National Botanical Gardens

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Saturday we ventured out into the first signs of winter (temps consistently below 50 during the day – I know…) and into the warm, lush greenhouses of the National Botanical Gardens.  Having lived in DC for six years and never visited, we figured seeing their “Season’s Greenings” made for a good excuse.Jingle Bells Poinsettia

Made with various plant materials, small creatures & mini-fairy houses with winding train tracks encircled the area.  The whimsical tiny abodes made me click, click away with my dSLR.

 We wandered through the different areas, exploring plants and admiring the different shapes/scents/textures.

We even got a little interactive with the plants….

And! Found *my* plant!

The Orchids.  There are no words. (only a hard time choosing which pictures to share!!!)

Lastly, the most awesome part, the National Mall monuments creative out of botanical materials:

Who knew plants could be so fun?!

(Wedding Recap) Details, Details

There are a couple things I need to point out, to validate my/our hard work and document the end results.

For the ceremony, my mom purchased a kit from Michael’s craft stores and then made the layout with her fine Microsoft Office skills.  My dad then helped her print, arrange, and tie the bows. (Thanks Mom & Dad!)  We placed them on chairs for guests, prior to the ceremony.

I found some reserved seating cards on TheKnot.com. (Which reminds me, I need to sell them… anyone want them?)  These were perfect for the ceremony!

The kepot were passed out at the door, thanks to our dear friend, Eric.  We decided to go with a contrasting color to the bridesmaids dresses to change things up a bit.

Post ceremony, the guests were lead to the Board Room where one bar was located, or to the Portico, outside, where there were cabaret (high-top) tables and another bar.  And I have no picture of this. But it existed.

Before entering the cocktail hour area you came across a table with escort cards, decorated with floating candles, similar to some of the table arrangements.  I stupidly printed out all the cards myself, a few days before the wedding (with the help from amazing Lara!).  Turns out, when you do this task after midnight and when your husband is already away on his bachelor party, you will make mistakes… like forgetting a whole table.  whoops!

I found this gift box at Target, days prior to the wedding. I used the same ribbon as I did for my niece’s flower girl basket and the escort card (to differentiate entree choices), for flair.

Each escort card led guests to their assigned table, named after a different zoo animals (a nod to Mike’s proposal!)

At each seat lay menu cards and benchers (Jewish prayer books – which we forgot to use!) flanked each table. Sidenote: I also printed these menu cards out in the wee-hours of the morning.  Not advised.

As mentioned before, I made the cake topper (with that same ribbon).

The bridesmaid’s flowers surrounded the cake table. 

And my bouquet graced our sweetheart table, along with my special clutch from Etsy!

These little elements all came together so nicely!

{all photos by the awesome Studio Juno}

(Wedding Recap) Bridal Party Shots!

Let me start out by saying we had the best attendants.  Our groomsmen & bridesmaids (have you heard them called “bridesbabes” ?!) were fabulous.  Whats more, we couldn’t imagine better people to stand up next to us as we said our vows.
Thankfully, we have these awesome pictures to prove it:

But honestly, THESE are the pictures that really show how much we love them:

Oh, those boys…

The ladies:

Such hams! Love it!

I wouldn’t have it any other way!
(and yes, there is double meaning in the title of this post…hence the great photos)
{said great photos, by Studio Juno}

Wordless Wednesday: Cabbage Rose

{Amazing photography by Studio Juno}

Wordless Wednesday: Flower Girl!

Floral Staging

Without giving too much away to our guests, I will share a select photo of our floral staging.  Our florist arranged one of the table centerpieces for us to see.  Seeing the arrangement allowed us to talk about ways to improve it, or even love it as is.  For example, I dislike light green roses…they look un-ripe to me; also I want to see more blue in my bridal bouquet to differentiate it from the centerpieces.  We also discussed an alternate centerpiece idea to offset the low, lush centerpieces that he created for the showing.  It was a great time to talk things over.  Plus he’s a vendor that just doesn’t do email.  It’s amazing how far a real conversation in real life can take you!

So, here’s sneak peek! 

5 days!!!

Flower Girl Basket Tutorial

Sure, this is a tutorial… of sorts.

Here’s the way I decorate my eldest niece’s flower girl basket, to match our wedding colors.

I started off with a plain, white basket, from Michael’s Craft Store, intended for flower girls.

I purchased ribbon, in our wedding colors:
Using a hot-glue-gun & binder clips (to hold my spot), I attached inch wide purple ribbon  to the top of the basket:
 
 I was careful to tuck the ribbon over itself so as not to bunch:
After, I attached the .5 inch ribbon to the bottom boarder of the basket:
Lastly I added an apple green accent stripe of ribbon:

And ta-da! A personalized flower girl basket!
PS: hot glue gun stringies drive me craaaazy!

Springing

I took these photos.
I edited these photos.
I share these photos.
(please be kind, do not take what is not yours)

Enjoy.

I hope spring found its way to you, too!

Flowers, a la cart

Recall how I recently met with our potential florist? We discussed flower options and prices, and he made everything all better. He talked about renting linens and chairs for less than caterers quoted.  His vision of my color scheme set me at ease.  He gave me options.  Finally there was hope for my wedding, as I felt everything would look crappy together.  He painted a picture of beauty for me.

And then the other day he painted a picture of price for us, a la cart.  When I first opened up the attachment I scrolled down for a final cost, to find none.  Then I realized he really did give us options.  While I will of course need a bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces – he laid out different options for other line items.  For center pieces we can have high or low ones, each at a different price.  There are even two versions of each.  Mixing things up will make for an aesthetically pleasing layout, and also a financially pleasing budget.

The mothers can choose from a small floral carry bouquet or a pin-on or wrist corsage, both of reasonable prices (but one is less than the other…).

To top things off, for our flower girl we can choose either a small basket of floral at a reasonable price, or loose petals free of charge.  The same goes for the rental vase for the sweetheart table and the toss bouquet: free of charge!

Yet somehow it all adds up to exactly what we budgeted.
You only do this once, hopefully, right?
Might as well dress it up with flowers!

“Vintage” Vicki and Mike, circa 2007 living on the edge.
(This is what we look like without flowers.)

Bouquets and Boutonnieres!

Continuing on the flower trend, I found a bunch of photos of bouquets that struck my fancy.  These are the photos in the previous post which I offered to our florist for ideas.

1.  LOVE the green mums in this one!   {source}
2.  LOVE the Fiddlehead Ferns in this one, PLUS the anemones {source}
3.  Absolutely LOVE how the Picasso calla lilies POP in this arrangement! {source}
4.  Totally drawn to the use of peacock feathers and peonies here (but not the wrapping of the base) {source}

 We can’t forget about the men! Of course their boutonnieres will feature peacock feathers, and will tie in with the bouquets. I liked theses ideas:

1.   The purple accents in this one are great. Also love the wrapping around the bottom! {source}
2.   This one is very whimsical, and the lime green accents on the wrapping are sweet. {source}
3.   A Fiddlehead fern AND a peacock feather! Love it! {source}

What did your bouquet or boutonnieres look like?

Wedding Flower Power!

This past week was capital L, Long.

On Monday I scheduled to meet with our potential florist, to discuss details. However at 9am that morning, I already knew our afternoon appointment was close to impossible.  Luckily he rescheduled, easily, for Friday.

And then I had all week to fret over flowers.
What color?
What kind?
What’s in season?
Will my color scheme play out the way I want?
Are there flowers that support this color scheme?
Do they even make/grow teal flowers?!

Friday came around and I arrived at Edge Floral Designers with printed out photos in hand.  Steve kindly talked me through the whole process, showed me many different flowers in stock, shared many pictures of created events with me, and assured me my color scheme was not only gorgeous, but flower-able.

[Enter HUGE sigh of relief]

I have to say, while I do care about flowers I don’t know much about them.  I was hoping that anemone flowers, peonies, and these weird swirly ferns might be available in June.

It will be too warm in June for anemone flowers.
And peonies are not in season in June, but can be purchased for a pretty penny.
However, my fun swirly ferns are called:
Fiddlehead Ferns!
They are available year ’round!
We talked a lot about the cost effective quality of Calla Lilies, but I honestly don’t love them.  While looking through some picture examples I found an exception: Picasso Calla Lilies.
I love that they have purple insides, but white outsides! 
We also talked about renting a chuppah from from them, what it would look like, and how to arrange it.  And of course, we talked about everyone else who will be adorned with flowers, aside from moi.  
So I’m not sure what flowers my bouquet will have, but I do know that I already trust this man and his vision.  He made me feel comfortable with his knowledge and experience, in creating my vision.  He also knows we are working in a budget, and respects that.  
In a few days we should have a proposal that will dictate exactly what he can provide for us, in our price point.  And I’m totally not worried about a thing!
How great is that?
What flowers do you love, or did you have at your wedding?
{check out my next post for more flower fun!}