Flowers

So the time came to start picking out flowers for the wedding, and all I knew about mine was: succulents and dusty miller. The rest of the flowers (bouts, bouquets, family flowers, and sitting arrangements) were just not coming to me as clearly as I expected. So, we just ordered a ton, and I put my florist in charge of what to do. It worked out great, I think, because I tried to be flexible in the design department of that.

You'll later see the full sanctuary set up, bug basically we had all different types of lanterns filled with moss and candles, and then there was filler leaves places all around them. Some of the lanterns sat on slices of wood and stumps that we cut from our family land in shuqualak. (And some of the stumps were from someone's yard who lives on Main Street, ha!) We used eucalyptus here, too. Using the fresh cuts provided a "softer" look than just having the stumps there with nothing around it, so I loved how this turned out! 

We did have one delimma. When the flowers arrived, and we had gotten all of them out with their ends snipped and placed in fresh water, I noticed that we didn't have much color. Now, granted, I didn't want too much color, but there was none aside from the greens we had from filler. And white. (Annnnd from the pink garden roses) So, one of our faithful helpers Mrs. Jolynn and her daughter (our now close neighbor) went and got what they could find at Kroger. Thankfully, they had some pink peonies. 

Once we added that color, I really did let the florist and everyone who helped him take over creative control, and if you came to this blog to read my advice, here it is: DO THAT! 

If you've ordered flowers that you love, chances are you're going to love them any way that they're arranged. Now, let me be clear, you have to have a florist who you trust, and who you've met with and feel like they understand your vision. 

And I did! Thankfully! 

My bouquet was full of white hydrangeas, baby green hydrangeas, white ranunculus, pink garden roses, dusty miller, and filler. It was tied together by a hankerchief that my late grandmother received from her pen-pal overseas. A long time ago! And it was all pinned together with a broach of my late great-grandmothers who would have certainly been tickled to know that a piece of her walked down the aisle with me - and yes, it seems a tad gaudy and bulky, but the jewelry she wore always was like that - in true MeMaw fashion. 

Beside the arrangement is a bottle of perfume that I bought specifically for our wedding day. I read somewhere a long time ago that it's a neat idea to buy a fragrance that your fiancé has never smelled before, and use it on your wedding day as well as special days moving forward. Date nights, anniversaries, etc. So I've tried to do that! I wore it the entire time we were on our honeymoon & have used it for dates we have had since. 

I originally wanted a ton of succulents in my bouquet but we quickly realized that to remain simple and keep from having a huge arrangement that weighed 50 pounds, I would need to just have one, and it was sort of the subtle "pop" that it needed. I loved it. 

These. 

Now these were probably my favorite of all! I cannot get over them! On Thursday (yes, 2 days before the wedding) I saw an Instagram post from a girl, and she just said wouldn't it be cool to do something like this. So, my sweet daddy who has literally MADE THINGS COME TO LIFE for us, got out in our sheds and cut a ton for me to choose from and we spray painted them. These were perfect, and they provided that pop of gold that the wedding party needed. They were also unique - something I hadn't seen before, so I loved that, too. 

These are a few snaps from the shelves that my bridesmaids decorated in the reception hallway. I gave them creative control over it, and it ended up being one of my favorite little places of wedding decorations. 

The food table was always a clear picture for me. I didn't want any huge arrangement. I am different in that I had rather it be about the "little details" instead of the big "wow factor". So, I collaborated two ideas that I had seen on Pinterest and added large sea glass vases to line the table & filled them with simple single stems of different flowers. I will always remember that these cases were the first decor we bought for the wedding (and maybe we bought a couple before we ever got engaged!) 

And I can't ignore the succulents. These babies were in every nook and cranny that was there. Succulents and I are a funny story, to me anyway. David's grandmother was showing me the flowers in her garden one day, and I saw some of her succulents. I had never seen any before, and apparently I talked about loving them so much that the next time we went to see her, she had planted me two planters (read: one "planter" was an old aluminum tea kettle) full of baby succulents and they have grown. And grown. And grown!! And I tribute my love for the entire succulent family to her because she introduced me to them, so that was one way that we were able to incorporate her into our special day. 

David's bout was (pretty fragile, come to find out) a single ranunculus with filler leaves at the top. I loved the simplicity of it. The ranunculus has so many layers but remains so small and delicate, and I think that's what I love about them. 

Ps -- they dry beautifully! 

More foyer flowers. The "twigs" at the top are a willow, and we also used eucalyptus in these arrangements as well. 

The flowers were already planted in these cement planters, but they went right along with everything else. 

Mom spent a LONG TIME on these beautiful succulent wreaths. They are artificial, and they are HEAVY. Thankfully we were able to wire them, but I am so glad that she stuck through the hot glue gun burns that she sustained while making these. They are a treasure! 

The sanctuary was a simple thing that I visioned (I think it was only simple for me - not anyone else, but they'll never tell me.) I wanted an arbor. I wanted earthy tones. I wanted trees. I basically wanted to bring the outside in. I wanted to get married outside, but it was JUNE. I didn't wanna be a sweaty bride. So, we cut these trees from our back yard, cemented them into some galvanized tubs, and dad cut the baby pines from our land in shuqualak to make the arbor. He assembled the arbor on sight at the church! The swag was made of live mixed greens, and it was beautiful in person. The flowers were mostly attitudinal because I didn't want to worry about them browning overnight. 

For the pew markets, we went with a eucalyptus green and a single hydrangea, and I love the look it created. Simple & effortless. 

So that basically sums up the wedding flowers! I could not have done it without Greg, Mrs. Linda, Leah, Mrs. Jolynn, Kaitlin, Mrs. Kay, and my mom. They took care of everything and made sure I was taken care of too. They went above and beyond, and they really colored our day beautifully with the flower arrangements that they made. 

Thank ya'll so much!