This past weekend my friend Trish renewed her wedding vows with her husband at a beautiful backyard wedding ceremony. Let me just admit up front, I cried several times. I love weddings.
But this one was particularly fun because I also got to practice a little “naturetaining.” My assignment was to help with the flowers, which included the table arrangements, buffet decorations and the bridal bouquet.
I know my limits, so for the bouquet I went straight to a florist. We visited several before choosing Karin’s Florist in Vienna. It took sometime for me to convince them the bride had granted me full proxy for picking the style, colors, and flowers. And I left the flower choice up to their designer, providing guidance only on the style. Little did I know I should have also said something about color.
When I went to pick up the bouquet on the morning of the ceremony, the bouquet was ready – but it was all white. I’ll admit that it was stunning. But I just didn’t think an all-white look for a backyard springtime event was appropriate. So I had the designer re-do it and add some pink Gerber daises. (He was a tad bit annoyed, but the customer is always right!) I think it came out well.
In the previous blog post, I shared the idea I was experimenting with for the table decorations. I’d decided tulips were the way to go and found a great street vendor right in DC with loads of nice tulips in multiple colors. But alas, when I stopped by the vendor Friday night to purchase the nearly 70 stems I needed, they were practically sold out! I made a mad dash to two stores that evening – nothing. Fortunately, on Saturday morning the Vienna Giant had a wide selection of tulips available, and on sale! So I was clipping and stuffing tulips into floral foam right up until it was time to go. The purple were the freshest, so we went for an all-purple theme.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. And I learned two important lessons. Don’t wait until the last minute to get the flowers, and I’m more allergic to pollen than I thought.
But this one was particularly fun because I also got to practice a little “naturetaining.” My assignment was to help with the flowers, which included the table arrangements, buffet decorations and the bridal bouquet.
I know my limits, so for the bouquet I went straight to a florist. We visited several before choosing Karin’s Florist in Vienna. It took sometime for me to convince them the bride had granted me full proxy for picking the style, colors, and flowers. And I left the flower choice up to their designer, providing guidance only on the style. Little did I know I should have also said something about color.
When I went to pick up the bouquet on the morning of the ceremony, the bouquet was ready – but it was all white. I’ll admit that it was stunning. But I just didn’t think an all-white look for a backyard springtime event was appropriate. So I had the designer re-do it and add some pink Gerber daises. (He was a tad bit annoyed, but the customer is always right!) I think it came out well.
In the previous blog post, I shared the idea I was experimenting with for the table decorations. I’d decided tulips were the way to go and found a great street vendor right in DC with loads of nice tulips in multiple colors. But alas, when I stopped by the vendor Friday night to purchase the nearly 70 stems I needed, they were practically sold out! I made a mad dash to two stores that evening – nothing. Fortunately, on Saturday morning the Vienna Giant had a wide selection of tulips available, and on sale! So I was clipping and stuffing tulips into floral foam right up until it was time to go. The purple were the freshest, so we went for an all-purple theme.
Using the small bud vases we picked up at the Crate and Barrel outlet, I used a combination of red and yellow ranuncules to decorate the food tables.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. And I learned two important lessons. Don’t wait until the last minute to get the flowers, and I’m more allergic to pollen than I thought.
