The wedding: flowers

Since I've ordered floral arrangements for Spouse's birthday many times I'm familiar with the cost.  The least expensive, smallest arrangement with 'ordinary' flowers will start at $25. and medium size arrangements with prettier flowers are $40. and up.  Since we wanted lots of flowers for the wedding we decided to order the flowers from the floral dept of a local grocery store and make our own arrangements.  Believe it or not, we got enough flowers to make 7 arrangements for $100.

I tend to favor arrangements with a simple (2 or 3-color scheme) and monochromatic arrangements so we ordered white hydrangeas, white alstroemeria with speckles of color, ivory roses, white, green, and lavender spider mums, and purple status.  That gave us a 3-color scheme to work with.  We had plenty of clear glass vases from previous arrangements I'd sent Spouse.  Our friend Bob agreed to help me put the arrangements together while Spouse ran a couple errands.

You can click on all the photos that follow to enlarge them.

This arrangement sat on the sideboard in the dining room and is passed by everyone going into the kitchen.  We used hydrangea, lavender spider mums, purple status, and ivory roses.  (The soup tureen on the left belonged to my grandmother.)

This arrangement sat on the left side of the piano and was made of hydrangea, green spider mums, and ivory roses.

This is the 'matching' arrangement which sat on the right side of the piano.

Here are both arrangements with the envelope from the bureau of marriage in the middle, flanked by wedding cards from Anne Marie in Philly and Dawn from work.

This arrangement sat on a side table next to the sofa and is made simply of 2 hydrangea and 2 ivory roses in a 'fish bowl' shaped vase.

This arrangement sat on the left side of the mantle and was made of hydrangea, alstroemeria, white spider mums, and ivory roses.  The photo on the left is Spouse's (deceased) father holding his grandson.  The photo on the right is me at approximately 6 years old.

This 'matching' arrangement sat on the right side of the mantle.  The photo on the left is Spouse at approximately 5 years old.  The photo on the right is Jordan and Pouncer staying warm in front of a heat register.

Here are both arrangements on the mantle.

This arrangement sat on a side table between 2 upholstered chairs and contains hydrangea, lavender spider mums, alstroemeria, purple status, and ivory roses.

We ended up with 4 left over ivory roses so I cut them at various heights and placed them in a bud vase which sits on an English tea cart (my grandmother's) next to the front door.  The photo in the red frame is Spouse & me on vacation in 2003, the one in the navy frame is the famous 'lone cypress' I took while on vacation in CA in 2000, the one in the gold frame is my cousin Nez and me in 2001, and one in the dark wood frame is Jordan taken in 2011.

 

When we returned from running errands Sat morning we were surprised to find this arrangement sitting on our front porch!  The card indicated it was from my colleagues at work.  I don't know all of the flowers in it but there are white lilies, white tulips, white alstroemeria, white hydrangea, and some flowers that look like orchids.  Can you believe how perfectly the colors fit in with the flowers Spouse & I had ordered?  These were placed on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

Later as we were setting up the chairs for the ceremony came a knock at the door.  A deliveryman handed me this lovely arrangement from our friends Kim and Bob, which got the most compliments from guests.

The gorgeous scent of the flowers filled the living room where the ceremony took place and gave our home a cheerful, spring look.  We couldn't have been happier with the flowers even if we had paid hundreds of dollars for a florist to create them.

Tomorrow:  the food.