Epic Love

My friends “M & J” had known of each other for years, but had never really “met” till two and a half years ago when a mutual high school friend of theirs formally introduced them. Well, guess what? They ended up getting hitched!

I got a text message from the bride-to-be about 6 months ago, asking if I’d be a bridesmaid in her wedding, and also if I’d do the flowers for the bridal party. I said “yes” to both accounts, and we started to brainstorm about colors and textures for her arrangements. She was going with a Spanish theme and her colors were red and black. Don’t worry; it wasn’t a goth wedding…

On a crisp Saturday morning in May, the lovebirds met me at the SF Flower market where we walked around pricing flowers and getting a feel for the textures that “M” had in mind for her arrangements. After a couple of hours we had the floral list: Red Roses (Freedom), Red Freesia, Black Schwartz Calla lilies, and Red Aranda Orchids. This selection would give us great rich colors, and really soft/lush textures.

Once we were set on the floral palette, I got to designing and decided that the bridal bouquet would be the main focus with the most color and texture; the groom’s and fathers’ boutonnières would be constructed of one Calla Lily with a fiddle stick accent; the mother’s corsages would be one Red Rose bloom with some accent greenery; and finally the bridesmaids would have simple bouquets of red roses.

About two weeks before the wedding, I got a text from “M” asking if there was anything I could do to help make the fountain in the courtyard where their ceremony was being held look pretty. She sent along a photo of what the Spanish-style fountain looked like and a photo of a decorated fountain she had seen somewhere else. After consulting with my CIO (Chief Inspiration Office – AKA: Mom), it seemed like the best course of action was going to be green garland with white floral accents. We had a vendor at the flower market hand make some fresh green garland for us at 3 dollars a linear foot and we bought some white Freesia that we assembled in bundles and attached to the garland as accent:

Let’s get down to numbers! “M&J” had a firm original budget of $500.00 set which I was able to meet in raw materials cost for all bridal party flowers, in addition to rose petals for her aisle and all the tables. After “M” decided on a few frills for the fountain, we had to add on another $120.00 for a grand total of $620.00! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is possible to do wedding flowers for under $1000.00 and also have them look great!

I wish my dear friends “M & J” the best in their “Epic Love” and hope that it leads them onto an even more “Epic Life”! Love you both! Congratulations!!!!

Tip: Brides-to-be; make sure you have a tossing bouquet that is separate from the bouquet you walk with down the aisle. This way you can dry/preserve your original bouquet as a keepsake from your special day.