My DREAM Wedding... In THIS Economy???

I'm going to start blogging more about wedding planning - specifically how to have your DREAM wedding day YOUR way and how to do it in the worst economy our country has ever seen. It's totally possible! I want to show you how!

First of all, a lot of people are confused about the term "dream wedding". They hear that phrase and automatically think you have to be Donald Trump's daughter to pull it off. That is NOT the case. Having YOUR dream wedding actually has almost nothing to do with money at all.

Let's have a little conversation about having YOUR wedding YOUR way.

I want to start a wedding revolution!! I am SO over cookie cutter weddings!! You've seen one wedding, you've seen them all! People think that they can use a different color scheme or whatever and trick people into thinking that their wedding was uniquely their own. Everything about your wedding day should be a reflection of who you (Bride AND Groom) are as individuals, and more importantly as a couple.

Let's talk just about the time line of your day. When I got married EVERYONE got married in the morning, then had a wedding breakfast, then a reception in the evening. So that's what I did. How was that a reflection of who either of us were individually or as a couple? It didn't. But everyone else was doing it, so that's what I did. So how can your time line be a reflection of who you are? If I had my day to do over again, this is what I'd do:

7am - Wake up and take a long bath
8am - BIG breakfast with my extended family (after all, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day)
9am - Go with my mom and sisters to my hair stylist extraordinaire to spend the rest of the morning getting all dolled up and hanging out together
12noon - Head for the Temple with my parents
2pm - Be sealed for Eternity to the man of my dreams
4pm - Go on a carriage ride with my new Eternal Companion
6pm - Wedding Dinner with both families
7pm - Reception begins
9:30pm - Leave our reception and drive off into the sunset

In everything in life, small changes can bring BIG results!

And Speaking of Personalization...

I did the flowers for this funeral and it was such a tender experience! The family wanted to personalize everything. It was for a female, but they wanted it very naturalistic. I think it turned out perfectly. The casket saddle was filled with Yellow and Confetti Roses, Cattails, leaves, Hypericum (Coffee) Berries, and so much more.

The family wanted to do an easel piece from the nieces and nephews, whom their dear aunt referred to as "My Littles". The Gerber Daisies were color coded - orange for one gender, yellow for the other. Then little tags with each of their names were attached to "their" daisy. Besides how cute this looks, another nice thing is that after the funeral and graveside service is over, each person can take their flower and press it or whatever they want to have as a keepsake.

Frogs was one of her favorite things. So I did this piece to celebrate that. Galax leaves were used as make-shift lily pads and little rubber frogs were wired on. It turned out so great! The container used here is a mache container. This line comes in off-white with natural flecks, this bright green, and dark brown. I use them constantly! They are versatile, look great in so many different settings, and are CHEAP!

Saying Goodbye to a Cowboy

Funerals are far and away my preference, as far as what I like to do with flowers goes. I have found that you can bring a lot of comfort to a family by customizing the pieces to fit that exact person. Everyone has things about them that makes them unique and there is no reason why those traits can't be celebrated in the floral work.

I had the opportunity to do the flowers for the funeral for this handsome cowboy. It was such a treat to use his hat, lariat, and other small trinkets that aren't as visible in this picture in the Casket Saddle. When people see the flowers with these personal touches they are especially moved.

The matching easel arrangement looked like a huge bundle of wild flowers bound together with straw string. Small wood pieces that represented things he loved were painted brown and placed throughout the arrangement. The big wooden letters spelling DAD look WAY better than those HORRID gold or silver letters stapled on paper ribbon. (Whose brilliant idea were those pieces of junk anyway? They look terrible!)

When you are planning and executing a funeral, everything you can do to personalize it will only be that much more comforting. When I hear about people going into a florist and picking something out of a book, ("I think F-145 looks nice.") I just want to cringe! Truly personalization brings peace in a time of sorrow!

Bride's Shadowboxes

One of my new favorite ideas this year is the Bride's Shadowbox. It's a fabulous idea, if I do say so myself. All brides have the same problem: What to do with her bouquet at the end of the evening. You could maybe hang the flowers upside down and dry them, but then what? They are brittle and shatter easily. You can't clean them at all. They just look horrible. But use fake? NEVER! Ugh! So what do you do? How do you use beautiful, fresh, fragrant flowers and then somehow keep them as a remembrance of the best day of your life for the rest of your life? The answer? A shadowbox!

This is one of the shadowboxes I did this season. I used flowers and extras from the bouquet, then added a copy of their wedding invitation and a picture from the wedding with the bouquet showing. It turned out really great!

Butterflies are a personal favorite of this bride, so they were placed throughout the cascading bouquet. They are a great addition to the shadowbox.

I have been using Silica Gel (which is actually a powder) for my preservation. It freezes the flowers in time. It is an amazing thing! It draws the moisture out of the flowers, but it doesn't take the moisture on itself. So you can use the powder over and over again.

Some flowers do better than others with Sillica Gel. You have to carefully pour the powder on the flowers, so flat flowers, like daisies of any variety, or stiff flowers that you could put in a cup and fill with Silica Gel, like roses, do especially well.

In order for the Bride's Shadowbox idea to work for you, you need to do some advanced planning. The preservation has to be done immediately. So you either need a willing florist that someone can deliver the bouquet to them at the end of the evening for them to do the preservation, or a willing family member that will wait for you to be done with it and then start the preservation process. Perhaps your family member or friend could do the preservation and then you could take everything to your florist when you return from your honeymoon for them to arrange. It is a long process, but it's worth it for the treasure you get in the end! The best part about the Bride's Shadowbox is that the options are limitless to what you could include. Pictures, your cake topper, your cake-cutting knife, the garter belt, the tiara you wore, your jewelry, etc. etc. etc.

One thing about using Silica Gel: It is an art in and of itself! Don't think that you'll just buy some and have whoever do the preservation for you at the end of the evening having never used it before. Buy a bunch of flowers at the store and practice the preservation process. You'll learn in a hurry what works and what doesn't.

The Brides that I have done shadowboxes for have been thrilled with the idea of having somewhere to put their wedding day treasures that is clean, sturdy, all-inclusive, and looks incredible!

C & T

Another example of how striking an all-white bouquet can be was this cascading bouquet. Stargazer Lilies, Calla Lilies, Lisianthus, Stock, Delphinium, and Liatris - all in white, were accented only by their own stems and Bear Grass loops.

Only the Bride's bouquet and the Groom's bout were all white though. All of the other flowers used were full of summer color. For example, this Mother's corsage made of fuscia Orchids and mini yellow Gerber Daisies.

Or this father's bout made of purple Lisianthus and mini yellow Gerber Daisy. Bear Grass loops were used throughout the arrangements.

The all-white wedding cake was only accented lightly with vibrant colors.

Never Underestimate the Power of WHITE

A lot of people are afraid to use varying shades of white for their wedding, but an all-white wedding (including shades of off-white) can be incredible!
This cake made by Gateau Fille (see her blog at right), and covered in White Stargazer Lilies, White Hydrangea, White Lisianthus, and White Roses was a show-stopper!!

Spanish Vinyard Wedding

One of the best ways to make your wedding your own is to have a central theme. What is something that describes who you are, as individuals and as a couple, that you could use as a theme for your wedding? This couple, who met in Spain, selected "Spanish Vinyard" as their theme. Everything about their wedding - including their flowers - reflected their theme.

The tables were beautiful! Black lanterns were surrounded with fresh flowers and grapes.

Another great way to personalize your wedding is to have it at a location that is special to you.
The Brides' family estate was the perfect location for their wedding.
Hanging baskets filled with their flowers and both sugar-coated and plain grapes
were placed throughout the yard.

Small bundles of flowers and grapes were hung throughout the trees
to add more color to their late Fall wedding.

My two favorite pieces to build for this wedding were the brides' bouquet and the cake.
The bride gave me free reign on both items to do whatever I thought was best.

When a bride is deciding the shape of her bouquet, her number one consideration should be her body shape. A very close second consideration should be her dress. If your dress is very elaborate, you would want a small, simple bouquet. But if your dress is simply elegant, as was this one, it can support an elaborate bouquet.

Shades of wine, purple, and green were the palette for this wedding.
The bouquet included them all. Sumatra Lilies, Lavonda Roses, Green Hypericum Berries, Stargazer Lilies, Black Bacara Roses, Purple Lisianthus, and faux grapes
filled this long, cascading bouquet.

Then finally the cake. In light of their theme, a basket-weave pattern was the perfect selection for the icing. The cake and table were covered with all of their flowers and colors.
The final touch was a traditional Canrian Knife, a gift from a Spanish Native,
that was used in their cake-cutting ceremony.


Everything you can do to personalize your wedding will not only make it more meaningful to you, but it will be something special to all of your guests. It will be memorable to everyone
because it wasn't a standard, cookie-cutter wedding.
This Spanish Vinyard wedding is a perfect example of that.

C & A Wedding

This beautiful wedding was done in Eggplant, Champagne, and Chocolate
(unless you asked the groom, in which case it was Purple, Off White, and Brown).
Black Calla Lilies (shown below) were the emphasized flower.

On a visit to the local flower wholesaler the bride fell in love with a unique filler that I was told would not be available for their wedding. When I went to pick up the flowers, there it was!
It's always fun when things work out.

The reception hall where they were married provided these candles, wreaths, and stands.
We added the fresh flowers to make them look like they were made just for them.

Mini Black Callas were added to the silverware along with a Champagne bow.
They were so simple and elegant!

The wedding cake was topped with Mini Black Callas and Purple Dahlias.

The Groom's Bout: Mini Black Callas and White Freesia.

Bridesmaid's Bouquets

The Brides' Bouquet: This simple hand-held, stem-showing bouquet was so elegant!
Real peacock feathers were added to the fresh flowers and added such a unique touch.