Bride-to-Be Blogger Danielle: Choosing Flowers — and a Florist

Bouquet of sun gold cymbidium orchids, pincushion protea, sea holly, sky blue delphinium, green tea roses and bear grass, created by Precious Petals, Huntingdon Valley. Photograph by Ryan Lavine.

To me, one of the more challenging aspects of putting this wedding together has been selecting the flowers. And we’re not even putting floral arrangements on tables — we’re going to have seascapes with candles — so I only needed bouquets, one boutonniere (only Tim is wearing a jacket) and some flowers to help decorate the ceremony location.

I had an idea of the look and feel I wanted — looser, more natural, less formal — to go with the beach wedding, but I was not highly opinionated on the exact flowers I liked (though there were a few types I absolutely do not like). To complicate matters, my bridesmaids are wearing a light aqua color that I absolutely love, but finding flowers that go nicely without being too bright or too washed out has been tough.

I also struggled with what I wanted for the ceremony. We are getting married right on the beach so there is no “alter.” Tim and I agreed we did not like the look of an arbor hanging out on the beach, but we weren’t sure how else to frame the ceremony site. My mother found two very cool shell-shaped planters on clearance at the end of the summer that I knew I wanted to incorporate, but I was not quite sure how to do that. They were not big enough to flank our ceremony, but I still loved and wanted to use them.

I visited two florists near my venue in Rehoboth Beach, and talked through all these issues with them, looking for suggestions and input. They actually suggested similar floral mixes and colors. One of them happened to have a softer look and feel, and seemed more receptive to my opinions on certain types of flowers, and it also happened to come in at a much more competitive price than the other. So I hired Windsor’s Flowers to handle my wedding flowers.

The bouquets will be hand-tied with white, ivory and pale green roses, two shades of blue delphinium, and a few other gorgeous accents like ranunculus and anemones that are rather expensive if used in large quantities, but not so pricey when we only add a few. Plus, they really add dimension to the bouquet. Tim will have a blue delphinium boutonniere, and the ceremony flowers will be similar to the bouquets, but with more variety, including heather and some lilies.

The part that I am most excited about is that we are going to include some beachy accents in all the arrangements, including bear grass and shells. This was something Tim and I discussed way back in July during our vacation and I’m thrilled that the florist didn’t bat an eye when I requested them. I think that these touches will be a little unique, yet still casual and appropriate for the location and type of wedding we are having.

Anyone else have trouble choosing flowers? Were there any “must-haves” or “deal-breaker” flowers for you? Was your florist helpful in making suggestions?

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