Online Bouts

Umm did you know that you can order boutonnieres online? Yeh, people FTD.com sells wedding floral gear! Bouts, centerpieces, corsages, even ring pillows .... And if your looking to save a bit on floral design, ordering some of the floral elements online is a great way to go.

Check out these awesome bouts I found ...

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Or this awesome centerpiece...

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Wedding Task: Florist

Accomplished!

Yep, thats right folks .. we booked our florist! The super cool, super creative, super floral dude that is .....

James Abel Events

The brains behind these beautiful blooms ...

For more for his work check his site or SMP where he has been featured a number of times.

James made us an offer we just could not refuse .. including a chuppah, high and low centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres,  flowers for cocktail hour, even arrangements for the bathrooms! And for a price that actually worked in our budget, right from the start, no haggling or arguing! I know, its unheard of!

You know your girl is always ready to hussle in this wedding game  .. but to tell you the truth, when everything goes nice and smoothly lie it did with James ... it such a relief! And it def makes these countless wedding decisions soo much easier!

One more thing to check off that long list of wedding to-dos! ... I love it when a plan comes together.

When it rains ...

it pours! Pours gorgeous flowers that is. One day I am babbling on and on about "who cares about flowers, who needs em?" and then I saw those awesome arrangements I posted about on Weddzilla and today these centerpieces are just calling out to be posted about and loved ...

Gorgeous right! I might be reconsidering this whole flowers biz ... my indecisiveness is really getting the best of me I think .. or maybe not.

{Source for these beauties}

Willow pretty willow

Isn't this just the vision of perfection for an escort-card table display? Picture all of the little cards standing in front of these tall, fuzzy, pretty willow branches ... I am kinda loving it ... and by "kinda" I mean A LOT. Dude, just their sheer fuzziness wins me over.

PS: Also, in Russian, they are called "cotiki" which means "little cats". I think that might add to my love for them ... just a little .... ok fine a lot! What can I say? Your girl's a total softy!

{Source}

A touching tribute ...

I think I am going to steal this idea from Mrs. Hot Cocoa .... 

I love how the lockets are small and delicate and sentimental without being overly sad and obvious. I am thinking of attaching them to our dads' boutonnieres (for parents that they have lost) and the bouquets of our moms (each of their dads has passed) and grandma's (for their husbands and/or parents). I think it is such a lovely way to honor the loved ones we have lost.


Bottom line, I dig it. And I'm not the only one! The Alternative Bride posted about this too!

Floral or fern-al?

So .... remember these??? Well, look what I found now ...

Also kind of dreamy ... Oh man, is anyone else starting to feel bad for my future hypothetical florist? Cause my indecisive nature seems to be rearing its cute little head again. ...

What? You think being indecisive ain't cute? Wrong! It's adorable. ... Or is the Big Guy lying to me?

Oh well, I'll just tell them to go with whatever is cheapest and all of our problems will be solved.

{Image source}

Just dreamy ...

Aren't these just lovely ... it seems I have moved on from bendy lilies to floaty orchids...

{Image Source}

More inspiration for your floral folders

I seem to have flowers on the brain recently ... maybe its because everything else for our wedding is coming together really smoothly and I am massively dreading the part where I have to find a florist who (a) fits our budget, (b) fits our not-so-flowery style/aesthetic, (c) hmmm, I am not sure there is a (c) but I guess I will just repeat the first two: cheap and chic people! That's the goal! 

Well in any case, I couldn't resist adding this centerpiece to my mental (and actual, i.e. this blog) inspiration folder. Please to enjoy.

From The Knot

PS: We got so much wedding stuff done in the past few weeks, I will start posting all about it very shortly. I guess this whole wedding thing is really happening ... who knew? :)

Help your horticulturally-challenged girl

I have a particular fondness for giant flowers (especially when they are white and green), hence my devotion to giant calla lillies. So, I am walking with the Big Guy in Hudson River Park this weekend, when I noticed these lovelies. 

I stopped and immediately took a photo but I still have no clue what the are. And neither does the Big Guy which is a rare situation indeed (he is all good with the gardeny type shiz). 

So help me out ... what the heck are they???

Super cute, no?

Flowers on the brain ...

Don't worry, I am still devoted to my cotton bouquet .... but you know occasionally a girl just likes to browse, check out her options, see what's out there .... looking isn't cheating right? 

So I look and these are a few of my faves of the day ....

From The Knot

From Art Fool

From Real Simple Magazine

Flowers

You know about my devotion to "bendy lilies" but these are so cute, I might be changing my mind .... oh but, minus the butterflies ... they are just not my cup of tea ... the pretty simplicity going on here, on the other hand, is exactly what I am about.

From Beautiful Blooms via Art of Love Blog

Another bout that caught my eye

Ok so maybe I spoke too soon about the whole not caring about boutonnieres thing .. turns out there are some really cute ones out there in the world of wedding blogs. I am digging this one big time, especially if my bouquet is made of cotton too ... possibly like so ...

Sigh .. so soft, so pretty, so ... wintery (its a word!). Makes me think of marshmallows floating in hot chocolate.

The bout is from Almasy Photography via Elizabeth Anne Designs and the bouquet is courtesy of White and Wander.

Cute bouts

As far as things that matter to me, boutonnieres rank really really really low on that list, like just below professional baseball and a wedding videographer (although this one is up for debate too) ... but then I stumbled across these handsome little devils and you know your girl can't resist a personal-touch-adding DIY project. This is one is from the fabulous peeps over at Once Wed, click on the link for detailed instructions. 

The Big Guy and I have decided to honor a throwback Jewish tradition and not see each other for the full week before our wedding (both of our families and all of our friends think that we are crazy but I think its kind of romantic... anticipation of a good thing and all that). So I will have lots of time that week to sit at home and do DIY projects ... oh yeh and do all of the other "little" projects I have dreamt up for myself and work and hang out with my friends/family ... on second thought lets ponder this new project a little further....

Simplicity ... always the way to go!

Isn't this centerpiece just perfection? It's simple, soft, lovely, modern, and most of all so pretty!

Yevs (one of my fabulous MOH's) offered to be my "florist" but I feel like that is a lot of pressure, so she and I had discussed us doing the flowers for my wedding together instead of hiring a florist. Mushu (the other MOH) said that I should let Yevs do the flowers on her own and not even worry about it because Yevs needs a creative outlet... who knew that a wedding could provide therapy for the obsessive compulsive artists of the world? 

But I digress! I think that even I (who is not artistically inclined ... at all ) could pull this off ... ya know ... with a little help from my friends. Thoughts?

{Image from the brilliant minds of Exquisite Affairs Productions}

Under $500 Bride Ensemble

A few weeks ago DIY Bride posted a contest on her super fantastic site (go read it, if you don't already) challenging us to create an entire wedding ensemble inspiration board for under $500. I took up the challenge wanted to share my submission with you guys. My total: $488.13 (woot!).

All prices, websites, and info are below the board... hope you like :)


Dress: 128.00
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3014739/0~2376776~2374327~2374331~6014155?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6014155&P=1

Shoes: 32.99
http://www.overstock.com/Clothing-Shoes/Jessica-Simpson-Womens-Newport-Tie-dye-Pumps/3356600/product.html

Headpiece: 24.00
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?itemdescription=true&itemCount=60&startValue=1&selectedProductColor=&sortby=&id=15216112&parentid=W_ACC_HAIRACCESSORIES&sortProperties=+product.marketingPriority,-product.startDate&navCount=6&navAction=poppush&color=

Tie the Knot Ring: 19.00
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vt_related_1&listing_id=16949647

Ani L'Dodi Bracelet: 115.20
http://wholesale.thejewishmuseum.org/jmuseum/product.asp?dept_id=3165&pf_id=PAAAAAHAGJLAMFMP&ad_id=froogle&key_id=TheJewishMuseumSterlingAniLDodiBracelet

Earrings: 69.99
http://www.smartbargains.com/go.sb?pagename=prod&fcloc=cat&deptid=6&catid=1362&prodid=6020491718&t=Cat.dept-6.cat-1362.prod.15

Flowers: 60.00
http://www.ftd.com/5970/catalog/product.epl?product_id=VVPC

Veil: 38.95
http://www.somethingbold.com/Grace.htm