Backyard #FiestaOnTheFarm

We got married on a stormy, hot, and humid day in mid-Michigan. Luckily after a major downpour it cleared up and the rest of the storms went north and south of us and we had an amazing wedding! I grew up on a farm and always imagined having my wedding happening in family's back yard surrounded by all my mother's beautiful flower gardens with a backdrop deep green from all the lush local maple and walnut trees. I knew that there would be enough flowers from the gardens to create some lovely colorful centerpieces, but I always imagined having a lot of greenery and neutral/blush/cream flowers being a part of my bridal bouquet and photos, so I knew I would have to order some. My friend told me about FiftyFlowers and because we were on a budget, I decided DIY was the way to go. I had a free consultation with Violet from FiftyFlowers who helped me make decisions on what would help me achieve the look I was going for without going over the limited budget I had. For example, I love peonies, but she me that garden roses look very similar in a bouquet but are much more durable and affordable. Violet helped me so much and we even ended up with more flowers than we needed! I made: four boutonnieres, two bridesmaid's bouquets, the bridal bouquet, flowers for the archway, fillers for the centerpieces, some greenery for table runners (loosely spread over the burlap runners), and flowers to decorate the wedding cake. We were going for a rustic backyard, yet elegant atmosphere and it worked out perfectly! FiftyFlowers called me to confirm my order, when my order was ready to ship, and even called me to suggest I ship the garden roses a day after the other flowers because they bloom faster which I really appreciated. The flowers arrived on Wednesday and Thursday prior to the wedding. We followed the care instructions and they bloomed flawlessly and right on time. One set of the garden roses opened up a little bit too quickly, but it worked out because I was able to use those flowers for the cake without having to worry about them being too delicate for a bouquet. I worked with my matron of honor and cousin to assemble the bouquets and boutonnieres on Friday morning. It was fairly easy thanks to the FiftyFlowers videos and YouTube. The most difficult part was taking the time to pull off the rose thorns as well as extra leaves and pedals that were not perfect (we saved the rose pedals and used them to decorate the cake table). We assembled the bouquets based off of the suggestion Violet gave us, changing a few things here and there. I added some succulents a friend of mine gifted me for my flowers from her boyfriend's local flower shop, for example. I had so much fun assembling the flowers for my bouquets and the boutonnieres and it was a nice break from running around and worrying about other wedding details. On Friday I also cut garden roses, roses, and carnations and wrapped the stems in white floral tape to decorate the wedding cake. I put the boutonnieres and cake flowers in a zip-lock baggie on a large plate with a moist paper towel to keep them fresh until Saturday which worked perfectly. It took us about three hours to complete the bouquets and boutonnieres on Friday. I waited until Saturday morning to decorate the archway on front porch where we got married, which took about an hour. For the archway I hung a wet cage of floral foam that was soaked it over night from a nail above the inside of the porch. I simply cut the flowers and greenery at an angle and started sticking them into the floral foam until it filled up and I was happy with it. I decorated the cake Saturday afternoon after my hair and makeup before getting dressed. The leftover flowers (roses, bulk roses, carnations and eucalyptus) were then handed over to my mom and my cousin who filled the centerpieces (which were primarily flowers form the garden and not from FiftyFlowers) so that there was some consistency with the bridal party's flowers. Finally, the eucalyptus was laid over the burlap runners and the bulk roses were cut and placed on the napkins at each place setting as a finishing elegant touch! We absolutely loved our flowers and got so many compliments on them! It was definitely a magical day for us and being able to have the flowers we loved without breaking the bank made it that much more special!

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