Making Bouquets Is Really Easy, or It's Damn Near Impossible to Make Flowers Look Bad

By popular demand (and at the special request of soontobemrsc, ambrosia and wondermart, who is making her bouquet this weekend), I present to you the making of the bouquets. (For you monkey lovers, tomorrow's post will be filled with pictures and video of the Monkey Forest.)

Around 8:45am on Friday, the day before the wedding, I headed out with a carload of helpers in search of flowers. I could have contacted a distributor (or at least the manager of Trader Joe's and Costco) about ordering specific flowers, but that required a little more coordination than I was able to handle in the month before the wedding. Besides, it seemed like it would be a lot more fun to not know exactly what flowers I would get. My only requirements were red flowers for the bridesmaids, and white/cream flowers for me. In my ideal world, I would be able to include stock and hydrangeas, which are my two favorite flowers.

The first stop was Cleveland's West Side Market. Disappointingly, there was only one flower vendor at the market that morning. Fortunately, the vendor had an abundance of red and white flowers in large quantities. There we gathered together about $70 worth of mums, tulips, stock(!) and assorted other appropriately colored flowers. Having cleaned out the stand, I was still looking for a little bit more variety for my bouquet.

From there we headed back across town to Trader Joe's. (Both the market and TJ's are within 20 minutes of my parents' house. In opposite directions. Which meant we spent well over an hour just driving to get the flowers.) Another $50 or so (which includes money spent picking up a small number of groceries and flowers for my mom, as well as hydrangeas(!)), we proceeded to check out. When I very gleefully told the cashier that these were the flowers for my bridal bouquet, he talked with one of the other associates who then came bounding over with a dozen hot pick roses for me, as a congratulations from the store. (It was a thoughtful gesture, although hot pink is not a color I especially like, nor am I a big fan of roses.)

Once back home, the group (which at this point consisted of my maid of honor, her boyfriend, and me) set about to unwrapping the bouquets and pulling the leaves off of the flowers.

Note the lone dozen hot pink roses in the background.
The rest of the flowers

Following what seemed to work well when I gave it a try back in April, I started to arrange the bouquets. (Much thanks to Autumn who gave me instructions on how to use floral tape. Tape turned out to be much easier than wire.) When they flowers were arranged, I wrapped and secured ribbon around each of the bouquets (for mine, I used fabric that matched my dress.) I then trimmed the stems so that they were even, and set each bouquet in a mason jar with about an inch of water. (The mason jars were my mom's storage suggestion. They worked absolutely perfectly.)

As we got done a little bit later than I had anticipated (mostly because we got off to a later start than planned), I didn't take any pictures of the completed bouquets that day.

But I do have some non-pro pics of the bouquets in action at the wedding:

The bouquets, with me and the flower girl.

Note the stock pot used to transport the bouquets in their mason jars.

Some last minute arranging. Turns out the tulips in the bouquets each grew about an inch overnight, making the bouquets look a bit like aliens.

Bridesmaid and flower girl bouquets in action

Up close and personal with my bouquet (that's my youngest brother's hands in the background)

Would I do it again? Absolutely. I really enjoyed arranging the flowers, and didn't really find it very stressful at all. And it's really hard to make flowers look bad, since they are pretty to begin with. Bouquets were not a high priority for me at all, and since I wasn't seeking perfection (if you are, I highly recommend going with a florist), it didn't really bother me that a very small number of flowers in the bouquet looked slightly wilted the day of the wedding.

Total costs (in time and dollars):
Time: 4.75 hours (2.25 for purchasing; 2.5 for prepping/arranging)
Total money spent on flowers and supplies for 5 bouquets: about $110

Lessons Learned:
-It was really helpful to have other people stripping off the leaves.
-If we had used roses, it would have taken substantially longer to prepare and arrange the flowers as they would have needed to be dethorned.
-Tulips, while beautiful, will grow quite a bit overnight. This can leave your bouquet looking like it has alien antennas.
-Assuming you are after "good enough" and not "perfection", plan to allot about a half hour per bouquet. Perfection will take substantially longer.
-Spider mums photograph somewhat strangely.
-The best workspace is a large table or counter
-Have a compost or garbage bag ready for all of the leaves and stems
-Mason jars make great storage vases for the bouquets.
-Some flowers will break when you are prepping/arranging them, so it is best to generously estimate how many flowers you need.

unexpected success (or flowers are so #$%* expensive!)

The one thing that I have cared the least about in the process of planning has turned out to be one of the (relatively) bigger headaches. We shopped around and spoke with no fewer than seven (7!) florists before settling with our current florist, who is familiar with both the church and the reception venue.

Early on, I had decided that I didn't want to have bouquets. When Calvin's mom asked me if I would change my mind, my response was, "Then I'll go to Trader Joe's the day before the wedding and buy myself a bouquet." But upon reflection, I decided that I actually did want a bouquet.

However, the florist quote came back, and including bouquets for myself and the three bridesmaids put us at about $400 over budget. And it included roses, which I specifically requested not to have. In a fit of frustration, I thought that I'd see what happened if I tried to make a bouquet for myself, with the following hypothesis: Flowers are pretty. A group of pretty things together will look pretty. Therefore, a group of flowers bunched together will look pretty.

The test:

$20 worth of flowers from Trader Joe's. From top to bottom:white ranunculus, a bouquet of white and green flowers, and cream/pink calla lilies.

Supplies:
flower tape (~$1.50 at Joann Fabric's)
flower wire ($.25 on clearance at Joann's)
ribbon (~$2.30 at Joann's)
white pearl pins (~$4.50 at Joann's)

Following the guidelines suggested here, I figured out that arranging flowers for a bouquet is really easy. The only trick is to wire the stems of heavy flowers (like ranunculus or gerbera daisies) to help support the head. This really sounds a lot more complicated than it is.

With the flowers above, in the next half hour I pulled the leaves off of the stems, trimmed the stems, wired the heavier flowers, and arranged them. Take a couple of flowers, wrap them in tape or wire. Add a couple more, tape/wire. Repeat until the bouquet is done. (Partway through I found that the floral tape was not holding so well, so I switched to wire.)

Calvin graciously holding the bouquet

Closeup
For a finishing touch, I wrapped the stems in ribbon and secured it with the white pearl pins.


A little lumpy because the wire wasn't pulled too tight.

Closer shot of the handle.

Believe it or not, arranging the flowers was actually relaxing. So I'm planning on arranging the bouquets the morning before the wedding. (A day later, my sample bouquet looked just fine.) And unlike centerpieces, no one needs to be around to set up the bouquets, as they will be totally set to go the day before. My mom said that she's happy to bring them to the church before the ceremony.

Where have you found unexpected success planning your wedding?

Florist....check!

Probably my least favorite part of wedding planning thus far has been meeting with florists. Over the past several months, we have met with six(!) floral designers. This is especially ridiculous to me, since flowers are a lower priority for us, and at one point in time talked about not even having any flowers. This is more than the total number of vendors that we met with for all the other elements of wedding planning combined. Calvin, being intimately involved with every single wedding planning decision, was eager to join in the fun.

When meeting with florists, we had a sense of what we wanted. We knew that we wanted some mixture of high and low centerpieces, and did not want peonies or roses. We knew that we wanted something wonderful altar arrangements for the church. We wanted reds. And both of us really liked the look of tightly bunched carnations (ala Mrs. Lime, but a darker colored carnation), and we liked branches.

This posed a challenge to many florists. Yes, we know we are getting married in May. Yes, we know that pinks and yellows are abundant during that time. Yes, we know that dark red is not much of a spring-y color, nor is it readily available. But if we had our first choice, we'd be getting married in the winter. But that's not how my funding worked out, so May it is. May with deep red flowers :-)

There was one florist who rose to the top of the list. His ideas were extremely creative, and not only did he have a "vision" for the reception, he had brilliant ideas for the church as well. (One of the things that bothered us about the other florists was that not a single one spent much time discussing arrangements for the church. While the reception will be fun, there wouldn't be a reception without the ceremony.) As an added bonus, he was the only florist with whom we met who had worked at both the church and the reception venue before.

Our florist had the brilliant idea to combine both carnations and branches. But not just any branches- no, he will be incorporating red dogwood branches into both our low and high centerpieces.

Red dogwood growing naturally- image found here

In a vase- image found here

Both of us thought that it would be very cool, very modern, and very red, as did my mom. A nice variation from the various branch-style centerpieces. We were sold- so the deposit was sent in last week.

Both of us are very relieved that the florist is booked. Although it was fun to hear all of the different ideas that each florist had, it was significantly more exhausting than any other part of the vendor search, and it was frustrating to go to so many fruitless meetings.

What has been the most frustrating part of wedding planning for you? How have you handled it?

(And for those of you that are more DIY inclined, red dogwood branches are available from Nettleton Hollows.)

linens (and things)

Earlier, I discussed the overall vision/feel we have for the reception, and three things we are looking for: linens, flowers and lighting. Today, I bring you one element- linens.

Here is our inspiration for the tables.

From the Knot.

From New York Magazine. I know, it's chocolate brown, but it looks like it could be burgundy.

From Grace Ormonde Style.

I have no idea where I got this picture.

I have no idea where this came from.

We are planning on splurging (a bit) on burgundy linens. White, chair length linens are included in the package, and I (we) really like the look of floor length linens. One place I've looked at is BBJ. I contacted them for their pricelist, and floor length tablecloths of the basic polyester variety are $13 for 120" rounds (for the 60" round tables), including shipping and handling. While more expensive linens can be nicer looking, the reason for renting linens is for color, and there is a perfectly lovely shade of burgundy available in the lowest price. For $260, colored tablecloths will make a bigger impact than 2 tall centerpieces will.

Locally, I have found Lasting Impressions Event Rentals, which has the same tablecloths for $16. They also do lighting, and I am awaiting an email from them with their lighting prices and packages. A little bit more money, but the advantage is that someone else would deal with setup and delivery. Our reception venue also has them available for $18, which has the added convenience that we would not have to coordinate with another vendor.

Or we could go through whichever florist we choose, which would be at $25/table.

Who else is renting linens? Do you have any tips or suggestions? Would you recommend saving money by doing it online, or is it worth it to pay more to have someone else take care of it all?

Florists: The good, the bad and the snobby

Our first appointment was with Ric Eckhoff at Palermo Florist, which has no website. My mom, Calvin and I went in to the florist shop, which is in an old house. Here is my initial review:

Ric Eckhoff at Palermo Florist (no website)
First impression: The shop was organized, orderly and very clean. Ric and his assistant were there, and we sat down to talk. While we knew that he had done work at the reception venue before, we did not know that he had also worked at the church, and knew exactly what to do with the alter arrangements. That made a big impression on all of us.

He liked our ideas for a monochromatic red color scheme, and instantly came up with several ideas for arrangements. Later he mentioned that his own son had had red as the color scheme at his wedding, and it worked really well. Ric also made suggestions for ways to rearrange the reception room in a way we had not thought of. When it came down to price, he was not pushy at all, and seemed very systematic in how he was thinking about how much everything would cost. This is what he said:

$300/piece for giant alter arrangements of four types of roses and carnations
$125/piece for tall centerpieces of red dogwood and carnations
$75/piece for shorter centerpieces of red dogwood and carnations
$200 for delivery
$10/table for eight votive candles
$25/table for polyester blend tablecloths

Still over budget, but Ric seemed willing to work with small and smaller budgets. Only drawback is that he did not show us any pictures of past work that he did.

Albert Wilhelmy and Debbie at Al Wilhelmy Florist
I spoke with Debbie on the phone, and we made an appointment that worked for her on the weekend we were in town. My mom, Calvin and I go, only to be told that Debbie is off that day.

First impression: The shop seems chaotic and cluttered and a bit dirty.

The owner, Albert, is a bit flustered; he speaks with us, and asks us to come back in half an hour, so he can gather things together. (This worked out fine, as we had been running late and had been unable to grab lunch before the meeting. So we got lunch). We return, and a laptop is setup. He talks with us, emphatically using his hands and never completing a sentence or a thought. When we show him pictures of what we like, he talks about other things that he can do, and does not seem to understand what we are looking for. Calvin starts making faces. Albert left us before we could even ask about prices.

Calvin has vowed that he will write his own post about our experience at Al Wilhelmy.

Stephen Tokar of Stephen M. Tokar
Calvin had played phone tag with Stephen's assistant for over a week, but we were able to schedule an appointment.

First impression: The shop seems organized and fairly clean. Very Design oriented with a capital D.

Stephen Tokar is sitting behind a desk, and has pulled up chairs for us. We talk for about an hour with different ideas. He is very creative, and into topiary type arrangements. And then we talk budget, and his entire tenor changed. Like the woman at Catan's Bridal, but only in the opposite way- he no longer seemed as interested to work with us. His budget breakdown was:

$200/piece for tall centerpieces; did not specify materials. Alter arrangements would be converted to tall centerpieces.
$80/piece for shorter centerpieces of about 80 carnations
$50/piece for shorter centerpieces of three candles
estimated $40/piece for linens, because he didn't want to "restrict" us
15% delivery charge

Did not seem interested/willing to work with "smaller" (less than 4k) budgets. Calvin and I did say, though, that if we had a big or unlimited budget for decor, Steven is the person we would want designing it.

We have one appointment left: Arne Klein at Blooms by Plantscaping, who we are meeting tomorrow morning.

Introduction of the florists

So we have figured out our vision, and thought some about linens. What about flowers?

Back when Calvin and I were thinking of a smaller wedding, we figured that we would do the flowers ourselves. How hard could it actually be? With flowers available at Costco or Fifty Flowers, among others, it seemed like it would be really easy to do.

It all changed when we booked our reception site, and began to think about the logistics of doing our own flowers. While I feel confident about the actual arranging, I wasn't certain about the logistics of transportation and setup. With not a whole lot of reliable in town friends, it seemed like we may as well at least look into florists.

Florists are expensive. Really expensive. And a lot of what you are paying for is the labor. Additionally, research florists is extremely difficult, at least in the Cleveland area. If a florist has a website, it is most likely one of the FTD websites.

The Renaissance had a list of preferred vendors, and the church has a florist that they use for most services. Since neither I nor my mom are big fans of what the normal church florist does, we decided not to contact them. The florists in town that my family has used for past occasions have either changed hands or closed in the last five years, so we looked into the places that the Renaissance suggested.

We contacted:
Stephen Tokar at Stephen M. Tokar Custom Floral

(images from his website)

Arne Klein at Blooms by Plantscaping


(All photos by Steven Mastroianni)

Ric Eckhoff at Palermo Florist (no website)

(image from here)

Pieter Bouterse Studio

(images from their website)

Debbie at Al Wilhelmy Flowers, who didn't have any photos that I could find.

I worked up the nerve to call Arne and Debbie; Calvin contacted the other three. I left messages with both, and Arne was the first to call back. Never having actually called any other vendor, I just blurted out that I was getting married, and I wanted to set up an appointment, and really had no idea how to go about doing things. Arne was fabulous, and suggested that I bring in pictures of what I (we) like, along with pics of the dress and swatches of the bridesmaids' dresses. He also explained to me exactly what he does, and how he works within budgets. I'd also heard good things about him on indiebride.

Now that I knew what we needed to do, once appointments were made, we just had to go to them. Do you have any additional tips on what to bring when meeting with florists?