As I mentioned in a previous post, I wanted lots of gorgeous flowers for my wedding and not only lots of flowers, but I wanted gorgeous, ivory, coral, and blush peonies. (Dun, dun, dun!)

If you know anything about flowers, you know that peonies are quite expensive and only bloom between the later part of April and early June. Double whammy – expensive and limited! I didn’t want to budge on my flower selection and I didn’t necessarily want to go down the faux flower route, so I started thinking of a way to cut the costs.

This is what I came up with: Try substituting some of your flower centerpieces for your reception tables with your bridesmaid’s bouquets.

I did this and it work perfectly! I had 15 reception tables. I left 6 open vases on some of the tables and my bridesmaids filled the empty vases with their bouquets. I ultimately, only had to pay my florist for 9 centerpieces, rather than all 15!

End result: Got the flowers I wanted and didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg!

So now that we may have tackled the cost issue, many brides run into the problem of floral availability. In other words, the flowers you want at your wedding may not be available during the month of your wedding. An image is provided below with a chart including many popular wedding flowers, as well as “tid bits” of information specific to each flower, such as if it is inexpensive or pricey. Check it out to see if you flower is accessible during the season of your wedding!

When we last left off, I advised brides to start brainstorming for their dream weddings, snoop around on Pinterest here and there, and start gathering ideas… But, how can you start really diving into those details if you haven’t thought of a theme?

Choosing a theme for your wedding can be difficult. Avoid picking a theme that could limit your ideas. For instance, I knew I always wanted to involve the water into my wedding, but I wanted to veer away from simply a “nautical” wedding. I wanted my wedding to represent me, my husband-to-be, and my hometown of Annapolis. I wanted more than just a “beachy” theme.

Deciding to combine ideas and themes for a wedding is a great idea! It’s like describing your style of clothing – City Chic, Hipster Prep, Modern Classic – meshing two great visions that co-inside perfectly. When applying this same mindset to your wedding, the end result becomes unique and you guests walk away quite impressed.

Although I didn’t necessarily have a name for my style of wedding, I envisioned a garden of flowers meets the waterfront. From there, my ideas flowed in and I was able to execute an idea that “fit” my perfect wedding vision.

How did I execute this style?
I made sure to minimize the “nautical” feel by only incorporating an image of a sailboat on all the paper goods, such as the save-the-dates, my invitations, and response cards. Other than that, the scenery itself was nautical as the ceremony and reception site overlooked a stunning cove lined with sailboats.

Flowers can transform a wedding and really define a style. I envisioned dreamy, full flowers. I opted for coral and cream peonies. Another great flower that is often times overlooked is baby’s breath. I wanted to incorporate this flower into my décor, too. Baby’s breath helped dressed up my cake table and surrounding decorative vases. In addition, it is extremely inexpensive and ultimately a fantastic compliment to the luscious peonies. The end product was just darling and to this day, I still receive comments about the gorgeous flowers.

Tip: When visiting a florist, come prepared with photos and magazine clippings of your ideas, as well as favorite flowers. This saves time for your florist and really gives them a better idea as to what your vision is for your big day! Also, if you have an idea of the kind of flower you want in your wedding, they may have a better suggestion of a flower that still has the same characteristics, for cheaper!

For more information on choosing the flower of your dreams for you wedding, stay tuned for our upcoming post!

Oh my goodness. You’re engaged!

It’s an unbelievable mix of excitement, nerves, and uncontrollable happiness. You can’t stop looking at your left hand, your heart feels like it’s constantly going to beat out of your chest, and the entire world seems like a happier place!

Around here, we call it the engagement glow and we know that after the holidays, there are thousands of women who are officially brides to be! I’m excited to be a part of this group myself, after I got engaged to my high school sweetheart, Hugh, on Thanksgiving Day just over a month ago!

After getting engaged, Huey and I both agreed to take a short break from wedding planning to enjoy this special time with our families, make it through final exams, and begin brainstorming over Christmas. Sure enough, the holidays have come and gone – and now it is time for us to get started making actual decisions!

We started by discussing a few of the things that are most important to each of us, just as Star Dodd recommended in “What to do Once You’re Engaged” and even with a guideline, the process quickly became a bit overwhelming.

You know, it’s that feeling that goes something like… We’re actually planning a wedding! Yikes! Where do we even begin, how are we going to budget for such a large event, who are we going to invite, who will be a part of our bridal party? And before I knew it, we were beginning to stress over decisions that hadn’t been made – worrying about things that would most likely work themselves out with time!

So rather than beginning my wedding planning posts with any of the normal discussions over dresses, cakes, or hairstyles – I’m taking it back to the basics, putting things in perspective and telling myself those very important words that I often tell my brides…

You are marrying your best friend in the entire world.

That is the most important part of a wedding. Although we all love the adorable details, the gorgeous gown, the friends who take part in this momentous occasion – It always comes back to the couple, a husband and wife, soul mates who are committing themselves to one another for a lifetime.

Despite the overwhelming pressures to create your fairytale wedding, at the end of the day – all that matters is that you’re marrying the one you love. The details, decor, guest list are secondary to the deeper meanings of marriage. A wedding is about the uniting of two different families and the creation of a new one. And everyone in this industry knows just how stressful a wedding can be, but I think it’s always important to keep things in perspective.

Because no matter what happens on your wedding day, as long as your soulmate is waiting for you at the other end of the aisle – I can promise you that it’s going to be perfect!

And with that – I officially begin my wedding planning journey on Bayside Bride! I am so excited for your support, advice, and opinions! Can you believe that I’m getting married!? Ahhhh! I’m still too excited to express myself accurately in words. Just imagine this editor doing little dances in her chair as she types this… maybe even jumping a few times in celebration. I can’t wait for this journey ahead and I’m so excited to share these moments with all of you!

Photographs By: Natalie Franke Photography