The Floral Element

This is the inspiration for my bouquet, it just happens to have been taken by my photographer. Mine will not have lilies. It will have black and white anemones and lavender roses and darker greenery. I want my flowers to pop against the green stuff. The steams will be wrapped in sheer ivory ribbon. It'll have the same loops of lily grass I really love those. I told her I wanted it to be neat and compact, but with a little bit of chaos. I'm really excited.

My bridesmaids will not have bouquets. Instead they'll have a wrist corsage something like this:
They'll each have two anemones and an emerald bow the color of their dresses. They will carry a white distressed wooden lantern with an led candle inside it. The led candles the florist has are wax on the outside and they look really authentic. She's going to attach an anemone and some greenery to each lantern as well. I picture all the flickering lights like fairies in the woods. Also, they'll have their hair up something like this:
with, you guessed it, an anemone in their hair.

I also picked flowers for the moms' corsages. They'll have ivory spray roses and lavender wax flowers. I think they'll be pretty. I kept them pretty neutral with a little pop of color so they'd go with their dresses. I also gave her the picture of the flower girl halo I want and we're going to make it with lavender and heather.
In the picture they used a kind of fern she'd never heard of so we'll be using some plumosa instead and have more green and sparser flowers. Surprisingly the flower girls' halos ended up being one of the more expensive items on the list. Overall though our estimate was on budget (Hurray!). All the stuff I've described so far was what's referred to as "personals." I had my say there with complete confidence, but the other set of items falls under decor which is Mike's territory.

We have a great "blank canvas" in our reception space. Since we're not allowed to put anything on the walls and there are about a dozen wooden frames around scones we have a challenge. We needed some combination of willow branches, fabric and lights to pretty things up. I was afraid of a "prom look" with potted plants and Christmas light, but between Mike and my brilliant florist that would never happen. She also came up with a beautiful solution to the lonely pillar in the center of the room. Now as soon as Mike finishes my beautiful lighted centerpiece prototype we will figure out how many willow branches each needs and be in great shape. I promise to go into decor in another post, but trust me it will be beautiful!

I'm elated that everything is coming together! Last time I met with her (years ago) every flower I wanted was either out of season or wouldn't survive if it was cut for a bouquet (or both). It was deflating, but today was empowering. She's so resourceful and creative I can tell working with her will be a blast.