Wedding Series: Bouquets

Last Summer, I met the sweet and very kind Masami from Flower Bell at a sidewalk sale held at J-Town in Scarborough.  I admired the dried floral arrangements that she had on display and chatted with her briefly before finding out that she has a lot of prior experience creating wedding florals.  We quickly exchanged numbers and set a time to meet at her studio in Unionville.

I had always envisioned matching bouquets for my bridesmaids and myself.  I personally love the look of peonies and wanted to have them in our bouquets.  I was left disappointed at our initial consultation when I learned that peonies are not in season in July.  I worked with our patient and knowledgeable florist to choose another accent flower. We decided on coral pink dahlias to compliment our theme colour and sage green bridesmaid dresses.  Masami also used hydrangeas, roses, hypericum eucalyptus seed and my personal favourite, silver dollar leaves.

From the day we met Masami until the day we got married, she proved to be extremely detailed and organized. Even with just a month to go before our wedding, she remained open to change.  Masami, my husband and I worked together (and within our budget) to design bouquets and boutonnieres that we had envisioned, but really, she was the one who made our vision come to life.  I was so pleased with how our florals turned out and I'm so glad to have met Masami. 

Below are some pictures I took when our bouquets arrived on the morning of the wedding.  


Tips for brides:

• Bring pictures... lots of them! I'm no expert when it comes to flowers, so it would have been next to impossible for me to try and describe the types of flowers I wanted in my bouquet without pictures. Prior to meeting with my florist, I spent some time browsing through good old Pinterest in search of inspiration on bouquet colours, shapes and styles. It will save you some time to have an idea of what you want your bouquets/boutonnieres to look like before meeting with your florist.
• Which flowers are in season? Once you have an idea of how'd you like your bouquets to look, try doing some research to find out whether they're in season. Keep in mind that you may have a much smaller selection to choose from if you're having a wedding in the late Fall/Winter months!
• Have a budget and try to stick to it. Flowers can be expensive.  Tack on the word "wedding" and suddenly the price has increased exponentially.  If you have a strict budget that you want to stick to, perhaps your florist can suggest different types of flowers that may be more cost effective.  Together you can work to design bouquets that are beautiful yet won't break the bank! (Side note: Don't lose hope if their quote seems higher than what you're hoping to pay.  Some florists do charge a pretty penny for materials and labour, and while I admire their creativity and hard work, I do believe in shopping around until you can find a florist that best suits your style and budget!) 

As always, thanks for reading!  Stay tuned for my next post in this series about our boutonnieres. 

Until next time,

E.

Missed the previous posts from my Wedding Series? Check out the links below:

 Wedding Series: What to Pack in your Wedding Day Emergency Kit 

Wedding Series: Hair & Make-Up 

Wedding Series: The White Dress

 (All wedding photography captured by Heidi Lau Photography unless otherwise stated.)