My grandmother grew up in a small flower shop that her family owned in New York City back in the 20's. Knowing we would have her guidance and support, we made the terrifying decision to tackle our DIY flowers for the wedding. Fifty Flowers made the planning process really easy to start – with our own personal flower expert my mother worked closely with her to decide what flowers we needed to fulfill my overall vision. This was quite a task, considering my colors were dusty blue, greys and whites ( you certainly don't see many blue flowers!) But we ordered the flowers and somehow the vision started to pull together.
Friday Night before the wedding, my bridesmaids and I went over to my mother's house to help prep the flowers. Though we had to ask for the flowers earlier than recommended, every single stem and leaf was perfect! My five bridesmaids, my mother and I worked until nearly 2 AM cutting, dipping and placing the flowers in water so they would open in time. Our poor hands were rubbed raw through de-thorning and our legs and backs so tired from standing/squatting and otherwise trying to find a comfortable position to prep thousands of flowers! Little did we know how incredible all of this hard work would turn out.
Saturday afternoon, my mother and a couple of other aunts and cousins assembled everything. My bridesmaids and I were completely surprised with the results! Not only did my mother create the typical centerpieces, bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres, she also created the wedding arch, a rose-studded garland for the staircase (nearly 50 feet long), decorated the cake with flowers, and had aisle markers in old silver French flower buckets. Little did we know that she tackled most of this alone!
My bridesmaids and I arrived at the venue at 4 pm on Sunday, and of course, Hurricane Nate decided to crash our wedding! While the wicked rain was falling on the windows, I started to really feel my nerves kick in. Our initial plan had been for an outdoor wedding, and I was terrified that this dramatic change in plans would not truly show what I had been dreaming of for months. When I walked into the doors of our venue, I was in AWE when I saw the setup. My vision had completely come true! There were just so many flowers! Even though we weren't actually getting married in the garden as planned, the arrangements made you feel as though you had walked into an enchanted forest. I was most in awe of my bridal bouquet. That beautiful arrangement must have weighed at least 30 pounds. It was artfully crafted and for less than half the cost of going to a florist! In my wildest dreams, I would never have expected my wedding to turn out so beautifully. I'm truly lucky to have such an incredible support system from my family and a talented mother. Thank you Fifty Flowers for making my dream a reality!
