Destination Wedding Planning- Wedding Talk: Flowers

[All photos are taken by Monroe Fox Photography ]

With our surprise Nashville trip done and June in full swing I figured I should get back into the wedding talk since I have so much to share but haven't really shared it. SO lets slide into something fun and easy and talk about flowers!
                           

Our wedding package included my bridal bouquet and 2 boutonnieres. I paid extra to have the girls bouquets made in smaller version of mine there in Mexico. Since I couldn't see any of the flowers in person I sent numerous emails and texts to my sister in law who runs a floral business to help me pick everything out. I knew I wanted some greenery with all white/off white flowers. She knew by the flower names what ones were available in Mexico that I could also get in white. The resort had sent me pictures of flower arrangements to choose from. After speaking with my coordinator she said I could choose an arrangement and then alter the colors of the flowers [as long as they came in the colors requested.] This is the picture [below on the left] that I choose but what I told my wedding planner in Mexico was listed below.

( I would like this arrangement/the style of it but I want to keep the Limonium flowers and then use a combination of Roses, Alstromaeria, Lisianthis, dahlia and Marguerite-all in WHITE-with some greenery]

As you can see just because this is the picture they show you, you don't HAVE to have those exact flowers. There were others I could choose from that were white so with Amy's help I incorporated them in and took out the pink ones. I left the bits of purple in because they went really well with the girls dresses and flower crowns

You can see the girls bouquets were just smaller versions of mine. I was very hesitant on what these would look like but they turned out beautifully! One of my favorite things from being in weddings is taking the bouquet home and sticking in a vase for the next month so I was bummed we couldn't take any of these with us (due to the flight and bringing outside items into the U.S)

Speaking of flower crowns! This was another add-on I could have had the resort florist make but if you read my post about our pre-ception and my sister in law who did those beautiful flowers you'll be excited to know that she also did the flower crowns, boutonnieres and corsages.

Amy is the owner of MI Honeybee Flowers and does amazing work with real flowers so I knew she was up for the challenge of making everything I wanted with faux flowers! I wanted to go this route for 2 reasons, 1. to save money. The flower add on options carried a large price tag and 2. the ability to fully customize and bring a part of Michigan with us to Mexico.

With that in mind we needed to have everything assembled here and able to transport it to Mexico with us safely.

I started off by asking each girl to measure her head so Amy knew what she was working with. She then dragged me to Michaels one Sunday afternoon and I stood in the isles complaining about how I really don't know what I want. I'm really a bad wedding planner guys! So I did what any bride in 2016 does and I went to my Pinterest board. I had a private one only my mom and I could see as I didn't want everyone able to see my vision, or lack there of!

Here are couple photos I showed her for inspiration while flower shopping. I also sat and stared at her as she held together different color combos and said yeah that's pretty. and nodded a lot. I kinda let her have at it if we're being honest here! I trust her 110% so I knew what she would make would be beautiful. Plus, her and her husband would also be wearing these so I knew all was well!

The girls each wore different styles and colors of dresses so I knew the one thing I wanted that matched was the flower crowns. I wanted them to be simple as to not take away from the dresses but to also tie into mine. Amy did an amazing job, they fit every ones head perfectly without ever trying them on before hand! They stayed on all night and traveled in my suitcase effortlessly.

The one thing I knew while wedding planning was I wanted a flower crown. I just did. I didn't want some huge head dress that I could barely keep from breaking my neck though. Something that worked with the girls dress but was beachy boho like the style that we were going for. Again Amy killed it with my crown. You might even find me rocking it this summer with a black romper if you're lucky!

Moving onto the moms flowers. She made both mine and Jerek's/her mom beautiful corsages. I had asked her if we really should do this because I tend to think these can be super cheesy but she assured me they don't have to be! Again, she was totally right [not sure why I ever doubted her!] She used cute pearl elastic bracelets to adhere the small floral arrangements to and they were the least bit cheesy, defiantly glad I had her do them!

As mentioned above our package included 2 boutonnieres but since Amy was making the bridal party ones, I gave these two to Jerek's dad, who was our officiant/married us and to Tom, my moms boyfriend (she hates that word) our sound man, DJ and ultimate tech engineer!

For the guys I showed her the picture above and again said they need to be similar but NOT too matchy to mine or the girls. Home runs must be her thing because I think I loved these more than the flower crowns and I LOVED the crowns!

Another item that was included in our wedding package was a "head table centerpiece." Since we weren't doing a head table I knew I wanted to utilize everything that we were paying for. I picked this flower arrangement from the pre-made ones offered to us and said that I would like this one but with Lilis, roses and alstroemeria, all in white please!" They did a great job with this piece as well!

I used this on the table under the pergola for added decoration. We then had this moved to the reception after the ceremony was over.

So, I'm sure you are wondering cost so I'll break it down for you:

$125 at Michaels. I ended up returning $45 worth of unused flowers after Amy was finished. Making the 4 flower crowns, 5 boutonnieres and 2 corsages $79! BOOM!

$295 for 3 brides maids bouquets. As mentioned the bridal bouquet, 2 boutonnieres and centerpiece were included in our wedding package.

A total of $374 was spent on flowers! I know many weddings I've gone to that have costs thousands and dollars and I'm here to tell you it doesn't HAVE to be! Find a good florist and do a little research. Figure out what is really important to you and what works for your budget. I knew I didn't need or want any decorations at the alter because the view alone was breath taking!

If you are planning a wedding here in Michigan or in a land far away contact Amy! I promise you, you won't be disappointed! She has done both our small wedding of 30 in Mexico, our Pre-ception of about 90 here in Michigan and a ton of other weddings here in Michigan ranging from different budgets and locations, even a wedding on the Detroit people mover!!!

I realize I sound 100% completely bias as she's one of my best friends and sister in laws but I mean it when I say she's the bee's knees in this flower business! Get it, MI Honeybee Flowers! Anywho, happy hump day and wedding talk Wednesday! 

xx-Chel