In response to Meghan's question about the meaning behind flowers, courtesy of Martha Stewart (thanks Martha!):

Baby's breath = Everlasting love
Bachelor's button = Celibacy, delicacy
Calla lily = Magnificent beauty
Carnation (pink) = Woman's love
Carnation = Pure love
Cornflower = Delicacy
Crocus = Cheerfulness
Daisy = Innocence
Dogwood = Duration
Fern = Magic
Forget-me-not = Remember me
Freesia = Innocence
Fuchsia = Confiding love
Geranium = True friendship
Hellebore = Calming
Hyacinth = Sport and play
Iris = I have a message for you
Ivy = Friendship
Jasmine (pink) = I attach myself to you
Jasmine (white) = Amiability
Lady's mantle = Comfort
Lilac = First emotions of love
Lily-of-the-valley = Return of happiness
Mint = Virtue
Myrtle = Love
Oak leaf = Bravery
Orchid = You're in my thoughts
Peony = Bashful
Peppermint = Warmth of feeling
Primrose = Youth
Ranunculus = Radiant with charms
Rose (white) = I am worthy of you
Rose = Love
Rosemary = Remembrance
Snowdrop = Hope
Sweet pea = Delicate pleasures
Sweet violet = Modesty
Sweet William = Sensitivity
Tulip (pink) = Caring
Tulip (variegated) = Beautiful eyes
Tulip = Declaration of love
Violet (blue) = Faithfulness

*I used blue hydrangea at my wedding, and those are not mentioned in the list. Hmmm. I will add them.*

Hydrangea (blue) = Let's get married and get Chinese take out every Monday and have a too small apartment and live in Brooklyn together. OK?

This new color scheme of pale blue, sea foam green, and brown really speaks to me. I like that it's so calming and romantic, but not too trendy. The best part about it is the juicy little cactus blooms you get to incorporate into all your floral arrangements. The ones that fade from blue to green? I love those! I found the above images of such arrangements at Fiore Designs. The boutonniere? Succulent!

"Double Duty Objects For Budget Weddings"; I think this is a great idea for an article in a wedding magazine. Just wait and see! Sooner or later, this will be an actual article and I will feel very smart indeed.
OK so first on the list of useful, budgety, doubley-doodley items is the Blumebud; placecard extraordinaire, and favor. Ooooo. Next on my list is stolen directly from Miss Tomato over at Wedding Bee, and that is fans that are programs. Programs... in the shape of fans. Fans... in the shape of programs. Get it? Ooooo.
I was on a roll there for a second. But now I'm stuck.
Help me flesh this list out... What Would Martha Do?

Check out Matthew Mead Style for some great DIY. How beautiful would these topiaries be in different sizes, in shades of green and pink hydrangea as centerpieces down the middle of a long table? Or as focal points on a buffet table? Or create flowering branches, even out of season. All of the above could be made by you. That's right. You da boss.

I feel like I don't post about flowers enough, they're such an important piece of the puzzle! So hang on to your hats, the gorgeous floral design and interiors blog Housemartin is making up for my lost time. Aren't these amazing? I found out about Housemartin thru WeddingBee, who found them via Decor 8. (it's such a happy little blogging neighborhood, wouldn't you say?) I think this will be a fantastic spot to check for centerpiece and bouquet inspiration, or if you happen to be located in the Portland area, you might be lucky enough to hire Ink & Peat to "do" your flowers.

I'm so happy to be back! I missed my apartment, my friends, my cat. Whoops. I don't have a cat.
SO... the wedding was gangbusters. The bride was ethereal, resplendent... lovely. There will be pictures of the couple and the decor soon. I promise.
The paper poppy pomanders could not have worked better! People were wowed. And now I'm back and overwhelmed with the number of people who want to make their own paper poppy pomanders! So I'm going to spill the beans and tell you how the bride and I made them.



The process of attaching the flowers to the paper lanterns couldn't be simpler. Get a glue gun, goop up the bottom of the flower, and stick it on.
Ta Da.
The hard part is the actual making of the flowers. (Duh.) We ended up using so many different methods for constructing the flowers. We used felt, cardstock, tissue paper, numberous kinds of fabric, and vinyl. In short, we really let our creative juices flow.
The tissue is the most economical material, and the easiest flowers to make so we used a ton of them, mainly as filler to stretch the more complex flowers.
The felt, cardstock, and fabric flowers were more time consuming and more expensive to make, so we made fewer of those and tucked them in between the tissue flowers for variation and intrigue.
At first we needed help figuring how to make the more complex flowers, and we ordered a flower making kit from here. Once we got the knack it became easy to invent our own flowers. We used less expensive paper and realized that we didn't need templates or wire or anything fancy. Our flowers were a bit off the map, but I didn't hear any complaints at the wedding.
One of the flowers I love to make is just a long strip of paper with slits cut in it (sort of resembling a comb). Just roll it up, glue the end, and splay out the petals. Instant mum.
I hope that answered some of your questions. If you do plan on making a flower ball (or 9 flower balls) of your own, be warned that it is not a quick activity. It took two very crafty people a long time to make as many flowers as we made. AND we enlisted the help of family and bridal shower guests. But in the end, I think it was worth it. The Bride and I bonded. We are now glue-gun blister sisters. Yeah, it was totally worth it.

Oh. oh. oh. The humanity. The poetry. The sheer beauty of our blood, sweat, and tears... oh, AND the melodrama, there's that too.
That's the last you'll hear from me until Monday folks. I'll be in The MiddleofNowhere for the wedding. No internet, no cell phones. No blog. But there sure is going to be some fun when I get back. You bet your bippy.

The happy couple, plus flower baby #1, plus cat, plus clean living room.



And then there were three... (after 4 short hours of glue gun slinging).
Time passes...............
And now there are seven! Woah. That was a lot of glue. Karen (the FSIL) and I totally rocked the flower balls today. I have no less than 4 visible blisters from the hot glue. It's tricky stuff. It just kind of wants to touch you, even when you don't want it to. Kind of like that creepy guy who stands too close in the subway... just like him. Only hotter.
Tomorrow will be a piece of cake compared to today, only 2 more balls left. Then we get to hang them in the tent!
*By the way: The living room? No longer clean.

One thing that I didn't think about at all AT ALL for my wedding was boutonnieres for the men in my life. It just didn't occur to me.
For everything there is a season, or so they say, and my time to contemplate boutonnieres has come.
My super almost sister-in-law Karen has asked me to take care of the boots (as I now affectionately refer to them). I am in charge of the vegetation the men will be sporting the day of the wedding. Weird concept when you think about it... But I won't think about it too long. Being very creative, someone reasonably color coordinated, and being the person with the largest horde of ribbon I know, I feel as though I'm a good choice for the job.
I like these three options. I'm feeling the first one, with the addition of a bundle of tiny red buds or orange berries? Maybe with a orangy grosgrain ribbon instead of the green? What does everyone think? Her wedding colors are very warm reds and oranges with bits of purple and sprays of grass thrown in.
*these images courtesy of my Summer 2006 copy of "Weddings" by Better Homes and Gardens.

For all you do-it-yourselfers, check out the Tinsel Trading Company. They have vintage milliner's flowers, ribbon, old buttons, vintage paper scraps, sequins, antique fringe, and pretty much anything else you might need to construct something killer for favors or decor. What could you make? I don't know. What couldn't you make? I don't know that either.

There's something so nice about a really tactile bouquet. Something soft and delicate, like the inside of a kitten's ear. I like the Icelandic Poppies for that reason, they feel like peaches. The greenery bouquet is nice too, although after thinking on it, I've decided that it would be awesome to have a bouquet made entirely out of sage leaves and ribbon. It would be sooo soft and silvery green, and it would smell so comforting. Someone try it out and send me photos! The above pics are from a wonderful book I have called Bridal Bouquets by Jane Durbridge. The cotton ball bouquet is from Brides Magazine, the special reception issue. (Joy also likes this bouquet)

Something posted on design*sponge a while back reminded me of a project my soon-to-be sister-in-law Karen and I are working on for her wedding. She wanted to have huge flower pomanders hanging from the ceiling of the tent (one above each table), and we decided to make them out of felt and paper flowers so they'll last. The flower making process is fun, (if a bit daunting), but in the end I think they'll look awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing if we can light them from within like the lamps above from Mixko. The pictures in the bottom row are the flowers I've made so far, and I think I might have enough to cover one globe... or a half of one, or maybe a half of a really small one...Sigh.