Trial run on the flowers
Today my best friend and I did a trial run on the flowers. We got a bit of a late start up to the flower mart and learned a valuable lesson. When they say that they close at 10am, they mean it. We made it up there around 9am, so we had some time, but they were definitely closing up shop by the end of our trip and we were running around a little frenzied. We will be up there much earlier for the wedding flowers.
I had pulled a lot of flower arrangement pictures off of the net (www.projectwedding.com has great pictures of flowers) and out of magazines, so we had a pretty good idea of what look we were going for. We bought armfuls of hydrangeas, dahlias, mums, calla lilies, roses, and orchids. We had planned ahead this time and brought a bucket with water in it to hold the flowers.
We drove over to her mom’s house and started designing the arrangements.
THINGS I LEARNED: Hydrangeas are VERY temperamental. They wilt very quickly. They don’t like hot weather and need to be in water. A trick I learned on the internet… cut the stem and submerge it in boiling water for 30 seconds. Then put it in the arrangement. (http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/cut_dont_wilt.html)
My reception hall is long and narrow with 2 tables across and 6 tables long. Visually, I did not want a room of clone tables and table arrangements. We designed 3 different kinds of flower arrangements. After 5 hours of creating and taking apart flower arrangements, I think we have got the final designs completed. I am really happy with how they have turned out.
I am not sure we have saved tons of money on this. I have chosen some very expensive flowers and the trial run has to be added to the overall cost. The average cost of flowers at a wedding in big cities according to Bridal Bargains is $2500-$6000 in a big city. I consider the heart of Silicon Valley to have big city prices, especially since a friend of mine just got married and I know her floral bill was in that range. Those statistics being stated, we are well under the low on that range, so I feel pretty good. We will see how I feel when we are arranging these the day before the wedding.
5 weeks before "W" Day, Things I learned | Comment (0)