The church, venue, photographer, coordinator, DJ, dress, and honeymoon are all done, so it’s time to focus on details! I’m quite excited to be finished with the big stuff, because it’s the aesthetic elements (and food) that I’ve been looking forward to planning the most. Although flowers are a big part of most wedding decor, I really don’t know much about them! And since they are one of those things that can get really expensive, really fast, I knew I’d have to put a lot of thought into how I could use flowers to add hints of color without spending a fortune. I’m also not into those huge arrangements as centerpieces because they get in the way of conversation – thus, I knew I’d be working with either very small arrangements or lots of single flowers.
I liked the idea of using lots of vases in a variety of different sizes and colors to hold single flowers. I’m a big color person, and I figured this would be a good way to get even more color on the tables. I think this is pretty trendy right now, as I’ve seen a ton of examples online and in wedding magazines:
I still wasn’t sure what flowers to use though. Luckily my coordinator is also a florist, and she has proposed some beautiful ideas for coral and orange flowers mixed with white spider mums to go in white and bluish vases. We’re thinking:
What do you think? I LOVE that all the flowers are so unique. I just hope we can actually get them and that they’ll survive the ferry ride to the island. So, that’s the plan for now!
Any flower advice (besides don’t waste money on them…) from the experienced married people out there?
Sarah
October 16, 2012 at 10:31 pmBuy whatever is in season and in the color you want. If you get the right color in the price range you are looking for it will visually give you the same effect.
Megan S
October 16, 2012 at 11:13 pmPick flowers that are in season locally! Also start collecting bottles and vases now! My husband and I drank straus half and half the year leading up to our wedding, used the bottles as vases then returned them to the grocery store for a dollar each:) good luck, I love that first photo.
Laura
October 17, 2012 at 9:25 pmThanks! My florist actually has all the white and blue vases, but I do love the idea of collecting my own!
Jessica
October 17, 2012 at 5:10 amCandles are another way to stretch the decor budget. We lined the aisle with hurricane glass and candles for my wedding.
Laura
October 17, 2012 at 9:24 pmYes! I need to get on the candles too! I’m thinking maybe taper candles…?
Eileen
October 17, 2012 at 9:51 amStrongly suggest you read the book The Language Of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (it’s a novel) as you may change your mind based on the actual meaning of the different flowers. Plus it’s a great book!
Laura
October 17, 2012 at 9:23 pmI just read it!!! I really enjoyed it, although I’m not sure I even want to know the meaning of the flowers I’ve picked in case it’s something bad…
Marie
October 17, 2012 at 11:18 amWe used beautiful floral linens on the tables – they were gorgeous – and then went with candle/hurricane centerpieces. It saved ALOT of money on flowers – although the linens were pricey not as much as fresh flowers. Plus the candles gave the glowy attmosphere that we were hoping to achieve. My tableclothes were one of my favorite parts of our reception. Funny, that one can actually care so much about tableclothes but they added the dash of color and style I was looking for. Just food for thought. Happy planning!
Laura
October 17, 2012 at 9:21 pmGreat idea! I love lots of candles too. I’m hoping to add a dash of color with the napkins!
judy
October 17, 2012 at 2:21 pmLove the colors Laura! And love the concept of small vases in groupings. Dahlias are so vibrant and should be easy to find. Gerber daisies are fun too.
Laura
October 17, 2012 at 9:20 pmThanks! I hope you get to see them in real life:)
Charise
October 18, 2012 at 8:37 amThose are fun flowers, and I love your colors!
I agree with the others who said to use what’s in season – SO much cheaper! For more color, I also topped the white tablecloths on our long tables with DIYd burlap runners in our colors of corals and deep reds before adding a few vases of flowers, and LOTS of votive candles.
Laura
October 19, 2012 at 5:11 pmLove that! I had thought about burlap but didn’t know exactly what to do with it. How did you make the runners and get them to be the right color?
Beth
October 18, 2012 at 12:33 pmHi Laura,
We had ranunculus for our wedding -absolutely love them. The only thing we had an issue with was that the flower heads were quite heavy compared to the strength of the stem so they drooped in bud vases. We ended up having to support them with green mums. Hopefully your American ranunculus are stronger than our Aussie ones! I love your colour choices by the way:)
Beth x
Ps. Happy Birthday!
Laura
October 21, 2012 at 1:41 pmGood to know! Thanks for the advice and the bday wishes:)
Abby
October 19, 2012 at 12:19 pmWe also had a limited budget, so we stretched by using fruit along with the flowers in our centerpieces! Our colors were sage/bronze/deep purple, and our wedding was outdoors at a winery, so our florist filled galvanized tin buckets with bunches of purple grapes and gorgeous orange flowers (some sort of daisy-ish thing?). Best part was that after it was all over, we had a long car trip home and had grapes to snack on!
Laura
October 21, 2012 at 1:44 pmLove the grapes idea! We were thinking of using clementines…