Got your bridesmaid's dresses picked out? Then lets talk flowers!

JESS- Hey Erin- how many months before the big day do you personally prefer to meet with a bride for the first time?

ERIN – anywhere between 3 and 6 months ahead- Unless you are an extremely organized bride there are just too many questions that still need answering. It is very difficult to come up with a concept for a wedding when decisions like dress colours are not made yet

JESS- I totally agree. I’ve had brides come in a year or so in advance and there is just no way we can WOW them at that point, because there isn’t any framework to build on. As you said- no bridesmaids dress colours, no colour theme! Plus, I think any more than 6 months means that they haven’t narrowed down a budget- so we come in with a quote for the floral designs of their wildest dreams- then reality sets in closer to and we’ve lost the event without ever really having a shot at it. What would you say are the basic things a bride needs to know or have decided on before coming to see you?

Erin –They should already know or have a good idea of the following

- The colour and style of their own gown

- The colour and style of the bridesmaids dresses

- Whether they want a formal or casual wedding

- The date of the wedding

- The location of the wedding ceremony and reception

They don’t have to worry about knowing exactly what they want their flowers to look like or the types of flowers they want. That’s the point of the consultation. We sit down with the bride and ask them a number of questions designed to guide them in their decisions. We really do work one on one with the bride (and groom) to figure out what they are looking for. I have had so many brides leave an appointment saying “I had no idea what I wanted before we sat down today- and now I love what we picked out!” It’s our job to know what is in season and to know which flowers will last the longest in a wedding bouquet and to help them choose flowers that will convey their own personal style.

JESS- That’s a great list Erin- the only thing I’d add is, as I said before, a basic idea of budget- It doesn’t have to be exact, but I’d far rather know during the consultation if I have roughly $50 per table or if they are able to spend $100 per table- it lets us concentrate more on the areas of importance to them, and helps narrow down choices early- brides are busy enough without us throwing extra information at them!

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The Ring

No, not the horror movie starring Naomi Watts. But almost…

We spent all of last weekend doing wedding stuff. Most of it was tedious. But the thing I was most looking forward to was shopping for our wedding rings. Although, FI swore he would never wear a ring, he said he would look at least. And I knew EXACTLY what I wanted. So I thought my choice would be a breeze, and his would be the toughie.

Not so much.

I think FI was surprised at how many he actually liked. And at the end of the day he ended up buying a VERY cool ring. I think he likes enough that he might even wear it everyday. Which would make me very happy. But I’m not holding my breath yet.

Me, on the other hand. I’m having issues. I had a style in mind that I wanted. I thought it was a pretty common thing. My e-ring is a spectacular solitaire, so I wanted a wedding band that would bend around it to show it off. I saw one I liked at Zales in Buffalo and I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find something similar, maybe even better here at home. I hunted everywhere for it. Couldn't find it. I had to explain a million times to jewelers what I was talking about. Seems it’s not such a common design after all!


Then magically, at a shop in the mall, I found it. I was so excited/ I made FI get out the camera-phone to take pictures. I slipped it on… and HATED it. Gasp. How could this be? I was not even thinking about bands at all. I had it all planned!

So then I was back to square one. And a little upset. And a little tired. And more than a little grumpy. All that searching and it didn’t matter.

Then we went to Spence Diamonds (where FI bought his band). They have hundreds of options. I found a few that were okay but not THE ONE RING. (Har. A LOTR fan joke.) I still wanted something that fit around my solitaire. And for some reason I don’t want to get a custom ring. Not sure why.

Then the very nice salesperson made a suggestion. She showed me this amazing ring. I slipped it on, and it fit around my solitaire like it was forged in the fires of Mount Doom with my e-ring. (That’s the last one, I swear). Anywho, they fit together like a puzzle. Perfection. BUT (did you feel the BUT coming?) BUT I always envisioned myself with something subdued. Diamonds, but not a ton. Something that compliments my e-ring but doesn’t distract from it. This ring, this perfect fitting ring, was, well, a friend described it as a Hello How Are Ya! ring. It was chock full of diamonds. And blingy. Very blingy. FI saw it and said right away that my solitaire gets lost. And I know it’s true. But a PERFECT FIT?? How can I turn that down?

I decided to walk away, think about it and go back. I will return to the store on Sunday with a gaggle of lady-friends to help me get some perspective.

But in the meantime, I’m still a little upset, a little tired and a little more than grumpy about the whole thing.

~bb~

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Beautiful Flower

On this cold, blustery day in the Greater Toronto Area I decided to flip through my favourite Australian magazine ... if only to feel a little warmer! There are tonnes of fantastic ideas and I'll likely come back to a few but for now I wanted to post something that caught my eye.
There's a section on jeweled flowers that is stunning ... the one that I fell in love with is the picture below. Instead of adding jewels to the actual bouquet, why not add gems to the ribbon trailing beneath? Simple yet sophisticated! Not to mention I love orchids ;)

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