4.24.2019

Wedding Flower Trial


It's like a cake trial but for flowers haha! Really excited for today's post. It might be one of my favorites EVER. It's so pretty!


Ted Baker: White Dress / Magda Bartym: Bow Heels / BaubleBar: White Earrings / Amazon: Umbrella Stand

If you remember this post about the inspiration behind our wedding decor, then today's post should come as no surprise! Over the past few months I've been testing out different floral arrangements for the wedding. If you follow me on Instagram you also know that we're using faux flowers.

Why? This is a multi part answer. First, it's something my mom did for her wedding that I always loved. I love the idea of using them for something so special but also having them around the house to enjoy for years to come (and for other parties). 

Second, cost. Flowers and florists (especially for weddings) are SO expensive and it's just not something I want to spend money on. I'm the type of girl who doesn't even really like buying flowers. Why spend money on something that is going to die in a few days? I'm more in the mindset of spending less but getting to enjoy it longer.

Third, I don't know exactly what I want. With flowers, you can look at photos and inspiration all day but you don't really see it come to life until wedding day. At that point you're stuck with it, whether you like it or not. I was between blue or white hydrangeas, then pink or white peonies, then blue and white or all white vases. What height? What size? What will look best in them? I had so many questions with no way to answer them without testing it everything. 

Fourth, I need them to last. I've mentioned this before, but my wedding is not the traditional one-day affair. I need flowers that will last. If you know anything about hydrangeas it's that they wilt quickly and die easily. Peonies? Not always in season. I wasn't trying to take any risk with what I wanted and
I needed these flowers to last four days. Silk seemed like the best way to make that happen.

Fifth, weather. Who knows what the September weather will hold for us on the island. Maybe it's cold, or hot, or muggy, or rainy. Whatever it is, I also need my flowers to look bright and perky. Best way to do that? Go faux.

SO with all that, I knew silk flowers were what I needed. Now the challenge was finding some that would work, which is not an easy task. There are so many bad looking fakes out there in the flower world. If I was going to go silk, I wanted them to look as real as possible. Shopping for flowers online is not for the faint of heart and after a lot of trial and error I would urge anyone looking to do the same to go into stores and shop IRL.

I've been burned by many a fake or overly staged photo in my hunt. The only thing I can guarantee is that if you shop in person you won't be fooled. So that's what I've done. Some of what you see above are from online stores like Amazon and Etsy, but the best ones are from Michael's and Hobby Lobby. 

The large white hydrangeas are from Hobby Lobby and are HUGE. They're the perfect kind of white with a great stem and head. I found these with my mom in Chicago. At the time they were all half off so we bought 20. Then I was able to find them online and bought 20 more. These will probably be used for the umbrella stands (like you see above) and any other large vases we might accrue over time. Since they're so large you don't need a ton of them and they take up a ton of room!

The off-white/slightly pink peonies are my diamond in the rough. These are from Michael's and they are real-touch peonies. They are the realest looking flowers I've ever seen and they feel real too. It's crazy. The issue with these is that they're not sold online and are considered spring flowers, so they are out of stock until January. I found them too late. 

I did what any rational person would do and deployed my family from all over the U.S. to hunt down these flowers. We bought any decent flower in New York City and Westchester, North Carolina, Chicago and Los Angeles! I finally have enough and I'm really excited about it. These will probably fill up the smaller vases for the dinner table. I just LOVE how they look with the blue and white vases. 

Now of course this is just a trial run for what I'm envisioning for floral decor. There may be changes. I've learned a great deal! First, I hated how the blue flowers looked with any color vase. So that's out. Plus, finding a true blue stem is harder than you think! Second, I didn't like the all-white vases with anything. They're great on their own but not for the wedding. Third, I need to play around with more cherry blossoms. I don't know if I like the current look and I'll probably stick with white-on-white but maybe try out the pink peonies.

ANYWAY, that's what's going on with my floral decor. I'm waiting on the dinner tablecloth to arrive so I can mock the setup and determine what I need for the table. Until then, I have a beautifully bloomed plastic apartment!!
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