Previously: Our Favors Require a Degree in Botany

If I had all of the money in the world I would have sprinkled our reception venue with dozens and dozens of dense, exotic flower arrangements. But as someone interested in having a wedding without going into debt we had to think of something else that would have a similar impact, but with less cost. There is a quality to fresh flowers, the glow of living, breathing things, that I love. So, in lieu of silk flowers we decided to go with live plants, namely wheatgrass. I've been growing the stuff for years and I love how each plant breathes and perspires, furthermore, the bright green fit right into our color scheme.

Plus, the our third try at finding the right variety of wheatgrass did the trick! It grew up thick and the blades were new-leaf green. I wanted to give the impression of a lawn so I added random yellow chrysanthemums to some of the containers. We used our little containers of wheatgrass to add a little to our table settings and as companions to our guest table centerpieces.
It might not be clear from this photo, but I sank small plastic test tubes into the soil of the beflowered grass containers to serve as mini water tanks. We filled the tubes with water using a turkey baster before inserting the flowers. They still looked fresh almost two days later when they were deployed for the wedding.


These larger containers were used to decorate our peripheral tables, like the cake table and the guest book table.


I'll have more pictures of our grass and flowers in action when our photos are released.

Labels: DIY, flowers, wedding

posted by Alison 10/17/2007 09:43:00 PM : (0) comments : splink


Friday, July 20, 2007

Snackable Centerpieces

I really, really like fresh flowers, but we didn't have money in the budget to pay for baskets of flowers for 20+ tables or the time to assemble them. My fiance liked the idea of using fresh fruit in the arrangements, so we experimented and found something that we both liked that would cost about $16 per table.



The Bird of Paradise blossoms will be about $1.75 each from our florist with a bulk purchase, and there will probably be three in each final arrangement. The vase in the center is a beer glass from Ikea (6 for $6.99), and the glass is filled with $1 of Jabo marbles purchased in bulk from ebay. The bowl is a $3 plastic punch bowl from Target*, and it is filled with a $6 crate of clementine oranges that will be purchased from a local fruit distributor. I managed to get clementines on our wedding date last year from the grocery store, so I am crossing my fingers that they will be available from the wholesale shops again.

We needed something simple that could be assembled quickly by the wedding coordinators and would fit well with the reception venue. We will be sitting in an Amazon rainforest exhibit next to a waterfall, so the Bird of Paradise should work well. Additionally, the stems should be tall enough so that views across the table will be unobstructed. Mr. Lollipop also likes the idea of guests snacking on the centerpieces if they get hungry. We'll be gluing the vases to the bowls to keep them from tipping over even if all of the oranges are removed.

*Target changed their punch bowls a little a few months ago, so the current version is a little taller and narrower

Labels: centerpeice, flowers, fruit, wedding

posted by Alison 7/20/2007 09:40:00 AM : (0) comments : splink


Thursday, July 19, 2007

An Edible Bridesmaid Bouquet

Exactly one year out from our wedding date I decided to do a test run of our bouquets and centerpieces so I could get an idea of what was in season for September. I really wanted to do the flower arrangements myself to save money, but I had no experience at all. I figured that if I screwed up I could always just have the female bridal party carry books or lanterns down the aisle.

To save even more money, we decided to use fruits and vegetables to cut down on flower costs. Plus, I was having a tough time finding flowers in anything other than weak, pale green shades. So, I decided to do a test run of the bridesmaid bouquets using green bell peppers, broccoli and asparagus. The pepper and asparagus bouquets turned out horribly because, as I said before, I didn't know what I was doing. They were asymmetrical and lumpy.

However, when I tried a third time using broccoli I managed to get results I could live with. I used alstroemeria, white chrysanthemums, mini white roses and an outside layer of bells of Ireland to surround a head of broccoli in the middle.


The flowers in the picture came from Whole Foods and our Maid of Awesomeness is serving as the hand model.

The flowers for the wedding itself will be come from Jim Ludwig's Blumengarten in the Strip District. They will be selling us wholesale flowers for bouquets and centerpieces as well as pre-made boutonnieres and corsages. This will cost us about $400.

Labels: bouquet, flowers, Vegetables, wedding

posted by Alison 7/19/2007 08:23:00 AM : (0) comments : splink

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