Putting on my florist hat

This weekend will be a big one. I have flowers for two different weddings to do, one here in Montreal, as well as one in Quebec City (two and a half hours away). The second one, which I will post about tomorrow, requires a little more planning and involvement, not to mention that my husband is also the photographer!

The first bride, M, is a stylish girl and fitness buff. She’s getting married to her longtime fiancé at their upscale gym, which I must add is equipped to host such events (don’t worry, no stair masters and stationary bikes in sight)!

She doesn’t really have a “theme” for the wedding, except that she wanted fall colors. Her dress is ivory with some touches of peach beading, so she asked me to do the flowers in peachy tones. She’s quite practical and was very flexible about flowers. Her only request was “warm, autumnal colors”. I always find it interesting to see how (other) brides do things, for instance, she only wants two boutonnieres –for the groom and best man-, and even though she does have a maid of honor she didn’t request a bouquet for her. I think it’s all good: there shouldn’t be any right or wrong way when it comes to weddings, and it really frustrated me that the tone of so many sources and references implied otherwise.

When we first talked she said: “My decorator told me I need to have an extra bouquet to toss to the single girls, so I can keep mine to dry.” I had no problem doing it whatsoever, but after a few minutes I realized she didn’t actually think this made much sense, she’s pretty much the last one to get married in her circle, for instance, and thought the whole custom was a little silly. I agreed –at the end of our wedding I simply handed out my bouquet to my dear friend MH, who was celebrating her first anniversary that day (yes, I guess we’ll always remember each other’s anniversaries from now on). Dried flowers are simply not my style, and I didn’t feel the need to save this keepsake for emotional reasons; I’d rather see my bouquet at its prime in photographs. Some might feel this need, and it’s fine, but my point is you shouldn’t have to do it unless it’s meaningful to you. When I told her this, she seemed very relieved and so we quickly ditched the idea. I will never understand that need to put brides under so much pressure over the smallest things…

This is what she sent me for inspiration:





Based on that, I found it pretty easy to "get" what she wanted, and we agreed to more or less recreate the bouquet from the last picture: roses in both pale peach and a darker rust color, calla lilies in orange-y tones, and hypericum berries. The boutonnieres will be calla lilies -which I know from trial and error experience are sturdy and durable enough-, with perhaps a few berries sprigs, wrapped in a small silk ribbon. I chose a warm orange satin ribbon for her bouquet.

A really interesting touch she asked me to add: her fiancé is a triathlete, who participated in several Ironman competitions. Every time, she would go and cheer him from the side by ringing a small cow bell, so that even though sometimes he couldn't see her he could hear she was there. She said he always loved this, so I will wrap the bell around her bouquet, tied in the back so it's barely visible. As she walks down the aisle, she will give her bouquet a little shake in order to ring the bell! I think it will be really fun, endearing, and will defuse the nervousness of the moment. I will tie the bell so that afterward, she can easily detach it and simply toss it aside.

Logistics-wise, I'm taking tomorrow afternoon off from work, so I can do as much as possible before my boys come back home. M will drop off the flowers on Friday night, while I continue working on the second wedding. On Saturday morning, we're off to Quebec City, where LP will happily go spend the day (and night) with my mother. To be continued tomorrow!