamped with school, work, gym...life. I know I owe you the follow up to the veil series, and I'm dying to show you our save-the-dates. The PHI is away this weekend, so lets pencil in some quality time together this weekend, k? Just you and me.

♥

Look What I Made

Row 1: Hydrangea bouquet from theknot, lime-ish green crinoline from Google, dangly heart chandelier earrings from eBay. Row 2: my wedding band from Kay Jewelers, Bridal updo (dont remember where I got this from), lovely yet mysterious gown - side view. Row 3: Hair accessory from Etsy, cathedral length veil, ivory pumps from JCrew

This is the working draft of my wedding day look. And yes, that-is-what-you-think-it-is is at the end of that second row...a sneak peek of my gown(!). PHI, if you are reading this post, lo siento - next time I'll put a warning at the beginning. Fab readers, some of this stuff you already know about, but I'm sure you've peeped some stuff I hadn't told you about yet. See, we still have so much more to discuss. Happy Monday! ♥

I'm back forreal this time :)

For a good part of the last week I was on a vacation from our wedding. I'm sure all of you fellow brides out there can totally relate. Were at a little more than 11 months til the wedding (I swear the time is FLYING by) and there are loads of things to do. It doesn't help that I keep adding things to the list - LOL.

I am pleased to report that I accomplished all but one thing on my Florida visit to-do list. I didnt do number 5. It wasnt like I had an appointment with him, I was just going to see him at church. Come Sunday morning I was so exhausted I needed to sleep in.

The weekend started with mom and I talking a trip to the location (numbers 1 & 2 on the list). She loved it there and after meeting with our Linda for the better part of 3.5 hours, mom felt like we were getting excellent service for our money. Yay!

The kids (number 4 on the list) really deserve a post all by themselves. I will say this though, the five kids belong to 2 of my first cousins. I called both of them to ask their permission and both of them were surprised I was calling to ask. I thought thats what I was supposed to do before I volunteered someone's child(ren) to be in my wedding. Before I added an extra activity and financial responsibility to my wedding. My bad :) Thankfully they both agreed and I can check that off the list. Now I'm left with figuring out what the lovely little ladies (all 4 of them) will be wearing. You know mom and I have started kicking around some ideas...

(Sorry for not moving methodically through the list) Although not completely wedding related, I accomplished both numbers 3 and 6. I love my mama and I wish that she lived much closer. Even before I got engaged. Definitely now much more so. I also saw my Dani, my Brew, Dani's boo and my Dionne - not in that order I don't think. I loved seeing them but I was tired of being social by the end of the weekend. Thankfully next time I'm home I'll be there for a while and can spread out the love a little more.

As I mentioned last week I even got to see someone I hadn't planned on seeing. My godmother is my go to for all things flowers. Both real and otherwise. We popped by her house on Friday for a quickie visit. I just happened to have my wedding organizer in tow and next thing I knew on Saturday she was fetching me for a marathon Michaels trip. We discussed bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces and other general floral things. We now have a good working plan for the flower component of the decor. The plan is for a mix of silks and live - particularly live for the bouquets. I hadn't planned on seeing her this trip, but I'm glad I did. Not only does she rock, she's super creative and very open to my aesthetic and budget. A perfect combo!

I have loads more stuff to report on - updates from the weekend, plans that are in the works, and DIY projects I've already completed. I officially came off wedding vacay at 12:30PM, and fully intended on posting at 12:31PM to commemorate. I've been running all day. Not even with wedding stuff. I needed an oil change, I had library fees to pay, I have bills to pay, I had to figure out what to eat, I needed to go to Walmart for my class, I needed to register for next semester....on and on and on all day. Up until now really.

But I'm back now, and I hope you didn't miss me too much.
♥