Picking Fleurs- Part One

I had mentioned previously that our venue is semi-all inclusive. Part of what is included in the cost is floral centerpieces for all of the tables. What is not included is bridal party flowers and decoration for the arbor at the ceremony area. Which means I needed to find a super awesome florist because flowers are very important to me. I am THAT girl, the one that dreamed of flowers everywhere at my wedding. Now our budget does not exactly dream that same dream...but I think we came to a nice little compromise.

I set up appointments to meet with two florists on the same day. I came prepared with inspiration of bouquets that caught my eye.

{Image via: Style Me Pretty/Photo by: Claudia Hung Weddings/Design by: Alyssa Flowers}

{Image via: Style Me Pretty/Photo by: Lori Barberly Photography/Design by: Lee Forrest Design}

{Image via: Style Me Pretty/Photo by: Patricia Lyons Photography/Design by: Jack Lucky Floral Design}

Yup, I am a peony girl. Big, lush, romantic peonies. Our first appointment of the day was with florist A. I was already slightly aware of the wonderful work she does from all the stalking I did of her blog. Her style is very tres chic, and I gobbled that up like a 12 year old girl at a boy band concert.  All her work is very trendy, out of the box, and absolutely perfect.

When we arrived at the appointment she was prepared with beautiful books filled with her work for us to peak at. She loved my ideas for peony bouquets but brought up the fact that peonies are expensive flowers. She asked if I would consider doing just my bouquet in peonies and doing my bridesmaids bouquets in garden roses. Apparently garden roses are different than regular roses....I thought they all came out of gardens? She explained that their shape is similar to peonies and it would be a less expensive option. I can roll with that. Then I told her how I was trying to keep the ceremony decorations simple. The idea came up of sprinkling white hydrangeas across the top of the arbor at the ceremony site. We continued on to discuss smaller things such as boutonnieres and then before I knew it the appointment was finished. I liked this lady, I felt like she really took to heart my vision and style. We had hashed out some great ideas in this appointment and she said she would be emailing me a quote soon.

Our next appointment was with florist B who is known for being a solid company. They are well respected and have been around for a long time. Although when we sat down to start the appointment I was slightly disappointed by the books they were showing me of their work. It was incredibly outdated and slightly sticky- euuuw. They did not really offer me any new ideas. Instead I had to bring up all the ideas from the previous appointment with florist A. They thought peonies, garden roses and hydrangeas would look great. Shouldn't they be the ones giving me these ideas and not the other way around? What I did like about them is they instantly gave me a bid which actually came in under budget.

Up next, I will announce which florist I chose to go with.

Are you obsessed with flowers like I am, or is it low on the list for you?