Okay, is this cute, a good idea, horrible?

[Gypsy]

The save on ones look much better than the originals... but I still encourage you to check Pier One. I don't know about their hydrangeas as I haven't been interested in that flower when I'm in there... but I know their orchids and poppies and peonies are quite beautiful. And you are more than welcome, honey.

Is there a reason you want a silk bouquet, though? I can understand the silk centerpieces... but well.. I guess for me the bouquet is so front and center... in so many of the pics and so forth that it's a definite 'splurge' item for me.

 

[tina sparkle]

i mostly lurk on these boards but i wanted to say that i''m a big fan of using flowers that are in season for the date of the wedding. whether real or silk, i think it just looks more natural to have seasonal bouquets. and let me add i''ve been following your story and am thrilled for you!

 

[Gypsy]

If you know anyone with a resale license I would definitely take a look at this site: http://www.silkbo.com/products.aspx

My cousin is a florist, FSIL an interior designer... so they have them. Also if you live near SF, CA the SF Mart is a great place for silks. Of course I''ve only seen silk arrangements-- not by the stem-- from there... but it''s still worth a look. But well... as someone said, you pay for it. My mother has this orchid arrangement in a vase-- very contemporary and it''s completely life like, you really can''t tell. But she paid something like $300 dollars for it. And that was the wholesale price. Of course it''s quite large, but there are only like 5 stems of orchids in the thing.

 

[indecisive]

Have you looked in to fresh flowers at all? Hydrangeas and daisies are pretty inexpensive flowers and it would be very easy to do hand tied bouquets with them the night before or the day of. Or you could try ordering just a few stems from different on line shops to check out the quality. I am not a big fan of silk in general and I think it would be really hard to find good quality ones. Good luck!

 

[MelissaSue]

I''d say just use the hydrangeas.. (they dont'' really look like hydrangeas to me.. but thats what you say they are..) the tulip looks odd..

 

[sanfranciscoellen]

I think it might be less expensive to have each attendant carry one drop-dead gorgeous live flower tied with gorgeous silk ribbon than buy all of the materials to make bouquets. You could avoid the whole wedding florist thing by placing an order for, say, 15 tulips, and primping them yourself...

Just a thought!

 

[Mara]

yes or even have the maids carry like 3 long stemmed french tulips tied with satin ribbon (tulips look better in odds IMO than just one)...and then your bouquet could be something like a bunch of tulips with cropped stems or you could do a blend or something.

i''m just not a super huge fan of fake flowers, especially in terms of cost, if you are savvy you CAN get great deals on simple real flowers depending on time of year etc. you don''t have to go the big florist route if you are planning on keeping things simple anyway. you could do fake silk centerpieces instead? or even forgo centerpiece flowers and do something like river rocks in a squat round cylinder hurricane with a candle inside. there are endless possibilities to get around going the whole flowers everywhere route.

 

[decodelighted]

I usually LOATHE silk flowers ... but I had to post this from my new fave blog Something Old Something New. I think these are made from PAPER flowers & meant to hang up inside a tent at a reception ... but, maybe smaller balls?? Or nosegays ??

 

[Mara]

omg those are awesome deco! i love the look of that!

paper flowers are super trendy right now too. and cute!

it's like they are obviously NOT silk and they don't try to be 'real'..they just are purty.

OH and DECO..how awesome would something like those big balls be in your BARN?!?!?!?!?!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions and help, ladies. You all rock in more than just diamond information, now don''t you?

And Tina, thanks for the sweet wishes. I''m definitely elated to be engaged to marry the man of my dreams. Most the time, anyway. Hahaha.

Um, as for why I like *fake,* I don''t know. I thought tulips were only in season in spring, but if they''re available in January, too, sweet. And I talked to my aunt last night who said you can go to Sam''s Club and get very nice flowers the day before, or the night before, for cheap. I know I''ve seen at Walmart some pretty ones, for cheap. I guess my question is whether or not I can plan on having daisies AND tulips be available the day before a wedding. You know? That''s kind of stress-inducing to me.

I''ve always wanted to have a fairly small bouquet myself, and one much smaller for my girls. I love the idea of a couple or few daisies for the girls, and tulips for me. I think the long stemmed tulip idea is pretty, too, only the droop REALLY fast, so maybe I could lace the stem with the ribbon, to help them keep more firm? I don''t know how to wire a tulip, but I suppose I could learn. I''m pretty creative, I think anyway. Haha. Now I don''t know so much; I really thought the flowers *other than the tulips* looked pretty good!!

 

[Mara]

you could totally wire the tulips then cover with ribbon to keep them upright!

as for the whole having flowers available beforehand, call some florists and talk to them. don''t even mention a wedding, just say you want to price out getting some flowers in bulk for XYZ date. and this is what you want.

then you can order them, pick them up the day before or whatver, do the magic on the tulips and daisies (and i think keeping it simple like 2-3 stems for the girls and a bunch for you is perfect) and then you''re done!! it doesn''t HAVE to be stressful or super elaborate yanno?

 

[Gypsy]

What''s your budget hon? I personally wouldn''t leave it to walmart or costco the day before. Here''s the thing... you can get ice tulips year round. The ones you see in most stores. Holland and French tulips, parrot tulips etc... are available at certain times of the year more readily than others. For example I was given three flat out NO''s for September... not because it''s not possible, because it is... but because the florists can''t guarantee the quality of them... and it''s for a wedding, after all.

So... I would just have a florist order them for me... just plan cut flowers. Daisys and ice Tulips shouldn''t run you too much... even from a florist instead of costoc or someplace. You don''t need manyu afterall... and if you arrange them yourself and don''t tell them they are for a wedding, your fine. Tell them the cvombo is your niece''s favorite and it''s her birthday. Seriously. The problem with going someplace the day before is that you don''t know what they''ll have in, and in what colors. I''m plann ahead for that.

As a side note. I''ve worked as a floral designer... workeda s one for years. And I''m still not doing my own bouquet. Never doene it before and don''t want to risk it. So if you are going to do your own... practice on some flowers from walmart first. A couple of times.

 

[sumbride]

If you''re going to cover the tulip stems with ribbon, you could probably slip them into water vials first.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

We''re wanting a morning wedding. So, if I get these flowers the day before, they need to be kept in the fridge, right? Do I keep them in there loose, or already bouqueted?

I''m not that worried about being able to bundle them pretty. I''m thinking for me, I might have like 10 or 8 of them, no more than that. Maybe eight. Or maybe we''ll just scrap the whole tulip thing and do daisies. Those are pretty year-round, and how hard can it be to find white ones? I really like simple, basic, no fillers, nothing frilly.

Although, I did recently see baby''s breath bouquets, and those look so pretty, but a little lacy and frilly, too. Haha. I like more than I thought I did!

I guess part of the reason I liked the silk thing was so it''d be done, taken care of, one less thing to worry about. I am a planner, and I like to be able to tick things off a list, and know that come the last minute, no one''s running around like crazy.

 

[tulip928]

My daughter got married 2 weeks ago, and my younger daughter (MOH) made both of their bouquets of fresh flowers. The bride had a mix of white roses, and white gerbera daisies. She had wanted regular daisies, but we couldn''t get any that looked decent. The white gerberas were gorgeous. Look at these:

http://www.bloomdepot.com/bloomdepot/ctl3220/cp13683/op13586/cl1/05gerberadaisies

 

[Fancy605]

I like those paper flowers. How cute!

Fisher, you mentioned Pier One flowers earlier. Pier One really has the only silk flowers that I have seen in person that I like. They are made from nice looking materials, and they don''t look flimsy or anything. I have seen them used as table arrangements, and they looked nice.

 

[VRBeauty]

You might want to try on some dresses before you decide on a bridal bouquet. Your dress might have some thoughts about what type of bouquet would look best with it!

 

[pinkflamingo]

Fisher-
I just saw this post on makeupalley, wow, what beautiful paper flowers and what a fun idea- i know you like scrapbooking, this looks like it could be fun- but VERY VERY time consuming.
paper flower wedding

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Well, who would have known it, but there is a silk flower outlet in a near by town, so I''m going to look at them, and take back the flowers I bought. Good thing I asked the woman if I could return them!

I LOVE the paper flowers idea, and I think it''d be cute if I could locate a book that has the oragami idea, but in simple directions. With GOOD pictures. We''ll see. I like the idea of having them, but with a distinct version that looks similar to daisies and tulips. Again, we''ll see what happens.

I''ve decided on the favors to make and have begun getting a couple of things for my bridesmaids'' purses that I''m going to make *not for THE day, but for gifts for participating in our wedding day. I''m feeling like I''m tackling enough, while still having fun and enjoying our engagement.

My cousin has been sick, but when she''s feeling better, we''ll hit the stores for some serious bridal gown shopping. Yay! I sort of like the idea of white with lilac accents, but I may end up doing the all white thing. I am looking for dresses with sleeves, short, or lacy longer sleeves, being that we''ll be married in winter. Seems like most of them are sleeveless, though. A lot of the ones I''ve seen with sleeves are sleeveless, but have this lacy *jackety* thing over them. I''m still not sure how I feel about that, because I think I want more ARM FAT coverage than that. Yeah, trying things on will help with the process, I know.

I plan on asking my future mother-in-law if she wants to go looking with me soon, and hopefully my mom and I will have an opportunity, too. I''m excited, but nervous that I''ll have a hard time finding one I love, love. Still, the search ought to be fun.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Speaking of dresses, I like this: http://bridalmart.com/gowns_dresses.htm

I''m sort of pear shaped, little on top, bigger on the bottom, so I''m not sure if the split bottom *where it opens up at the waist line, and another piece peeks out from the bottom, if that makes sense.*

I also like the sparklies on the dress, but it''s not overdone or gaudy. Overall, that''s the kind of simplish thing I like, but I think the puckered area at the bust would be an issue, as I''m pretty small.

 

[Gypsy]

Great news on the flower mart! Post what you find!

As for gowns... first time out go to a store with a TON of selection and good service. By this I mean sales people who understand what flatters certain body types and will guide you to what style will work best for your figure and what you should avoid. For example: I''m curvy-- but proportionate. Hips, bust and shoulders in line-- small waist. I do NOT look good in anything with a natural waist. And I only look good in empire styles when I am lighter than my current weight. So that left me with dropped waist A lines because I didn''t want a ballgown. Even then-- I looked better with a dipped neckline than I did with anything straigh across AND with something-- a ribbon or stitching or beading-- that defined my natural waist. And let me tell you it was a process to figure all that out.

Oh AND make sure they will allow you take photographs and take a digital camera. There is nothing like a photo to tell you what you REALLY look like in something.

 

[indecisive]

Date: 8/30/2006 5:48:12 PM
Author: fisherofmengirly
I LOVE the paper flowers idea, and I think it''d be cute if I could locate a book that has the oragami idea, but in simple directions. With GOOD pictures. We''ll see. I like the idea of having them, but with a distinct version that looks similar to daisies and tulips. Again, we''ll see what happens.

I found a book about making paper flowers at Michael''s. The directions are really simple and the daisies are really cute. I don''t remember if it had directions for tulips or not. It also came with patterns and tissue paper, etc. I thought about the paper flowers too but we are getting married in the spring and I love peonies. Have fun dress shopping!

 

[Mara]

paper flowers sound like a great idea!!!!

as for dresses, whenever they wouldn't let me take pictures, i'd end up sending the salesgal away for another dress or veil or something and then when she was gone, i'd pull out the camera (or camera phone) and quickly snap...OR have a friend ready with the camera...tee heee.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

My MOH made a paper flower centerpiece for an outdoor table at my bachelorette getaway. We went to Palm Springs and she wanted to have something that would last the weekend!

It looked GREAT! I''ll try to dig up a pic.

 

[Gypsy]

Great news on the flower mart! Post what you find!

As for gowns... first time out go to a store with a TON of selection and good service. By this I mean sales people who understand what flatters certain body types and will guide you to what style will work best for your figure and what you should avoid. For example: I''m curvy-- but proportionate. Hips, bust and shoulders in line-- small waist. I do NOT look good in anything with a natural waist. And I only look good in empire styles when I am lighter than my current weight. So that left me with dropped waist A lines because I didn''t want a ballgown. Even then-- I looked better with a dipped neckline than I did with anything straigh across AND with something-- a ribbon or stitching or beading-- that defined my natural waist. And let me tell you it was a process to figure all that out.

Oh AND make sure they will allow you take photographs and take a digital camera. There is nothing like a photo to tell you what you REALLY look like in something.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I think we''ve set our wedding date! Yay!! We discussed it with the pastor''s wife, and she said she''d call if they had anything else on the calendar for the day, but since we''re wanting a morning wedding, it should be just fine! Yay! I''m so, so, so excited!!