Les Fleurs

As April winds down we are rapidly approaching the official 1 year and 6 month countdown to the wedding date (assuming, of course, that we find a venue that can accommodate us on that date...but even if we can't, I'm half tempted just to go to city hall so we can have the Halloween anniversary. ;-)

As you all know, I'm not very attached to having flowers at the wedding. Many other decorating options are more appropriate for Halloween, and these options are also more affordable--flowers to decorate an entire venue can cost thousands of dollars. Flowers are one of those areas where brides really get gouged. I've considered just going to a random florist on the morning of the wedding and saying, "I need one bouquet...okay, now that that's done, how about two more bouquets, but a little bit different, and smaller...okay, throw in a 3 boutonnieres..." So that I get charged a real price, not the "wedding special" price. Of course, that means just trusting that the florist will have flowers that I like in the colors that I want on that day. And, it also goes against my detail-oriented nature; I don't want to leave stuff on the to-do list until the day of. That feels wrong.

Another idea is to go to a Flower Mart and just do the darned things myself. This is tempting, although as you all know, I don't really have a crafty bone in my body. Whatever genes the "DIY" traits are attached to, I don't have them. So, that's a problem.

Anyway, as I wrestle with this, I've also looked around for some floral ideas. My thoughts are: I'll carry a red bouquet with touches of orange. My MOH and bridesmaid will carry orange bouquets. Mr. T will have a red boutonniere. His groomsmen will have orange ones. I'm undecided about also giving our moms and dads corsages/boutonierres, but that would be nice, too. We may also have an arrangement for the altar area and/or guest book table, too.

Here are some inspiration photos.

For the 'maids:









I like the simplicity of the orange Calla Lilies. Then I could put some orange Callas in my bouquet to tie us all together, like these:






The above bouquet is very fall like with the addition of brown. I might consider adding brown into the mix.

These callas aren't orange, but I liked them next to the roses.


Speaking of non-orange Calla Lilies, this are amazing and dramatic. They'd make a nice addition.


And some crazy "black" Calla Lilies. Wow!



This one has roses with those dark Callas. Looks nice, but needs just a touch of color.











Look! A whole wedding in my floral color scheme.

This is maybe a bit too Spring for my bouquet, but it's beautiful and I like the hanging flowers.


I like the spikiness of these flowers. They might be nice as an accent, with darker red flowers.



I adore the above bouquet. I love the pink hanging flowers (although pink goes outside of my colors), and I love the Dahlias. I think Dahlias are in season in the Fall, so I'm going to ask for them, and Black Magic Roses. After we talked to the coordinator at Venue #3 I Googled Black Magic roses and flower and feather bouquets, and came up with some interesting finds:

Red corset dress! Funny, huh?

Bad photo, but you get the idea.

A better photo. Something about this bouquet bugs me, although I like the feathers. Maybe it's the fake berries, or maybe the roses are too light. It needs something.


This one has feathers and berries (and wheat, I think). I like the Fall feel of it. I like the berries, too. There are too many of them in this bouquet, though. I'd want less green and more red in mine.

This has a better amount of berries. But too many yellow/orange flowers for me.

Another berried bouquet. I like the Fall feeling of this one. It's a touch too coral, though.


More berries. I like the "organic" feel of this bouquet, although of course I don't want white or blue berries in mine.

And yet more berries. This one is awfully sweet, although too pinky-purpley for what I'm looking for.


I like this one a lot, although the feathers are perhaps too subtle, and I wouldn't want just roses. But the rose color is gorgeous!

On the other hand, I think the feathers here aren't subtle enough! There's something off about this one too.

I believe this is the bouquet that bride in the red dress with the crazy boots carried. I do love peacock feathers, although again, they're not in my planned color scheme. I begin to see the usefulness of picking a them and sticking with it, so that you just don't use every single idea that strikes your fancy.

I wouldn't want light pink roses, but this bouquet is just fabulous.


And for the arrangements for the altar/guest book table:

Pretty orange flowers.


I love the candy corn in the vase! Cute. The Daisies are sweet, too.



This one has good height. I like the branches, too--there should be some spooky branches around on Halloween, don't you think?



Speaking of feathers, a couple got married at the SF zoo, and decorated with boas. That's kind of awesome.





These are pretty, and they look festive with the pumpkins.

I posted this before...I love the antique looking metal vase and the fake cobwebs. How perfect!

Well, like everything, I have a lot of time to make up my mind--1 year and 6 months, to be exact!!