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BACKGROUND:
I am NOT a professional florist. Strictly amateur. I took a class so I could do the flowers for my wedding, and found it to be a relaxing pasttime. So when my sister (R) got married, in order to save money, because I do pretty well, and because it was not the top priority, she asked me to design the flowers for HER wedding.
My sister lives four hours away from me.
My sister has a very different style from me.
Her mantra was, "I'm sure it will be fine. Anything will be fine."
Best idea EVER.
ACTUAL SUCKITUDE:
My first gudeline? "I think fake flowers look funny." I inform her that I think the only way fake flowers (good ones, like the ones from my wedding) look funny is next to real flowers, so once she decides go real, we are committing. She agrees. Ok. Real flowers it is. Her colors are blue and silver. Blue SO RARELY happens in the natural world, but she has done some amount of research and likes delphinium. This is the only guidance I will get for a couple more months.
So, I finally get R to nail down a budget. (It is tiny, but it is defined.) I look through online vendors to get an idea of prices, as I have never bought bulk flowers before. Having done my research, I go talk with R about specific types. She doesn't want any dyed flowers, I discover. Remember how I mentioned how rare blue is? Fantastic. At least this narrows things down a bit. By talking to her and looking for pictures online for HOURS, I manage to drag from her the opinions she did not realize she had. Here's an excerpt, for your reading pleasure:
Cast:
Me
R
(My thoughts)
Me: So you want there to be lots of leaves?
R: Kind of...I want there to be a base, y'know?
Me: (Ummm...no. We'll try again.) Almost surrounded by greenery?
R: Kind of.
Me: Ok...what kind of leaves?
R: I don't care. (Yeah right.) Just regular leaves.
*I pull up a picture of a bouquet with lots of leatherleaf, which is a VERY common leaf.*
R: Nothing too frilly, like that.
Me: Oh. So...what kind of leaves?
R: I don't know, regular leaves!!!
Yeah. Do you know how many kinds of leaves there are??? Neither do I!!! Excuse me while I go raid the oak tree outside for your bouquet.
This goes on for the entire planning period. Centerpieces? "Anything will be fine..." "Slate's not blue enough." Ceremony space? "Anything will be fine..." "I don't know about the curtains..." GAAAHHHH!!!!! Arch over the cake? "Anything will be fine..." "I have to approve it first. That looks funny."
Also, backpedaling. My mom's coworker's son recently got married, and his bride picked blue as well, so they may have some accessories we could use! Great! Anything that saves money, right? My husband and I rearrange our weekend plans so we can stay an extra day so I can go with my mom and R to see coworker's stash. Know what was there? Fake flowers. I smile and say, "Oh, we're going with real flowers. But maybe we can use some of these candleholders..." My mother and sister exchange looks, AND START GOING THROUGH THE FAKES!!!! Grr. I give them both a shocked look, and neither one looks at me. We take them home. On the ride home, I attempt to find out what's going on. I thought I was in the loop. Mom says, "I think R's just trying to save money." Yeah. I know. BUT WE AGREED!!! I promise to keep the budget as minimal as possible, and we keep the fake flowers as backups in case the real ones are sad looking.
To be continued!!! *cue dramatic music*
I am NOT a professional florist. Strictly amateur. I took a class so I could do the flowers for my wedding, and found it to be a relaxing pasttime. So when my sister (R) got married, in order to save money, because I do pretty well, and because it was not the top priority, she asked me to design the flowers for HER wedding.
My sister lives four hours away from me.
My sister has a very different style from me.
Her mantra was, "I'm sure it will be fine. Anything will be fine."
Best idea EVER.
ACTUAL SUCKITUDE:
My first gudeline? "I think fake flowers look funny." I inform her that I think the only way fake flowers (good ones, like the ones from my wedding) look funny is next to real flowers, so once she decides go real, we are committing. She agrees. Ok. Real flowers it is. Her colors are blue and silver. Blue SO RARELY happens in the natural world, but she has done some amount of research and likes delphinium. This is the only guidance I will get for a couple more months.
So, I finally get R to nail down a budget. (It is tiny, but it is defined.) I look through online vendors to get an idea of prices, as I have never bought bulk flowers before. Having done my research, I go talk with R about specific types. She doesn't want any dyed flowers, I discover. Remember how I mentioned how rare blue is? Fantastic. At least this narrows things down a bit. By talking to her and looking for pictures online for HOURS, I manage to drag from her the opinions she did not realize she had. Here's an excerpt, for your reading pleasure:
Cast:
Me
R
(My thoughts)
Me: So you want there to be lots of leaves?
R: Kind of...I want there to be a base, y'know?
Me: (Ummm...no. We'll try again.) Almost surrounded by greenery?
R: Kind of.
Me: Ok...what kind of leaves?
R: I don't care. (Yeah right.) Just regular leaves.
*I pull up a picture of a bouquet with lots of leatherleaf, which is a VERY common leaf.*
R: Nothing too frilly, like that.
Me: Oh. So...what kind of leaves?
R: I don't know, regular leaves!!!
Yeah. Do you know how many kinds of leaves there are??? Neither do I!!! Excuse me while I go raid the oak tree outside for your bouquet.
This goes on for the entire planning period. Centerpieces? "Anything will be fine..." "Slate's not blue enough." Ceremony space? "Anything will be fine..." "I don't know about the curtains..." GAAAHHHH!!!!! Arch over the cake? "Anything will be fine..." "I have to approve it first. That looks funny."
Also, backpedaling. My mom's coworker's son recently got married, and his bride picked blue as well, so they may have some accessories we could use! Great! Anything that saves money, right? My husband and I rearrange our weekend plans so we can stay an extra day so I can go with my mom and R to see coworker's stash. Know what was there? Fake flowers. I smile and say, "Oh, we're going with real flowers. But maybe we can use some of these candleholders..." My mother and sister exchange looks, AND START GOING THROUGH THE FAKES!!!! Grr. I give them both a shocked look, and neither one looks at me. We take them home. On the ride home, I attempt to find out what's going on. I thought I was in the loop. Mom says, "I think R's just trying to save money." Yeah. I know. BUT WE AGREED!!! I promise to keep the budget as minimal as possible, and we keep the fake flowers as backups in case the real ones are sad looking.
To be continued!!! *cue dramatic music*
I may have missed a sentence, I'm really tired. Sorry if I did.
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