Perspiration and Peonies

I've always dreamed big but being a student on a limited budget, after just buying my first shack I knew I had to make some compromises on some things. But I didn't want to make any compromises! I wanted everything to be romantic and dreamy and just how Pinterest made me think things should look! So I worked hard on most things to do them myself. I drove to LA to buy fabric for my wedding dress so that I could have a several thousand dollar dress for only a couple hundred. While there I also bought fabric for my bridesmaid's matching dresses. I scoured, SCOURED yard sales and thrift stores for antique books and teacups for centerpieces to get them cheaper than the internet. I painted my own house and fixed up my own backyard. Doing all of these things and more helped me maximize my budget so that I could have all the things I really wanted, like a catered dinner and a luncheon and sparklers and a dj. But the thing that I think paid off the most was ordering my own flowers and arranging them myself. 1) I was able to actually get the flowers that I wanted. When I went to the florist, I told them what flowers I wanted and then they gave me a quote with none of the flowers that I wanted. Local florist shops couldn't guarantee me getting any of the flowers (peonies or garden roses) that I really wanted. 2) I was able to get the flowers for a lot less money, enabling me to buy more flowers so that my day would be even more romantic with flowers everywhere you looked. The quote that I got with none of the flowers I wanted was more money for a lot less flowers. 3) The experience was sooooo delightful. I had all of my flowers in buckets in the garage before arranging them. It smells indescribably delicious!! My favorite place was in the garage with all of those flowers. After the wedding, even after giving away several arrangements our bedroom was FILLLED with fragrant flowers and they stayed good for about two weeks. It let me savor the wedding even longer. 4) I was so proud of myself. All that day and when I show people pictures from my wedding I boast that I! was the one who made my wedding bouquet and I!! made the centerpieces. It made my wedding even more special.

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