Monday, May 11, 2009

Are flowers necessary for my wedding reception?

Ok, I know its my day and I can do whatever I want :) BUT I'd like to know your opinion of my centerpiece idea...





The reception is in our backyard, so there are several large potted flowers throughout...for the tables this is what I'm thinking....





I bought a lot of Moroccan blue table lanterns (1 for each table, 5 to hang from various tree branches in the yard)...I will have 3 matted photographs (size will vary) at each table- the lantern will be the highest point of the table and the photos will surround it...the only floral element will be flower petals on the table...





by not using flowers as the focal point, will it look "off"? Thanks for your opinions!

Are flowers necessary for my wedding reception?
I like your idea it's very personalized :) No, flowers are not necessary by any means. I have seen all sorts of centerpieces out there that do not have a single flower. I think lanterns are a neat alternative.





No idea what my centerpiece is yet. It'll involve a candle and some origami paper.
Reply:I dont think it will look off at all..especialy since you said there are large potted flowers.


The lanterns sound like they would be beautiful.


At our wedding we didnt hae any flowers and it looked fine in the pictures, we had kinda big square candles at the tables.


Hope your day is wonderful!
Reply:I work with wedding consultants on a day to day basis, and your idea sounds beautiful. Many of the weddings today are not traditional by any means. So go for it.
Reply:I didn't have any flowers at my wedding except the ones for people - bouqets and corsages.
Reply:You do not need floral centerpieces on each table. The lanterns sound like a great idea!
Reply:first off, you never said what the photographs are of...are they framed? how tall is the lantern?
Reply:I think it sounds great. It will look alright without the flowers in my opinion. You don't want to overdue it right?
Reply:yes its fine...





just dont be trashy and have fake flowers!
Reply:No I dont think it will look off.





I have seen so many lovely wedding centerpeices that had no flowers at all. Sounds like you have a good hold on it, I am sure it will turn out perfectly!





Good luck!
Reply:no you don't have to use flowers,think about trying some kind of fruit arrangement....... or candles are always a good choice
Reply:you don't have to have flowers--live or fake. If you have an idea for some other type of decoration then go for it.








BTW: I haven't been to very many weddings that used flowers as their centerpiece for the tables. Some used candles, some did an artful arrangement of disposable cameras for everyone to take pictures. Some used origami.
Reply:I don't think so. I was in a wedding several years ago, and they did not have floral centerpieces. (I think they did some sort of candle arrangement.) I don't remember thinking anything looked odd without flowers, you just notice what IS there.
Reply:No, flowers are not necessary for the reception. It is simply a matter of personal preference. Some girls hate flowers and don't even want to carry a bouquet...


I think that your idea sounds really nice. If you want to you could also place a few candles on the tables as well...like these: http://www.hotref.com/category/20/heart-...





Another idea that I saw, which was cute if you can pull it off, but I saw a wedding that had a lantern them. The girl had the cake shaped into a lantern...it actually looked pretty cool; but it all depends on what you like.


Either way i think it will be beautiful...just a little bit of rose petals will make it look lovely.
Reply:Sounds pretty. I didn't use flowers for centerpieces at our wedding (used candles) and it looked great.
Reply:No it sounds beautiful just the way you have it planned. You have more of the nature element because you are having it outdoors.


Can someone give me a ballpark for wedding flowers?

My fiance and I are crunching numbers for our wedding/reception. I would want a SIMPLE bouquet, not a big flower person for me and my 4 bridesmaids. Plus we would need boutiners (sp?) for then men. If we have at the venue I want (a mansion). They have a TON of floral and candles already set up for our ceremony and reception so we would only need the flowers mentioned above. If we have it at a hotel ballroom (ceremony and reception) I would think we would have to pay for some flower or greenery for the ceremony site and the centerpieces (about 15 tables) as well. Can someone give me a ballpark figure? I'm trying to convince my fiance that the extra we pay for the mansion we would save in floral. (They will set up ALL our stuff for us at the mansion, wo we would not a florist to come, we could just pick up the flowers at Sam's)

Can someone give me a ballpark for wedding flowers?
(We stole ours from Wrigley Field)
Reply:Go to the Costco web site, they have great quality flowers and very reasonable.
Reply:5 bridesmaids


5 groomsmen


bride/groom


parents/grandparent/gift bearers/


readers/2-flowergirls


2 church arrangements


$800
Reply:Met Stadium, if it were still standing instead of the Mega Mall.
Reply:Depends on where you are located. Larger cities normally charge more that a local rural florist. I'm a very creative person and I am doing my own flowers for my 8-8-08 wedding. If you order from www.bigrose.com you can get 250 roses for $199.00 plus free FedEX delivery! Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful and happy life together.
Reply:are you doing silk or real flowers?





i was just going to say use sams for bulk flowers and diy them


or go to your local grocery stores floral dpt and crunch numbers with the staff.


bring pics of what you want.


use carnations and larger but more inexpensive flowers if possible. less roses more gerbera type thinking.





get a hand tied bouquet of gerberas, tulips and greenery for you, your bms can have the same style but just gerberas and greenery. guys boutinners can be just carnations with a sprig of babys breath and some greenery





if your ceremony site realllly doesn't need flowers bcse it's naturally pretty- skip it.





centerpieces... depending on what you want can be very inexpensive-


here are a few ideas of ones that shouldn't cost much do to- and will keep your flower budget low


http://www.flowerscents1.com/images/CENT...


you can rent vases from a lot of florists... use calla lilies, gerbera or tulips for this look. add greenery if you want


http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...


again use tulips and gerberas, maybe a few carnations and lots of inexpensive greenery for this look.


http://www.wildrosehall.com/pictures/Tal...


any in season flowering branch can be used for this. just stick them in the top of the vase








oh don't forget to post on craigslist or your local yahoo freecycle group that you are looking for xyz type vase or glassware for your centerpieces. many new brides are happy to unload their wedding left overs for free or cheap.


What is the TACKIEST center piece you have ever seen?

Just for fun and laughs


.


I was talking to my friend and I told her not to buy these expenisve centerpieces because people only remember the terrible ones. She agreed and brough up the only centerpiece she remembered was a dollars store glass with flower hot glued to the glass and it was a mess. And it had a candle in it.


The DJ told people to take them home and no one did.... until the brides mother started freaking out- and people just took them home to throw out to shut her up.





My worst one I saw was a shame because the step mother of the bride said she was going to make them and she didn't have a floral fridge so everything open up and died. They tired to pick out the dead ones so it was just a block of foam with a few flowers shoved into it.





One I heard about was someone used gold fish in little bowls. They set up before the wedding- by receiption time they were all belly up.

What is the TACKIEST center piece you have ever seen?
A cousin's wedding about 10-15 years ago. Back when "Bud-Wize-Er" was popular.... She had a frog theme... horrible.





Live frogs in a terrarium on each table. Horrible Horrible Horrible!!!!
Reply:So, the centerpiece wasn't that bad. It was a fake flower arrangement, not the prettiest looking thing, but not too bad. Most definitely fake flowers, not attempting to look real. Very pretty vase.





The tackiest part? As people were leaving, someone from the table would take the centerpiece. Three people tried walking out the door, each with a piece. The mother of the groom (my husband's aunt...gulp!) basically attacked them and took the centerpieces back. She went and collected all of the centerpieces and put them by her table. Went so far as to go to some body's car to retrieve one. Why, you ask? Lucky for you someone was just that curious and asked her...SHE WAS SELLING THEM ON E-BAY!!





Don'tcha know the next week there were 20 "Gorgeous, realistic look and feel" floral arrangements on sale through E-Bay.





(And no, my husband's family is not all like this one loony aunt. Thank goodness.)
Reply:The tackiest centerpiece I've ever seen doesn't compare to some of the above. However, it was at my boyfriend's friend's wedding.


They put beta fish in a small round bowl and placed it on a bed of fake flowers. The fake flowers were small and overwhelmed by false greenery. During the reception, they went table to table and encouraged everyone to take the beta fish home. Afterward, there were about 15 homeless beta fish and piles of fake flowers/greenery. Blah.
Reply:Ok I didnt actually attend this wedding, but my sister told me about it.


They had some cheesy theme like "pot of gold" and the bridesmaids dresses were rainbow colors.


The bride of course wanted actual pots of gold for the centerpieces. There was a pot and chocolate gold coins inside! They didnt want to fill the entire thing with chocolate, so they stuffed it with newspaper and laid the coins on top. Then the whole thing was spray-painted. Apparently it was a real mess and the spray paint was rubbing off on guests hands. To top it all off, balloons in rainbow colors were attached to the pot. They blew up the balloons 2 or 3 weeks before the wedding so you can imagine what it looked like.
Reply:I personally haven't seen any bad centerpieces, but I remember noticing someone on craigslist trying to unload some hideous looking centerpieces. They were little horse carriages with ugly fake flowers glued in them. Who would want to buy that? And they were trying to sell them for close to $80 a piece!
Reply:and that is why i am not doing goldfish. i saw at one wedding the bride had plastic party favors.... like the ones you get a party city for a dollar
Reply:After laughing my crack off with those horrible tacky stories, I must said that I have not seen nothing that would compare in cheesiness, however, I would contribute with:





-Yet anothet goldfish with fake daisies on a glass vase. It didn't look bad, BUT, at the end of the night, no one took those goldfishes and (this is the tickler) the drunken groomsmen ended up drinking them alive with shots of tequila. HORRIBLE!





-Another wedding (you've seen the pictures) she had gorgeous red roses centerpieces on each table, BUT, she had a money dance (?!!!???) and bow tie pasta and salad for dinner (HELLO?????). I cannot eat rose petals for dinner. people were hungry and fighting over the rolls.





Good luck
Reply:im sympathetic to be peoples budgets... but dang!!





We went to a wedding in may... and it was on a farm, and the reception was in a community center gym. I get that, no big deal... i had problems with The centerpieces (i might be a snob for this)





They were round mirrors, on the tables. And it had fake rose petals scattered on them and Votive candles (not even in holders, just the loose ones you get in a bag of 50 at the dollar store). Which sucked was by the time cocktail hour was over and people got through the buffet line... the candles had burned out. There was even an incident with an unsupervised child seeing what would happened if you combined fake petal with flame.
Reply:The worse one was a plastic pumpkin with a few cheap flowers stuck in the center. The couple got married close to Holloween. They were so ugly that no one took them home.
Reply:The worst one I saw was another dollar store bargain. The bride thought they looked exactly the Lenox bud vases she had seen for 30 dollars each. She tied 2 Hershey's kisses in tulle and used ribbon to tie them to the neck of the vase. Then a single wimpy red rose in each. She was like "These can double as favors!" She only put one on each table though...I guess the guests were supposed to each take a nibble off the Hershey's kiss and pass it on.





Edit: Oh my gosh..I just read about the one with frogs...you have GOT to give that one 10 points! EEEKK!!!!
Reply:I don't really have any horror story, but I cringe when I read some of the others, and just think, at the time the bride %26amp; groom thought that these were absolutely adorable.

hiking boots rating

A lawyer sues her florist.. Read and tell me your opinion.?

Elana Elbogen, a litigator at Kelley Drye in New York, married David Glatt at Cipriani 42nd St. this summer. She wasn’t happy with the floral arrangements. So she sued.





In a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed Friday against Posy Floral Design Studios in New York state court, Elbogen alleges that the florist substituted pastel pink and green hydrangeas for the dark rust and green hydrangeas that she had specified for the centerpieces. Other issues, says the lawsuit: “using wilted and/or browned flowers, leaving the event without filling half the centerpiece vases with water, and using dusty and dirty vases.” Here are stories from the NYT and NY Post.





“The use of predominantly pastel centerpieces had a significant impact on the look of the room and was entirely inconsistent with the vision the plaintiffs had bargained for,” says the lawsuit, according to the Times. They paid in advance for the flowers, which cost — yikes! — $27,435.14. After the wedding, they asked for a $4,000 refund. Now, they’re asking for $400,000 in damages.

A lawyer sues her florist.. Read and tell me your opinion.?
If you pay that much for the flowers at your wedding you deserve to get what you asked for. If what she says is true, and if she did ask for just $4000 back and the florist refused to consider it, well... A wedding is really important and wilted and brown flowers in the wrong colours would be very upsetting. And sometimes you have to ask for more than you really want just to get what you deserve. I hate that people now days tend to sue at the drop of a hat, but if someone won't negotiate and they are in the wrong, what other choice is there. Role over and play dead? Let people walk all over you? The florist contracted to perform a service and did not live up to her end of the deal.
Reply:Well, we are a sue happy society.


Where can I get inexpensive tealight or votive holders?

My centerpieces will be very small, very simple floral arrangements. I want to put small candles around the centerpieces. I don't know whether I will use tealights or votives, but I will probably prefer votives if I can find some inexpensive holders. I don't care if they weren't actually made to hold candles, as long as they are the appropriate size. I probably need about 75 to 100. Clear glass is preferred. I know I'll only use these once, so can someone tell me where I can get some at an inexpensive price?

Where can I get inexpensive tealight or votive holders?
I got some tealight holders at IKEA for .25 each (I think). I also got a huge container of tealights for just a few dollars.
Reply:the dollar store has them
Reply:Try crafting stores.
Reply:Oriental trading.com they have great deals on line!
Reply:IKEA usually has all that stuff.. including huge bags of the candles for cheap.
Reply:I just bought 112 Red votives on Ebay...They were cheap and I recieved them fast %26amp; in perfect condition. I have looked all over for them and Ebay is where I fouind mine..
Reply:http://www.catalinacollectibles.com/cawe...





so many different styles and really inexpensive!! I emailed them when I ordered 250 favors and I got an additional discount!!
Reply:Wal-Mart, baby.
Reply:efavormart.com has really cheap prices. i think there is a seller on ebay of the same name that also has really cheap prices for tea light and votive holders
Reply:http://stores.ebay.com/All-In-One-Factor...


I got 48 votive candles AND clear votive holders to go with them for $35.





http://cgi.ebay.com/96-WHITE-WEDDING-CAN...





That link is for 96 candles and clear holders $49. They always have them available.
Reply:Go to the thrift store! Have a green wedding and recycle.Ive seen tons of candle holders at the thrift store check it out .You might find something really creative.When you wedding is over dont throw them out.Give them away to freinds or give them to a thrift store.They are really cheap too.
Reply:www.discountmugs.com





Also post on websites like www.freecycle.com (people give away stuff they don't want/use) and ask family and friends to borrow theirs. You may end up spending some time to clean out old wax but if you are truly on a budget this can help.





The other great thing about getting them from a store (wait for a 40-50% candle sale at places like Hobby Lobby and you can get them for about .15 cents each!) is that when you load up the cart with 200 votives the salespeople usually give up counting and sometimes it can work in your favor.
Reply:Walmart. They're 33c each and you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for shipping like you would anywhere online.
Reply:You can get small clay pots that are votive size at Home Depot or Lowes. They can be spray painted any color, too.


Can I have curly willow or similar type branches for summer wedding?

My fiance requested that our centerpieces be tall and possibly branches such as curly willow or pussy willow. Our colors are red, black and white so he suggested that the branches be in one of those colors. I've only seen this done in fall or winter weddings since the season matches the decor. However, we have a lot of home decor with these types of branches in our own home and LOVE how they look. Would it be appropriate for an August wedding? I'm not much of a flower person, I love flowers in gardens but not in bouquets so much. I'd take branches and/or candles any day. Also, we're trying to stay on a small wedding floral budget and hopefully I can make these centerpieces myself.





Would it be fine or would it look completely out of season? Know of any good pictures online that I could get ideas from?





Also, would guests want to as a take-home centerpiece? Not sure what we'd do with 15 centerpieces. We love these branch arrangements, but not that many!





Thanks!

Can I have curly willow or similar type branches for summer wedding?
I think that it could be done in a summer-y way :) Maybe you could add small flowers/greenery? If it is what you want, then the two of you should go for it! In my family, people always get excited about who gets to take centerpieces home, regardless of what they are lol. Even if your guests don't want them, you could try to sell them or even donate them to a place that would like them as decorations or props?





Good luck!
Reply:they would be beautiful and dead easy for you to do yourself! if your vases are clear then get clear glass beads to hold the branches in place or if you are using pottery vases you can use regular old gravel to hold the branches in place! if you are lucky enough to have 'frogs' use those!


michaels or joanns or any other big box craft shop should be able to supply you with the branches and the dollar stores should have vases! good luck and happy happy wedding!
Reply:It'll be fine. If you want them to look more summery then just take some small silk flowers and floral wire and add them to the branches so they look like a blossoming tree.





Guests may or may not decide to take home the centerpieces. If they decide not to you can always sell them or just pitch them.


Wedding Flowers?

2 part question:





I need some ideas for centerpieces for a Christmas themed wedding.. pictures would help.





Also, we are having a small reception in the same place as the rehearsal dinner. Only the wedding party will be at the rehearsal, will it be okay to reuse some of the flowers?





My ceremony flowers will be burgundy calla lillies, it's outside right on the river, so we need very little in the floral arrangements.

Wedding Flowers?
There is no problem using the flowers that you used for the rehearsal. Its a great way to save money!





As far as your Christmas themed wedding, you could put little christmas trees on your tables for center peices and you could also use a really pretty glass bowl and put diffrent colored ornaments in the bowl. Or nice candles which make it really elegant and cozy!


and they make favors where you personalize little pine trees as favors and gifts for your guests. its a really cute idea.
Reply:I think it would be good to use Holly and mistletoe in your arrangements. Also, maybe use poinsettas as centerpieces at your reception, they're inexpensive and very christmasey!





Incorporate some red and white ribbons in with your boquets as well... and maybe a little string of faux pearl beads so they look like they reflect the idea of garland around a tree.





Good luck, sounds like it will be an interesting wedding!!
Reply:I went to two weddings last year in December and one wedding that I thought that had the best flowers had cranberries in the centerpieces.





It was a bowl in the middle of the table with a floating bouquet in it with small poinsettias, green leaves and tiny cranberries floating in the water.
Reply:Something like this seems perfect...


http://www.flowersallover.com/images/ftd...





It is pretty and goes right along with your theim...





It you want to stick with the cala lilies than something like this would work..... the round vase with a mini wreath around it


http://www.poorhubby.com/images/callalil...
Reply:Maybe you could make little tree center pieces. That would be cute. Hang little wedding ornaments on them. :) Yes, re-use whatever you can!! No one will notice and if they do, they won't know they are re-used, they will think it's all themed and matched together!
Reply:What about a large glass bowl filled with xmas ornaments in your colors? Surround it with a few votives and at the end of the night everyone could take one home as a favor.

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